Shopping new bike- Pros/Cons?
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 842
Likes: 64
From: N. CA & East TN
I would take the 2018's, I traded a 2009 night train and 2013 glide, this 2017 is the best Harley I have ever owned. I have had an issue with the oil pump and a set of bad lifters when I did the stage 3, I still would not change it, I am totally in love with the bike with its motor suspension and all new Rushmore stuff. This motor is amazingly smooth on the road
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,118
Likes: 11,163
From: San Diego, CA
I heard the 2018 frame rumor the same time/source I heard the specifics about the "new engine for 2017" rumor.... it was about 4 months before the announcement of the M8. The rumor was that all touring and Dyna bikes will share the same sub-frame. Makes sense from both a manufacturing and profit perspective...
Can't say I agree..... a new motor is much more complex to design, test, and manufacture than a frame.
With a motor you have to worry about the human factor during assembly, the QC factor of non Harley parts/sub systems (like the vendor who didn't clean the new oil pumps properly causing some manufacturing debris to affect some new pumps), etc, etc, etc....
Comparatively, a frame is very simple.... The design is critical but can be done totally by CAD computer. The welding is by robots/computer (far easier to program consistency in a robot than a human assembly line) and inspected by experienced welders.....
I've been riding HD bikes exclusively since the '70s.... It may have happened, but I'm unaware of a recurring frame issue in all those years...
First I heard of a frame change. I am sure folks can point out many shortcomings of a Harley frame, but I went over it carefully. The welds, location of the welds and the reinforcing plates seemed very carefully done. I would be way more concerned about changing the frame vs. the motor. But maybe that is just me.
With a motor you have to worry about the human factor during assembly, the QC factor of non Harley parts/sub systems (like the vendor who didn't clean the new oil pumps properly causing some manufacturing debris to affect some new pumps), etc, etc, etc....
Comparatively, a frame is very simple.... The design is critical but can be done totally by CAD computer. The welding is by robots/computer (far easier to program consistency in a robot than a human assembly line) and inspected by experienced welders.....
I've been riding HD bikes exclusively since the '70s.... It may have happened, but I'm unaware of a recurring frame issue in all those years...
Last edited by hattitude; Nov 17, 2016 at 08:58 PM.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,106
Likes: 51,387
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Not a rumor the moco's going to commonize the frames between platforms starting with 2018 models, only the softail will be different.
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