Everyone buy's a bike for their own reason. Alot of people says Harleys are too slow. They may not be as fast as other brands, but I know that and don't care about being the fastest guy on the block. I like being comfortable. If you don't like that Sue me. I like ease of maintenance. I can change spark plugs and the air filter in about half an hour, and the battery in about the same time. People love goldwings, as long as they don't have to work on them. 3 hours to change an air filter? Almost the same for the battery. Because you have to take half the bike apart. And changing 6 spark plugs that are buried under covers just add to the enjoyment. I've owned many different brands of motorcycles, and each one has some stupid engineering that will make you wonder ,what were they thinking?. Even factory wrenches can't believe how they thought it was a good idea to bury things that need service regularly. Buy what you want, ride what you want. And remember the metric bike mfgrs don't build bikes for the long run. If a model lasts 10 years, they drop it from production and leave the buyers holding the bag for parts. Factory or aftermarket. A couple have made it over the 20 year mark, but more haven't.,,,
Harley-Davidson Moving More Production Overseas!
- Thread starter EngineWhisperer
- Start date
Then why did you ask?
I've always found it amusing that so many bikes still need valve adjustments, yet these same people claim Harley's are low tech? I mean when were hydraulic lifters invented? The 1930's?
Hydraulic lifters with their potential to pump-up at higher revs, resulting in loss of control of the valve timing, work fine at the low revs that Harley's run. Pushrods also work fine at those low revs.
Hydraulic lash adjusters like Honda used in their Nighthawk 750, work okay up to about 10k RPM. Rev those engines to Redline regularly, and you'll probably be replacing the hydraulic lash adjusters periodically. But It's been over 20 years since that bike was for sale in the USA.
Engines that are designed for high horsepower, are usually in Sportbikes. The hydraulic lash adjusters won't work reliably at the RPM you need the engine to spin, to make the horsepower needed for the application. They might be able to design some hydraulic lash adjusters that would work at 16k RPM, but then you have added size, weight, and complexity of the valvetrain in an engine where size and every ounce counts in the design.
Every engine design is a compromise. It's all a matter of where acceptable compromises can be made for the application.
Because of a momentary lap of reason. After you told me you were talking about a 20-year-old motorcycle your answer became irrelevant. If you disclosed that up front I would not have even bothered to ask.
I would never compare my old motorcycle with a new motorcycle more than I would a 20 year old car
I also said I was comparing a 20 year old FLHTCUI, to the 2024 models which I rode last fall. The same day I got to ride my previously owned FLHTCUI. Other than slightly more power, and some more modern electronics, they ride basically the same.
Sorry if that's not what you want to hear from someone who has been fortunate to ride lots of bikes from all the manufacturers over the years. Having family and lots of friends in the Motorcycle business has allowed me to experience a lot of the streetbikes (and dirtbikes) since I was a kid in the 70's.
No need to say sorry, I already said the Road King 2014 pulls likes a bear on mountain roads, 2 up, loaded with luggage. Other can confirm and the new M8's even more so. Ride what works for you, right?
Couldn't be any worse in my opinion. Overpriced junk.
As a Huntsville resident, that one stung. I ended up buying a 2018 Atlas made in Chattanooga anyhow. It ended up being the number one worst vehicle I have ever owned. Had the SE 4motion with the VR6. The engine drank a quart of coolant every 2k miles. The transmission had a horrible grinding whirr when downshifting at low speed to pull up the steep street we live on (our neighbor’s SEL did the same thing), the seats were horribly uncomfortable for everyone after 30 mins, the body panels were poorly aligned, etc etc. There are already many Huntsvillans who know how to produce engines and equipment (Toyota, Hyundai, Polaris, etc). Not sure if the Atlas build quality has improved.
Apparently the CEO is out.
Not at 75Some of them are pretty cute, you know.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
I had issue with windshield. Just kept cracking. Mechanically, not a single problem in 50k. Definitely most practical vehicle in that category.
I get people upset about Harley offshoring, however decades ago many felt the same about automobiles and a whole range of products.
No one cares anymore or better said, not enough people care for a company to survive on just those people.
The company has to survive and no one will abandon the brand if they can get a Harley at a better price with the same build quality is my feeling.
No one cares anymore or better said, not enough people care for a company to survive on just those people.
The company has to survive and no one will abandon the brand if they can get a Harley at a better price with the same build quality is my feeling.
Offshoring is simply a stop gap and a sign of the company failing to sell their product. Harley's pricing is on the very high end spectrum in the motorcycle segment and if they cannot make enough profit while charging premium, something is very wrong with their business model.
