Not for a second....

I wanted to get an M8 when I first heard the rumors about it... I started saving..

The M8 came out and the issues started... The issues didn't bother me. originally, as much as the MoCo 3 year search for a band-aide rather than an absolute fix..

With the money I was going to spend on the M8, I bought a used 2016 Rushmore Ultra Classic, and recently put a 124" crate engine in it... saved money over what it would have cost me for an M8 and I'm very happy with my choice....

 

I have absolutely no intention of doing any more R&D for Harley Davidson. Ever.

That said, I love my HD motorcycles.

 

I ordered a new '13 RGC as soon as they were available, got it in early November of 2012. Loved that bike! Did stage 2 & some comfort mods and I was very happy. Then HD came out with all the Rushmore changes for the '14 models. In 2017 I was still happy with my '13 but really wanted the infotainment and other Rushmore upgrades. But the M8 issues on the 2017 models gave me pause.... I started looking for lightly used 2016 models as I wanted the 103 motor. So, the 2018 models came out in August of 2017, and while there are lots of folks happy with their 2017 M8 motor--there are those who are NOT happy and have had serious problems. Add in the "new attitude" HD had with regard to voiding your 2017 & up warranty for a lot of mods and I was still looking for a 2016 garage queen. Finally found a mint garage queen 2016 RGU with 9,xxx miles and lots of mods and I bought it. And I'm so happy I did as I still read about unresolved M8 motor issues.

 

Not sure I under the question. Who would be pressuring you?

I have more close riding buddies with not only pre-M8's but pre-Rushmores. They are all very happy and content riding what they have and most are stock bikes with 103's and 96's.

Ride what you want and what makes you happy!

 

My 88 is great, what more do I really need it hauls me and my wife anywhere I want to go. Never have had to have the latest. Will never buy anything brand new again. If I did get a bike would be late model twin cam.

 

I still love my "really old" 08! I have modded this to my liking and given our riding season is so short in Maine I find it hard to spend the money on the latest and greatest.

I took the money I may have spent on a newer bike and bought a 01 Corvette to play around with.

 

For all the time that you have had the 12 I am surprised you are questioning keeping it. Surely there have been times where it has been down for a spell and you were without a way to ride? That is the biggest reason that I keep 2 bikes. Oh, and like you, mine is only worth to me and not what it would be to someone else.

 

I have occasionally ogled and drooled over the '18, '19' and '20 RG / RGU....
But in the long run, my '08 with 105k miles still puts a smile on my face....
I will keep this bike until I can no longer ride....

 

I have purchased many new vehicles over the years, but I have never seriously thought of buying a new motorcycle.

My first motorcycle was a basket case Trail 90 that I still fondly remember rebuilding and riding around town.
I rode metrics for a few years, good deals on used bikes I came across. For a few years in the mid-70s, I was hanging around with a few hard-core bikers and I admired their ability to modify and keep their old panheads running. I heard the stories about how sailors and jarheads could get an old post war Indian or Harley knuck or pan pulled from the Philippine jungles, have it loaded on their ship, and either restore it or chop it when they got it back stateside. I know first-hand of several sailors who did this, and one in particular who restored an old post war Indian Chief that won some best in show competitions. There was even a story in Easy Rider in 1979 about locating such a junk yard way back in the barrios in Olongapo City. That article made made the rounds so me and a friend spent several days following the clues in the article and hitting the bars and talking to the girls (that's why it took several days ) before we found it, a butt load of Indians in various conditions lying around and a few old Harleys, mostly in boxes. My friend paid something like $250 for an old knuckle head engine and trans in a box and we carried it back to the ship. I drooled over all the Indians laying around in the weeds but I was broke and there was not enough time to get one delivered and stowed.

What was the point of this story? I am like a lot of bikers in that I like to ride as much as I like to wrench. When I retired a couple of years ago, I waffled on getting a new one or finding another junk yard project. I have the funds to do either but I just kept thinking about all those old post-war Indians and Harley Davidson bikes rusting away in that jungle 40 years ago and how bad I wanted to restore and ride a piece of history and that is the direction I chose.

Maybe I will get a new one someday or just restore another one. IDK, that is then. What I do know now is that I made the right choice for me and have thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience of finding and restoring and riding my small piece of Harley Davidson history.

 

I feel the same way. Way over priced, and that's not what's holding me back, it's after three-four years there still not getting it right !!! I'm not buying a bike to have it in the shop most of the time.