I just bought my R* last month after my Goldwing caught fire and burned completely up. When I was shopping, the choice came down to my R* and a Harley ultra with an evo motor in it. Honestly what help shape my decision was the number of bikes coming in on trailers heading to the HD service bay while I was looking at the ultra. Not trying to brand bash, but that is honestly what helped make up my mind.

What the article fails to consider is that much of "modern" engine design Twin Cam, is based on the need to meet EPA regulations for emissions. The new liquid cooling in Harley's Rushmore bikes for example is not for a cooler riding experience, but to introduce liquid cooing to the HD crowd and to build acceptance in this traditional group. The changes in design i.e. fuel injection and computer control, as well as liquid cooling are to maintain or improve performance and meet emissions standards. The EVO may have been reliable, simple and cheap to fix, but you will never meet emission standards with it and by comparison my new 2014, 103 will kick its 82 inch butt all day.
I currently have an 88 Twin Cam in a Springer Softail, a 96 Twin Cam in an Ultra Classic, and a new 103 Twin Cam in an Ultra Limited. The 88 will whip the 96 all day mostly due to weight differences in the bikes, but the 103 is a beast and torque starts early and stays late. As for $300 to $400 a month for repairs, I do most of my own basic maintenance, repairs and upgrades, taking my scooters to the shop only when the darn special tools are too expensive or I just don't want to deal with the level of work involved. Other than tires, I have spent about $1200 in the last 2 years on repairs and have ridden the bikes a combined 40,000 miles. They are expensive to fix, but no more so than a Yamaha when you take it in to the shop.
I have been touring since the mid 70's and break downs are so rare now as to barely be a concern. I used to travel with oil and plugs and spare jets, and clutch cable in those early days. I was riding a CB750K1 Honda, while it never stranded me, it did require some road side attention from time to time. I still carry tools, but mostly they get used on other peoples bikes

I really try to stay out of this Harley vs. Yamaha thing but when a person says they always see a Harley on the side of the road broke down and that's the reason to not own one just bugs the crap out of me. So here's my view on this.

1. If you compare the amount of Harleys vs. R*'s out on the road, Harleys would out number R*'s 1000 to 1. It's just a plain and simple fact there are 1000's more Harleys out on the road compared to R*'s so it only stands to reason your going to see more broke down. I can't tell you how many posts I have read on here over the many years of being a member here on people who have had their fair share of break downs and problems with R*'s. They are mechanical and things happen even to our R*'s. But with so few R*'s out there compared to Harleys it stands to reason your not going to see it very often.

2. I have owned and still own a 2005 Harley FLHT and it has been a good bike. The only money I have spent in the past 7 years was a problem with a line on the fuel pump located inside the tank. I was forced to replace my stator & rectifier on my R* so that about even's out the money spent to ride the bikes. Between my 2 bike's R*& Harley I have put on about 64,000 miles in those 7 years and other then tires and gas and those 2 problems they both seem to run great.

There are a select number of members here that almost always jump on the bash wagon anytime one starts.

DannyHarder wrote:
I really try to stay out of this Harley vs. Yamaha thing but when a person says they always see a Harley on the side of the road broke down and that's the reason to not own one just bugs the crap out of me. So here's my view on this.

1. If you compare the amount of Harleys vs. R*'s out on the road, Harleys would out number R*'s 1000 to 1. It's just a plain and simple fact there are 1000's more Harleys out on the road compared to R*'s so it only stands to reason your going to see more broke down. I can't tell you how many posts I have read on here over the many years of being a member here on people who have had their fair share of break downs and problems with R*'s. They are mechanical and things happen even to our R*'s. But with so few R*'s out there compared to Harleys it stands to reason your not going to see it very often.

2. I have owned and still own a 2005 Harley FLHT and it has been a good bike. The only money I have spent in the past 7 years was a problem with a line on the fuel pump located inside the tank. I was forced to replace my stator & rectifier on my R* so that about even's out the money spent to ride the bikes. Between my 2 bike's R*& Harley I have put on about 64,000 miles in those 7 years and other then tires and gas and those 2 problems they both seem to run great. Good post, Danny! Puts things in perspective...

I just got done helping my buddy upgrade his 1993 Harley FXR. He started off with a bone stock Evo 82inch motor. Just finished up with some headwork (got them cut down) coupled with some high comp pistons put him at about 9.75:1 compression, coupled with a set of andrews EV46 cams and adjustable pushrods.

His whole reason for doing the upgrade to the bike was he couldnt believe how god awful slow it was. He used to make fun of my R*, until he got the Harley (he was coming off of an old Honda Magna 1100 that he rebuilt from the ground up, it was a damn rocket!)

I learned that the Evos are very simple motors to work on, but require quite a few stupidly expensive specialty tools. One of the biggest things that amazes me though, is he did all that to his bike, for a little over $750, which includes the cost of machine work. I would have to pay three times that or more to get the same stuff for my R*.

I love bikes period, and in my opinon there is no superior brand. All of them have their problems eventually. All of them end up with recalls. Some simply excell where others don't. At the end of the day the biggest differnce between what is a "better bike" would be are you going to leave it stock or not. Between our bikes VS the Harleys I would say ours win in performance and reliablity "stock v stock" but I do think if your going to do some serious internal motor work, such as HC pistons, cams, heads, and or Big bore, I think that H-D takes the cake. Not to say that you cant build one hell of a R*, but your selection is very limited, and you will pay ALOT more money to build the R* over an H-D.

Just my thoughts.