How concerned should I be about not being able to get a part for an older bike? Not talking shovel or Evo, but 15-20 year old TC.

Say you have an 09 or 10. What if the ecu gives out, or other electronics. Not worried too much about mechanical stuff, but the electronics could be an issue it seems. Interested in others thoughts.

 

It's a real concern, and a real problem. Not insurmountable, as aftermarket and used can be obtained. But it can be a headache. As more time goes by, it will become increasingly problematic.

 

Unless you actually have a bad part, don't sweat it.
However, I do know how frustrating it can be to look for a part and not being able to find it. My bike is a 2009, the word obsolete is popping up way too often lately.

 

Plenty of stuff out there new and gently used to get you going again.

 

Thanks. I know these threads pop up time to time. Appreciate any perspective I can get.

 

Twinkie stuff is all over FB marketplace, ebay and craigslist every day. Stock goods are cheap. What you won't find is the huge aftermarket support structure for them, like you have for the evos an older machines.

On a last note, you see none of the black box type electronics for any of them, which worries me even with my M8. Factory proprietary is what I'm seeing. Watched gents hunting for parts for the early EFI systems on the twin cams without much luck years ago. I do believe the Twin cams and currently the M8's is harley edging hard into the designed lifetime game.

 

Same issue for older cars. If a computer module goes out, most are scrapped because the module is more than 2/3rds of the value of the vehicle.

 

Or more likely just simply no longer available.

 

It is getting pretty bad! I have a few employees with F150s that are "only" 10-13 years old, the EcoBoost models from '09, '11, etc., that are by now some pretty high mileage trucks.

They are running into obsolete components, or parts that are $3-4K.

Just crazy to think about for an F150 that is not that old, relatively speaking.

 

is it excessively expensive or hard to take a 15 year old tc and convert to carb from fi?