I'm good with my current bike......

 

I"m going to a dealer Saturday to crunch the numbers of trading my 14 King with 40,000 miles in on a 18 Sport Glide. I love the King but the weight of it gives me problems when parking. I like the sporty look of the Glide and it comes with saddlebags that are much larger inside then they look, cruise, security, ABS and a small faring that will need a larger windshield. If the numbers don't come out to my liking I will give it a shot on the 19 models. I'm still concerned about the transmission oil transfer on the 18s and sumping. I'm not one to put things off waiting for the perfect time, sometimes the perfect time never comes.

 

perhaps you had too many cocktails when you wrote that fodder along with the video you displayed - first off cars in the 50`s,60`s & 70`s were built for head on crashes - thus the reason for DOT stepping in to dictate certain front & rear bumper designs. the newer cars are meant to "fold in" on them selves to absorb crash energy - however when hit head on they are TERRIBLE & are totaled immediately.

Paint would fade - BWahahaha dude you`re kidding me, so all the barn finds & you might want to check on line with some that were just found, I guess that paint on them that was original was just divine intervention huh? you mention cars from the 90`s..........most are rusted, wont pass an emission test & are parts donors for the cars of that era whom basically lived in someones garage, as well they don't compare monetarily to an older fully restored car, you might wanna watch some build shows & see what is "Being overhauled"

you can believe what you want as far as an Avenger causing damage - its almost laughable you think such, tell ya a quick story - I had a 76 F250 2 wheel drive - in 92 I was hit head on by a van, all was ok until I went to get out & was hit in the azz by some old lady who didn't see the accident of which I was part way out of the driver door - Now I'm effed up, But guess what.... I rebuilt that truck after buy back & for around 1k picked up some parts & drove that old bastard up until 98. Now try & do that with a newer vehicle.

Average age of cars on the road keeps getting older - your drinking you own bath water & I'm not sure what you did in it before consumption.

when a vehicle from 2000 makes it 2050 you let me know, I'm not saying new cars aren't good but don't think that old Iron wont last or take a beating, maybe your dads cougar should of been maintained better - which is what most did on the week end in those days (Because you could) - today you need a million dollars in tools just to perform basic maintenance - BTW. My uncle had a 56 Dodge pickup 3 speed non sync tranny - I learned to drive in that thing & I can tell you this as a 14 year old boy on the farm if that would have been a 2016 truck It would still be in the field dead as hell, I didn't know what I was doing drove that thing into & through more farm yard obstacles than I could fix after driving it & well golly gee - if ol Unc didn't have that truck until the early 80`s & was still road worthy & we live in PA were salt, potholes & road cones/barriers are a way of life.

I'm not putting down the new cars - but ill stick up for the old cars in many respects, not sure your age? but internet can do a lot of things, I lived it - perhaps you should of!

 

Ah, but we all like different features. Myself, I won't buy a bike with spokes. Too much time wasted in my youth tuning/tightening wires, and when I did actually bother cleaning them-more riding time wasted. Give me solid wheels and tubeless radials any day. Same thing with "what's the perfect foot position". I like pegs, and I want them in a more upright seating mid-position. I can put highway pegs up on the bars for cruising, but for aggressive/city riding I want pegs and I want 'em under me. I don't know or care if that puts me in the minority, and I imagine H-D knows based on sales but may not even care. Each to their own.

 

I personally really like the new Softails a lot. I think over time, once people get over the initial shock of the pretty dramatic change in them, they will be widely accepted as the best built Harley's in a generation at least.

I was kind of luke warm with the new Heritage... but this Sport Glide is a grand slam to me! The transmission oil transfer is largely considered related to the hydraulic clutch on the touring models, so hopefully it's a non-issue on the new Softails.

Best of luck, and don't forget to post pictures!

 

1) mono-shocks are good enough for pretty much every standard, sport, and race bike on the market and all of those handle eleventy-million times better than any Harley could hope to

2) these are almost entirely, 100% new bikes. What you think of the previous Softail is outdated.

Funny how everyone hates everything Harley makes yet they have the highest marketshare in this country by a mile.

 

I chickened out. I'm still not going to wait for a perfect time, but I still don't have any evidence if the M8 softails transfer our not. I'm looking, so far so good, need more time for guys to get some miles on them. I would like some good news on the sumping to before I let my great running King go. When dealers start to get Sport Glide in the dark red, and I love it, that could push me over the edge.

 

Being patient is the best thing right now - there are problems!!!! HD will sort them out in their own way - I imagine the after market will provide the best short term answer.

As with all past models at the start there were growing pains & we all managed to make it through, what is sad now is the in fighting of old vs new - its just sad that the softail lineup brings this out.

I don't get it - looks are subjective & personally I like the old & I like the new - BUT......... when problems are mentioned with the new bikes by someone that person all of a sudden is labeled a "troll, Never rode the new bike, doesn't know what their talking about" & much worse.

To us that own the old style softails - yes we realize the moco will move forward - yes technology will better certain characteristics & yes the Moco will advance to a point where others have been & gone from. to you that own the new bikes you must realize that you have bought a "NEW" bike & there will be valid problems that many of us have seen before & learned from it, as well today most don't want to give up accessories & pay more!!!!!

I know....."what did we give up" or the "I didn't want that anyway" - well like it or not the new bikes have a bigger "un proven mill" in them - they have less available luggage space, no sissy bar/back rest, fender tip marker lights are gone, they made the sumping list, the rear fender mud guard is ineffective to the point where they`re showing up in the shop with electrical corrosion issues & the fact that a member posted here about making a guard out of a Teflon cookie sheet to avoid such....really! C`mon.... but hey they handle real good & that new sumping motor is a power house!

BTW.... Call me a hater or a politically in correct @#$% but where I come from to pay more for that is just not in my vocabulary.

This is just the short list, we all knew what the issues were with the twinkies - now its a new start for the M8 owners - believe me many of us went through this many times & the point is by us "old" model lovers is were sick of it? paying more for less then having to modify the dam thing to fit our needs when the moco has been at it long enough to know what those needs are & could "taunt" that as an option at purchase time.

if you need the newest, shiniest then that's your choice - we all make those along the way - but don't bust someones ***** because they`ve walked the path you`re on right now more than once & know how the moco plays the game.............We`ve just chosen to sit back this time, watch others pay the piper & then when we feel the time has come to jump in with both feet - many will & still yet a few will not. BTW - No hate here, the M8 / softail line up will advance for the better (I know many think it already has - I hope your right) - right now most of us just don't agree with that - so we can all agree to disagree.

Anyway.......................Ride safe brothers & sisters, hope the holiday was a good one!

 

I have looked at the heritage and the sport glide. The dealer tried to get me to take the sport glide for a ride yesterday but I said no. I just can not see 20K out the door with tax and title for either bike when a road king is about the same. The seat on the heritage has lost a lot of the padding, the passenger pad is absolute crap on the 2018 compared to the 2017. The more I looked at the sport glide the less I liked the bags. Maybe if they were painted or hard leather they would look better but the molded "plastic" look just started looking cheap to me.....20K nah.

I could see myself buying a used 2018 heritage or sport glide in a few years after someone else pays the premium and loses it when they drive off the lot. For now I will just hold on to my 2013.

 

With me every day is a brand new day and today my answer is no. I like my old RKC better than anything that has come out of the Harley factory in years.