So the OP comes here claiming he is doing RESEARCH to decide whether to buy a Harley or not. He wants to ask all of us Harleyolics if we like them or not, or if they are reliable or not, etc. However in his systematic process he manages to come here and practically insult everyone for owning or even wanting a Harley. Bullshit.

To the OP, ask your questions all you want. Just dont compose every question with an insult or some slam on Harleys.

You know what? Why dont you just go haunt some other forum with your inane banter and bullshit claims of superiority of metrics.

To everyone else, please do what I am going to do and that is IGNORE this thread and dont feed the Troll anymore. JHC! Do we have to let this idiot continue to waste our time?????

 

I hear you. My kid had an HHR with 15K on itr for about 6 months and gave it up. Shifter had to be replaced, Moon roof wind shade busted, Lost of electrical issues here and there. COOL car and nice hobby car but very cheaply made..Always something.

 

Not asking you! or the Harleyholics. You are not ALL harleyholics just becasue you ride the brand. I am asking those who are not sucked into the Heritage and tradition and can look at the bike and company with clearer eye and open minds and still like their bikes but will leave the brand in a minute. Not those who would not be caught dead on a metric. They are too deep to be real bastions of honest information


I will slam Harleys as I see fit. Like Stiggy and a few other who own them. If you don't like it pound sand or find another sandbox rah rah thread to extol the joys of ownership.

Your last sentence...LIVE BY IT. I would PREFER to hear from those who are truthful and know the bikes and their fallacies and what HD did in what years to make them better or yeah worse.

 

My experience with GM has been exactly the same (I've owned a few). They may start/run 99+% of the time but there's always SOMETHING breaking/malfunctioning. I currently own 2 Saturn's (pre GM-ruination) and that's as close to GM as I ever care to get again. My last GM "jewl" cost me about a $5000 loss because it was falling apart faster than I could sell it. I was happy to be rid of it though and the Jeep I replaced it with was one of the most reliable vehicles I've ever owned.

Anyways, I'm done de-railing this thread with my GM rants.

 

It's kinda funny, or just my luck I guess. I've had the opposite experience. Owned GM for years and my only complaint was the loss in value. I tend to get bored with vehicles and change every 4-5 years and seemed to always lose on the value game (except for our Duramax), but I never once had a big problem in 16 years of GM, not counting regular consumables light bulbs/brakes/tires(mostly Chevy trucks, but a total of 9 vehicles). I take that back, I did have one battery leak and make a mess on me. But that was an Interstate.

Anyway, for our next vehicles we decided that even though we loved our Chevy's and never had a big problem we were tired of the public perception/devaluation game so we bought Toyota. Nothing wrong with one yet, other than the mpg isn't as good as we hoped (it's a '12) but I have had 4 problems with my Tacoma that I chalk up to poor quality or the use of poor quality components. And one that can only be attributed to a manufacturing mistake.

So I guess my point is, GM, as with Harley, as with Toyota, YMMV. I've been lucky I guess.

 

First, I hope you are not as angry in real life as you come across on the forum. I do understand that people tend to jump all over those that disagree with them online like this, so I get it.

BMW and Ducati, I believe you mentioned them earlier in this fun filled thread, have both had their dependability issues. My brothers own them, I have worked on them. My experience is all the major brands are about the same as far as annoying issues that don't seem to get corrected as quickly as they should. Heck, all cars seem to have annoying little issues as well. From time to time one of these issues tends to be large, like the brake issues with Toyota. I have an f150 with a 5.4, those motors had cam phaser issues that resulted in a knock. It happened for a couple of years, Ford was aware but would not fix it because it would not impact performance until well after 100,000. Also, they had a bad batch of injectors, they would stick open. They would not replace them unless or until they stuck open, which might cause issues...like badly damaged engines. I had both issues, I had to replace my engine at 110,000. I was not thrilled about dropping the money on the crate engine or spending the better part of three days putting the motor in, but I understand that is just the way things are now.

Anyway, this was my rather long winded way of saying all manufacturers have issues, and they all seem to handle them the same way. That is, ignore them if they are not safety related and will not impact the vehicle inside of the standard warranty. I do not believe HD is any different and they certainly are not perfect. I will not buy a new vehicle (truck or motorcycle) ever again. I will keep what I have until the parts are unavailable and I can't keep them on the road.

Edit: I almost forgot, my most reliable "vehicle" is a 1952 Ferguson TO30 tractor. Probably because I have replaced just about every part on it myself, though I will admit vehicles were built to a higher quality back then.

 

To OP....Of course ALL manufacturers have issues, but the simple fact is the people on this forum ride Harley's, not Honda's, Victory's, or any other Spaceship. And I would never ride anything BUT a Harley. The point I am trying to make is, if u wanna throw dirt on the bar and shield and talk all your trash about the bikes that WE ride, go do it on another forum, or in the checkout line at Wal Mart, or at Chuckee Cheese. I don't think it's gonna work for you around here.

 

My inquiries are not directed at you or those who reflect your proclamation. I am not crapping all over this forum this is MY thread and the TITLE explains it all.

I would think those who cannot deal with that should pass and allow me to seek the information I came for in my quest to find the best year model for the bike i want..and what to look for within those model years and wonder why people don't scream out loud about some of the things HD is doing as a "premium motorcycle" All manufacturers have issue to DIFFERENT DEGREES. That is what sets perception of reliability apart. You may go now.

 

Nope my anger is specific like anyone else.

My brother has two Ducatis and yes they have had some issues but they do not have a long term public reputation for such. When someone asks Joe blow on the street what is the least reliable motorcycle what do you think they say? Ducati? BMW? Honda? Yamaha? Harley? PLUS Ducatis are leading edge technological motorcycles as are BMWs so I would expect some issues. I would expect far less problems from a 110 year old basic design..ya think?
You would think they would have got it right by now.

 

Let me know how YOUR thread works out for you and your big decision chief