Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Itzamna wrote:Personally, I would go for the Honda, but I am a cheap man. I have no personal experience with the belt or shaft drive, but have known some friends with Harley's to be stranded on the road due to a broken belt, something you probably will never have to worry about with the shaft drive.

Oh Ya? I havn't heard much about honda's lately but Yamaha owners have sure been having major problems with the shaft drives, in particular the v-stars. At nearly $2k for the repairs, I don't think anyone considers it to be a "cheap" fix. I wonder what a belt costs? Anyone know?

Belts last a very long time, and I don't believe they're terribly expensive. However, the V-Star shaft issues you speak of effected a short run of the 650's (and from what I hear the 1100's) and are not indicative of a large scale shaft drive epedemic. As long as everything is pulled apart at least every other new rear tire and inspected (and regreased) everything should be good-to-go.

My father has had two Goldwings with nearly 100,000km without a single shaft problem. Looking for common problems with modern Japaneese bikes is like looking for a needle in a haystack....

msvaughan wrote:I have wondered about starting out with a smaller bike, but everyone I have talked to recently has stated (Not just sales guys either) that I could start with this size and get used to it and be comfortable. Rather than start smaller, then in 6 months wish I had bought bigger. My friend is wanting to move from his 750 up to the VTX1800 when he gets back from Iraq.

Yes I think I am responsible, I will be 35 next month, so I am not a young guy with speed on my brain and wanting to just go blasting down the street at 100mph. I want style, comfort and the option of adding some personal touch to a bike when I am ready.

I can afford the Harley, but for 6k more, I am having a hard time justifying the Harley, especially when many people are telling me the Honda has more power stock anyway.

I like them both, I really do. Right now for 6k less, I am leaning towards the Honda learning to ride it.

Since I am still learning this too, how about:
1.) The shaft drive of Honda VS the belt drive of Harley? Should that be a consideration?
2.) liquid cooled VS Air cooled?
3.) Honda comes Carbed, Harley had the option of EFI or Carb, should that be a consideration?

And again, I appreciate all you taking time to respond to me.

1.) The drive train, like so much else is a personal matter. If you are planning on modifying your bike at some point in the future, the belt drive has more options available. The shaft drive is better for long term reliability, but the belt drive will be good for approximaely 50,000 miles (80,000km). Maintenance for both is very easy.

2.) Air cooled means there are fewer thing that can go wrong, but the drawback is higher operating temps in heavy traffic situations and on hot days when the air density thins out. This is not a problem in 99% of your riding. Water cooled has the advantages of better heat control in heavy traffic situations, and ambient air conditions have little or no bearing on the engines operating temps. Because of the more precise temperature controls, engine manufacturing tolerances can be tighter and that provides greater performance per volume. The downside is higher maintenance of the cooling system needed to keep it in optimal condition.

3.) EFI vs. Carbs can have a big impact in many ways depending on where you live. Properly mapped, EFI gives better control to the fuel metering system which can reduce exhaust emmisions while maintaining high specific output performance. If you live in a high polution area where vehicles are required to pass emmision tests regularly, then EFI is the way to go. Carbs are easier for Joe Sixpack to understand because they are the standard fuel system on most vehicles, thoug that will probably change asexhaust emission standards are increasingly tightened. If you plan on doing any track time (road racing or drag racing) then carbs are your best current option as they are more easily tunable for track conditions.

As for your initial question about larger vs. smaller, ask yourself several questions; what your riding style will be, will you be carrying a passenger, what are your physical comfort needs (are you a large, or long legged, person), what are your performance expectations. If it was me, and I was new to riding as you are, I would look at my friend's 750 as a learning bike. It is a full sized motorcycle and can carry two up for short distances. It will only seem "down on power" to an experienced biker, not a newbie like yourself. At this point, you only have the desire to ride. Before investing too much money, find out on something less expensive whether you actually enjoy motorcycling. I have known a couple of people who got all excited about motorcycling until they actually did some riding and found out that it was just not their cup of tea after spending large sums of money. They lost quite a bit of their investment because of depreciation. I do hope you enjoy your biking experience and become a lifer like me. If you do, you can trade up from that 750 anytime in the future. Welcome to the family, I hope your stay here is a long one.

Another thread raised from the dead.

I saw go with what feels right for you! I ride a VTX 1300R and I think it is the best bike out there......FOR ME! I love everything about it. One consideration though is that you can get more bike for the money (IMO) with a Honda and still have money left to "accessorize". In the end though it's gonna be YOUR bike. Good luck and have fun deciding.

Perhaps you should check out the 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic

Fuel Injected, Disks all around, Belt drive, 180 series rear tire, about 7500 U.S dollars not to big and not to small and the most torque in the middle weight class.

Here's the link http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2 ... lassic.htm

Happy buying!

You have to step lightly when giving opinions about metrics vs Harleys if you want to avoid a flaming war. Fact is, there's really only one reason to buy a Harley and that's if your sole purpose in life is to fit into the Harley cult crowd. You will always come out ahead buying metric in terms of performance, reliability, and bang-for-the-buck. However, there must be something to be said for the Harley thing because there sure are a lot of them on the road!
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bush stimulus package

Spam and thread resurrection.

Sweet......

VTX!



One of my bike mags just did a comparo of VTX 1300 vs comparible harley and they chose the VTX, I'll let you know which mag when I get home.