Interesting ride with Harley's

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09-07-2017, 01:34 PM
Wavalk

Interesting ride with Harley's

I recently took a ride with friends from Seattle to Las Vegas and back. FYI, August is not the best time for this trip, 114 degrees at times. We had 4 Goldwings and 3 Harley Ultras. Now two of our bikes broke down. Can you guess which ones? Although both Harley's experienced minor break downs. Linkage issues. Both had to be limped to a dealership for repairs.

Now I am not a Harley hater. I actually rode Harley's from 2004-2014. All Road kings. I believe that Harley's are beautiful bikes with a very interesting history. They have improved in performance and reliability over the years. But, you cannot compare them to the performance or reliability of a Goldwing. The F6B is an awesome machine and great value for the money. I purchased my brand new 2015 Deluxe for $15,000 earlier this year. I am so happy that I didn't drink the cool aid and buy Harley's like most of my friends. When they give me a bad time about not riding a Harley anymore, I just tell them that I chose superior engineering and performance over noise.
09-07-2017, 01:44 PM
wjduke

The crazy thing is, you still don't see people going for the B. I belong to a couple of FB groups. The question always comes up...what bike should I go with? I tell them to just try one. Still get crickets. I laugh at the problems, never a wing.
09-07-2017, 02:07 PM
Ixol Phaane

Quote:

Originally Posted by wjduke

...The question always comes up...what bike should I go with?.

The people asking the question have probably already decided on a brand, they just want to know which bike... Road Glide, Street Glide, Road King, Fat Boy, etc. We all know there's a whole social aspect to riding for many folks... and HD has mastered the marketing to this group. At the risk of offending someone, it seems that independent thinking is lacking in a whole lot of people today.

But... HD does have a pretty big party going on. :icon_biggrin:

Ride safe, everyone.
FL and the East Coast... prayers to all.

Out
09-07-2017, 02:08 PM
unsub

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wavalk

Now two of our bikes broke down. Can you guess which ones? Although both Harley's experienced minor break downs. Linkage issues. Both had to be limped to a dealership for repairs.

Ride a Harley
Ride the best
Ride a mile
Walk the rest..
09-07-2017, 04:21 PM
Jimmytee

I regularly ride with a lot of Harleys . It's the predominate bike of choice among my brothers and sisters in the CVMA. My riding buddy I ride the most with has a 2016 Ultra. A couple weekends ago, we rode down through Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, TN and back home. During one stretch on a very twisty road, ( War Woman followed by riding 28 north), he commented about how heavy his bike was feeling. I offered to trade a little while. He laughed and said that's alright. I told him that;s because you know you'll be out buying a Honda if you did.:icon_wink: He was mad last year after a couple of warranty issues. One that put him on the side of the road. Clutch issue. The other was a gas cap issue. Evidently, Harley had a issue with their gas caps not threading correctly. He got so mad a a gas stop , we rode 90 miles an hour to the nearest Harley dealer. He told them he was ready to buy a Honda. The parts guy said , " don't give up on Harley yet" :icon_biggrin:
09-07-2017, 07:33 PM
Av8er

I had an ultra classic a few years back and really liked the riding position. That being said, i have since owned a goldwing and I am in the process of buying an f6b as we speak. Can't wait!!!!
Did you know that 80% of all Harley's are still on the road today? The other 20% made it all the way home!! :crackup:
09-07-2017, 08:03 PM
Heatnbeat

My other bike is a 1990 HD Street Glide prototype, defiantly a dinosaur compared to my F6B. BUT, for all that she puts just as many smiles on my face as the Honda. There is something about the mechanicalness of the old bike that still appeals to me. But for smooth no muss no fuss long distance miles the FeB is a winner. Gonna have to have a two bike stable.😎
09-07-2017, 09:15 PM
TandemGeek

I rode Honda's from 1971 through 2010... CRs, CB's and CBRs. Love them.

CBR1100XX was knocked out from under me by an SUV in Dec 2010 and I decided to switch it up... just to see if I was missing something.

