Total Motorcycle Community Forums

badinfluence63 wrote: For instances...the adjusting of the push rods.

I guess it would be difficult to adjust let alone find the non-existent Honda pushrods.

I guess it would be difficult to adjust let alone find the non-existent Honda pushrods.

Thats what makes HD's the Holy Grail of bikes to me. The simplicity. To do the same procedure on say a Kawasaki recquires(or used to last time I checked about 15 years ago) taking off the gas tank, and the rocker boxes and then well.....you get the picture.

To me the HD is the Holy Grail of motorcycles. Not to say its the best made one but it is my Holy Grail of motorcycles.

However its not true with all HD's.....I just got a birdseye view of the EFI system in my recently purchased 1998 Ultra and I'm nervous. Its alot more complicated then a simple carburated bike. Many many many new hidden and necessary hard to get at parts. Some new HD's have EFI and some carburation.

So maybe if you want to keep it simple stay away from EFI? What can you do when the pump craps out. That may be the flaw in my recent purchase of a 1998 Ultra. I would feel better about a carb.

Everyone has different reasons for having a motorcycle and why they want one. 30+ years ago when I was an upcoming wanna be motorcyclist my elders advised me on leaning towards owning a bike that you could keep running if it breaks down. All bikes malfunction, its the nature of the beast. If you ride alot poo poo happens. Bailing wire, spare plugs,chain links, points,condenser,tools, oil and such were as well encouraged. And when all else fails the pint of Jack Daniels tucked away at the bottom of the bags. With the increased application of shaft drive, water cooled,EFI etc...the reality of minimizing getting home is dwindling. On a HD, in a worse case scenario you could limp home on one cylinder even.

I am not trying to convince anyone of there choice of bikes. This is mine and my reasons. They all have there pluses and minuses. Flat tires suck, mechanical failures bite, road rash is a biotch and they all get em.

Axman wrote:It's pretty much a given thing that the salesman will want to sell you the more pricey models. They work on commission!

Hello and welcome to the site!! In response to your quote above, yeah, they do work on commision but I have friends at our local Harley Outpost here and the reason that they do that is because they actually lose money when you come to trade in the Sporster for a bigger model, so they are really being pushed not to go that way to begin with....but, yep still a money issue!

Personally, I have a Kawasaki and my hubby has the 1800 Goldwing and he just loves it. He just put 40,000 on it this summer and not a problem one, just regular maintenance and tires, of course! Honda is pretty infamous for not having those issues.....

to TMW

Enjoy the forums.

Hello from Wisconsin!!!!!!!!

Just to (hopefully) put a period on the H-D deal...
I went to Southside H-D in Indianapolis,In... I told the man I was interested in a entry level H-D-in this case it was a "lower seat 883"
about 7800$. I explained to him fully that it might just be a transition bike for me. I fully explained to him that I didn't want to go from a 300# bike to a 7-800# bike- a 500# was what I was looking for.He kept walking me to a 18K model, I explained I would pay cash, and didn't want to front 18 K...I kept going back to the 883...
He said it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do...well I found that funny, since my DR400S does dang near everthing I want it to do-cept have a comfortable seat position and sound like a V-twin.
I was all warm and fuzzy towards H-D because I had just seen the Jerry Lewis Telethaon- and saw all (the good) H-D does for "Jerry's Kids".My buddies ride H-D. I went on a M-D ride and I'd say 90% of the scoots were H-D. Not to mention I could THEN join the prestigous HarleyOwnersGroup
(HOG) club, and think of all the boobies I'd see at THAT rally!
But the guy walked me- and I probably owe him a big old Hoosier Hug- because the whole time my heart was saying "Harley" my head was saying
"be careful!" I won't mince words-2800$ for a rebuild is idiotic. 1300 for a lifter that eats a cam is robbery. $500 for the "1st Service" on a new bike-
What????Yep, that's what he said...
As for the argument that I'd only wanna trade it in for a bigger one in a short time- I don't get rid of ANYTHING! ARRRRRGUUUUUH! I got barns full of stuff and a driveway and yard full of cars- My kids get all my old stuff- Sam drives the o6Suzuki Forenza my wife was "going" to trade in on her new Camry. Isaac grabbed my '01 PT Crusier when I let it set in the drive too long...Noah now rides my DR400...Outgrowing a bike just means ANOTHER bike-somebody here will take the 883 off my hands if I decide I really NEED that VTX1800....So, I bought a used(pristeen) '03 Honda ACE750- with 3K mi...I gave about a buck a mile for it,or about 4 bucks a cc..and left the rest in the bank.
So, to turn this thread around-what can you tell me about the Honda?
I know it's got 2 carbs and is liquid cooled and chain drive...any thoughts on what I got? Recalls or issues I need to address?
YMMV/TIA

Orange Crate,

As I listen to your story, while on one hand I see your point on another I see you building a case for what? Don't buy a HD because one saleman is flawed and a challenged individual? Its odd that he won't just sell you the bike you want. Get pair of balls and tell him he sucks and get another saleman or go to another dealer.

Its his job to walk the fine line of encouraging to go big w/out loosing your sale altogether. He could and just may be a one kind idiot who won't just give you want you want. You lead for a change and make him follow. Put your foot down, be firm and give him a taste of the Orange crate dog and pony show.

Salesmen are like a box of chocolate...you never know what you're gonna get. If after you've taken a bite and you don't like the taste, put it back and take another. Its your box of chocolate,eh.

I'm not building a case for anything "future"- I'm telling you why I didn't go black and orange.
Telling a 10 minute acquaintence he "sucks" isn't my style.
I got "balls enough" to know I'm not a sucker for a 500 buck service, a 2800 buck 2 cyl rebuild or a 1300 buck camSHAFT(emphasis mine).
Going to another H-D dealer still gets me a H-D...and that whole set of problems I don't need.
I'm happy with what I got-and I still welcome any info on the bike you folks can provide.

Orange Crate

Alls you demonstrated was your inabilty to handle a situation then blame the motorcycle.