Before you buy a Harley

I was going thru my favorites and found this there,not sure where I got it from.

Before you jump on bashing the author read the article. He's not bashing HD mean spiritedly and he makes in my opinion valid observations. As a die hard lifetime HD guy and till the end I see some validity to some things he points out. I believe there are some redeeming tips in this article that will help a HD owner avoid future mechanical failure:

Before You Buy Harley

No machine is bullet proof. If you think thats so you're no better then an ostrich living with his head in the ground. Even the 2 wheeled wonder Goldwing. Their frame production line problems, flaws and weaknesses were conveniently buried in the blur of their relocation from Ohio back to Japan and missed a year or 2 of production in the process. BMW's with there little advertised 50,000 mile drive shaft mechanical failure is more often learned the hard way. At least with this Harley tell all..its an honest disertation with solutions provided. Doesn't make me dislike HD any less.

I been a HD guy since the late Panhead years(meaning I was buying the older used Pans in the late '70's not new in the 60's)and have seen this little train that could company chug a lug thru recessions,depressions,ownership issues, economic doomsdays and still they are the standard. The suzuki blvd looks like a Vrod. The Honda Rebel a Sportster. The Kawasaki Vulcan a Road King. Often imitated the HD motorcycle is never duplicated! Rolling works of art with no more mechanical achilles tendon then any other motorcyle company. HD is number one. Its lonely at the top..don't hate the player,hate the game,lol!

I wasn't adressing you personally just your statement. No offense meant.

Back in 2007/2008 or so I toyed with the idea of possibly considering purchasing a Gold Wing. While a HD guy I'm at the age where its all about the long distance touring not the cash grabbing group grope rallys(been to one you been to them all). I sound like I'm knocking the rallies but I encourage any new and young riders to embrace the rallies while you're curious about them and get it out of your system early so you can quickly gravitate to the more enjoyable aspect of owning a motorcycle...seeing the country. And the GW has been rated the #1 touring for 15-18+ years. I'd be bucking tradition for me but I did research the bike(why not?). I actually went down to the local Honda dealership where they were only willing to let me sit on it and not test ride...GW option aborted and that was the end of that. Who spends 25000$ w/out at least a test ride....not me,lol. When the economy took a dump shortly aftewards that shop was gone..that was shocking as it'd been there forever..Lebanon Motor Toys. My GW aspirations and curiosities are gone for good. At 56 I have perhaps one more bike left in me and I won't gamble on a GW with that last choice. When I get older I'll down size the Ultra to that awsome Fat Boy Low.

Yep, I owned my share of Japanese bikes too. 76 Honda 750, 78 'Wing, 78 Hinda 650, 81 suzuki GS1100EX and 81 Honda CB900F SS all were very reliable bikes. I love my Harley and I'd hate to have to part with it. But truth be known, being on a very limited budget, it worries me due to the issues Harley's have to look forward to. If I were able to pack the wife on and ride back n forth cross country (our plans until wife's health issues got in the way) I would have a hard time choosing between another 'Wing and a Harley. I'd have to go with the wife's opinion on her comfort and I think she would choose the 'Wing. However, that day will never come for us. So, I stay wid da harley.

Yep some valid points...but a lot of fear mongering IMHO....spring loaded tensioners definitely troublesome...hydraulic tensioners are a huge upgrade...but with every moving part you're going to get wear..50-70,000 miles is like every 5-7 years for a lot of riders even longer for some...the silly putty cranks are a problem...IF you build a big inch high torque engine,or lock up your rear wheel without pulling the clutch in could shift the crank,not will but could....
Change all 3 oils every 2500 miles??? what a waste!!! I do the engine every 3000 with fossil,the primary every 10,000 and the tranny every 20,000 miles...

This sounds the same as the Victory guy that says you have to check the oil in a Harley every time you fill the fuel tank....

Sounds like this guy bought a lemon Harley...Every Make and model of every type of motor vehicle has some lemons...and he is tarring them all with the same brush....

