I am amazed that people shell out a premium amount of money for what they believe is a sub par product and then pay the same manufacturer even more premium money to fix what they feel are problems.

PT Barnum was right.

HD got my premium $$ with the purchase of the bike. I am keeping it stock. So I will be finding out plus it will be tested as I ride often in very hot humid weather.

Side note. If 99% are spending extra cash to improve the bike by making it run cooler, why are they so against water cooling which would be a cheaper and more consistent solution to the "heat" problem?

 

An old wise man, who built bikes told me that outside the AC and exhaust, add a cam, maybe perform some head work, then leave it the hell alone!

 

If Harley wasn't concerned with the bottom dollar and the EPA was out of the picture they could make an awesome, well engineered bike.

 

--------
Funny and true for HD.

You could get all 3 by gettting a used sport bike like a Yamaha R-6.

 

No one said that they believe it's sub par, only that there's room for improvement over what the manufacturer releases in order to meet federal regulations.

Once it's out of their hands and into ours, most of us don't give a damn about those regulations!

 

Stock bikes suck!!!!

 

There's the best answer you can find here.

 

Um, you have a CVO. That bike isn't necessarily stock in case you didn't realize that.

I didn't modify/upgrade parts to make my bike run cooler. I did it so my bike can sound different and perform better. Running cooler is just a positive effect of the changes.

A stock engine might run cooler with a water cooler, but it will still run lean.

 

-------
Yeah I knew that. That's why I went for it. Still folks think I should still make more changes for improvement. I'm fine the way it is. I didn't want another project.

I am troubled by the thought that unless you modify your bike it will break down faster. After all HD commands a higher price point in the market. You would assume even with EPA requirements, any HD bike will be a great machine stock, that the designers, engineers and the extensive testing results would be used to make them the best in class.

Do Gold Wing owners have to mod thier bikes to make them last longer?

Modding to make your bike unique or a better performerer is great. Modding because the stock bike was designed poorly (i.e. won't last as long because it runs hotter or leaner) is just amazing to me. I guess I trust the passionate people that make these bikes want them to be the best. If that is not the case PT Barnum was right about me.

There has to be HD owners with stock bikes with high mileage on them that had no major repairs other than routine maintenance.

The question was "will it last longer if you leave it stock"? My sincere hope is that stock will last as long as any modded one because it was designed and built for the long haul.

 

Hope in one hand.....Harley engineers only get a fixed amount of money to develop parts (such as their six speed transmission back in 06) and with that they inevitably are going to have to cut corners like a mainshaft that has the first 4 gears as an integral part of the shaft bringing the weight up to a whopping 6.5 pounds. Do you know what happens to 6.5 pounds spinning at 2000+ rpms when it comes to a stop. We learned back in 03 that snap rings retaining door bearings will not stand up to the axial thrust of a helical cut gearset so we used a steel plate to retain them. What did Harley use, you guessed it snap rings. My 96 Fatboy is an awesome machine and will last a long time with out modifications, these new bikes blow dog. JMO