That's a lovely bike there, Doc. Looks very comfortable too.
Yes, my GS is a superb thing and it's been pretty good all-round. Perhaps my description of it being a tad fragile was over-egging the pudding. It's had some strange (repeat) software issues that have required some resolving (by the dealer) and it's raised my eyebrow on whether it'd be niggly and problematic on a longer journey. And some of the plastic/polymer parts have broken or been marked by small impacts (and been renewed). But overall, it's fine.
The "quality of roads" thing is a good point... it's very variable across Europe as a whole. As an example, in Sicily there's a brilliant smooth road from Catania down to Syracuse and then it just runs out and the roads go rutted and rough without much notice. But I would rather ride either bike in mainland Europe than our local horrible roads that haven't been maintained for a decade. A few weeks ago I had to ride through a flooded bit of country road on the GS and found out later that there were big ruts in it after it had dried out... luckily I had avoided them. Dread to think what would have happened on a Road King.
But as Toddmeister said, the HD just seems more "comfortable" and ploddy and less frenetic than the GS. I get bored and tend to start hoon a bit on the GS which I'm really too old now to be doing. The Harley feels more relaxed over distance, odd as it might seem. It gives you an excuse to slow down and take it steady. Just a personal and non scientific perspective.
Yes, my GS is a superb thing and it's been pretty good all-round. Perhaps my description of it being a tad fragile was over-egging the pudding. It's had some strange (repeat) software issues that have required some resolving (by the dealer) and it's raised my eyebrow on whether it'd be niggly and problematic on a longer journey. And some of the plastic/polymer parts have broken or been marked by small impacts (and been renewed). But overall, it's fine.
The "quality of roads" thing is a good point... it's very variable across Europe as a whole. As an example, in Sicily there's a brilliant smooth road from Catania down to Syracuse and then it just runs out and the roads go rutted and rough without much notice. But I would rather ride either bike in mainland Europe than our local horrible roads that haven't been maintained for a decade. A few weeks ago I had to ride through a flooded bit of country road on the GS and found out later that there were big ruts in it after it had dried out... luckily I had avoided them. Dread to think what would have happened on a Road King.
But as Toddmeister said, the HD just seems more "comfortable" and ploddy and less frenetic than the GS. I get bored and tend to start hoon a bit on the GS which I'm really too old now to be doing. The Harley feels more relaxed over distance, odd as it might seem. It gives you an excuse to slow down and take it steady. Just a personal and non scientific perspective.