I read this and I thought that it was poorly written. A lot of poor grammar, misspelled words and repeated points like the defective crank. He mentioned it like 4 times. For me, owning a Harley is a disease, I just cannot leave my bike alone. I have purchased my first twin cam and I have just over 10,000 miles on it and I have done basically nothing to it. (56k on the bike. 10k of those by me).

He raises good points about when an engine gets hopped up. It seems that most people forget that hopping up an engine puts additional stresses on moving parts. People forget to address other areas. Read WWW.HarleyTechTalk.org once and read the stuff that they are doing to their bikes and the power they are making.It is just insane. And they are doing it with an old, outdated and inferior engine design.. This author wasn't very fair either in the sense that he failed to mention that MoCo figured out a way to address the heat issue to a degree. I forget the precise name of it but it shuts the rear cylinder down when a certain temp is reached. Someone will correct me on this I am sure but if I am not mistaken, that systems becomes inoperative once an aftermarket fuel controller has been installed. (ThunderMax, FuelMoto, etc.).

Just a thought, but do you think that it occurs to the author that most of the fun of owning a Harley is changing and upgrading it? At least it is for me to a point. Other than a small handful of riders, at least that I can think of, none of them leave their bikes alone. to me it sounds like he was one to leave his bike stock, which is cool, just saying....

Thanks for sharing this BadInfluencce63..... I will be increasing my CI displacement possibly over the winter. No need for me to go to the gear drives as I already have them. My transmission has been upgraded with a helical cut 5th gear. I have cams in it, but I think the wrong ones for the current displacement. The big issue that he mentioned with the 88 is that the oil pressure drops to almost 0 when at idle, that may be true, but there is a very inexpensive fix for that. That upgrade costs like $14 and is easy to install. I know, I just did it. Again, just saying...

+1

Me too. And that is what it seems I got whn I purchased my 2012 Ultra. Not messing with anything.Stock exhaust,seat,handle bars,,etc.. for now. Oh I did put a shorter windshield on so I can see over it in the rain. And I may add that Garmin Zumo 665 with the integrated harness.

Only read parts of the article, The dude is a IDIOT. He has what he sees is wrong with a Harley Davidson.
I do not agree with him.

And a Gear Drive is NOT the way to go. They are not the answer to everything.

If you sit down and read a factory manual. It has check periods on what to check when.
It says to check the cam chain tensoners at 25,000 miles.
It ain't that hard to even replace them. If I checked them, they are gonna get replaced.

Know plenty of folks who has a 06 bike, They replaced the tensioners at 25,000 miles or went with the new Hydraulic cam chain tensioner. It came with a new upgraded oil pump which was a very good thing to do to your bike. The whole kit was great improvments.
On the 07 and up hydraylic cam chain tensioner if you replace it at 25,000 miles. It has polished the chains up and you can run it for many thousands of more miles.
And just cause it rubs the tensiorers. THAT is what they was designed to do.
The hydraulic tensioners has no where the amount of tension that the spring loaded tensioners did before 07.
If you worked on cars years ago, they had the same boot tensioners on the cam chains on them too. Motorcycles and boats are about 10-15 yrs behind automobiles.

If I remember correctly in 07 or about that time HD started pressing flywheels together. If you was going fast and slammed the brakes super hard the flywheels could slip.
In the newer bikes HD has allowed for more tolerances, so the runout on the pinion shaft is greater. Even if you go gear drive and the flywheels slip a little, it will eat the gears up.
As where on the Hydraulic setup they are more forgiving.
ON the newer models I think it started in like 2010, HD started increasing the pressure to press the flywheels together.
I have had 2 07 bikes. Put 50,000 on the WG that I had built, I run it as hard as you could run a bike. It was a 103 that the redline was 6100 rpm. I run it up to 140 mph on a couple occasions.
I would run it up to 103 in 3rd gear.
The bike gave me no problmes.
Had a 08 model I build the engine to a 103, I did everything I could to tear up the bike running it hard. I wanted to see it took to tear it up.
It took a lot and the flywheel didn't slip or the cam tensioners didn't tear up.
I traded it in at 50,000 miles.
What you need to learn on all the HD bikes Is to chain the oil and filters.
And do proper maintenance on it or have it done.
Get a manual and learn when to do what.
If you take care of your HD and change the tensioners at the 1st 25-30,000 miles, you can run them up to 100,000 miles without much worry .
One big thing is to change your lubricants regularly.
If you can't do your own maintenance, I would suggest to buy a extended warranty and leave your bike stock.

