older as in been ridin since the 60s-70s.

i would ask my Dad who rode back in the day but has now passed on. What do you think of the newer H-D bikes of the last 20 or so years? Of course the older bikes ,Knuckle,Pan Shovels are different animals but just curious as to what the elder riders think about this.

 

Been riding since the 60's. Not real impressed with the new bikes. Too many bells and whistles. They look great in the showroom but so many stories about problems and not much help from dealers. I am seriously looking to upgrade the Road King but not sure if I want new.

 

I think that the new-er bikes ride much better and are way safe-er w/or w/out ABS.
The brakes sucked *** real bad for a start on the old bikes.
Kick starts sucked.
A lot say no soul on the new bikes.
I say AMF.

 

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Rode dirt bikes and hill climbers in the 60's, road bikes in the 70's and still am riding . The old bikes were fun but not as safe or reliable. The engineering was not all that great but we sure did love to ride even back then.
I love the sound of an old knuckle or pan but carry your wrenches, locktight and rags, you would/will need them...

 

to me the comparison from new to old is the new works good and is way more comfortable when it works,when it breaks its to the dealer to hook it up to a reader to diagnose what happened,then if the reader shows nothing they just throw parts at it



the old bikes were crude evil bastards when they wanted to be----------but they were so simple you could all ways find a spark plug or set of points to get them going.but you would kick them until your ***** sweat if something wasnt right

 

I've been riding since '68 and owned a mix of British, American, European and Japanese bikes. In my opinion the newer bikes are hands down better machines from metallurgy to electronics to handling and braking. That said there's nothing wrong with older bikes and some of my most fun times were on AMF Shovels and '70's BMW's. New bikes tend to be plug and play turn keys while older bikes need a little more attention to details but as long as you set them up correctly they run just fine.

The biggest difference is in tires and braking, tubeless radials work better in rain and cornering and the availability of ABS makes a huge difference.

 

Both of these old fellers are now telling the truth.
I might add that the chains/sprockets sucked too.
What I probably miss the most is the old style dealers. Today they stock bling & clothes but usually need to order common parts. Like most modern "mechanics", they can replace a unit but cannot repair one. And they don't have a pile of good used parts in a corner.

 

Been riding since the mid-sixties. There has been a continuous improvement in the last 20 years, which includes, EFI, ABS, stronger engines but run hotter due to EPA which of course can be cured with FM systems.
Styling in some years has not been that great IMO, but hey, they're Harleys & are all great bikes!

 

I don't miss drum brakes or adjusting points.

On newer Harleys, I like electric starters, EFI, disk brakes, tubeless tires, belt drive, turn signals, cruise control.