Only had the Ultra a few months - only put couple thousand miles on her - Still haven't bonded with this bike - Think I'll hit the road for 2 or 3 days - see if that helps?

I wonder when a young bright engineer graduates from college & goes to work for Harley if Harley has a program for these bright boy's & girl's - you know to get them to forget everything they have learned in engineering school that their mom & dad paid thousands of dollars for them to go to & learn. I would think Harley has to get them to think like Harley. Maybe they just go under their eyelids & cut a couple of nerves to the brain.

Yeah, I need to go for a ride but if this 900-pound piece of motorcycle history breaks down on me one time its history! It shouldn’t, only has 8,000 miles on it. Don't get me wrong, I like the bike - I have to, I bought it & still own it – I have to love it.

I changed the juice in the primary today - drained the oil - removed 4 screws from the derby cover - the 5th one - oh yeah - can't get to it because the passenger floor board is in the way - Op's not able to get to the hex bolt that holds the floor board & the bolt is froze in - so i removed the saddle bag - removed the side cover - had to remove the seat to get to the hose clamps that hold the heat shield in place on the exhaust - Hot damn - now i'm able to get to the hex bolt - won't budge - finally moved up to a 3' cheater bar - got the bolt to pop - all this just to get to one little screw on the derby cover so I can refill the oil – But the glass is half full – everything went back together well –

Now I got to go to the hardware store & buy some foam insulation to put inside my pods to keep the air vents open when going down the road – Those guy’s just want to close with speeds over 35MPH.

I’m thinking after I get the form in place it will be easier to bond. I looked for bonding in the manual but I couldn’t find anything – Couldn’t find anything in search here – but I never have had much luck with search anyway – I’ll shut up now & get back to my bonding.

 

I predict you will sell the Harley in the near future. That will be .02, please...

Ok, I see you have a couple of beemers...and the Harley. These are two very different animals. I won't try to characterize either. You can do that, yourself. But it's conceivable that someone who gravitates to one type, won't cotton to the other. Maybe that's the case for you. I've had bikes (a dual-sport being the most recent) that I just couldn't 'get into'. Maybe that's gonna be the story for you and your Harley. All a part of life and living, trying things out, making choices. Good luck...

BTW, that engraving you do is AMAZING.

Alan

 

Give it time lol Learn each other ...you have to give your bike a name for it to have any personality ... enjoy sitting on it and enjoy the ride! A bike is just like a woman in many ways.. all have quirks but are fun as hell to have !!!

Ride safe!

 

I have a 2012 Ultra, changed to derby cover with no issues. If you are down on the bike now you will never "bond" with it. All vehicles big and small have engineering issues. Doesn't matter what the make is. Look at the Goldwing, I have no idea how anyone can even get at the engine.

 

Well, you bought a BBW there,(big beautiful woman)... they aren't everones' cup of tea and though they may be fun to ride, it can still be embarrassing if your friends catch you doing it....


I prefer my crack ***** here:


By

 

When all else fails lower your standards!

 

From looking at your photos, you have or had all different kinds of bikes.
As you know by now...They all have their little problems and quirks.
I also have owned several metrics before this, my first HD brand bike.
Sure enough it has its own problems and quirks.

I have figured out...some brands have issues I can live with and some have some issues that do not suit me at all. Almost bought a new BWW GTL1600 before the 12 Limited last August. A few newly designed bike bugs pushed me away for now, I decided to let them work out some of the issues before I jumped into that.

It is a personal thing...you might bond with the bike or it may not ever suit your taste.
Good luck on whatever choice you make...

 

All day job just to replace the air filter. Owned one for 6 years.

 

You might be right - but I'm going to give it a little more time - I enjoyed the 3 Sportsters & 2 Heritage Harleys I had but they were just around town - I told my wife tonight I was going to head out for 2 or 3 days & see if i could find this soul you guys talk about - Right now I wish I hadn't spent the hours at the engraving bench on this bike - That's not going to a money maker - Who knows I might fall in love -

There was post about my 2 old airhead beemers - 1 is a 1979 the other is a 1980 - A guy in Portland gave "THE" BMW guy on the West Coast an open check book to do a frame off restore - Came in at 9 grand, but it's a brand new bike, now has about 9K miles on it - he was going to ride it to Alaska but he had the big one, so the trip never happened - My old r65 is a 1979 that has 65K on it - fresh top end at 64K - I would ride either bike any where without worry - anywhere - Billy Joel has over 60 fully restored bikes - all flavors but most all are vintage & his dailey rider is an old r65 like mine - just cool old bikes -

I hate losing money so I really do want to like this bike & I will if it doesn't break down on me - I'm just to old for that snit! So i'll get busy & figure out a route for my trip - i figure I'll get a list of Harley dealers in Northern California & work out a trip around them

 

I've had some issues with my bike but it's also the bike I've put the most amount of miles on, will I buy another one most likely not; I'll keep this one for 20 years, I kept my last two bikes for 20 years.

I have a friend and I told him do not buy a Harley he wouldn't be happy, I've never owned a bike with so many quirks, weird engine noises, things that fail that I've never seen on another bike, my buddy would hate owning a Harley and he agreeed (he's owned nothing but Japanese bikes for the last 15 years).

I think I've been impressed with mine because it's done better than I expected, I think of the bike as 1950's technology perfected. I never drank the kool aid and don't think a Harley is the best bike made, it does make me feel good to ride it and thats something the newer bikes just don't do for me.

If this bike started to leave me on the side of the road though I'd get rid of it quick if I couldn't resolve the problem, and if it was mutiple problems even quicker and it wouldn't be replaced with another Harley.