| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
I shouldn't feel good about this... but I DO! http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100317hd.h tm | ||
| Americanmadexb |
lol, funny i just posted this on Facebook a few min ago!! | ||
| Crusty |
Dean Adams is a horse's ass. I owned a '78 FXE. It was as reliable as most bikes of that time, and much more reliable than my Honda CB 750 was. I put 72,000 very enjoyable miles on it; including an 11,000 mile trip all over the US. I have a large amount of contempt for the upper mismanagement at the MoCo, and hope they all get to pursue other opportunities in the very near future without golden parachutes (My personal fantasy; but it's only a dream). However, I would really hate to see H-D completely fail. Adams would be dancing in the streets it it happened. | ||
| 12x9sl |
I agree with Crusty. I have great contempt for the higher-ups at the motor company, but I really hope they can pull through this. I love my Uly and would not want to part with it. Having said that, I'm not opposed to riding Harleys, I used to own one. | ||
| Britchri10 |
I lived thru the demise of Norton, Triumph, Villiers, Matchless, BSA and a dozen other UK motorcycle manufacturers. Don't want to see HD go as once it's gone it won't be back in any recognizable form. I didn't agree with the demise of Buell but this board will not be here for ever. Keep American made bikes being made in America by Americans. Chris C | ||
| Pwnzor |
I owned a '78 FXE. It was as reliable as most bikes of that time, and much more reliable than my Honda CB 750 was  whaaat?? Come on now... Your Harley may have been reliable, but this is a pretty wild claim. The word "Honda" can rarely be preceded by the words "more reliable than"... /flame on! | ||
| Tom_b |
"I owned a '78 FXE. It was as reliable as most bikes of that time, and much more reliable than my Honda CB 750 was" I also have to call B.S. on this one.. both being equally well maintained and the AMF era H/D is more reliable???? I don't like H.D but wish them no ill will. I hate to see another american company in trouble due to bad management being blamed on the economy. Hope they pull out and realize their screw ups | ||
| Ezblast |
I, on the other hand have no good thoughts about HD, except that the custom market continuously made better products to replace stock pieces, and that the custom bikes rocked. HD has always been an old man's bike in my mind, and still is - lol EZ | ||
| Pwnzor |
Yeah... HD can go jump in a lake... The dealer experience is deplorable, with a few exceptions of course. You'll always have individuals with drive and passion within an organization, but unfortunately I found them to be in the minority. The only reason I kept my Buell at all was because I found Al at American Sport Bike I was literally on the verge of selling it at a huge loss just to get rid of it... but then a ray of light from above led me to Al Lighton. I equate this phenomenon with the DMV. If I didn't have AAA to register my vehicles I probably wouldn't even drive. To be fair, I have to say that Kawasaki, Honda, Ducati and Suzuki dealers really aren't much better. They all seem to be trying to squeeze as much money out of you as possible, but at least they don't have the surly attitude when they see what bike you ride up on. | ||
| Ftd |
I have to back up what Crusty said. I had a 1982 FXE. Bought new the summer of '82. Sticker $6200 but with the HD rebate and haggling with Seminole HD I got it for $4500. I rode it for 16 years. 89,000 miles later I had it repainted and a new seat installed and sold it for $7200. It was very dependeable. It required one top end job, one new clutch, 4 voltage regulators and I put on an S&S carb before I sold it.     | ||
| Buell2001b |
89,000 for 16 years geez when do you ride it. I put over 40k in 3 years on my Buell. | ||
| Tnxbrider |
Different worlds guys, don't be bashing this man and his good looking old shovel... Some of you are beginning to sound a lot like some old BMW owners I knew. Trust me that was not a compliment. I'm not bashing BMW's either, great bike, they just seemed to attract some real @$$'s. Nothing ever compared to their stories or rides or miles, and BLAH, blah, Blah. T | ||
| Swordsman |
Ftd, that's a sweet intake on that thing. | ||
| Froggy |
Thats it? When do you ride the thing? I put 40k on mine before the 2 year warranty was up. Now I have 4 Buell's, so individually the odometers won't be so bad  (Sorry Tom, I just had too  ) | ||
| Crusty |
Come on now... Your Harley may have been reliable, but this is a pretty wild claim. The word "Honda" can rarely be preceded by the words "more reliable than"... When I said my FXE was more reliable than my CB750 I was speaking the bald truth. I don't really give a shit whether you believe me or not. The Honda left me stranded in Bowling Green, KY at the big rally at Beach Bend Park, and had to be hauled to Louisville in a van. Then it took a dump in the middle of Kansas. It ate a chain and both sprockets in less than 10,000 miles. I really enjoyed setting the points in a motel parking lot in Salmon, ID when they closed up without warning. All in all it was a maintenance hog, and I didn't enjoy riding it. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I don't really give a shit whether you believe me or not. Then why go to all the trouble explaining your problems to me? How could it possibly "eat" a chain and both sprockets in less than 10000 miles unless you (or somebody) put the rear wheel on crooked? Don't get angry, you just waste my time and embarass yourself. | ||
| Strokizator |
Jeez, give the guy a break. Harley management may be jerks but the guys on the line build good motorcycles. I put over 65,000 miles on my '95 Road King and it NEVER let me down. The guy I sold it to has had no problems either. Feel free to call me a liar too. | ||
| Tnxbrider |
Frog, didn't even notice that it was you that wrote that... don't let that Aerostitch suit touch bare skin, I think that is wear the BMW thing I spoke about began. Lighten up all... It is Springtime after all. Later, T | ||
| Ftd |
89,000 for 16 years geez when do you ride it. I put over 40k in 3 years on my Buell. Good for you. At the time I owned the shovel I had three other bikes...do the math. Sheez | ||
