Thinking about getting a Harley

[Jack Hester]

I will express my opinion:

For the price of a new Harley, you can restore a couple vintage American Iron bikes. My '76 FLH served me well on many cross-country trips, long and short. It's now totaled, and waiting it's turn. I have a '42 WLA and a '47 Indian Chief, along with a running '59 FLH, that are on the planning board. I will never buy a new one, again, as long as I am able to aquire parts for restorations. My wreck postponed a major cross-country ride that I had planned, on vintage bikes. That's behind me, though I'm doing things a bit different, now. I haven't set a date, this time, but am proceeding with the project. My Chief, my '59 FLH, and my '76 FLH are on the lineup, this time, with the 45 Flathead a possible.

My recommendation to you is aquire an earlier Shovelhead, be it slabside (gen model) or cone. 74 cu-in. Build yourself a stock road machine, with all the creature comfors that you want. Do it right, and you will have much less than the cost of a new one. As is with all chain-drive models, some owner/rider maintenance is necessary. Lubing the chain every few hundred miles is basically all the inconvenience involved.

My '76 brought me many trouble-free miles, and with a sound that you can never achieve with any new model, American or not.

Again, just an opinion.

Jack

 

[Mr. Boston]

Bought an 06 XL1200L last fall. Love it...it's not an appliance like so many these days.

 

[MB289]

Hey Rob, over priced is subjective, even if I somewhat agree. But, I wouldn't trade my BMW.

It is funny to talk about "over priced" in a thread about HD.

 

[Trav]

My experience with HD isn't very good.In 1975 when biker bars,tattoos,salad bowl helmets and loud pipes were cool i bought a 49 pan head,it was the best HD i owned,slow hard to start but pretty dependable,then i let the HD dealer talk me into a leftover 73 glide,well AMF ran the front pipe right under the plastic carb bowl on the tilitson carb and sure enough on a hot summer day it melted and caught fire,after a repaint and new carb i kept the glide a few years but had nothing but problems with it.Next was a new 82 80 inch shovel.HD put the nuts for the air cleaner right in the throat of the carb,one day it was running on 1 cyl one of the nuts fell off and punched a hole through the piston.That was the last HD.I bought a VF1100C-V65 magna,wow i realized right away i didn't know how to ride,i thought i was a good rider but not with this beast.I kept that bike 10 years and 160,000km and only did normal maintenance in 93 i got a CBR1000F and later the GSXR1300 now ride GSXR1000.All these bikes are demanding on the rider,definitely not posers bikes.I guess if someone wants to look cool and make a lot of noise,putt from bar to bar doing a Paul Sr impersonation take short trips revving the engine at red lights to hear the noise then a HD is the bike,but if you want to ride then HD is the last bike on the list if its on the list at all.

 

[JohnnyDK]

That’s what the previous owner told me when I put the cash in his hand for a 1976 FLH Harley Davidson.

I don’t care what people ride as long as it put a big smile on there faces.

Enjoy that bike, Johnny

 

[Reg# 43897]

Buy an H-D?! OMG nooooo! Don't do it, man!

 

[G-MAN]

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I guess if someone wants to look cool and make a lot of noise,putt from bar to bar doing a Paul Sr impersonation take short trips revving the engine at red lights to hear the noise then a HD is the bike.

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Yeah, that's exactly why I bought my Harley.

 

[JohnnyDK]

Well I am new to this site but it’s the first time I have ever seen people barking about a guy’s new bike, seriously not a very polite thing to do and why???

G-MAN I have traveled 2000miles with a guy weighting at least 290 lb on an 883 past autobahn Germany with constant speed at 85-90mph all day and it never mist a heart beat, used less fuel than the rest of us etc. You will like it and congratulation with your new bike.

PS: I have been riding that 76 FLH for the past 12 years because it makes ME smile.

Take care, Johnny

 

[Trav]

Hold on there.No on is knocking HIS Sportster,if you you at the title of the thread he was looking at bikes.As far as driving HDs on the autobahn at 90 mph so what?thats only 150kmh.A big water cooled 4 can run 220+kmh all day without breaking 7,000 rpm.To imply a HD especially a little sportster is a high speed autobahn bike is a falsehood,you may do it occasionally but not on a regular basis.Like i said who cares,i could care less what anyone rides as long as i don't have to pay for it,GMAN was looking for opinions and i gave mine as others gave theres and from the picture it looks good,not all mickey moused up like most.

 

[rn2fine]

I recently sold my 2000 Buell S3T. It had a 1200 sportster motor in it (modified). Yeah, I agree that Harleys are not the cheapest, or most advanced, or most reliable bikes. But, I have never ridden anything as fun as my Buell. I would like to build my next bike.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I like it G-Man

I recently got into riding bur went the Sport Bike route for now. Not the Super Sport like a GSXR.....a Ninja 250 to start

Next bike will probably be a nice commuter bike, a Ninja 650R.