Bought a 2003 BMW R1100S with 4k miles as my "now for something completely different bike" and didn't even test ride it: I knew I'd not be happy with the handling coming off the CBR1100XX.

Grew to love the BMW, despite some of the idiosyncrasies of the twin boxer motor and automotive drivetrain. My wife did not warm up to the R1100S so I doubled-down on a 2004 R1150RT figuring that she just needed a true Sport Touring bike (vs. the Honda CBR1100XX which was really just a GT with a lot of horsepower): she rode it once with me and said, "don't ever make me ride that again." It was the very confined upright riding position, etc. that just killed it for her.

I asked her what she'd really rather be riding since she still said she'd like to keep riding motorcycles with me. Turns out, she was a closet biker chick: she thought the Harley's looked a lot closer to the classic "sport" motorcycles she experienced in the 70's and that's what she was looking for: knees in the breeze and a comfortable ride wearing jeans and tank top. Yeah, well... I said we'd give it a shot and we bought a 2011 Harley Wide Glide. She loved it and I learned to like it but held onto the BMW as my daily driver. We put about 11,000 miles on that bike over two years, riding it from Atlanta to Panama City Beach a couple times and from Miami to Key West and back, as well as the North Georgia mountains. It was on the trip to Key West that I decided we needed a bigger "touring" Harley, but not one with a fairing. The 2013 CVO Road King -- with it's hard bags, lower front fairings, stereo and sport windshield -- looked perfect. Bought in Aug 2013 just a few bucks over dealer invoice and fell in love with that bike. We put 18,000 miles on it in two years, with two trips from Atlanta to Key West (pulling our Bushtec) and a half dozen Florida bike weeks. During the Oct bike week in Daytona an elderly motorist side swiped us, putting my wife in the ER and dooming the bike to the salvage yard. She recovered and we replaced the CVO Road King with an identical 2013 CVO Road King that had just a few miles on the ODO.

So, today I've still got the BMW R1100S in the garage, but that's about to be replaced by the F6B as my daily driver: loving the F6B.

The 2013 Harley Road King CVO remains our "fun bike" since we run with a large collection of friends who are into the Harley lifestyle: most are professionals who self identify as bikers. Me, I've always self-identified as a motorcycling enthusiast, never as a biker.

However, I will confess that with just a week's worth of commuting to and from work on the F6B, I'm definitely back in a happier place on the Honda. It's not perfect, but it's darn close. I confirmed that when I rode home from work on the F6B and then jumped on the Harley Road King and rode it to the dealership for some touch-up Dyno work, as it's not running quite right at the moment. But wow, what a difference. The steering on the Harley is stiff and lifeless, it's got a ton of grunt but the engine noise and vibration mask the acceleration and the handling is hardly confidence inspiring, even with my aftermarket Ohlins and suspension tuning.

But, it's hard not to love that "old school" / "muscle car" feel that a big Harley delivers and it's that Harley persona that I fear my beloved hold so dear. So, at least near term, we'll continue to do our "pleasure rides" on the Harley while using the F6B for my commutes and -- with fingers crossed -- some overnight trips to the local mountains just to see if I can't get her to re-embrace the Honda love as much as the Harley lifestyle and apparel.

More than you wanted to know, but I get the whole Harley thing... but ain't ready to give up having choices!
09-08-2017, 01:22 AM
pdxstriper

Riding with Harleys this summer

I rode 2,700 miles on my B with a friend on a Road King.
I left my gas cap at a gas station.
His shift linkage broke.
Figure we are even. haha
09-08-2017, 05:08 AM
Jimmytee

Quote:

Originally Posted by TandemGeek

Me, I've always self-identified as a motorcycling enthusiast, never as a biker.

That's what I've always said.:icon_wink:

I'm a CVMA member and the "Biker" term is often heard.

