Pirates wear an eye patch. Looks cool but is it tuff to ride with one eye?
Pirates wear an eye patch. Looks cool but is it tuff to ride with one eye?
No depth perception. But that's OK , 53 is not very deep anyway.
I have owned both Harleys and Hondas. My current rides are a 2013 F6B and a 2011 Ultra Limited. Both great bikes.
I have owned Harleys for the past 25 years, and Hondas since 1968 (OK, it was my older brother's bike, a 50cc step-thru). I threw in the occasional BMW, Yamaha, and Kawasaki for good measure. I have had a blast on them all.
I rode my 1999 Harley Low Rider all over Europe without a single hiccup...and I ran the hell out of it on the Autobahns at speeds that should have caused the engine to explode according to some on this board. I have taken my various Electra Glides and Super Glides all over the USA as well, with nary a problem.
I guess when you sell as many bikes as Harley, the law of averages suggests there may be some issues with some of the bikes. The Harley dealer network is incredible however, and their customer service is usually world class.
On the other hand, Honda service and sales are amateurish at best (in my opinion).
My Ultra Limited vibrates a bit at idle, but it is not as unbearable as I've seen described by some. Once underway, it is as smooth as any Goldwing, and ergonomically, it fits me like a glove (OK, not OJ's glove!).
I enjoy both of my bikes, and I'm sure I will purchase another Harley in the next couple of years, and likely a Honda as well. Waiting to see what happens with the Goldwings next year (probably nothing), or the F6Bs. Then again, the new BMW bagger (spy shots) has piqued my interest as well......
Originally Posted by hardtail
Honda is still pissed off about the Hiroshima think 73 years ago.
I never had the engine problems others seem to have. I did have to deal with the MM EFI from the early years to Fuel Injection. They are a nightmare. I just wanted out of the whole V Twin thing.
"Life is hard. Harder when you are stupid"-- John Wayne[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I would have to say I would be surprised if some Honda dealers did this also.
Typical.
Harley guys making a big flippin deal because 1 dealer for Harley did something positive.
Well supposedly they did it.
Who knows for sure?
It was a Facebook post for crying out loud.
I ride with Harley guys and they complain all the time about the service departments at the Harley clothing stores that have a few Harleys in them for sale.(that is all of what Harley dealers are anymore).
Doug
Doug, you are truly a Harley hater, do you hate Victorys and Indians too, or is just a V Twin thing. I have met a lot of good people when I was riding Harleys, also some unsavory ones too. Harley supports many charitys. I don't understand why you have such a bad taste in your mouth about Harley Davidson.
I like anything with two wheels and an engine.........
HUH? Something doesn't smell right. If you spent $4k on an 80 incher, you should have had a big bore kit (a 95"). Cams, pipes and headwork don't cost $4k with labor. Add in a big bore kit, you can get there. If you spent 4k and ended up with 80", someone robbed you.
If it was a stock lowrider, you weren't going more than about 105 mph indicated. A hotrod 103 (105 hp) will do about 120 mph. Most stock hds won't see more than 105 - 110 mph.
I wouldn't expect your low rider to explode, but if you ran it hard enough and long enough, you probably wore some engine oil.
It is a known issue.
I have personally seen an 88" stock heritage puke oil all over the engine after running high sustained speed, we were running around 85 mph for an extended time. Also happened on a built 95" on a different occasion for the same reason.
But there is a fix:the problem is the continuous rise and fall of the air pressure in the crankcase, cam chest and rocker boxes. That the pressure changes are caused by large volume of air moving in and out of the crankcase as the pistons travel up and down. As a result of this air flow and the changes in pressure in the cam chest, air also flows in and out of the rocker boxes through the cylinder head oil drain passages. At sustained high speeds the constant in and out flow of air in the rocker boxes interrupts the free flow of oil from the cylinder heads to the cam chest . In fact a small quantity of oil, pushed up and down by the pressure changes, is trapped in the drain passage, effectively blocking the passage so that no oil can drain out of the rocker boxes . When enough oil has accumulated in the rocker boxes, it will start to blow out the breather passage to the air cleaner and ends up all over your bike, your passengers new boots, and in extreme cases on your rear tire .
Reason for Oil Blow By: More air is displaced by the ascending and descending pistons when a 95" and larger kits have been installed, simply because there's bigger pistons moving up and down. Sustained high rpm riding aggravates blow by because more oil is being pumped into the engine since the pump is turning faster. The rocker boxes become overwhelmed with too much oil that it cannot separate the oil from the escaping air. Some stock displacement engines have oil blow-by problems even when ridden moderately, but that is not the norm. Blow-by does not happen immediately because the oil buildup that causes it takes time to occur. That's why blow-by sometimes doesn't occur until after sustained high-speed riding.
TP Engineering has addressed the issue with their engines and Twin Cam models as well as all 1992 and later EVO big twins, and 19991-2003 EVO Sportsters. You can read about TP’s $900 solution at
http://www.tpeng.com/rockerbox.html
Some pictures of the TP Rocker Boxes in this Hot Bike article: http://www.hotbikeweb.com/tech/0303hb_cam/
Ride your Harley within the speed limits and it will never experience this.
I ride with Harleys and have for years. They definitely break. Not everyone will experience failure, but plenty do. I will readily admit that they have little or no trouble if left stock and ridden accordingly. Start "building" them and ride accordingly and they seem to develop issues.
Nothing wrong with Harleys, there are just a lot of better motorcycles available.
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