Congrats on a real nice looking ride

Goose

 

[G-MAN]

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I like it G-Man

I recently got into riding bur went the Sport Bike route for now. Not the Super Sport like a GSXR.....a Ninja 250 to start

Next bike will probably be a nice commuter bike, a Ninja 650R.

Congrats on a real nice looking ride

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Thanks. I love Harleys, always have. I rode Japanese bikes from the 9th grade up through my second year in college, so I'm not one of these "anti-Japanese bike" Harley riders. I'm all for any biker who loves what he rides and rides responsibly.

 

[cousincletus]

I've owned several Japanese bikes too but have to say the most fun was the Sportster I owned in the early to mid 1990's. I learned on a 1981 Honda XL-250 I bought new. Then had a 1980 Yamaha 650, 92 Harley Sportster and 92 Suzuki DR-350. Lots of fun. Been off a bike for a while now but wanting a new one badly. I kept the m/c endorsement on my license all these years.

 

[arkainzeye]

i found this link today about harley.. makes you wonder about they whole USA Theme.

http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_5128290

chris

 

[G-MAN]

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i found this link today about harley.. makes you wonder about they whole USA Theme.

http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_5128290

chris

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Don't get me started on unions. Look at the mess Ford and GM are in. A large part of that comes from ridiculous concessions made to the unions over the last 35 years.

Harley should just shut the plant down and hire all new workers and train them, take a year to do it, write off the loss, and then start back up with a fully non-union workforce.

 

[wileyE]

Thanks for the link Chris, going to have fun with this!

Know 6 hardcore union lineman that just ordered new bikes after our latest storm earnings. Hope they didn't get thier mandatory HD tattoo's yet, LOL.

 

[cousincletus]

We wouldn't have the standard of living in this country that we have if not for unions. Don't forget, working people before us fought and some died for worker safety and rights. Was listening to NPR radio a while back, and they said the average worker makes around 40K per year. If wages had kept up with corporate profits, the average wage would be 60K. Union membership is at an all time low in this country. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

It's not unions causing jobs to leave this country, it's corporate greed. Ok, ok, I'll climb down from my soapbox now.

 

[Trav]

"Don't forget, working people before us fought and some died for worker safety and rights"I don't think anyone would deny that in the past labor unions did a tremendous job of improving safety and wages for workers,but look at the circumstances.In those days most companies were family owned so did not rely on publicly traded stocks to remain in business,personal transportation was minimal or non existent meaning workers were pretty much relegated to find employment in their immediate vicinity,company stores,company provided housing all provided ways for the company to get the money back they paid out in wages at a profit.Throw in child labor and health and safety hazards and it becomes a very dismal situation indeed.Labor unions were the major factor in improving these horrible conditions.Todays economy is far different,most companys are publicly owned meaning very simply if the share holders don't see a fair return on their investment they pull their money out and the company can easily slide into bankruptcy.today if someone doesn't like their job or the pay scale they just find another job period.Not every one is entitled to make big$$ a lowly unskilled or semi skilled job demands lower wages,these people are not entitled to drive the most expensive cars and live in large houses etc.The company is not in any way obligate to provide free education for employees either,although some do its a gift.Labor unions today are ruining companies with their outrageous demands of pay and benefit packages.Its no surprise company's like Delphi and others are bankrupt or leaving the country.

 

[KBFXDLI]

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We wouldn't have the standard of living in this country that we have if not for unions. Don't forget, working people before us fought and some died for worker safety and rights. Was listening to NPR radio a while back, and they said the average worker makes around 40K per year. If wages had kept up with corporate profits, the average wage would be 60K. Union membership is at an all time low in this country. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

It's not unions causing jobs to leave this country, it's corporate greed. Ok, ok, I'll climb down from my soapbox now.

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If I hear another "corporate greed" speech I'm going to puke. Show me where it says "The Church of Harley Davidson" anywhere? You Union guys need to move to Russia or China where everything is "fair"...

 

[cousincletus]

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Quote:

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We wouldn't have the standard of living in this country that we have if not for unions. Don't forget, working people before us fought and some died for worker safety and rights. Was listening to NPR radio a while back, and they said the average worker makes around 40K per year. If wages had kept up with corporate profits, the average wage would be 60K. Union membership is at an all time low in this country. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

It's not unions causing jobs to leave this country, it's corporate greed. Ok, ok, I'll climb down from my soapbox now.

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If I hear another "corporate greed" speech I'm going to puke. Show me where it says "The Church of Harley Davidson" anywhere? You Union guys need to move to Russia or China where everything is "fair"...

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Maybe you should move. I'm happy with my fat paycheck.