Guys like me that have been riding for 50+ years get very tired of this kind of attitude. I have probably ridden more types and brands of motorcycles than you have years riding.

Sucks when someone calls out your favorite brand for what it truly is. Harley's are fine bikes but so are many others. When a Harley is running right, it's a really nice machine. The problem isn't the bike itself as much as it's Moco. "hardheaded" seems to be conveying this in his post if you read it carefully. My buddies I have had these same talks more than once over the years so "hardheaded isn't alone.

No one spending the ransom that HD demands should have the overall problems they have and the problems are well known and documented.

Ini cam bearings: A well known weakness back in the EVO days and still being used today! Had Moco switched to the Torrington for a few bucks each, the issue would have dissapeared but that would mean a couple bucks off their thousands per bike. Inexcusable.

TC88's: Original cam tensioner system was and is probably one of the worst engineering designs to come down the pipeline and they continued using it for six years!!! This is the new millenium and this is what HD gives us for our thousands of dollars.

The newer hydraulic design is just a bandaid. You still have to open the cam chest at some point to inspect and they continued using it for 10 years!!! Something I will never have to do on my Road Star.

And the list could go on. Known problems tha Moco refuses to address and it's all for their bottom line and shareholders. At least the US auto industry woke up.

S&S and all the other aftermarket companies love Moco. Why wouldn't they? This cottage industry is making millions because of it.

As far as "enjoy your new Yamaha" goes, I am not a bike snob. Have owned several trouble free Yamahas and loved every one of them. I always have several bikes on hand to ride at any time including my Road King. My current Yamaha rides are a '09 Road Star with 8K on the clock that I just picked up and '08 Royal Star Venture I got with 5K on the clock, now 103K on it. Of all the bikes I have ever owned, the RS Venture is the finest riding bike I ever strapped a leg over. There is no other bike produced that I will consider for 2 up riding. Yeah, it's that nice. And I have ridden lots of bikes. I still had to change the oil, tires and batteries over the years though. Even had a flat rear tire one year. Can you believe it? (Still have to call Yamaha about that problem). $6,000.00 for a 5k mile bike with 7 years and 98K miles on the sweetest trouble free touring bike I ever experienced. Kind of justifies why Yamaha has been number one in consumer satisfaction and reliability.

Stop directing your attitude toward fellow riders and direct it towards Moco where it should belong. So, go ahead, tell people like "hardheaded", a hard core Harley guy, to stop complaining and go buy a Yamaha. You know maybe he will and he won't be sorry , but Harley will be. I know a lot of former Harley guys who have moved on because of their neglect.

 

Me 4......

 

At what point in time do U take responsibility of ownership? Ya stuff wears. Cheap parts are used but how much do they need to cover outside of warranty. If u don't like stuff breaking or wearing out stay home or get off. Also where do u source your parts? I buy gm stuff for my cages and hd for my bikes. I buy aftermarket comfort mods or cams but service parts always manufactured by hd. If you cheap out on replacements it must be ok for harley to as well.

 

I have been riding for over 61 years and rack up big miles. Had 32 various metrics until I was 65 when I got my first H-D and have had 30 since then.

It was not until I got the first Harley that I understood fit, finish and quality. I had an 04 Rune which Honda publicly announced that it was the tour de force to display their engineering and styling prowess. Got rid of it in one year. It was a dud.

All of the problems listed have been addressed. However the oil into the breather from engine blow by happens to be an EPA mandated requirement. Proper and knowingly filling the oil after changing mitigates the issue substantially.

In 400K miles with H-D's I have never had a transmission main bearing failure, a cam tensioner issue, compensator issue or even the oil dripping out of the breather or any of the other listed faults.

I have ridden them from Key West to the Arctic Circle, ocean to ocean a couple of times, 49 States and most of Canada. They got me home without issue every time. That beats my 40 years of experience with metrics.

Having said that I must reveal That last Wednesday when I started my ride to Vegas on a new Street Rod it had an electrical gremlin and the plugs would not fire.

Crap H-D quality! Anyone want to buy twenty two worthless H-Ds?

 

You're five, I'm six.

Me six

 

I love my HD..but I do agree that the current touring could be incredibly better with two simple changes that MoCo could easily do..

1. Use front fork cartridges - they already do for the limited low; adding this to the latest offerings would completely change the bike; they have already fixed the rear IMO with the new premium shocks; I did this on my 2016 and the difference is stunning

2. The stereo is terrible unless you do not plan on exceeding 50 mph; At highway speeds it is ridiculous on a 25K machine (don't lecture about riding is better without a radio, I dont always have it on; it comes on the bike, so it should be useable)

As fas as the other stuff, compensators, primary chain tensioners, lifters, cam chain tensioners, rocker ticking..crazy hot on my right leg...I accept that as living with the design and have taken steps to make it "better" for me.....maybe they will improve everything little by little; Seems that when they perfect the M8 design it will be awesome...see, better already...

They do make some progress over time, my 2016 RGU is a far better machine than my 2010 was..love them both...

Disclosure: I had a lifter and cam plate relief valve fail at 400 miles, warranty covered, I upgraded with SE parts, thing is awesome and getting better at 2200 miles..love this thing...

Ride Safe all!!!

 

Former Goldwing owner here. I've owned a number of different metric bikes over the past 40 years, including 3 Goldwings. They're great bikes, very dependable, but not without problems of their own. These days I'm on a 2011 Road Glide Ultra. It just turned 45k and has been faithful to a fault. It starts and runs every day and (so far) has had none of the problems you mentioned. In fact, it has yet to be in the shop for anything (I do my own maintenance) unlike my first Goldwing that was in the shop for a transmission issue (recall item) and a bad stator (recall item) within the first 40k miles. Yes, I know HD has their share of issues but I wouldn't even consider going back to Honda or Yamaha. My Road Glide is far and away the best motorcycle I've ever owned and if and when it does give me trouble I'll chalk it up to normal wear and tear and move on through life. For now though I would have no qualms about riding it cross country tomorrow if I could get the time off work.

 

Based on my observations, HD has, in many cases, improved parts when deficiencies are noted... but the deficiencies are always over-exaggerated on forums, vehicle type or brand doesn't really matter...

And based on the reports on forums of some of these recurring issues, I believe there is more operator error involved than most want to believe...

The down side to a public traded company is that the board of directors are mainly beholden to the stock holders... their jobs rely on profit margin.

Harley actually seems to pay attention to history and tradition more than any other public traded company I am aware of...

I have no doubt Harley engineers have the knowledge/ability and the will to make these bikes the envy of the world from an engineering stand point..... But the bean counters rule the roost when profit for stockholders is the bottom line...

I blame the majority of Harley's issues on that constant battle between engineers and bean counters.... doesn't excuse them, but puts them in perspective for me...

 

they already do 'command the market'.

 

Does one need to read all the forums to know of all these issues? Six Harleys between my wife and I, and we ride them. So far we replaced voltage regulator on my old 12 RG, and a bearing in the trans on her Heritage both warranty items.. Every other dollar spent was on maintenance, mods or bling (on her bikes).