[Fortynineten]

You will see I have got starting problems with the old girl. This has led me to have impure thoughts and consider getting another bike. From Summer 2007 I will have the opportunity to do some work as a Bike instructor and need reliability above all else (even eye watering acceleration)

I am seriously considering a Harley Street Bob (No I don't mean a Night Rod). I have never ridden one and have always discounted them because of all the macho ***** that seems to attach to the brand.

If I do end up falling out with the Rocket I do not want to replace it with a me too Jap bike or a can't go out in the rain Italian brand.

Harley's can't be that bad can they? All advice greatfully received. Keep sniffing the glue and watching the flowers. :-x

 

[Ugarte]

Well, I love my Rocket, and would buy another without hesitation. But you are obviously at odds with yours so my advice is for you to sell your Rocket and go ahead and get that street bob. Maybe it will work out better for you.

I like the look of the street bob, if I was going to get a Harley that would be the one.

 

[travelguy]

after demoing numerous harleys before buying the r3 i would only replace my r3 with another.. however if i was do'n the harley thing it would be the fatboy... test ride them if you can.. they do handle and ride differently... that is to say horribly and slow , but hey somone has to keep that great economic beast they call harley turning. just won't be me.

 

[sbljr]

On 2006-12-30 07:10, Fortynineten wrote:
Harley's can't be that bad can they? All advice greatfully received. Keep sniffing the glue and watching the flowers. :-x

I've owned a half dozen Harleys over the last quarter-century, been as far as Kansas to Alaska on them, and the last one to leave me stranded was an '82 ironhead XL. The ones they make nowadays are plenty darn reliable and the maintenance actually quite easy compared to many Japanese and European bikes.

The Bob would be a nice choice if you replace the mini-apes with something sane in the way of bars (some people think apehangers look cool but nothing else I can think of can be said in their favor).

Aside from that, Dynas of today are very pleasant machines and I highly recommend them (I had a 2002 for awile and was very fond of it--same basic setup but now you get a dab more displacement and a 6-speed to boot). My advice would be stay away from the Squishtails. The Touring FL models are the only way to go if you want long distance comfort from a Harley. My 2 cents worth YMMV.

 

[Tatonka]

I too am having impure thoughts since the bike is in the shop with invisible mystical electronic issues.

 

[MikeRokkit]

I sold my FLHT-I to get the Rocket 3. It just wasn't strong enough for me. Riding two up like I do, having to downshift two gears to get enough torque up to pass reasonably quick wasn't only frustrating, it was also dangerous.

I agree the new Dyna's are good for one-up riding.

Be safe.
Mike

 

[Guest]

I rode a 2001 Road King for 5 years prior to getting my Rocket. I took one test drive on the Rocket and the Road King was gone. I had done about 40k miles on the HD.

Good GOD, man....don't get an HD in place of your Rocket. You'll be pissed within weeks or a few months, TOPS.

 

[Molinoman]

What the others have said, the Harley's of today are ,for the most part, a lot better than their ancestors. But if you are still having a hanker'in for "eye watering" acceleration, you need to look for another brand unless you are looking at the V-Rod. The CVO Screaming Eagle Versions are faster than stock but at an ungodly amount of increase in price. Some other considerations are with the new "bigger" engines is an increased amount of heat and as I mentioned in an earlier post the jury is still out on the "new" 6 speed tranny, gotta give them credit for going that route but you may want to give them a year for the 2008's to get the "bugs" out.
Hopefully your ride is still under warranty and maybe they'll get that problem fixed so that you can be happy on what you already have.
Just my .02 cents worth.
Dennis

 

[JohnRimmer]

I'm not sure how good a HD would be as a bike for motorcycle instructing. What about manouvreability,3 point turns etc ? Why not kep the R3 and get a 2nd,smaller bike ? Like a Bonnie/derivative - small,simple and cheap.

 

[Fortynineten]

Thanks for the advice. Don't get me wrong I love the Rocket and I know I would miss it if I got rid of it. When I decided on the Rocket I envisaged I would keep it a very long time. The thing that really grips my ring peice is the fact I am fannying about trying to get it started when I have only covered 9500 miles. It has broke down on me in France and twice back home. This is just not acceptable on a two year old very expensive bike that has been looked after. As for manouverability I do not have problem riding the bike at less than walking pace its just a matter of balance and having a fat a%%. Please keep the advice coming I need to get rid of these impure thoughts.

 

[sbljr]

On 2006-12-30 22:03, Molinoman wrote:
...The CVO Screaming Eagle Versions are faster than stock but at an ungodly amount of increase in price. Some other considerations are with the new "bigger" engines is an increased amount of heat and as I mentioned in an earlier post the jury is still out on the "new" 6 speed tranny, gotta give them credit for going that route but you may want to give them a year for the 2008's to get the "bugs" out.

I've ridden a 110" 07 CVO Dyna and though it has a dab more grunt than my stage1 TC88, you're still going to ask "Where's the beef?" compared to a Rocket. I was disappointed in view of the fact to get one you gotta pay 5 figures extra on a bike that ain't exactly bargain basement priced to begin with! As for the 6-spd I doubt it will have major bugs, but it's no big deal unless you ride lots of superslab at hyper-legal speeds. It is geared so tall 5th felt much better to me at 2-lane speeds. Maybe that's cuz it's what I'm used to--this 6th is a true overdrive not a tightening up of ratios to optimize powerband (which would be downright silly on a Harley).

