Sorry you are so unhappy with your new purchase. You should have test road it with your wife before buying. How tall is your wife? The passenger footboards can be adjusted. If that does't work, You can find a set of Kuryakyn passenger pegs that flip forward for her comfort. I personnally disagree with about everything you said. I've had an 09 EGC, an 08 Ultra Classic and now a 2010 Road King. My wife and I rode two up on the 08 and 09. She's 5.6 and never complained about the passenger footboards or heat unless we were stuck in traffic. As for the shocks, I've never found a problem with the touring shocks. I did change the oil to 10 wt in my RK. IMO, I think HD did a pretty good job building these touring bikes. Maybe Harley just isn't for you. Sounds like you like the metrics better. JMO

 

Welcome to the life of Harley. Nothing stock is remotely comfortable and the stock motor is leaned out so far for emissions. You definately have to rent/try before you buy. If you go through the forums, more folks have replaced seats, headers, mufflers, fuel management systems, shocks, etc, etc than the folks who run stock. That is the beauty of Harley, you can dress them up different ways and have fun wrenching on them. I knew that the dealership was outrageous for service before I even bought my first Harley.

 

Harley will never admit to the heat issues...nor will they admit to bearing, stator, compensator, and the other issues posted in this thread.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...t-repairs.html

 

Is that a Vulcan touring bike?

Did it run as hot as your HD in the summer?

 

I forgot to mention this in my previous post... my wife is 5'2" and she also has complained about the stock saddlebag guards hurting the backs of her legs on my new RKC.

We're still shopping around for a new seat (a must for my back and she'd like a wider seat on the back) and so I'll wait to do anything about the bag guards until I know if she still has the problem with the new seat.

For the record, most people HATE the stock Harley seats and swap them out, although there are a few who actually like them.

One last thing, my wife had an '09 Heritage Softail. Due to her challenge in height, we had the bike lowered with a Ness kit ($60 bucks) and put a Heritage Sundowner seat on it along with adjusting the stock bars back just a tad and the bike was perfect for her. No additional modifications needed.

So there are people that can get off cheap (so to speak).

 

Not sure I follow this. Kawasaki & Suzuki dealers do service work for free? Or was it that you did your own service on the Yamazuki's?

 

Well said, Chunker.

 

Test rides were basically out of the question given that I purchased it Dec 2010 and would not have proved anything given the cold weather (Chicago). I rode it home (and back to the dealer twice) in 20 degree weather. And on those shorter rides the wife did not notice the guard and heat issues. Her legs were probably frozen. Unless there is salt or ice, we ride. The EGC was actually very comfortable down to the low 20s with the cloth crashbar lowers (which I remove when the temps hit 50 degrees).

And the bike is a gas to ride, especially solo. Better than I could have ever imagined (minus the rear shock). And perhaps the hot day comment is correct. My beemer RT100 did not run this hot and my feet were basically under the cylinders. But the RT is a much more open design than a Gold Wing or EG, so perhaps I am dreaming thinking that other touring bikes manage heat better--that comment made me feel better!

And we did meet an (older) couple at the Grand Canyon on an 88CI Ultra that made the ride from Maryland to Arizona in 6 days and loved every minute of it, even with the prospect of making the return trip. In the middle of summer.

Jack

 

For the record, my girl friend is very comfortable on the back of the EG on the Mustang Low-down seat and I did know that I would be spending money and making changes to the bike before I bought it. Perhaps one of the hardest things I had to get over before buying this bike was the HD cult mentality. I don't buy that part, don't hang around the dealer unless it's for another part, am not a bill board for any company, and don't feel any bond to any riding group. Inspite of what I considered some of the negative implications and attitudes to owning a HD, I did it anyway. Why, because I can and wanted to. Other manufacturers make good bike too, some better, some not. HD has a lot of desireable features or I would not be an owner. I hope that they way it's set up now suits be and likely my attitude will improve.

Foot note, it's sitting in the garage in pieces waiting on a clutch cable so maybe later in the week I will feel better.

 

It is a Kawasaki Nomad with an HD tourpak. No, absolutely no heat came off the engine. But it is liquid cooled and is a bit more open (no fairing), no lowers. At stops or in bumper to bumper traffic the fan would come on, but it never got hot.

The wife liked the comfort level, especially after I installed the Tourpak. The wife actually fell asleep on it several times. If it had more power and a batwing or similar fairing (protection, not looks), I would have kept it. But it is underpowered for two up riding. Also, its low speed manuvering like in parking lots is not even in the ball park of the EGC. Harley really got the steering right on later model FLHs.

JackL