The new Harleys are way too expensive for my budget.

 

My 1984 FXRS. The first Evo powered FXR with a manufacture date of August 1983...one of the very first Evos off the line and she has sand-casted heads to boot! (Google it).

I've enjoyed reading this entire thread, and it's interesting to me that even though this thread started in 2012, nothing's really changed with the advent of the M8. I currently own and ride a '20 FLTRK and a '22 PAS, as well as my '84 FXR. I LOVE Harley but I hate the corporate BS. The new CEO is making some questionable decisions that only time will tell if he's right. Until then, keep riding and wrenching, and buy American as much as you're able to.

Keep the shiny side up!
​​​​

 

^^^ interesting on the sand cast heads, didn't know that.

Copied from Cycle World Magazine web site...

Evo Timeline.

1983 (some sources on the web say 84, I don't know the exact year)
To avoid betting the farm on Evo, the shovel was kept in production for a time. Early Evolution heads were sand-cast in alloy 242 (the same used for the heads of wartime aircraft engines). This material, containing copper, nickel, and magnesium, forms hard intermetallic compounds as it cools and ages, giving it outstanding hot strength.

1984 Sales are 38,741—up 31 percent. Last solid-mounted Shovel engines leave the line June this year. 1340cc Evolution engine in five models is 20 pounds lighter than previous.

1985 Final drives are all tooth belt now. At mid-year, the interim use of sand-cast cylinder heads gave way to die-casting.

1986 New intake and exhaust systems focus on reduced noise (crossover pipe in exhaust, for instance). Connecting-rod big-end roller cages had been aluminum but were now switched to M-section plated steel cages. Cycle magazine dynos a Softail’s Evo engine, reading 56 hp at 5000 rpm, peak torque of 69 lb.-ft. at 3000. Bear in mind that to riders, torque is not a number but rather a feeling. A “torquey” engine is one that pulls equally strongly at almost any rpm—it is not peaky. Peak torque is torque measured at its highest point, but to be torquey an engine has to have high torque everywhere.

1987 Harley issues initial public offering of stock. Keihin 38mm carburetor. New cams with 24 percent less intake duration, 28 percent less exhaust duration, and 14 percent less lift. The cooler-running Evo engine was thought able to tolerate more compression and was given 8.5:1 by 1987. Now there is no problem with running same ignition timing on front and rear cylinders (As noted by Vincent designer Phil Irving in his autobiography, the rear cylinder of an air-cooled V-twin runs hotter than the front. To prevent it from detonating it was common to retard the timing of the rear cylinder). As measured by sparkplug washer thermocouple, an Evo engine runs 75 degrees F cooler than a shovel under the same conditions.

1988 Keihin 38mm butterfly carb continues, as does 8.5:1 compression. Oil capacity is 3 quarts. Dyno output is 55 hp, 69.4 lb.-ft. of torque at 3000 rpm, new 32 amp alternator.

An early VR1000 (Harley’s Superbike racer) design incorporates a gerotor oil pump on the crank, eliminating bearings, a shaft, and drive gears. “Gerotor” stands for “generated rotor,” consisting of two gear-like members—an outer one with inward-facing “teeth” (more like bumps, actually) and an off-center inner rotor that drives it by complementary outward-facing “teeth.” Crank mounting didn’t work on the VR because its high rpm caused pump cavitation. But the concept was remembered later for the P-22 (Twin-Cam) project.

1989 New 1.6-hp starter, new case, for quicker hot-starting. Electronic cruise control introduced. Carburetor is now Keihin CV (constant vacuum type), slips into rubber manifold rather than old two-bolt mounting.

1990 New clutch, 40mm Keihin.

1993 Harley-Davidson production this year is 85,000 units.

1995 Fuel injection becomes an option. Marelli EFI available 1995-2001. Carburetor alternative was Keihin CVK40. A carburetor is a passive fuel system—running rich in warm weather and leaner in cooler weather. EFI continually automatically readjusts fuel mixture in response to rising or falling barometer and temperature—just like a trackside race tuner does, using boxes of jets and needles.

1999... next

 

Another significant EVO big twin change in 1998 is that the spring plate (AKA grenade plate) in the clutch was replaced by a judder spinng, this was good to learn when I bought my '98 recently.
FWIW all 5 speed Sportsters (except the XR1200) 1991-2022 have a spring plate, I replaced mine with a judder spring setup from a XR1200/Buell XB, this also requires 2 additional steel plates.
I emailed HD's customer suggestion address about this and no reply of course...

 

I'm old & cranky, I hate the world, sort of
A bike to me has always been 2nd transportation, I wanted reliable, since my cars were older I had to work on them
66 Mustang, 55 Plymouth, 68 something race car setup lol owned for a summer, 67 Buick LeSabre convertible, then finally a newer 78 Monte Carlo 5.0
Bikes I went Jap, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki. Many were new or low miles & at a decent price
Never had a garage or place to store a bike, finally have a garage

 

Do I hate HD the company? Hell of a question.
I live in the past. And my interpretation of HD the company is based upon my sketchy imagination of what the company was in the past. By the "past" I mean the 30s through the 90s. And my interpretation is not based upon facts, research, or truth, but rather, on the impressions of a kid.

