Harley-Davidson to Discontinue Buell Sport Bikes

NEW YORK TIMES ^ | 15 OCTOBER 2009 | Jerry Garrett

[arthurus]

You just made all the arguments for buying a Yamaha. Over 26 years I had 27 or 28 different bikes. Most of the riding I did was across the continent or long commutes. I only had one new bike and it was a Honda dog. Of all my used bikes the Yamahas were far and away the most reliable and the Virago needed the least adjusting and maintenance. The Yamahas all got better gas mileage than any of the others of comparable displacement and power.

[OA5599]

Harley, they have just priced themselves out of the market. Not too mention I want to be a rider not a mechanic. It’s too bad, I would like to support an American company but it’s most likely I will buy a Jap clone like a Kawasaki Vulcan. 1/4 the price, twice as reliable and half the maintenance.

As an owner of both a metric cruiser (Suzuki Marauder) and a Harley (Softail Custom), I can honestly say my experience has been completely opposite of what you have written.

Oil changes are more of a hassle on the Harley than the import, but that's it. (Harley has separate engine oil, transmission oil, and primary chain case oil to change.) But I found lubricating and adjusting the chain on the import to be more of a pain than any other periodic maintenance. The Harley has a Kevlar reinforced drive belt that doesn't need lubrication and doesn't stretch much compared to the chain drives.

More significantly, my Harley has given me 23,000 miles of trouble-free riding in all sorts of conditions. Two summers of NYC gridlocks, 20 deg F winters in the north east (handles well in snow too), 100+ deg F in Arizona & Nevada deserts including long runs of wide open throttle, 6000 miles of highway riding day after day after day with few breaks, showing off with dumping the clutch and doing burnouts and wheelies...

The Suzuki was no such machine. At just under 10,000 miles, the big end bearing on the front cylinder wiped after going wide open passing cars on the highway while accelerating from 60 mph to 90 mph. I rebuilt the engine, replacing the crankshaft, bearings, and both connecting rods. At a hair over 20,000 miles, that same bearing wiped sitting in NYC traffic.

The Harley is by far the most expensive motorcycle I ever bought at $17,000. ($20,000 including taxes and a set of pipes.) In some ways I still can't believe I spent that much money. But it is also by far the best motorcycle I have ever owned and it's worth every penny to me.