I owned a 21 Goldwing hoping it would be like my grandfather’s 96 Wing. It was abysmal. The seat was hard as a brick. The cornering lean angle was atrocious (the side of my boot caught pavement while leaned and it snapped my tibiofibular ligament, chipped a piece of tibia off, and tore another ligament I can’t recall). Even after adding a backrest and highway pegs, I still ached after 40 minutes of riding. The aluminum steering stem’s threads sheered while riding from North Alabama to Indy. We were closer to Indy than Bama but about halfway when I was turning into a gas station and slid on some road debris from the roads being resurfaced. I stabbed my foot down to save the bike and not drop it with my wife on the back (we were turning from a stop) and pulled up. When I did, I then had about 1.5” of vertical bar movement at the ends of the bars. I had to ride that deathtrap all the rest of the way to Indy. Luckily we were headed there to buy an SUV, so I rented a uhaul motorcycle trailer and trailered it back. It also had a constant right pull, a hard one, one that would make your wrists ache after fighting it for hours. Honda couldn’t figure it out. The issue is SO PREVALENT that TraxxionDynamics invented a SIXTEEN POUND STEEL BAR that you mount above the left muffler to counterbalance the crooked welded frame.
Sure it had power and the brakes were great, but those were its only good features.
I rode it 2 hours to an HD dealership just to begrudgingly test ride a Road Glide Limited. 40 minutes into the ride I was miserable. I test rode that Limited and then looked at my wife as she stood there knowing I hated Harleys and said to her “I hate to admit it…but this is the most comfortable bike I’ve ever ridden…”. I traded my wing in and rode that limited home the 2 hour ride with no backrest, no highway pegs, no ergonomic adjustments and had not one inkling of discomfort. That was 3 days before Christmas of 23. As of now, my bike has just shy of 19,000 miles on it. Say what you want, but my Harley has been nothing short of wonderful.
Edit: My stock 114cu in engine in my Limited with nothing more than an intake, exhaust, and a tune, will EASILY do 130mph. It’s been camping, touring, torrential downpours, two up fully loaded with luggage, Alabama summer heat sitting still on the interstate in 96 degree high humidity heat, been through Lock and Lean police motorcycle training…and I’ve had not one issue with it. Not a single one. I beat the snot out of this bike and it never even whimpers. Dropped dozens upon dozens of times while training too. Not a single issue. It’s as reliable as my 06 R6 was and I ride this one WAYYYY more than I had time to ride my R6 due to deployments.
I had an 05 Honda VTX1300 too. The thing was a gutless turd. Two up riding or riding with luggage sucked pulling away from a light. Maxed out around 90 and vibrated like all hell at that speed. That bike never lit my fire like my R6 did, even after jetting the carbs, upgrading the brakes, and changing the suspension over to Progressive. I just never fell in love with it. I loved the Goldwing when I first got it, but it didn’t take long for me to hate it with all of its flaws. If I want to go deadly fast, I’ll hop on my 03 Kawi ZZR1200. Top speed is 204mph, but I chickened out at about 180mph.
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Our MB GL450 has been nothing short of an absolute dream. Rides like a cloud and has gobs more power than the Atlas did. Buddy of mine owns a 24 Atlas and loves it though, so maybe they’ve improved since that 2018 debut model?
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
I think those were first models.Our MB GL450 has been nothing short of an absolute dream. Rides like a cloud and has gobs more power than the Atlas did. Buddy of mine owns a 24 Atlas and loves it though, so maybe they’ve improved since that 2018 debut model?
Mine was really good for family. Big, full size SUV interior, practical. But it seems the windshield issue is and issue. Some people have it, some don't. Western US is, well, more rocky. I just did not want to deal with it anymore, but for our purposes, road trips, light off road, it was perfect vehicle. Mine was 2.0T, which was more powerful here at altitude than VR6.
I think they phased out the VR6 entirely (wonder if it had enough issues that it wasn’t worth continuing production?) in favor of the 2.0T across the line. I’ll ask my buddy if he’s had any windshield issues with his.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Yeah, mine was 2021, 235hp, 258lb-ft. I think VR6 had issues because of VW's spat with its biggest supplier, PREVENT. So I know there were some issues that specifically affected VR6 around that time. I know there are very stout engines, but around that time they had weird issues related to suppliers.
I prefer the previous Atlas without this new big screen.
So having been involved in Land Speed Racing (primarily with bikes) since the late 90's, I'm curious what has been done to the ZZR1200? In stock trim they were good for a top speed right around 180 mph actual speed. A couple more MPH than the ZX-11D they were based on.
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