Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
Yep.
And they do it better for half the price.
*ducks flying liquor bottle*  |
Normally, I would take a few pulls on said liquor bottle before replying (or throwing)
...
I don't think Harley will ever shake (pardon the pun) its reputation that it earned in the '60's and '70's, at least in some circles. Their quality well and truly sucked in those dark years. I owned several of their "motorcycles" produced in those years, and still have one.
Things have changed. I also own one manufactured in late '99 as a 2000 model. I would put its quality of manufacture, materials, fit, and finish up against any mass produced vehicle in the world today. Bike, car - doesn't matter. I would say the same for its reliability. 85,000 miles on mine with no more than routine maintanence. None of my riding buddies on their other brands, from BMW's to Hondas can say that. None.
In particular, I'm reminded of a guy I have ridden with several times (cousin of a riding buddy) who has one of the big 1800 v-twin Hondas. It's newer than my Road King by several years. It has less than 20,000 miles on it. He was riding cross-country, and found himself in Arizona. The clutch let go. Not a Honda dealer in the country had a replacement; they were back ordered a couple of months. He wound up renting a U-Haul to bring it back up here.
A couple of years after that the alternator let go, on another cross country trip. Same story. He was in Montana this time; rented a U-Haul and drove it home.
I could go on and on. The guys I ride with on Harleys, as long as they have been purchased in the last 15 years or so, have all found them to be dead reliable. And parts are available everywhere, in stock, at the dealers for those occasions when there are problems. Just as an exercise to demonstrate that, said acquaintance and I were on a trip to Idaho a few years back. We played a game. "Something just broke". Now find a dealer, and find that part. Little things; things you might need and could fix on the road. He went essentially 0-fer on same day pickup at a local dealer. Some parts were next day; most were at least a week, some were backordered. I batted 1000 on in stock, at the dealer, "here it is" over the counter on the exact same parts. Granted, I have never needed to do this. He has, for real, and has rented a truck both times.
So by what measure do we determine "better"?