When I was a kid, the men who rode Harleys were hard-luck fellows. The bikes were old, oily, and dusty, held together enough to run the country dirt roads to get to work. I do not remember these bikes being of any color, just mostly dirt and oil. This was not a "lifestyle" for these guys. It was necessity until they could save up enough money to buy an old car that they could fix up to get back and forth to work. A car was their dream, not a motorcycle. A motorcycle was the epitome of poverty.

This started to form my first imagination of what HD the company might be. A company, somewhere far away, that made old claptrap motorcycles.

Later, whenever I was a young teenager, my attention was occasionally drawn to a 50s era Harley blasting down the highway near my small country hometown. This would be a shiny, chrome clad motorcycle. Sometimes the bike was red, sometimes blue, sometimes black. These interludes lasted all of 10 seconds at the most. Maybe once a year, twice at the most. But that few seconds created a lifetime of impression upon me. Here was a great motorcycle. A 74 cu in motor was what I was told by my brother.
Who were these guys on the motorcycles? Nobody from around my hometown that was for sure. Most likely military guys from Ft. Sill. several miles away. And most likely loners. There was never a passenger riding with them. Seemed like a very lonely way to spend your life, buzzing around, alone, on a motorcycle. But, man, the rumble of that Harley as it approached and passed by.

That was an addition to my interpretation of HD the company. A small, inconsequential company, somewhere far away that made beautiful, powerful machines that shook the earth. This motorcycle was the very definition of what a real motorcycle was. It was not a scooter, not a moped, not a small foreign "want to be". What a fantastic motorcycle company Harley-Davidson must be! The Rolls Royce of motorcycles.

But they leaked oil, I was told.

Then came the 90s! Harley-Davidson became mainstream. They were an important part of the economy. They solved the motor problems and oil leaks that had plagued them for decades. They were manufacturing for the moment and the bikes were being bought by middleclass folks. Men with wives were riding big ole Harleys. The HD company made some beautiful motorcycles with chrome and mechanical advances.

This created my impression of HD company as a major manufacturer of quality motorcycles unequaled in the world.

I own a Harley from the end of the EVO era. I love this motorcycle for what it is.

In my opinion, the MoCo has strayed from producing the beautiful motorcycles of the past. And I wish them well with a prosperous future. I do not agree with what they are doing but in order for my infatuation with the Harley-Davidson as a company to stay strong, I believe that the Motor Company must stay in business. What keeps my Electra Glide Ultra Classic beautiful is the fact that they still produce top of the line touring motorcycles with which to compare mine, in addition to comparing to those models of the past.
If the HD company were to dwindle and die on the vine, the interest and attraction to old HD motorcycles will cease. Then a Harley-Davidson motorcycle would become an archaic thing of the past and nobody would ever ride a Harley-Davidson. You would only see one in an old timers' day parade on the 4th of July.

So, you gotta love Harley-Davidson Motor Cycle Company.

 

I don't hate H-D. I hate monetary inflation. I hate government agencies that continually tighten standards and increase requirements that force prices up and up, requiring more and more complexity. I hate electronic hoodoo that forces the owner into the dealer for repairs or tuning that, for all of previous history, could be handled by a shade tree mechanic. It's modern times, government tyranny and a crap economy I hate.
Harley is in a tough spot. They're trying to keep a tradition alive in the face of a changing, non-traditional customer base.

 

I’ve had a few new HDs, first new one was my 86 super glide after my perfect 81 superglide was stolen. As the years go by I see the dealers go from a motorcycle shop to a tourist attraction that sells motorcycles on the side. There is a few left but in SE Iowa they are getting bought out by a big family corporate group that wants to sell you the experience of what ever. I enjoy asking the young arrogant, ignorant sales punks questions about the engine issues with the current models. Hey did the cable operated clutch fix the transferring problem, does the new oil pump fix the sumping issues. Lots of questions of technical matters that they are totally out of touch with, these sales people don’t know a pushrod from a compensator sprocket. I love the looks of the new bikes but never will they get my money again. Too many low mileage used machines for a decent price. And my 97 FXWG is a fantastic machine.

 

Oh yeah? i see you just bought a new bike, and crowed how they treated you like family.

Interesting.

 

I wouldn't say I hate Harley but I have been discontented with the company since the late 80's. However that doesn't stop me from going to the stealership on Saturdays for free coffee and doughnuts, free soda and hotdogs or taking test rides on motorcycles that I would never buy just to get the free t-shirts, coffee mugs or whatever they give out for doing so. Then the free items usually get put out on the table at the swap meet! Please don't think of me as hypocritical. Think of me more as entrepreneurial!