In case some don't know...that V-Star is a 250.
I bought one, first street bike I ever bought brand new, way back in 1990.
Except for the paint and bars, it looks just like my Route 66 did.
I beat the **** out of it and it never broke down on me.
Hell, unless it was wrecked, someone probably bought it for $1K and they are beating the **** out of it too.

 

Have said it Long Before the 2018's Loved my Carbed 05 .. If you like the new ones Go For It .. They probably are a sweet Handling Machine with More Power .. If Not Interested hang on to what you have like I'm doing .. Have no problem whatsoever finding any parts needed .. And at age 68 not too worried I ever will ..

 

No, I'm not looking for a date.
I'm sure it's been stated before, our demographic is dead and with it goes mass consumerism. Recently inhereted 3 grandfather clocks. I calle the clock shop that usually buys them and owner stated he's not buying anthing. Nothing is selling. Sears, KMart, gibson guitars. Go to a goodwill store or salvation army and you'll be seeing the masses who are donating items they can't sell. Look at the prices of musical instruments on craigslist. You can rarely get a call back.
Everyone is in massive debt, closing stores everywhere. Empty retail space is increasing dramatically all across the nation. The middle class in the u.s. is finished.

People are not buying cars but leasing their Bmw's, mercedes, and other expensive vehicles. Does the current demographic have even a 10% downpament for their motorcycle? highly doubtful.
Getting back to this 56 y.o. white male with paid off 2014 LR, I will never buy another motorcycle in this lifetime, probably not even if it were stolen. I just bought a 2016 leftover challenger that I'll be perfectly happy with if my bike is stolen or suffers a catastrophic failure.

 

Then why does HD think jacking up the price up another $1k and producing a bike that looks like it's competition that costs half as much is a good idea?

I keep hearing HD wants to get the "young buyers", but last time I checked, the young-bros are into Dyna's and Sports Bikes. Softtails are for old men in a midlife crisis that want to play pirate on the weekends.

The incremental performance increase over the past Dyna's is not going to let this bike compete with the performance metric bikes, it's still stupid expensive and the build quality continues to dwindle.

 

Lets try not to apply the poor financial decisions of the few to the nation as a whole. Go getters are gonna go get while bxtches, excuse makers, complainers, victims, and other folks like that just make due with their self-imposed situations. Anyone leasing anything and not receiving a car allowance or writing it off as a business expense made a poor decision based on short term priorities.

worth a read:
millionaire next door
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...aire_Next_Door

 

Just picked up an 05 super glide, and boy do I love this bike!!!! First bike in 18 years, wow, what a blast!!!

 

I was happy when the wide glide came back. I waited till 2015 to buy mine and never looked back. I have 30k miles on it and still love it like day one. I like that it's old school with new. I am sad to see it go but I believe it will make our DWGs more valuable. Just my two cents. Ride on.

 

Meh... I'm good. Like the saying goes "It's not what you have, it's what you do with it".

 

I'm really enjoying my '07 FXDC - my first Harley. Picked it up just a couple of months ago.

With that said, the visceral charms of the Dyna do come with some tradeoffs - barely adequate brakes, limp suspension in stock form and the "wobble" that is apparently inherent to the unique swingarm/drivetrain/frame arrangement. These things can be improved/minimized, but there is some real cost to do so.

For my riding style, the floaty suspension is my biggest concern, and I've already addressed the rear with a set of Progressive 430's which I'm very happy with. Still need to replace the fork springs with some Progressive heavy duty ones and some new fork oil. My bike does not have drain plugs on the fork sliders, which makes that job WAY harder than it needs to be, so I am procrastinating on that one.

I'll keep tinkering on my Dyna...trying to improve here and there. In the back of my mind, though, I'm thinking I like the look of the new Low Rider. I may take a look at one in the next few years.