Thread: Motorcycles

Let me first start by saying ride what you got. I ride everything. Right now I've got a Harley, a Triumph and a KTM dirt bike.

I'm in my third Harley in 10 years. I started with an Evo and the last two were an '02 Twincam and an '05 TC. I had a few of the standard issues on the Evo, but they were easily remedied. Almost anyone who's got one did these mods and after that they're bulletproof. My second TC was an '02 FXDXT Dyna. I put about 30k on it. Rode it to Alaska (see pics below) and back, and did the Denali highway. It was as solid as any other bike I've ever ridden. I only changed the fluids for the three years I owned it.

Now I'm on a big touring Road Glide. I love it. I was doing so many freeway miles while touring I felt I could treat myself to something comfortable. I am a big fan of twins, and there's not a twin out there with the personality Harley's got.

All that said, you don't have to pay Harley money to get something fantastic, but if you want a Harley and the only thing stopping you is a fear of their reliability, think again. They're not what they used to be during the AMF years.

i have raced motorcross for 6 years but only rode a street bike once.....i think im gonna buy myself one for Christmas though

Hope a word from the audience won't be unwelcome. I've never owned a motorcycle, and at this point (incipient, if not full-blown, geezerhood) who knows if I ever will, but I've always been drawn to the classic English bikes--BSA, Norton, especially Triumph. But I always heard that their downfall was reliability, or the lack thereof. Have they improved as much as the post-AMF Harleys?

~Rich

heres another warning that the dealership won't tell you ( i have asked). the 06 and up twin cam motors are having some huge problems with cranks twisting. this is when they went to the 96ci motor and unfortunately they stroked and bored it out. the boring it out is fine but when you stroke the motor it moves the crank pin out which leaves less metal surrounding the pin on the outside of the crank and because harley uses a hollow crank pin they can sometimes compress slightly and this allows the crak to scissor. the 88ci and 95ci where great motors but the new ones, especially the bigger bore factory motors like the 110ci, are not so good. that being said we have customers that have had no problems with their 96ci so you can get a good one. we deal with a huge high performance company in the US and the owner has actually taken a new bike that was going to get a big inch anyways and did an emergency stop in the parking lot without pulling in the clutch and twisted the crank right there. they can be fixed though, guys are starting to press a pin into the hollow crank pin to make it solid and on the 96ci motors it is working, but that is a pretty big job also. other then that the motors are good. i'm not a big fan of fly by wire throttles either but thats just me i guess.

sorry if this is a bit long and a little off topic, and if anyone has one of the bikes i was talking about i apologize, these are just my experiences. now that i reread this i realize it kinda goes against what i said about harleys being reliable but i swear it is only the new ones

Originally Posted by rastewart

Hope a word from the audience won't be unwelcome. I've never owned a motorcycle, and at this point (incipient, if not full-blown, geezerhood) who knows if I ever will, but I've always been drawn to the classic English bikes--BSA, Norton, especially Triumph. But I always heard that their downfall was reliability, or the lack thereof. Have they improved as much as the post-AMF Harleys?

I can only really speak for Triumph's Rich. They have improved a million times over since the 70's. The triple was a brilliant move for them. I'm riding one and I beat the crap out of it daily and it still keeps ticking <knock wood>.

I love the old Norton's and BSA's, but they are a test in patience to keep one going, and forget about owning one for a daily rider. A fun weekend bike, as long as you park it over a bucket for the days in-between. Oil tight means about the same as "shave ready" when it comes to the older British bikes.

i'm on my third. i've had a Kawasaki vulcan Classic (1500cc) and a Kawasaki Mean Streak (1500cc). The Vulcan was a fantastic bike but it caught fire and now it is gone. I replaced it with the Mean Streak- again the bike was bullet proof and great for my area of the country. I fell in love with a Valkyrie and now that is what I own. This is a ultra smooth ultra powerful and nimble motorcycle. It makes me smile whenever I ride. I've put some miles on it- My favorite ride is every one. The most fun is on the Dragon (319 turns in 11 miles) in NC.

I don't have a motorcycle right now but would love to have one of these.

Wow, I've seen some nice looking bikes here.

Don't know if you can call what I do riding or not. It's been awhile since I've ridden my bike. Seems like it's always something that keeps me from riding. But I won't get rid of it. I love it.

I have a 2003 Buell Blast that I bought when my trip to Greece got cancelled. I even went & took the Rider's Safety class. It's really cool but I'm super careful on it. I've always wanted one & now that I have one I really don't ride it enough. Hopefully that will change & next Spring I'll get it back out & ride.

Originally Posted by Bandit

Wow, I've seen some nice looking bikes here.

Don't know if you can call what I do riding or not. It's been awhile since I've ridden my bike. Seems like it's always something that keeps me from riding. But I won't get rid of it. I love it.

I have a 2003 Buell Blast that I bought when my trip to Greece got cancelled. I even went & took the Rider's Safety class. It's really cool but I'm super careful on it. I've always wanted one & now that I have one I really don't ride it enough. Hopefully that will change & next Spring I'll get it back out & ride.

Spring is the time when most people get the urge to ride. I wish I had a bike still. My wife frowns on them so I may never get another. I have to keep bugging her.Every spring I get the fever.I am in the woods kind of and I always see bikes cruise past my house(mostly harleys).I want one. I want one. I want one. I test rode a buell once and found my wrists hurting me. I am not much of a cafe racer kind of guy. I like low riders or maybe a fatboy.I used to have a lowrider custom in the 80's.It needed more power though. I would have to get a bigger bore bike.maybe something along the lines of 120ci.

Originally Posted by bpave777

I can only really speak for Triumph's Rich. They have improved a million times over since the 70's. The triple was a brilliant move for them. I'm riding one and I beat the crap out of it daily and it still keeps ticking <knock wood>.

I love the old Norton's and BSA's, but they are a test in patience to keep one going, and forget about owning one for a daily rider. A fun weekend bike, as long as you park it over a bucket for the days in-between. Oil tight means about the same as "shave ready" when it comes to the older British bikes.

Thanks, Bjørn, that puts it into a useful perspective for me. If I ever do get into the market, it looks like a late-model Triumph will be my first choice.

And yes, there are some very impressive bikes showing up in this thread.

Rich