Harley-Davidson 120 Long Ride Softail Dependability
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,395
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From: Utah
Harley-Davidson 120 Long Ride Softail Dependability
I have a low mileage 2021 SG. I am thinking about going on a trip to Milwakee to go to the Anniversary celebration plus it will finish off some of my remaining 48 states. I used to have a '14 Road King and had all of the bugs minimized and wouldn't have hesitated to make this 5500 mile trip on it. I am not sure I feel real good about doing this on my relatively new SG.
There is an HD "organized" ride that I can hook up with. I have never been on one of these trips and know nothing about them. Does anyone know if they have a follow up broken down bike service vehicle on these rides?
It will take considerably longer than I would take riding my myself and I probably need to do some seat work with a Gel insert. I also have no storage to speak of so it's going to be like returning to the '60s... except I can't just camp along the side of the road but hotels often have washers and dryers these days.
How does everyone feel about riding this era of softails long distance in terms of reliability?
Thanks in advance.
There is an HD "organized" ride that I can hook up with. I have never been on one of these trips and know nothing about them. Does anyone know if they have a follow up broken down bike service vehicle on these rides?
It will take considerably longer than I would take riding my myself and I probably need to do some seat work with a Gel insert. I also have no storage to speak of so it's going to be like returning to the '60s... except I can't just camp along the side of the road but hotels often have washers and dryers these days.
How does everyone feel about riding this era of softails long distance in terms of reliability?
Thanks in advance.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 9,583
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From: Long Island, New York
The issue is you and luggage, bike can go back and forth dozens of times before it will have any kind of issue. If my *** could take it, I would ride my 1991 Sportster there, stone cold reliable. Long highway miles. or nice backroads is what these bikes are made for, no worries.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 4,347
Likes: 3,392
From: Seattle
I wouldn't hesitate to ride cross country on my bike with one exception... Are my tires gonna last? My bike eats tires.
I think the M8 bikes are pretty reliable as long as you replace that compensator ramp with an aftermarket toolsteel/billet one.
I think the M8 bikes are pretty reliable as long as you replace that compensator ramp with an aftermarket toolsteel/billet one.
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Utah
Thanks for your comments everyone. What is the life of an M8 compensator? The one on my '14 RK quit on one of my long trips. I will do a bit of internet research... is that covered by HD on their 2 year warranty btw? I can replace mine myself before I go if need be... I have noticed that my tires have low life and they haven't been abused... but I doubt that FranBunnyFFXII falls into that group. The trip I'm planning is about 3800 mi.I always wondered how I would get ND 
HDF Community Team
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 4,347
Likes: 3,392
From: Seattle
Thanks for your comments everyone. What is the life of an M8 compensator? The one on my '14 RK quit on one of my long trips. I will do a bit of internet research... is that covered by HD on their 2 year warranty btw? I can replace mine myself before I go if need be... I have noticed that my tires have low life and they haven't been abused... but I doubt that FranBunnyFFXII falls into that group. The trip I'm planning is about 3800 mi.I always wondered how I would get ND
It's 400$ and 2~3 hours in the garage to replace.
Essentially the M8 compensator ramp piece is thinner than the twincam one that is a cast part, and if it has a manufacturing imperfection near one of the valleys, it will blow up under heavy load, or a missed shift, or something like that at some point, leaving you completely stranded and a bill or dealing with your bike being in the shop or both for the amount of time it takes for them to clean out and replace the entire ****ing primary drive.
There are numerous reports of this part blowing up here in the forums, and across harley communities and bike builders.
There's even one guy on youtube who's compensator ramp blew up in his essentially stock Fat Bob 114, twice.
TTS Performance noticed they were blowing up in bikes when they were developing their supercharger kit for the M8, and started making a replacement out of a billet steel.
There's a few options to replace it now but they're essentially all the same price.
Check FuelMoto USA, and then check your local dealer for the bolt kit. You'll need a breaker bar, a torque wrench that handles 200ft lbs, and a primary locking tool(which is a cheap thing you can get on amazon).
I replaced mine for piece of mine because I hammer on the throttle like a maniac, and I could never afford a major breakdown like that with my bike.
Last edited by FranBunnyFFXII; Jan 31, 2023 at 10:40 AM.
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Grand HDF Member
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From: Texas
As far as the Harley group ride, they had those during the 115th. I never do group rides, most of the reason I ride a motorcycle is to get away from people, but I looked at it, and it looked like they do 200 to 250 miles per day. It would take FOREVER. I did an average of about 500-600 miles per day. But if you like group rides, want to make new friends, want to stop at nearly every dealer along the way (and some of them put on quite a shindig during the 115th) and don't mind it taking 2-3 times longer to get there, then yeah, that's an option. As far as a support truck, I can't imagine why they would have something like that, these are machines built for the highways, not fragile little toys. If your bike's new/unfamiliar to you, bring a quart of oil along with you, and maybe a booster pack jumpstarter, and a tire repair kit. Ain't nothing else gonna go wrong, and if anything does go wrong, you've got 684 dealers so one will be relatively nearby. If your bike's new and you have the complimentary HOG membership then you should have free towing included, so ... nothing to worry about.
As for luggage, your Sport Glide has a lot more luggage space than I had. I have one of the Harley rolling bags with about 50-liter capacity, more than enough room for everything I needed. Bring nylon shirts and socks, they are vastly smaller than cotton and you end up able to bring many more days' worth than you would with cotton.
Last edited by FatBob2018; Jan 31, 2023 at 10:48 AM.
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Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 689
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From: Dayton OH
The Sport Glide is super smooth with good suspension and anti lock brakes. With proper windshield n lowers it makes a great solo tourer. 37k on mine its never missed a beat stage 3 build and it has been run hard many times. Have put on over 1,000 miles in one day with no major aches. Naturally that is a lot about seat feet and bars positioning. I did do a swap to a Saddleman gel seat and MoCo's T bars.
Last edited by VernDiesel; Jan 31, 2023 at 08:52 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 5,814
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From: Las Vegas
There have been cases of blown up compensator ramps, but it most certainly is not common. Don't even worry about it.
I bought my wife a 22 Heritage in January of 22. One year later she has put over 10k miles on it riding all over the west from top to bottom, border to border, with no issues.
Ride it with confidence, and have a great trip.
I bought my wife a 22 Heritage in January of 22. One year later she has put over 10k miles on it riding all over the west from top to bottom, border to border, with no issues.
Ride it with confidence, and have a great trip.