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Self-adjusting valves are not a reliability issue, either, but a maintenance issue. My bike needs it done every 15,000 miles, which is more than most people put on their bikes in 3 or 5 years.

We obviously ride differently. I'm usually looking at rebuilding the engine at 5 years, because I'm approaching 150,000 miles.

I've owned several Hondas, a Fatboy, and I'm on my 3rd Sportster. At some point I realized that I really loved Sportsters, and to hell with big twins. My present one is a 2003 883 Hugger that I've converted to a 1200. I bought it in July of last year and I already have 18,000 miles on it. The last Sportster I had was with me for 320,000 miles before I finally had to concede that it was used up. Yes, the engine was rebuilt twice during that time, but somehow, I don't think that reflects poorly on the reliability.

When I say that HD is reliable. I mean it. I ride my motorcycle almost exclusively. It's my daily ride, my vehicle. My car is the thing that I drive only when I can't take the motorcyle. I've actually had car problems because I've let the gas gel due to inactivity.

In the 18,000 miles I've owned this new one, I've only had two warranty issues. A broken positive battery cable and the speedometer was replaced because the black trim began to flake.

OK, OK, I'll concede the reliability issue (again). They do tend to require somewhat more regular weekly maintenance, though, as I imagine you'd agree. See my earlier post about maintenance-free features that I do envy cruiser riders in general.

I put a lot more mileage on my bike yearly than most people, although not quite as much as you. But if you look at the used bike ads on autotrader or similar, you can see about how much most people ride their bikes. Maybe 2000-4000 miles a year. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, althogh I couldn't justify tieing up that much money in something I use so little. Of course, the riding season here is only about 6-8 months, as I tend to stop riding when the temps go below freezing and the roads are covered in either snow, ice or tons of road salt.

I really didn't mean to come on as strongly anti-Harley as I sounded, but I've just gotten peeved with people with this "If it ain't a Harley it's crap" attitude. FWIW, I really like the look of the '04 sportsters, which are smoother and more powerful, if also heavier (if it involves motorcycles, I'll read about it, even if'n it ain't my exact cup of tea).