64 years old had a "few" Harleys in my life. Last fall took in a 2016 883 "Iron" I had bought new, to trade for something a little better on the "Open Road". Local riding the little "Olive Green" with the stage one was a awsome little bike. Dealer had a new 2018 "Street Bob" with the M8, After riding and REALLY going over it, I choose a new 1200 "Iron" (white). Right away I did the "Stage One" using all V&H "Stuff". Added ft DK custom ft rest and a few more tid-bits. I Know this bike aint a coast to coast tourer but at my age and finances I aint riding coast to coast to often anyway. I do all my own work, as I have a little auto repair shop to play in.I don't worry about any factory warranty as the 1200 is so simple I can keep it going for as long I will be riding. After reading and reading and talking with diff techs and M8 owners...….I don't feel so "Left-out" with my new bike, Sorry to say but the M8 had WAY to many serious and HIGH DOLLAR problems for this old boy.. Good Luck to ya that own one, But I am Happy with what I have! Regards "Big E"

 

thanks for the share, congrats and glad you are a happy camper..curious on your opinion of the Street Bob though, a bike I think is pretty cool, and being a Soft Tail is believed to be exempt from the "Sorry to say but the M8 had WAY to many serious and HIGH DOLLAR problems"..was it more fun, better ergonomics, etc than the Iron and you finalized your decision based on cost and perceived problems? or did the 1200 Sporty just feel better to you as well?

 

Ummmm....... Oh,,, never mind.

 

I really wanted to like the Street Bob. I rode it close to a hr. Ithad decent power & the 6 speed was cool It sure didn't sound like a Harley and the "look" just wasn't there for me. Im aware of all the mods than can be made.I have a couple friends that own the Street Bob and they are "ok" with them. Biggest turn-offs for me...…….The new engine is beyond me, in both money, the design and after reading & talkin with riders,the engine defects in general. I like to do my own work, mods etc. Myself & I would think a lot of ppl like to change out things, as that's part of the "experience". I also want my Harley to sound like a Harley! Way I understand it is now, if you even put on a set of "Slip-Ons". a little "Plug & play" tuner, you void the BullS.HIT warranty and are flat out screwed? As much as a new BIG bike cost, I would be afraid to make it sound like a Harley. My bike..."out the door", with extended "Warranty", maintence "package" tax lic etc was 10500 dollar. I aint worried to much about warranty as I do my own work, and the 1200 is pretty darn simple, I feel I can handle anything, except if the ecm was to go out, the maintence I do anyway. In other words... I can be kinda "self suffiecent" with the Iron, the M8.....NO WAY. I hope the best for the M8 owners. All you got to do is read here and see with going on with the M8, I sure cant or don't wanna deal with the problems going on with them. I know the biking scene has changed, I guess I cant change with it.

 

therein lies a problem...if you base your perception on all that's going on with the M8 from what you read here....skewed misperceptions not taking into consideration the vast majority of owners out there enjoying and loving their M8s...you made the right choice for you ...but they ain't all the ticking time bombs you falsely 'perceive' them to be, not even close.now go ride, enjoy and be safe out there!

 

Well I do hope to ride it, about 8000-10000 miles a year. The 1200 are pretty much "bullet proof", with any common sense , they are like a timex, they just keep on a ticking. I hope to ride mine for 10 years with nothing "to major" happing. Wonder how many M8s will do it? I don't know if they are a "ticking time bomb" or not. Ask the people that have their problems with them? You have one? Have any major engine problems? Heads redone , sumping etc?

 

I just simply took exception to your statement "All you got to do is read here and see with going on with the M8" because that is not true

yeah, wife and I have close to 60,000 miles combined on our 8 / 2016 early adopter 107s...had some issues covered under warranty and never once been left stranded or ruined a trip because of them..no sumping...and know many many people we ride with over the years that own M8s and we take trips together, same story..they don't read the forums and if you mentioned the word sumping they would think you were talking about a septic tank failure or something...ironically on our Glacier trip a couple years ago with a couple friends, it was the lone Rushmore that had a failure that needed to be taken in to a dealership to diagnose an ignition failure, our 3 M8s just performed flawlessly on the that trip...gotta' try and keep proper perspective by not basing opinions solely on reading internet reported problems, be it car, boat, lawnmowers, etc

 

I have had a few problems with mine but I think if you spend too much time reading this forum you will believe they are not good engines, and even if you have one worrying that you bought a dud. The only Harley you can get now without the m8 is the sportster or a liquid cooled if you want new so sounds like there was only one choice. I bought my bike based on wanting to be more comfortable touring and two up riding and I like Harley's, switched from a dyna. I'm sure I can get the Harley sound later but doesn't bother me too much. I didn't buy the maintenance package and also like to do my own work because it didn't seem like you get anything other than inspections and oil changes.

 

Ernie, congrats on your new bike. Tho, I'm afraid you may have missed out based on bad info. The softail M8s are pretty much immune to the two biggest problems, which are overblown in my opinion. They have no trans fluid migration problems due to a different clutch actuator. They also have a different case design so sumping seems to have been a non-issue as well; I have yet to hear of any comfirmed case.

Anyway, enjoy your new bike.

 

I’m still not “getting” the OP’s “need” to “post” a “thread” basically saying “I bought a sportster because I’m “scared” of the M8’s “problems”.” - On a M8 forum...

I did enjoy his prolific use of quotation marks though.

To me, this is nothing more then an attempt to inflame the local M8 crowd... Probably better suited to the sportster forum. But I’m an intolerant ***, so maybe that’s just my interpretation...

I never had a sporty, so I cannot compare against them, but I absolutely love both my M8 powered bikes. Best Harley’s I’ve ever owned. For a while I was on the fence about my upgrade of my Dyna Low Rider S to my Softail Low Rider 114, but that was during the winter months when I was riding the King more. Now that I’ve been able to ride the LR more, I think it’s the best cruiser I’ve ridden. I like it better then my FXR.