[Badeye]

Harley's are overpriced til you consider how they are built, compared to Honda's, or Suzuki's, or Yamaha's.

I'm not a big fan of Harley's reliability, however. Bottom line for me has always been if you like tinkering with your bike as much as you do riding it, Harley's the brand for you, if you can afford it.

If you just want to jump on and ride, the various Jap bikes are a better value.

Either way, a rider is a rider is a rider.

I am in absolute awe, however, of Harley's legendary marketing abilities. As a businessman, its amazing, truly amazing, the loyalty they have managed to inspire. Especially in the late 1970's and early 1980's, when even old Willie himself acknowledges the bikes from that era basically sucked.

[excalibur1701]

Is it just me, or are Harleys getting louder and louder. I'm thinking of contacting our police and see if they start ticketing them for noise laws. It's gotten out of hand when you can hear them 2 blocks away.

[Melas]

I'm not a big fan of Harley's reliability, however. Bottom line for me has always been if you like tinkering with your bike as much as you do riding it, Harley's the brand for you, if you can afford it.

Bah, you're 20 years out of date. Not a lot of tinkering to be done on modern HD's. EFI with appropriate sensors, multi-curve electionric ignitions, self-adjusting valves, kevlar belts, etc etc, have all made HD one of the most reliabe bikes around.

The own it to wrench it motto is 25 years out of date.

[-YYZ-]

"Harley's are overpriced til you consider how they are built, compared to Honda's, or Suzuki's, or Yamaha's. "

How they are built? You mean poorly? The ones that I've looked at are full of fasteners that look like they came from the local Home Depot, and as far as reliability or durability go, they can't hold a candle to Japanese bikes. I will concede that they have nice paint and chrome, however.

The only reason Harley's are worth pouring money into to keep running (ie engine rebuilds) is because of their mythical status that keeps their resale value high. Also the slow pace of change and development means that a 10 year old Harley is not significantly different than a new one (yes, I know about the TC-88 and 88B engines that came out a couple of years ago. The Japanese make changes that big on a yearly basis).

[FateAmenableToChange]

I'm not a big fan of Harley's reliability, however. Bottom line for me has always been if you like tinkering with your bike as much as you do riding it, Harley's the brand for you, if you can afford it.

That's the way I think about 1911 pistols compared to my glocks or HKs.

[Iberian]

For my taste I'll take a Ninja. Quiet deadly and Fast, not just a noise maker.
As a Corvette owner, I'll blow the socks of a Harley any time anywhere but I have yet to beat a Ninja.

The Harleys are just anoying noise makers with no kick.

A great american tradition, yes.

[gunnrmike]

I have two HD's. A 02 883 Hugger and a 03 Deuce with 14K miles. Have not had a bit of trouble with either one, and the only time they have been in the shop has been for routine maintenance. HD's built today are reliable and maintenance free if you take care of them. And will hold their re-sale value for much longer and higher than any Jap bike.

Ride Safe! Gunnrmike