I should have kept my '02 Sportster 1200 Custom...

 

Harley's are the GREATEST bikes in the world!!!!!!

Unfortunately, they are not and never were the best, most reliable, or fastest.

Harley owners have always had the privilege of working on their bikes a lot.

We are have a closer relationship with our rides than those fools who bought cheaper, more reliable motorcycles.

Most of those guys would rather own a Harley (they think). All they get to do is ride, ride, ride. How boring that must be.

I love my 06 SG. I just wish it would love me back.

We need a section like "What fell off you Harley today", would make a good read.

Then we could mention what paint peeled off, what metal part cracked, what began vibrating, what bearing failed, what new noise developed, etc.

You just don't get to learn so much about another brand of bike, as a Harley. We should have to pay Harley for the educational experience.

I was talking to a mechanic at the local HD dealership about some maintenance issues, the short of it was he didn't own a Harley, has a Triump, because he likes to ride and said he couldn't afford to maintain an HD.

Anyway, I love my HD, and think I will never have anything else, inspite of the problems.

It is, after all, a HARLEY. I waited a long time to own one, and by the time the warranty is up I should have everthing fixed. LOL

DD

 

Just like with everything else, cars, trucks, guns, etc. you're gonna hear more bitching on the internet than anywhere else. A lot of people only come on here to either complain or find a solution to their problem. It makes it seem like the problem is bigger than it is. Everybody else is out riding.

 

The only thing I'd trade my Harley for is another Harley.
Not to say that I wouldn't mind a buell or bmw dual sport as well, but I love my bike.

It has had some issues, but not as many as any of my cages.

Special Ed,
If your bike is backfiring stock, then there is an issue.
If you modded it, well... you can't blame the moco for that one.


Remember that hundreds of thousands are made every year now. How many people complain here? 50? 100? pretty low representation considering people with issues seek out forums like this.

 

I'm with Craig. People are more inclined to gripe on the internet and less to praise. Harleys have no more problems than other bikes. Go to a Goldwing site. That's all they do is complain. It overheats, it surges, tires cup, frame weld cracks and on and on and on... All motorcycles have issues and recalls.

Harleys for the most part have high quality parts. Far more metal and better than the plastic crap that goes on a lot of Jap bikes.

Cars aren't perfect and neither are motorcycles. And Harleys are far better than ever in my opinion.

 

Agreed...and especially when a thread is started where someone asks about quality...well of course the folks that have had problems are going to speak up.

All I know is, since I started riding 9 or 10 years ago, all I ever heard was that Harleys are slow, unreliable and they leak. That's all I heard...literally. I think the term was "Hardly Ableson"
Truth is, that reputation has been following HD around since their AMF days..and if you talk to newbie riders who hang with nothing but guys who ride metrics or crotch rockets, they'll still say that.

I say, nonsense. I have an 06 and it's just as reliable as my Yamaha ever was. So the bottom line is, every single manufacturer of cars, trucks, boats, and motorcycles is going to have examples that come off the line with problems...if this wasn't the case, there would be no such thing as a lemon law.

I've talked to and ridden with enough folks now to know that these bikes are just as reliable as any on the market..and the only time that's at risk is when new technology is being implemented. In my case, HD found that there was a problem with the new trannies reading neutral, and going into gear by itself. Never happened to me...despite this, HD picked up my bike, repaired it...and dropped it back off. I'd like to see any other company in the market do that for a recall. I know for sure, the local Yamaha dealer wouldn't...I'd be surprised if Yamaha motor would even contact me if there was a problem to begin with, no less pick up, fix and deliver.

So, while I feel sorry for anyone who has been experiencing numerous problems..especially if it's a new ride... I don't believe for a second that you're issues are affecting the majority of owners. If they were, I think we'd hear a lot more about it...on more than just an internet message board.


Todd

 

I would love to see the metrics and supporting data on this topic that actually prove whether or not Harley's are less reliable than the other brands of bikes. It's my inclination that they are probably very equivelent to pretty much everything else out there. On first impression, they come across stronger and better made as they seem to use a lot less plastic parts and heavier gauge steels. My guess is a lot of the problems people are seeing are related to something they did or some of the modifications made to the bikes. This is an area where much of the mainstream auto industry does not have to deal with. Most people just don't mod out Cadillacs, Acura's, S10 picksups, etc so the problems arent there as much.... Us HOGS, buy a Harley and suddenly we wrote the book on bike mechanics. I've seen many more customized Harleys over the other bikes out there such as Victory, Honda, etc. Hell, the Victory custom catalog isn't even as big as the index in the Harley catalog. I know there were some problems with the 2006 model Dyna's but it was a brand new year for Harley and chances are, the quirks weren't totally worked out. HD needs to address that issue for their next line of bikes that changes and hopefully they did with the new 96 inchers. I know they got the 6 speed tranny's fixed as they protyped it on the 06 Dyna. The bottom line is, Harley is probably no different then the rest of the bike companies out there; only Harley does it with authentic style unlike the rest.....

 

WOW,THAT SURE MAKES ME FEEL GOOD, my 06 had a test trannie in it, now,they worked out in 07. this tickes me off.
but,this is why i do no heavy mods myself. fear of f'ing it up .

 

True I just want to bitch like everyone else.Truth be told my Suzukis been through 2 different intake configurations and two rejets before it finally quit popping on decel.....when I removed the CA smog crap.

 

i have rode a amf hd not real reliable in the 50k miles i had it then a 74 shovel same deal.then a evo with over 100k miles best bike out of the 4 hds i have owned the 06 falls inline with the 2 amf bikes.No reason to defend harley and there quality issues.They are takin a step backwards to amf days.