If you could tell Harley engineers to fix something what would it be?
#171
07-19-2010, 11:04 AM
#172
07-19-2010, 04:29 PM
#175
09-06-2010, 07:07 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Western South Dakota
Posts: 55,909
Received 75,509 Likes
on
22,673 Posts
#176
09-06-2010, 07:42 AM
Road Master
Hey man this is probably one of the finest threads I've ever read! Here's my suggestions to the "tech" wizards who don't ride but think they've got any business being in R & D:
1. Figure something out to replace those pathetic saddle bag springs that break religiously every six months.
2. Go back to one turn signal button to activate both turn signals like the old Honda's used to have.
3. Find a clear coat that won't scratch when you look at it! And while you're at it, get a better scheme for the inner fairing paint---two years in the sun and it looks like it's been on there for 10 years!
4. Give me a rear touring tire that goes more than 10K! I don't ride these things up and down my driveway...I go cross country.
5. 10-4 on the inner fairing brackets...make 'em so they don't break at 5K miles
6. Put on a stock center stand so we don't have to spend $250 on an after market one.
I'm sure there's more, but I'm wearing myself out. Don't get me wrong, my Electraglides have consistently been the most comfortable touring rides I've ever been on and I've been at this for over 40 years. I love my Harleys...I just ain't in love with the upkeep that suggests I'm hard on these bikes when I'm not!
1. Figure something out to replace those pathetic saddle bag springs that break religiously every six months.
2. Go back to one turn signal button to activate both turn signals like the old Honda's used to have.
3. Find a clear coat that won't scratch when you look at it! And while you're at it, get a better scheme for the inner fairing paint---two years in the sun and it looks like it's been on there for 10 years!
4. Give me a rear touring tire that goes more than 10K! I don't ride these things up and down my driveway...I go cross country.
5. 10-4 on the inner fairing brackets...make 'em so they don't break at 5K miles
6. Put on a stock center stand so we don't have to spend $250 on an after market one.
I'm sure there's more, but I'm wearing myself out. Don't get me wrong, my Electraglides have consistently been the most comfortable touring rides I've ever been on and I've been at this for over 40 years. I love my Harleys...I just ain't in love with the upkeep that suggests I'm hard on these bikes when I'm not!
#178
09-06-2010, 09:13 AM
You Mean There are Problems with These Harleys?
No way!
Most of the stuff I've read here amounts to nitpicking. For example, valve noise. No sheet, Mon. Es un Harley, Hombre.
You can upgrade your way out of desert heat via fuel tuning, etc., but you should have an oil cooler standard on the bike when it's oil and air cooled.
Not everyone's compensator and/or cranks twist and shout, but the SE compensator should be standard issue by now. And under no circumstances should any crank twist. Ever. The weakest part of a Harley engine (yet should be the stoutest) resides in the utmost remote recesses, the bowels of the engine (and I mean that with the implied connotation) where it costs mega-labor just get to it to fix it. That means Torrington Case, pegging and tig welding, along with Timken Bearing assembled by human hands come standard so cranks and their bearings don't fail--That's right, top-shelf parts and attention to detail are needed here. This is the one aspect of manufacture that if performed diligently spares service departments the necessity to tear down an entire engine, which consumes 20-25 hours labor? Honestly, how much longer and how much more does it cost to make a bullet-proof crank at the factory with nice balanced flywheels with zero run out?
25 hours and fifteen to twenty-five hundred bucks gets you peace of mind when you want to go 103", let alone gear-driven cams nowadays?
John
Most of the stuff I've read here amounts to nitpicking. For example, valve noise. No sheet, Mon. Es un Harley, Hombre.
You can upgrade your way out of desert heat via fuel tuning, etc., but you should have an oil cooler standard on the bike when it's oil and air cooled.
Not everyone's compensator and/or cranks twist and shout, but the SE compensator should be standard issue by now. And under no circumstances should any crank twist. Ever. The weakest part of a Harley engine (yet should be the stoutest) resides in the utmost remote recesses, the bowels of the engine (and I mean that with the implied connotation) where it costs mega-labor just get to it to fix it. That means Torrington Case, pegging and tig welding, along with Timken Bearing assembled by human hands come standard so cranks and their bearings don't fail--That's right, top-shelf parts and attention to detail are needed here. This is the one aspect of manufacture that if performed diligently spares service departments the necessity to tear down an entire engine, which consumes 20-25 hours labor? Honestly, how much longer and how much more does it cost to make a bullet-proof crank at the factory with nice balanced flywheels with zero run out?
25 hours and fifteen to twenty-five hundred bucks gets you peace of mind when you want to go 103", let alone gear-driven cams nowadays?
John
#179
09-06-2010, 09:19 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Western South Dakota
Posts: 55,909
Received 75,509 Likes
on
22,673 Posts
No way!
Most of the stuff I've read here amounts to nitpicking. For example, valve noise. No sheet, Mon. Es un Harley, Hombre.
You can upgrade your way out of desert heat via fuel tuning, etc., but you should have an oil cooler standard on the bike when it's oil and air cooled.
John
Most of the stuff I've read here amounts to nitpicking. For example, valve noise. No sheet, Mon. Es un Harley, Hombre.
You can upgrade your way out of desert heat via fuel tuning, etc., but you should have an oil cooler standard on the bike when it's oil and air cooled.
John