 

[DYEHARD]

I have an r3 and love it. I have had it for two years. I also have a Harley Road King. I have owned Harley's my entire life--33 of them. They are two different machines. My wife likes riding on the road king best, I think she is just more used to it.

If you try a street bob then you will know. If you can afford to keep the r3 and add the other you will be in the best of both worlds. Harley has a rider loyalty that surpasses most understanding. Like they say, "If you have to ask, you
wouldn't understand."

 

[Molinoman]

DYEHARD, not trying to start an argument so I'll just make a statement. If Harley charged a decent price for what they put out year after year after year with modest changes at best (and that is being very kind on my part) I would probably entertain the thought of buying one, but to me it comes down to value, plain and simple...it is not worth what they charge. If I want comfort for long distance traveling, I've already got the Gold Wing. If I want a bike with, as it was said earlier, eye watering acceleration then the Rocket is what I'm going to get.
Don't get me wrong, Harley, in it's own way has tried to up the value of their machines, they have great paint, they have the 6 speed transmission now, they have upped the size of the engine, but the power just isn't there for the most part, not much grunt, except for the sound and virtually just about everything on the road with half the cc's can out accelerate one (with exceptions here an there...V-Rod and ones who have the "speed enhancements" done).
As for me "if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand", I chose not to bother asking and really don't feel like understanding.
If you want a bike to cruise around on and look sort of "cool" or fit an image that 99% of Harley riders now fit (so much for individuality) then you get a Harley.
But if you want power that is "stock", you get the Rocket or any one of dozens of the crotch rocket variety that are available. I vote for the Rocket, I've already got a "made in America" motorcycle.
Dennis

[ This message was edited by: Molinoman on 2006-12-31 08:23 ]

 

[RocketEd]

Well, I have to admit this is the first time in the last 20 years I've heard somebody say they're considering a Harley because they don't want a "me too" bike!! :-D Harley Davidson is now the very definition of "me too".

If you want a v-twin, want something different, and reliability is of prime importance, you have to try out a Victory. IMO they are just that little bit better than the Harley in every performance category other than fuel mileage, don't wobble in corners like some of the HD rubber mounts, are available heavily discounted, and are as trouble free as any bike out there. I don't know how much faith you put in JD Powers, but their recent evaluation put Victory way up there in owner satisfaction. I think their website http://victorymotorcycles.polarisindustries.com/victory/default.aspx still has the results posted. Victory claims a less than 1% warranty return rate. I've had 21,000 trouble free miles on my '02 92/5 and it is probably my favorite bike out of the 30+ I've owned. I've not tried the new 100/6, but owners seem happy with them too.
All I'm saying is don't buy Harley without at least considering Victory.

[ This message was edited by: RocketEd on 2006-12-31 09:12 ]

 

[sbljr]

On 2006-12-31 08:22, Molinoman wrote:
But if you want power that is "stock", you get the Rocket or any one of dozens of the crotch rocket variety that are available. I vote for the Rocket, I've already got a "made in America" motorcycle.

We are fast losing track of what the thread originator asked.

Anybody who doesn't know Harleys deliver less horsepower for the buck should probably stay away from ALL motorcycle showrooms entirely until they get somewhere outside the State of Ignorance.

Like you, I don't understand the guy who buys a Harley and then spends $$$$ trying to make it "fast" when he'll still get blown into the weeds by some kid on a ratty aging ricerocket that wouldn't bring what he paid for pipes alone.

However, I suspect the person asking already knows what they're going to get performance-wise if they buy a Harley.

 

[Sprintster]

i suggest you buy yourself a portable DVD player so that you can occupy yourself whilst waiting to achieve highway speeds.

 

[Fortynineten]

I am used to travelling slow as I ride a mighty Honda Fireplace (C90) every day. Surely a Billy-bob would not be as pedestrian.

I know I will end up keeping the Rocket but I am concerned that I may need to fettle it to keep it on the Road. When it broke down on me around the back of a gloomy hotel in France I was not amused. Then it left me stranded 50 miles from home, you may realise why I am having second thoughts.

The bike is out of warranty. If I was synical I would suspect a conspiracy by Triumph planting a gismo in the wiring loom? :idea:

 

[phatdad]

Having owned several hogs and a Rocket III I can say that the hundreds of readily available customizing options make the hogs a lot of fun to own. And they are fun to drive too. I miss not having several options in seating, handlebars, exhaust and so on. Reselling a Harley is also easier to do and gives a lower margin of loss.
Meanwhile, I am hanging on to my Rocket waiting for more options to become available. At the same time I am slowly putting parts on my wife's hog so that it fits me better. She won't notice until springtime.

 

[TooManyBikes]

I have a lot of bikes, (too many), and one is a hardly dangerous road glide. It is comfortable, reliable, low to the ground, steady on the highway against big trucks, and a pleasure to ride. As for power, it will be a step down from the rocket. Maybe two steps. The power of a hardly dangerous is sorta like rolls royce used to proclaim in their brochures: Adequate. I had mine bored out to 95 inches, and that made a big difference with a passenger. Getting 50 mpg with a bike that big is a bonus.

 

[Molinoman]

As someone pointed out it appears (at least I did) that some of the replies started to not deal with the originator's original post. I apologize for that and I am guilty as charged. I was going to let the post (that got me started) pass, but I couldn't let the "If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand" comment go past without commenting, it's a weakness on my part.
So again I apologize.
Dennis