| Pwnzor |
Jeez, give the guy a break..... Feel free to call me a liar too. I didn't call anybody a liar. I merely pointed out the fallacy of his statement. Are we living in Opposite Land? Any machine, properly maintained, can be VERY reliable. To say that a Honda is less reliable than a Harley is a pretty tall statement no matter what language you speak. My Buell was solid as a rock never had any more than minor electrical issues which I solved myself. But I'd never put it up against my very first bike, a 1976 CB750F1. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Hate to break it to you Matt but I've seen some pretty miserable CB750's back in the day. The vast majority were amazingly reliable. Some were not. A friend had one that was in the shop more than it was on the road. It finally ate the cam, that was all she wrote. Another one you would swear was made by the Prince of Darkness (Lucas). The damn thing had more electrical gremlins than you could track down. This was brand new out of the crate. Honda finally took that one back and he got a new one. No more problems. Most were VERY good, some were not. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we found in the crates. Everything from empty beer cans to condoms, to dead rats. They were not all perfect, John obviously had one of the bad ones. But then again he must have REALLY had a good Harley..  Brad | ||
| Pwnzor |
But then again he must have REALLY had a good Harley.. This has really been my point all along. Look at the sheer numbers of units produced vs. number of critical failures. I accept that every company puts out some lemons. There are so many parts from all over the place that go into almost any engine, it's impossible, or at least highly improbable, that you could have a perfect record with regard reliability. HOWEVER... I would personally bet against a Harley being as reliable as a Honda. Pick any year, but same year for each bike. | ||
| Tom_b |
I've seen about every make and model of m/c or automobile on the road produce lemons. The human factor does cause problems even with the best intentions. I'll tell about my uncle's 500 SEL mercedes benz that spent more time getting stuff fixed than on the road. But i also gotta say amount of breakdowns for numbers produced ratio a late 70's Honda is WAY more dependable than any AMF H/d. ever produced. If late 70's H/d were so known for quality, how come they almost closed down due to lack of interest and sales due to quality issues?? Crust must have a had one of the few good H/d's produced in that time, or been a better h/d wrench than honda wrench (Message edited by tom_b on March 22, 2010) | ||
| Bads1 |
Matt, Have you ever worked in a Honda dealer???? None the less I wish no ill effects because of some bad business decisions or the Econ omy. Lots and lots of good folks like you and I work there and take care of there families by doing so. Others have work because of HD. Without HD it only effects more US people. | ||
| Brumbear |
I owned a 79 sporty absolutely bar none the worst piece of shyt I ever lost every dime I put in it and every Maryjane rottencrotch to get on it and had to walk bike. My freinds called it the net bike cause you needed a net to catch all the shyt that fell off it. The guy I split the apartment with at the time also had a 79 sporty and I must say though. It was the second biggest piece of shyt no good part falling off hunk of useless tin I ever saw. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I have never worked for, nor been affiliated with any motorcycle manufacturer. | ||
| Sknight |
Regarding the 89K in 16 years. That's 5500 miles a year, 107 a week on average, if he rode every single week. Sounds pretty respectable to me especially if there were two other bikes in the mix. I ran into a guy recently with an 80 or 81 AMF HD, he was bragging about how many miles the bike had, coming up on 18K. Rag on those guys. I have no love for HD management, don't care much for how my bike has been treated in the service dept. Realistically if HD fell off the Earth I really wouldn't care. But I do want to see the brand survive if nothing else because it's an icon of America. We need more of those right now, not less. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I had a FIAT Multipla that was as reliable as as hell, sold it to my bro-in-law to buy a later one, he's still running his with over 350,000 km on the clock, I booted mine at 140,OOO having replaced 2 clutches, the poxy 2 piece flywheel & the gearbox. I've had supposedly stone cold reliable Fords & GM products that weren't worth a light, & the best, most reliable car I ever owned was an Alfa-Romeo. You get good & bad from all manufacturers & you can only rely on personal experience in the end. | ||
| Glitch |
I wish no ill will towards any American business/manufacturer. Unless of course they're dishonest. I'm upset that Buell was dropped. I've not owned an H-D in 30 years, and unless they make a bike I want, I'll not own another. I wish them well, and hope they get their act together. It would be ashamed for H-D to be bought by the Chinese. I dislike whomever killed Buell. But H-D as a collective didn't do it, just some morons at the top. | ||
| Metalrabbit |
In my area I'm surrounded by Harley owners. One of my closest life long friends is a M/C Club retired Pres. It is such a Club that I would Not Dare to give their name here. The good side is that he likes Buells and allows me to park right with his group gatherings. Some of the Members have Buells as second bikes. The best side of all this is that I'm afforded a level of protection greater than anything else I've experienced aside from the Fire Dept or the Army. Without H-D, I wouldn't have had this very interesting part of my life and such a large group of friends. I don't ride with them, but they are friends. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I roll with these guys as a "family hang-around"... lots of cool bikes. Most are Harleys but the club rules are not brand specific. 650cc's and at least two cylinders. They never frowned at my Buell even though it stuck out like a bright red and orange sore thumb in a 300 bike funeral procession. They don't frown at my Z1000 either. There's a fair number of choppers running inline 4 Japanese engines.  |
