High Mileage Harley's

Fossil

When the EVO came out in 1984 the reliability of Harleys went out of sight. My 1988 FLHS has just over 100k. The only time the jugs were off was to fix the notorious early EVO base gasket leak. Ol Blue has only been taken home on a trailer three times: Interstate battery blew up, broken drive belt 65K, Charging system burned up. I have put in a performance cam, mufflers and an S&S carb. Runs great and I love it.
I have heard the bs about Jap over Harley for decades. How many 20 year old Jap bikes do you see on the road? How many 10 year old? You can rebuild a Harley from now on. Ever hear of a Jap bike being rebuilt? I will stick with the Harley. Of course I won't be happy until the BSA comes back. I have a '56 in the garage now. Fossil

flh canuck

Anything mechanical can be re-built whether it be a Japanese bike or a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

The devil is in the details.

Japanese bikes tend to be throw-away bikes and their manufacturers provide very little support as far as replacement parts go. If the replacement parts are actually still available for an older Japanese bike (more that two years old), the price for those parts are usually somewhere between the cost of a new kidney and the stratosphere...

A Harley Davidson motorcycle on the other hand, has huge support from both the dealers and the after-market. Any and all parts are readily available, you have a choice of going with stock parts or a huge selection of high performance replacement parts, and usually for very reasonable prices.

As a professoinal mechanic who worked for years in the automotive trade, I find the Harley Davidson motorcycle to be an absolute joy to work on and maintain compared to previous Japanese bikes I have owned.

I owned many smaller displacement Japanese bikes in my younger days then in 1984 I purchased a brand new V-45 Magna. What a piece of junk! After all I had heard about great Japanese quality, this thing spent more time in the shop than it did on the road. It was poorly engineered and poorly built. I have since owned four different Harley Davidsons since 1998, all purchased new, and each one absolutely trouble free.

A properly maintained modern Harley Davidson is every bit as well made, if not better, as any other motorcycle on the market but the difference is, it will still be going down the road long after many modern Japanese bikes have been recycled back into Tupperware or Fisher Price toys.

At the end of the day, you can re-build any Japanese bike if cost is no object but when all is said and done, you still end up with a Japanese bike.

Just my .02 cents

blues821

well ive owned metrics and all i can say is put 100,000 or so on a metric ..a bike you paid 9 grand for thats now worth 400.00 .and the parts to rebuild it cost about 4x's that so who gonna do that .. put 100,000 on your harley rebuild it ride one more year then sell it for 7000.00 or so and youve got your down payment on your next hog weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
keith

Dublin Dave

My Harley came with a 'zimmer frame'

tsp45acp

OK, I got a long way to go.

Got it last Sat. Now 400 miles on it and going for a ride w/the wife now. Tracy

johnwwwatson

It's getting old, still comparing Apples to Oranges.
You buy what you can afford and that's that.
If you care for it and service it, and don't throw
money at mods, it will last like anything.
If it needs an overhaul, you get an overhaul.
I have owned Wings & Kings, so I am truthful
when I say, even if I needed an overhaul every 50K,
I'd still be Crowning my King.

__________________
"Be Friendly to NON-HD riders, it'll make it easier to convert 'em":D

[30 yrs. Riding Harley Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, and Piaggio MP3 (1 Month)]

Fourdogs

One of the mechanics I have asked about a million questions after meeting him at one of the dealers, and we've become very close friends...Has a Ultra with 134,000 miles...he did in the beginning... do the 96 upgrade..since then normal maintenance...This year he had it repainted to match a trailer he bought...I ask him once if he thought it would get to 200,000 miles and he says it will if he keeps it..he likes the 09 changes...lol..I ask him if he had to choose one thing that have kept his bikes engine in such good shape he say..."Its the oil man..its the oil..never change it too often...but change it and always change the filter when the oil is changed" He changes it at 4500 miles...he uses Mobil V-Twin..and Royal Purple in the tranny..and HD in the primary....but says theres many good oils on the market. He thinks the synthetics oils are the best thing since sliced bread.BTW the dealership he works for knows he runs Mobil...lol..and he will only use HD filter as well. He told me once ...and I don't really understand it..of course I politely nodded I understood..something about its actually bad to change the oil too frequently..something about acid something are another...lol sorry I'm a idiot!..but never exceed 5,000 miles..never ...never ..never..yeah he made that pretty clear!..and that I did understand!!!!!

nt6977

I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley. I ride a Harley.
nt6977 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

__________________
Rob
98 Ultra 65000 miles...Sold
09 Ultra...Dam I love this bike.

jlbrown

I buy my bikes based on need, not image. I do believe that yamaha makes the best engine as far as milage and repairs. My HD however, is the best in touring compared to the Honda Gold Wing or the BMW. The best bike,,,for what need is the question. My 1100 vstar does not handle at 70mph like my HD Ultra does. Nor will it handle a swerve, curve, or comfort as the HD Ultra does. My trips are often several weeks long. I need a bike that suits the need of the rider/passenger. If engine life span is the question, u can always buy a moped for 800 and ride for 4k miles on it.

Mavagrand

JL, whaaaaaa?