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Hi to you all from the UK,
My husband has a problem which I hope some of you can help him with.
He is in the process of buying a softail deluxe, meanwhile he is also in the process of taking his motorcycle license, whilst speaking to the instructor and fellow riders about his choice of motorcycle their opinion once they found out was that he would be making a massive mistake. They all reckon that Harleys are unreliable and are only bought for their appearance and status. As you can imagine, this has left him with a huge headache and at £14,000 it is a headache we can't afford. So, we would appreciate any advice from Harley/ Softail users as to the reliability and handling of this motorcycle, hope to hear from you soon and we will be very greatful for any advice you can offer as I know anything you guys say we can believe as opposed to the so-called advice from a dealer who tell us anything just to get our money.
Many Thanks to you all.
Helen - as your instincts are telling you, they are feeding your husband a line of B.S. New Harleys are quite reliable and very well-made. That's one of the reasons for H-D's big resurgence.
As for the status, sounds like the pinheads in his class are just jealous.
Go with the Harley - although expensive, he'll kick himself in the azz afterwards if he doesn't get it, wondering if he made the wrong decision.
I have an 03 FXSTBI Night Train with 20,000 miles on it and an 03 FLSTCI Heritage Softail with 7500 miles. Neither one has ever had an issue mechanically. I just keep changing the oil every 2500 miles.
As with anything, if you treat it like *****, that's what you end up with. I've had five Harleys. Never had a problem with any of them.
Many thanks geezer glider for your advice,his fellow riders etc are all coming out with their stories of buying jap bikes,about how reliable they are and how they bought them for a tenth of the cost second-hand etc, and looking at him like he's a dumbass or got more money than sense, as he is not technically minded and this is his first bike even though its his dream bike ,faced with such opposition its undrestandable given cost etc that he was little worried,but thanks to the input from you and other member we feel a whole lot better, also thats a very handsome bike you have,cheers.
This a tipical issue around HD bikes I´m from Portugal and all people said that HD sucks and bla bla bla, I have two HD´s and I don´t have any problem with any of the bikes. My only problem is people saying the HD doesn´t worth the money, another myth around HD bikes, like oil liking... bla bla bla
I've ridden many makes over the years, including Harleys, Hondas, Ducatis, BMWs. The brand giving me the best reliablity has been Harley.
Just took the Honda in for a fried stator. The BMW last month lost its rear lights and the whole unit needed replacement. The Harley keeps working and I need to start finding an excuse to go see the dealer because the thing keeps working!
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