Not at ease when on long trips. Please help
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,630
Likes: 185
From: Mountain West, Big Sky Country
Was out riding my 04 today with over 180k. Never worry about breaking down even with that mileage. Why, it part of the process.
Op, my advice, ride the damn thing, quit worrying. I like riding a thousand miles at a stretch and being stranded is part of the experience. If you don't have it in you to be stuck in bumf#! $Egypt on a Sunday night knowing you have to be at work at 7am on Monday and your two days away from home perhaps you should sell the bike and take up golf or some **** like that.
Any mechanical device will break if not maintained. So learn about the bike so you can address the minor issues that occur. These will usually keep you safe from most delays.
Op, my advice, ride the damn thing, quit worrying. I like riding a thousand miles at a stretch and being stranded is part of the experience. If you don't have it in you to be stuck in bumf#! $Egypt on a Sunday night knowing you have to be at work at 7am on Monday and your two days away from home perhaps you should sell the bike and take up golf or some **** like that.
Any mechanical device will break if not maintained. So learn about the bike so you can address the minor issues that occur. These will usually keep you safe from most delays.
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 615
Likes: 36
From: tx
Was out riding my 04 today with over 180k. Never worry about breaking down even with that mileage. Why, it part of the process.
Op, my advice, ride the damn thing, quit worrying. I like riding a thousand miles at a stretch and being stranded is part of the experience. If you don't have it in you to be stuck in bumf#! $Egypt on a Sunday night knowing you have to be at work at 7am on Monday and your two days away from home perhaps you should sell the bike and take up golf or some **** like that.
Any mechanical device will break if not maintained. So learn about the bike so you can address the minor issues that occur. These will usually keep you safe from most delays.
Op, my advice, ride the damn thing, quit worrying. I like riding a thousand miles at a stretch and being stranded is part of the experience. If you don't have it in you to be stuck in bumf#! $Egypt on a Sunday night knowing you have to be at work at 7am on Monday and your two days away from home perhaps you should sell the bike and take up golf or some **** like that.
Any mechanical device will break if not maintained. So learn about the bike so you can address the minor issues that occur. These will usually keep you safe from most delays.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,228
Likes: 34
From: Wisconsin
I ride with enough tools to reattach most things that can fall off, and AAA RV towing. One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that on a Harley if you put you helmet on the ground next to the bike within 10 minutes someone in a pickup is going to stop and ask if you need help. The last time was waiting for a tow I had more than half a dozen people stop and most came back later to check on me. I wasn't on an interstate, I was in BFE Missouri at a place that used to have a name.
Another good example was west bound on I40 just inside Oklahoma my road King went into limp mode. I made off to the right side and limped down the road to a spot with cell service. I found out what limp mode was from this forum, looked up again how to pull the codes and found out I needed to clean the contacts going into the throttle body. I used a hot can of Pepsi, which got me to the next autozone and found some contact cleaner and dielectric grease. HDForum rules.
Bottom line, if you are riding cross-country in the US your best support across the board is going to be for HD.
Another good example was west bound on I40 just inside Oklahoma my road King went into limp mode. I made off to the right side and limped down the road to a spot with cell service. I found out what limp mode was from this forum, looked up again how to pull the codes and found out I needed to clean the contacts going into the throttle body. I used a hot can of Pepsi, which got me to the next autozone and found some contact cleaner and dielectric grease. HDForum rules.
Bottom line, if you are riding cross-country in the US your best support across the board is going to be for HD.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,630
Likes: 185
From: Mountain West, Big Sky Country
Work sucks, let's ride!!!
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,903
Likes: 1,122
From: 48.067222,12.863611
I understand the feeling; my 2003 with 100K on the clock just killed me last year. Too many issues to trust. I kept the bike and bought a 2015 SGS. 13,000 miles in 4 months. No issues. But, time will tell. Some issue are to be expected, but I don't want to be breaking down in the middle of BFE for a while after what I went thru last year.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 5,072
Likes: 104
From: Prescott, AZ
USN 4 years then FIrefighter for 35 years - retired in 08, Now They Pay me NOT to come to work,,,
Put 80K on my 04, sold it last month... since may of 08 made 4 trips Calif to East coast and back, ONE breakdown,, stator in Greenriver WY - ESP paid for the repair and our Motel and food... Life is good
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 17,548
Likes: 7,172
From: Oxford, Nc
I just got back from Daytona last night. Just a quick 3 day run from NC, 1400 miles total on my '00 Road Glide / Road King (see sig line,) with 154,000 miles on it. I've replaced wheel bearings, swing arm bushings, fuel pump and filter, crank shaft sensor, spring cap on the compensator and all the relays as preventive maintenance at around 100,000 miles.
I just upgraded to Brembo brakes (wow,) and of course the front end is only a year old.
I understand where the Op is coming from however. My '00 is built like a tank when compared to newer bikes. My wheel bearings (double row '00 - '07) lasted past 100,000 and were still good when my Indy pulled them. '08 and later 'single row? Not to be trusted unless you swap them with every other tire change. The list goes on from there: Hot forged cranks versus the current cast, no more Timken bearings, Canbus electrical which requires a 'flash' to do just about anything? How about them compensators - 8 years since they changed it and still haven't got it right? I doubt that you'll see an '08 make it past 150,000 miles without having to split the cases IMO. They're designed for the 5,000 mile rider now.
(I did think about it 2 nights ago though, heading down the Daytona going through the Ga swamp on Rt 301 at dusk, not a soul in sight....Should I replace that 16 year old coil? It made it this time
)
I just upgraded to Brembo brakes (wow,) and of course the front end is only a year old.
I understand where the Op is coming from however. My '00 is built like a tank when compared to newer bikes. My wheel bearings (double row '00 - '07) lasted past 100,000 and were still good when my Indy pulled them. '08 and later 'single row? Not to be trusted unless you swap them with every other tire change. The list goes on from there: Hot forged cranks versus the current cast, no more Timken bearings, Canbus electrical which requires a 'flash' to do just about anything? How about them compensators - 8 years since they changed it and still haven't got it right? I doubt that you'll see an '08 make it past 150,000 miles without having to split the cases IMO. They're designed for the 5,000 mile rider now.
(I did think about it 2 nights ago though, heading down the Daytona going through the Ga swamp on Rt 301 at dusk, not a soul in sight....Should I replace that 16 year old coil? It made it this time
)
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