BTW I have my 2000 Valkyrie with it's 6 into 6 separate pipes and that massive looking chromed out flat 6 engine for my "muscle car" feel. Can't begin to count how many times I've heard from somebody " Your bike sounds like a muscle car" or "hot rod" :icon_biggrin:

It handles like a log truck compared to my F6B though. :icon_wink:
09-08-2017, 06:19 AM
GaTeach

Quote:

Originally Posted by unsub

Ride a Harley
Ride the best
Ride a mile
Walk the rest..

My new favorite person.
09-08-2017, 06:34 AM
lloydmoore1

Yep I rode to Tennessee and back with my cuz who is a die hard Harley guy. He rides a Ultra Classic. to say we had some long hot days is an understatement.
He is a big dude 6"7" and many times when we were stopped in traffic I would see him struggling with the clutch with the pissed off look on his face. I would smile and wave..and he would reply with the finger and a few f bombs..fun times.
This week we traveled to Digby,Nova Scotia for The Wharf Rat Rally http://wharfratrally.com/
He took his wife this trip and on the way back he lost the toe of his shifter. The screw backed out from all the shaking. He never had the right size allen key to properly tighten it back up. I helped him out by using good old gun tape to hold it in place.
I have a Go-Pro on my bike so I had it all on video. I politely made a short vid of the episode and posted to his Facebook page and again I got some words of love in reply.
09-08-2017, 07:28 AM
crossbowme

Can't speak for Harleys around the country but I can tell you what happens around here.

First, most buy a bike just a little bit more than they can afford. Then they immediately replace the exhaust with some sort of straight thru exhaust. Then they buy the obligatory bad boy shades. Now they're all set - they drive to the nearest Dairy Queen (or something similar) and drive around and around trying to impress the teenage girls who work there.

Do all the drivers do that. No. However, most do something similar and almost never take long trips (recent survey indicated that Harleys in Maine average about 2,000 miles per year).

BTW, I once owned a Harley - for 6 months.
09-08-2017, 08:40 AM
willtill

I've sat on a Harley several times. Never left under power on one though... :shhh:
09-08-2017, 09:47 AM
wjduke

I rode this past Sunday with 5 HD's. First stop for coffee 35 miles in. Next stop for lunch, maybe another 30 or so. Eat, shoot the breeze, ready to go....nope...out come the cigars. Another hour. Next stop, about 20-25 miles, beers, shoot the breeze, then munchies. Leave there, head back towards RI, stop for supper. I was out from 10:30 am to 8pm and did a total of 175 miles.

That's a Harley long ass day right there. This weekend, riding with wings....easily 5-600 miles between the two.
09-08-2017, 09:56 AM
broncsrule21

Quote:

Originally Posted by wjduke

I rode this past Sunday with 5 HD's. First stop for coffee 35 miles in. Next stop for lunch, maybe another 30 or so. Eat, shoot the breeze, ready to go....nope...out come the cigars. Another hour. Next stop, about 20-25 miles, beers, shoot the breeze, then munchies. Leave there, head back towards RI, stop for supper. I was out from 10:30 am to 8pm and did a total of 175 miles.

That's a Harley long ass day right there. This weekend, riding with wings....easily 5-600 miles between the two.

That right there is why I stopped riding with my family and friends. Stop for a beer here, stop for a beer there...... Now I just ride by self, sometimes the wife goes with.
09-08-2017, 04:51 PM
crossbowme

Quote:

Originally Posted by broncsrule21

That right there is why I stopped riding with my family and friends. Stop for a beer here, stop for a beer there...... Now I just ride by self, sometimes the wife goes with.

X2
09-08-2017, 06:05 PM
3Chief

Quote:

Originally Posted by broncsrule21

That right there is why I stopped riding with my family and friends. Stop for a beer here, stop for a beer there...... Now I just ride by self, sometimes the wife goes with.

I don't mind the occasional poker run with friends like that however mostly I ride by myself. One of the most recent poker runs I saw here had the last three stops within a mile of each other. I laughed that people were making such a big deal out of it. This is a beautiful area and there are numerous good poker run loops that actually get you some riding in and still get the Harleys home on time...:icon_lol: