Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire My new Harley-Davidson is falling apart! Is this normal?

One word, PhuqueMIlwaukee!

I had zero problems with my Triumph Bonneville American. Even the battery lasted six years.

As I sit here a read this I can only think about how precious common sense is. there are 5 harleys sitting in my garage right now a 1997 softail 58,000 miles custom, 2006 roadking 37,000 miles 2007 lowrider 76,000 miles ( the wifes ) , 2008 streetglide 30,000 miles, 2015 switchback (the wifes) the 07 has been lowered 2in in front and 2 1/2in in the back to fit my 115 lb , 5ft tall wife. the switchback has been done as well. they all have a lot of custom motor work as well as sending some stuff out to be custom fit things I couldent do. and I will say that you can go get on any of them and take of across country at any time. that being said just like the honda , triumph, kawasaki, or any other machine, there has to be maintenance , period .the harley davidson has a distinct vibration, and with any machine that shakes rattles and rolls , there will be things coming loose. so buy a rice burner and go riding. or buy a harley and go riding. eighther way you gonna have to tighten up something sooer or later.

I see that now. Virtually everyone of his past posts are promoting his videos.
Click bait.

Had a1996 electraglide pushing 85,000 miles when I sold it with no issues. Had “several” BMW airheads over 100,000miles.
It’s called maintenance. It’s normal. Every single piece of equipment I own requires some level of it. If you don’t have common sense you should take the bus everywhere you go or at the least, don’t bitch

LOL. Jack, I’m on my 3rd Harley over 34 years. My 02 RG has 74k mikes. I’ve ridden since my teens. I don’t “Ride to Live” but I’ve ridden enough, dealt with the MOCO enough and wrenched enough to qualify my remarks. I’ve watched more properly maintained Harleys break down on road trips than all metrics combined.

Planning for a brand new voltage regulator to fail on the next trip or the chain tensioner shoes going from solid to pieces inside 10k....or any other myriad of common (yet dismissed) Harley problems not addressed by scheduled maintenance is common sense. Having a Harley that’s never let you down is pure luck.

.....and I’d never wish a public bus ride on anyone. Not even you.

every honda,kawasaki,yamaha,polaris,harley-davidson,ford,chevrolet,dodge,jeep etc. dealership had mechanics last time i was their....they all have problems they all break down

It seems the guy in the video has an issue with the handle bars being just a bit out of tune with the front tire tacking. What 8 year old kid hasn’t had the exact same issue that rode a bicycle? The cure was to find the nearest stationary object to set the wheel against and torque the handle bars back in line.
And yes, I’ve done that very thing lots of times with all brands and styles of motorcycles for what ever reason. The issue might be in the bars or it could be in the down tubes, or a little of both. No more out than it was I wouldn’t have even gave it second thought, tweak it ride on.

They aren't called "Horrible Davidsons" for nothing.

Believe it or not, there is a tightening sequence for this very problem. Unless it's been in an accident, the triple tree is almost certainly good. The risers are rubber mounted, and can be misaligned. Loosen the fasteners below the upper triple tree, loosen the bar clamp, tighten from the bottom up, first the riser bolts, then the rear of the bar clamp, then the front of the bar clamp. Works. Weird, but it works.

You can get everything lined up perfectly and can still tweak the handle bars in either direction with vey little effort. Particularly with rubber bushings.

polyurethane or go to solid bushings
if ya wanna accentuate the HD 'vibe'... 😁



Look on the bright side, HD owners can keep
the Loctite in the fridge right next to the beer...

Harleys are garbage, perform and handle poorly.

I've had a variety of bikes, over the last 50 years. 2 have been Harleys. They are most definitely not race bikes. The ones I have handle decent, are reliable, and entertaining. Just personal experience. Ride whatever you like.

While ago a dude pulled up on a Guzzi 1400
with some after market pipes, one of the best
sounding Big-Twins I've heard, and he told
me he still had the baffles in.

Those iconic cylinder heads angled out provide
a buffed presence over narrow chested HDs..

Harley riders are "IMAGE RIDERS"

Plain and simple and that is OK.

Look at all the clothes and jewelry.

They really need a Hot Dog line of food.