My newest Harley is a 1974, so really can't speak to the last 45 years...
The Shovelheads, Panheads, Knuckleheads, Flatheads, were never "reliable" in the sense of turn the key and go like Jap bikes. They were, however, simple enough that a rider could usually keep them running.
I know the early carbureted Evos were pretty bullet proof.
Then came fuel injection and computers. What could go wrong?
In the late 60's and early 70's my kid brother rode his Harley for kicks and looking good.
On his many trips all over the country, he rode his Gold Wing.
Leo of the Land of Dyr
NRA FOR LIFE
I MISS SARAH
“In Trump We Trust.” Right????
SOMEBODY please tell TRH that Netanyahu NEVER said "Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away."
as usual people talking out there butts....harley balanced a engine in 2000 some of you others guys dont know what your talking about either.... i have sold harleys in boxes that are in pieces for more than you can get for some models of bikes running...lets see you do that or even get parts for a 20 year old honda
Hardly Ableson was never known for their reliability.
And yet, the 2 I had were/are as reliable as anything else I've had . AMF really messed up. They are a lot better now. I wager most that bad mouth them, haven't owned one. Handling like a hay wagon, unreliable, not really. In addition, the build quality is pretty darn good. Better than the Beemer I had.
as usual people talking out there butts....harley balanced a engine in 2000 some of you others guys dont know what your talking about either.... i have sold harleys in boxes that are in pieces for more than you can get for some models of bikes running...lets see you do that or even get parts for a 20 year old honda
harley owns the big twin market in the us with roughly fifty percent with all others combined to make the rest up....so surely there are going to be more issues there
yes with their 100 year old engine design
That's some funny chit right there. "100 year old design"
Nearly every gun in my vault is an over 100 year old design. Half the appliances in the house, same. Phuqk, auto transmissions offered on any scale are 81 YO this year, passenger car fuel injection is about 80 YO, the AR-15 is 64. So what is H/D thinking? Gee.
they do not have overhead cams. the idiotic design of one cylinder behind the other means the back cylinder runs a lot hotter. japs position engine where all 4 cylinders get air. every year or two jap engines improve with more horsepower in the same size engine. in fact a 500cc jap bike now would blow away a Harley . would you compare a 2 speed chevy trans from 1965 to a 6 speed tranny? if I had access to the tons and train loads of money poured into the AR the powder bullets twist rate for 40 years other people would have developed a mind controlled laser gun
Are you a dumbass in real life or do you just play one on the inter web?
harley owns the big twin market in the us with roughly fifty percent with all others combined to make the rest up....so surely there are going to be more issues there
yes with their 100 year old engine design
That's some funny chit right there. "100 year old design"
Nearly every gun in my vault is an over 100 year old design. Half the appliances in the house, same. Phuqk, auto transmissions offered on any scale are 81 YO this year, passenger car fuel injection is about 80 YO, the AR-15 is 64. So what is H/D thinking? Gee.
they do not have overhead cams. the idiotic design of one cylinder behind the other means the back cylinder runs a lot hotter. japs position engine where all 4 cylinders get air. every year or two jap engines improve with more horsepower in the same size engine. in fact a 500cc jap bike now would blow away a Harley . would you compare a 2 speed chevy trans from 1965 to a 6 speed tranny? if I had access to the tons and train loads of money poured into the AR the powder bullets twist rate for 40 years other people would have developed a mind controlled laser gun
Are you a dumbass in real life or do you just play one on the inter web?
Give him a break man, one out of every 10 post he makes, about anything, is relevant. He only needs to make 6 more before he makes sense.
Harley makes good motorcycles. But the marketing they push gets to be tiring after a while.
Just one example. The Bay Area riding style for the younger guys who like to hot rod Dynas is flannel shirts. Probably because the Bay Area often has cool weather.
So HD started selling flannel shirts with their logo on the pocket. They had some on the rack last time I was at the Harley shop,.....$100,...for a flannel shirt.
I've owned a couple of Harleys. They're okay. But out of all the bikes I've owned, the Harleys aren't my favorites.
harley owns the big twin market in the us with roughly fifty percent with all others combined to make the rest up....so surely there are going to be more issues there
yes with their 100 year old engine design
They are actually pretty trick. They just aren't fast or make scads of hp. They ARE entertaining though. To each his own. I've had a bunch of them, from boy racer to old guy bikes. I like them all.
My thoughts exactly. If you can't enjoy riding any motorcycle, you ain't doing it right.
They have NOT done a lot of thinking if they can't figure how to balance an engine. Krisake, John Deere figured it out over 100 years ago.
Couple that with their handling like a frigg' n hay wagon. But, they do make a lot of noise.
With the 2009 changes their handling improved appreciably. They don't want to "balance" their engine. That at idle vibration is purposeful and it disappears just as soon as you roll on the throttle.
my 90 fxrs has never broken down or even did more than seep a little oil around the cylinder gasket. sits all winter on the battery tender, pull the choke, hit the go button and it fires right up.
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