V-Rod

[Davel]

I like the Victory very much but think that my nearest dealer is down Birmingham way.

I'll check on the website.

Are they reliable

 

[(RIP) Yosi]

........Forgot to mention....I've had three Harleys......

All three never used a drop of oil, or ever broke down, or needed a spare other than a consumable.....

Harleys.................better than you might think.......

I second on that. Have a 35 yeras old XLR1000 (belong to my son, now) and NEVER, repeat, NEVER anything went wrong after probably 500K miles.
I'm lucky enough to have a good frien who run a Harley dealership and from time to time let me borrow a bike. The V_Rod feel too "japanese" in my opinion.
Lost the rough edge of the Harley. The best one have ridden so far is the Dyna Super glide sport. Surprisingly good handling (fully adjustable ssupension) execelent brakes, enough power and speed to leave behind any GS. That the one I would like to own one day...

 

[Aurelius]

On the other hand I am amazed that you think that because somebody at HD thinks that his bikes are better than BMs then I should too.

Where did I suggest that?

Similarly your statistics are not watertight. Responses to voluntary surveys are notoriously innacurate - happy riders are out there riding, not complaining to anyone who'll listen. I'm sure that 90% of the bikes retiring from the 1994 iron butt rally due to mechanical failures were BMW Boxers, and I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of the bikes taking part were BMW boxers as well.

Consider this: even if every bike represented at the Iron Butt rally had been a BMW, it would not alter the fact that at least 9 out of every 10 of them failed to complete the race due to a mechanical breakdown. That's an appallingly bad showing for any brand, especially one that has a claimed reputation for reliability.

I reiterate my case: HD cruisers are low stress bikes that operate in a low stress environment. Unsurprisingly they don't brake much.

HD cruisers operate in the environment for which they were designed, just like any motorcycle. You claim that GS's have a much higher incidence of mechanical failure because they operate in a higher stress environment. But that overlooks the fact that they were designed for this purpose. When a machine can't cope with the conditions for which it was designed, we call that poor engineering.

 

[Mutley]

What is the quotation from the gentleman who 'works' for HD designed to do then Aurelius? persuade me that HDs are not good bikes?

I have claimed nothing about the reliability of BMWs - in fact I have suggested that I don't think they are particularly reliable. Don't put words into my mouth. I have simply suggested that the HD reliability record is not particularly amazing considering the use that the bikes are put to and the unstressed nature of their components.

Consider this: even if every bike represented at the Iron Butt rally had been a BMW, it would not alter the fact that at least 9 out of every 10 of them failed to complete the race due to a mechanical breakdown. That's an appallingly bad showing for any brand, especially one that has a claimed reputation for reliability.

No wonder you are confused. Now go away until you can tell me the difference between '90% of the bikes retiring from the 1994 Iron Butt Rally' and '9 out of every 10 of (BMW twins) failed to complete the race'.

 

[Aurelius]

What is the quotation from the gentleman who 'works' for HD designed to do then Aurelius? persuade me that HDs are not good bikes?

No, I was merely wondering why your experience was so different from mine. The fact that you rode the Fat Boy - which was described as the worst of Harley's big twins in the quote - seems to answer that question. Had you ridden the models I did, I suspect you'd have come away from the experience with a much more positive impression.

No wonder you are confused. Now go away until you can tell me the difference between '90% of the bikes retiring from the 1994 Iron Butt Rally' and '9 out of every 10 of (BMW twins) failed to complete the race'.

Right you are, that portion of my post was badly confused. According to Bob Higdon's report on the Ironbutt site, BMW's made up roughly 50% of the starting field, yet accounted for 90% of the bikes that suffered mechanical breakdowns. Failed final drives and charging systems were the main culprits.

 

[BTBR]

.....

 

[Mutley]

Oh for Pete's sake ....

No, I was merely wondering why your experience was so different from mine. The fact that you rode the Fat Boy - which was described as the worst of Harley's big twins in the quote - seems to answer that question. Had you ridden the models I did, I suspect you'd have come away from the experience with a much more positive impression.

My 'experience' was that the bike was absolutely fine for it's intended purpose - posing and relatively low speed bimbling, maybe a bit of traffic light drag racing. So your experience was that the rest of the range are fine for high speed touring, scratching and / or off roading then?

Quite why you persist in your attack on BMWs is beyond me. I have not held them up as some kind of ideal reliable motorcycle anywhere in my posts. I bought mine with my eyes wide open hoping that it would be an improvement on my Ducati . On the other hand I shall persist in my lesson on statistics if you keep setting the examples :

Right you are, that portion of my post was badly confused. According to Bob Higdon's report on the Ironbutt site, BMW's made up roughly 50% of the starting field, yet accounted for 90% of the bikes that suffered mechanical breakdowns. Failed final drives and charging systems were the main culprits.

