Cheap, it is a question of when do you stop spending money on a 23,000 dollar bike (tax, title, registration, and a few extras). I hear race tuner, I hear IED's, I hear MOCO building bikes that run to lean and to hot, I hear dyno testing, money money money. I wish I had considered the extra $3,000 it cost just to make this thing what everyone says it should be.

Question is do you really think MOCO has taken the approach that they are building bikes that will not last due to the heat and the metallurgy of their engines? The engine heat is hot but frankly it doesn't bother me. What does bother me is more and more money having to be spent on my 08 just to make it right. I have had people, mechanics, and self-proclaimed experts, tell me so much stuff I don't know what to believe. With the factory fuel mixture settings the engine will be hot but should be very capable with regular maintenance and synthetic oil changes to go 100,000 miles before anything major happens. Based on what I am reading that is (literally) hog wash right???

And no I am not smoking anything. I bought the 08 SG and stock it sounded like a Honda not that famous Harley Patented Sound, then the stealer said I needed to add the Rush 2.0 slip-ons, and then Later I needed to add the SE A/C and Stage One, so being the dumb *** that I am I did. Now it seems I have to go even farther and spend more money. When does this stop and what should I do next??

The fuel management system and the 4 hours of dyno have been quoted to me at a cost of $1000 bucks. I have read so many posts of people that have done this and still are not happy. It seems that a large majority of the mechanics at the stealers are just guessing on these dyno's so the results are mixed. Decil popping, yep I got that also. My plugs are white but not fowled. I checked the gap and it is still perfect after 8700 miles in three months of riding. I am getting 43mpg at 2300 rpm's at 70-75mph. I have had no overheating issues.

Sure I love the bike but when does the spending stop. So what is the answer, since I seem to be completely reengineering a very expensive bike? I am not bashing HD just tired of this loop of expensive hum bug.

I have been riding since I was seven years old. Raced motocross until I was 21. Rode jap street bikes for 20 years. The 78 HD was a pain in the butt but was not this expensive. I am 48 years old and have ridden hundreds of thousands of miles. I just want to ride my new HD and not worry about all of this stuff. So someone please carefully thank about my situation and then I will blindly follow your advice, or not.

 

Read less and ride more.

 

Amen to that
The bike doesnt "need" anything.

I "need" to put things on it.

 

performance mods??? i put wild pigs on mine . sounds good runs good. 189 bucks.then comfort/cosmetic mods "season to taste". 40k in 18 months. i ride it and it runs. its an agreement we made together. me and the bike.listen to others when i need the info, toss what ya cant use to the side.MO

 

I bought 2 used low milage ultras for much less then the cost of one new one. One only had 2182 miles, the other 12,000miles. Its a long story.

 

Speckfisher,
I'm sure some on this board will think I'm crazy, but I just bought an 07 Ultra with a dual runner S&S intake, an S&S ECM. and a set of Cobra 2 into 1 pipes and returned it to the stock configuration. With all the above parts, the bike averaged about 28 MPG and and like crap unless you wanted to run wide open. I talked to what I consider the best tuner in East TN about this setup and he recomended the change to stock to better suit my riding style! This is one time he was right on in his recomendation. The bike now runs like it should with ALL stock parts along with Harley's E series download, averageing 47 MPG the last 3 tanks of fuel. Yes it does run warmer, but no hotter than the 06 I traded in. In my opinion we all jump into changing things on the scoot without thinking it through sometimes, spending lots of money in the process, and wind up worse off for our efforts. I think that's why my bike's previous owner traded with less than 8K on the odometer. In a nutshell, we need to think our changes through, do lots of research on our mods before we spend our hard earned money, and then move forward with those changes IF they make sense.Not all mods we read about on this board are the right thing for everybody and their riding style. BTW, most of my riding is at a slower pace, mostly on old country backroads with little major highway miles. YOUR riding style and roads MAY be vastly different.

 

OK heres my 2 cents you really don't have to do any thing but put gas and oil in it.
If you look at it like a car
Remember when we were kids the 1st thing you did was buy glass packs or Hooker headers to get that rumble next was a Holley 4 barrel carb or 2 and a set of Center line rims with 70s on the front and 60s or 50s on the back. Just to start out its no different.
Or ask a BMW or Jag owner
They are high dollar cars that require ALOT of expensive maintaince and are always breaking down.
If you want a Honda Civic buy a Honda MC both dependable BUT if you want a Hot Rod that stand out in the crowd you have to pay the price and maybe spend a little more time wrenching.
That's why we call it a hobby!

 

You say you have to do this and you have to do that to this bike, well guess what ....... no you don't. You are doing this because you want to, no one is holding a gun to your head !! I have a friend with an 08 Ultra that has not added any chrome, exhaust etc. and he's just fine with that. Everyone does things to their bikes becuase they want them to look and sound a certain way. HD has been making these things for 105 years now and with proper maintenance they will probably run forever. ???? When you were racing motorcross did you ride a stock bike or did you make any mods to it ??? Think about what you are saying !!!

 

I have sunk a bunch of bucks in my bike too. The next one will remain fairly stock, as most of what you put in does not come back to you when you sell it.

 

I like the links where people say that Screaming Eagle items should come stock on a Harley.
They do. When you buy a Screaming Eagle.