And for high speed wobble. Got a buddy that got hurt in one. He depended on HD to take care of the problem.
I would of checked out a lot of things or traded the bike in.
Would of had the dealer to check the neck bearings and the fall away and the alignment, and the front and rear motor mounts and would of checked the air pressure and I wouldn't have any spoke wheels.
Would of checked the *****h bolts and all on the fork tubes .
There is something causing the bike to do a wobble.
Some of it might be the person that put the bike together.

The newer bikes starting in 09 has tires that will go more miles before wearing out.
The brakes will last longer and stop better.
The throttle by wire is good, it is easier to work on too.
The new multi mount stabilers system for the motor is better.
The 6 speed is a lot better for running on top end.
Everything that 1st come out had its bugs. But it took time to make them better.


I have owned and rode Honda's back in the 60's. Rode all kinds of dirt bikes,
And I owned HD's back in the early 70's.
Owned panheads, shovel heads and twin cams.
All of them have had certain problmes. You learn what they are when to check them and do maintenance on them.
HD is not the only bikes on the road that has problems .
But they are the Heavy bikes that ride on the road good.
I wouldn't be scared to buy a HD and ride across the country at any time.

If you want a Goldwing, go buy one.
When I started riding a Harley back in the early 70's. It wasn't cause of a fad.
Its cause I rode a buddy's bike and that is the feel and the sound and what I liked.
I have been on and off one every since.

Well put Man!!

Yes well put BUT, how much cash does all those "fixes" cost?????
'Wings get gas, oil, tires, brakes, air filter, occaisional coolant flush and nothing else for many tens of thousands of miles. I love Harleys but I ain't got a bankroll for "upgrading" all that you mentioned. Just saying...

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

At a Dealership here, they got a HD dealership, Victory dealership, and a Honda dealership on the same block.
The salesman work at one dealership or the other two.
They showed me and told me about the problems the Honda goldwings have.
He talked about a lot of them running hot and electrical problems.
No motorcycle made don't have problems.
You buy what you like and take care of it. If it breaks down you got to pay for it.

I don't know how reliable the Wings are now..the old ones were ok but I've heard some people having some problems with them. I don't think the Harleys are terribly bad. Once I get the new one running a little cooler, I don't expect to be doing a lot to it. As far as the cam chain tensioners go I guess you can consider them a wear item and budget for it and as cardboard had pointed out, once you clean up the side plates on the chain[taking the sharp edges off them] your next set of tensioners should last a very long time. The rest of it should be ok. Keep the fluids fresh and clean, don't go too crazy with the performance upgrades and they should be fine. I like the fact that they are relatively easy to work on as opposed to a Wing

You know you see some short folks, you see some Old folks, People are build different. Folks have to find what bike fits them. Met a Old man in his 70's today riding a new 750 Honda He was happy to be riding. He said he simply couldn't handle the weight of the Harley anymore.
He said he even got a BMW and it was too heavy.
Some of the medications that he doctors gives the old folks effects their muscles and their strength too.

The author gives a good heads up what to look for if your a HD owner and only a fool would ignore the courtesy heads up. Not sure how old the article is or if it takes into consideration the recent improvements.

It has been a trial an error transition for the MOCO starting with the '99 tolerance issues. There has been more and will be more as the MOCO continues to compete with the other companies. There's already is a patten for water cooled big twins:

Harley Davidson Water Cooled Heads Patent