This is still a meaningless statistic - if 20,000 bikes entered and only 10 broke down your figures would be correct but it would hardly be a damning indictment of the brand. In addition this is hardly a well researched survey as there is no previous knowledge of the age, mileage and mechanical well being of the bikes before they entered or the routes taken and mileage covered before breakdown. I am sure that if you did a survey of the number of breakdowns that the AAA attended around Sturgis during bike week you would find that the vast majority would be HDs.

However you do actually make my point. Roughly 50% of the starting field were BMWs which shows the use that many buy them for. They wished to do some high speed high mileage work so the majority bought a BMW. I expect there were HDs entered, I don't expect there were a massive number as most are not really suitable. The number of HDs entered would have been squewed because the rally was in the USA.

Shall I say it again? Horses for courses Aurelius. If I buy a £14,000 motorcycle that produces 50 bhp from 1450 cc and it doesn't go, stop or go round corners quite as well as a bike costing a third of the price. If I then only use it to potter around at legal speeds then it had better, at least, be reliable!

 

[Aurelius]

My 'experience' was that the bike was absolutely fine for it's intended purpose - posing and relatively low speed bimbling, maybe a bit of traffic light drag racing. So your experience was that the rest of the range are fine for high speed touring, scratching and / or off roading then?

I haven't ridden the entire range, but I was very impressed with the ones I did ride. I have no patience for "low speed bimbling" as you put it; I rode these every bit as fast as I used to ride my 1150GS on the same roads, cornering at roughly twice the posted speed limit and accelerating to about 100 mph in the straights. As for offroading, I suspect that with the propper tires, they would do just as well as my GS, considering its rather limited off road capabilities. Have a look at this thread for some examples: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29723&highlight=webber

Quite why you persist in your attack on BMWs is beyond me. I have not held them up as some kind of ideal reliable motorcycle anywhere in my posts.

Calm down Mutley, its not an "attack". I posted the numbers because without them, you'd have no idea what percentage of the participants rode BMW's in proportion to the total.

This is still a meaningless statistic - if 20,000 bikes entered and only 10 broke down your figures would be correct but it would hardly be a damning indictment of the brand.

There were 117 entrants in total, of which 54 were BMW's.

In addition this is hardly a well researched survey as there is no previous knowledge of the age, mileage and mechanical well being of the bikes before they entered or the routes taken and mileage covered before breakdown.

Considering the amount of time, expense, and preparation that goes into an Iron Butt rally, I think we can safely conclude that the owners of the unfortunate BMW's were fully convinced they were up to the task of completing the race.

However you do actually make my point. Roughly 50% of the starting field were BMWs which shows the use that many buy them for.

What people buy BMW's for is hardly a mystery. The question is how well the bikes they buy live up to those expectations. If I planned to enter an 11,000 mile race, I'd do it on a bike I could be reasonably sure would at least cross the finish line. For that reason alone I'd pick an FJR1300 or Honda Goldwing over any BMW.

If I buy a £14,000 motorcycle that produces 50 bhp from 1450 cc and it doesn't go, stop or go round corners quite as well as a bike costing a third of the price. If I then only use it to potter around at legal speeds then it had better, at least, be reliable!

£14,000? My goodness, I hope that's not what they're actually charging for Harleys in the UK! The Sportster 1200 retails here for roughly $8,000, while the Superglide retails for $12,000. Compared to BMW's $16,000-20,000 price tags, that's a bargain.

 

[fatone]

Really quite fancy one but for no logical reason.

Has anyone here had one or ridden one for a while?

What do you think of them?

I had a 2004 black VRSCB for almost a year. Financed partly by the sale of my 1100GS. Lots of electrical problems and zilch service from French HD dealers. The problem with the Vrod is that it really doesn't serve any purpose. It's shite for nipping into town. It's crap for long journeys and it's hard work working it around bends (even tho it is apparently better than airhead Harleys). The build quality is third world, I suppose because they want you to buy after market bits. Lots of plastic and jubilee clips. The motor is OK, I guess but that's about it.
I sold it to finance my 990, which is the best bike I've ever had. Out of some 25, over the past 30 years.
My advice to anyone contemplating any HD is don't.

 

[Butler]

come on now, horses for courses. there's millions of happy people on HD's.

 

[beemerboy9]

come on now, horses for courses. there's millions of happy people on HD's.

Yeah, they're cruisin' around someplace aren't they?

 

[Butler]

Earls Court?