I think the bad reliability stigma for HD was created in the 80's when they were bought out by AMF, way before I ever got into them but I've read quite a bit about it. They pushed production so hard to get the numbers up that quality and therefore reliability went to shit. After they were bought back from AMF by the current owners things improved and now they are reliable but the stigma from the 80's has stuck in many people's mind. What I find is that it mainly sticks with people who've never owned one.

The only prob I've had was when the 4WD ran me and the bike over

Otherwise all good

I'm impressed....Its not easy remembering how to spell diorear....Diarear....Diannes rear...Aww fuckit.

the twin cam seems to be a pretty good motor .............i would like a shovel but its all true for them.......

Bucket,
had a Shovel for 20 years, had to rebuild it ground up 4 weeks after buying it.
The pistons were so sloppy that .20 thou over manley gear replaced stock after reboring,
changed carb, ignition and got rid of all the crap (indicators, extra wiring, electric start etc.)
I loved (and at times hated) that bike, but when I had to sell it (had no choice) it left an empty space
in my life.
Took 5 years to get another Harley, and she's so reliable I seldom carry the toolkit with me.

Had a WLA that I loved even though I had to work in it regularly but it was built in 1942 and by the time I had it, it was already 30 years old. Also had a Shovel wideglide (AMF). Engine was strong but everything else kept falling off it. Since then my 91 Ultraclassic popped a final drive spline which HD fixed on warranty even though the bike was four years old and had done in excess of 80,000ks. Bought a brand new 98 Heritage and never missed a beat, my 03 Ultraclassic was absolutely superb and now my 07 softail is the ducks guts....

Anyone tells you Harleys are crap just use the lines: If I have to explain you wouldn't understand or Once you've ridden one you'll never get on anything else.

Must admit when I was younger I didnt want one of those.....slow reving...oil leaking...work on all

week to go for a short ride..pieces of shit things (but always loved the sound) ..brain washed by

all my mates.....none of us had ever owned one or ridden one....2007 my first ride on a harley cost

me over $25k ..I let all my mates ride mine and now 4 of then have bought new ones....how time

changes our minds....they are all wrapped with the way my dyna handles....one of the guys said

he would never ever sit on a harley...mine was his first...he bought a 2009 Nightster...and loves it...

My sporty broke down after 200km, was just a loose plug in electrics, probably like that when it came of the assembly line, stuck on the side of the road for 2 hrs middle of summer waiting for HD roadside assist to get their shit together.

and to bloody embarrassed to admit it on any other forum!

no probs whatsoever since, @ 10k

In one of Harleys umpteen dozen history books,it is written that the H.D. mechanics would have bets about the bikes being able to make it across the parking lot or not

my 06 has just clocked up 40000 trouble free k's cept for the bearing for the shift on the floorboard's needing a ream no fucking worries .....

oh and a split fuel line in the fuel tank

you can still get the 1 in 10000.....i just got my 09 rocker c back after the engine had to be removed & striped down to reseal the crankcase....it was leaking oil at the sealant join at the bottom of the engine....only 1000 km old....all fixed under warranty ...

Never had a problem with my 00 Deuce except for a loose battery lead, and the time when i pushed it out of the garage and let it roll to the bottom of the hill so that i didn't wake the missus and kids up(get away plan) and it had a flat battery, had to push the fukn thing huffin, puffin and swearing back up the hill into the garage.

had a 94 heritage,bought it 95 with 40.000k on it,rode it til late 08, did 450.000ks including about 20 trips bris to darwin.was a daily rider and at times only transport. only broke down once when ignition switch fell to bit on barkly tablelands in the middle of the night. changed the motor over in early 08,the bike is still on the road and as reliable as ever,still retains all the original running gear except motor which has over 100.000k paid 13grand for the bike and sold it for 15grand. crashed it twice.repainted it more times than i remember. loved that bike,never should have sold it.

Good shit Angry, not many riders can have that sort of a record on a bike. Sold my '57 Pan years ago, had to,no choice in the matter. I've missed her ever since. "Loved that bike,never should have sold it" I've still got me Pan manual and flick through it having a tug at the same time 

 

Angry, 450 000 ks on a hog ..holy shit man thats gotta be some sort of record...shit I wish I could do something

like that on 2 wheels......My best brag was 650 000 ks in a diesel 60 series landcruiser....owned it for 11 years

done gearbox up once..2 clutch kits...injecters twice and I fitted a after market turbo to it at 19 000 ks and never

touched it again and never looked at the injector pump.......oil and filter ever 10 000 k... O what a feeling..........

more reliable than a wife ,harley is a mans best mate ..otherwise no forum

ahhhh,nah. he couldnt get near that one,he couldnt keep up.

had mine since mid Feb., and I agree. I quite often head out with some mates who own Jap bikes and they have trouble keeping up except when in tight curves. My FLHRC eats up the ks no problems and is heaps of fun I’ve now exceeded 10,000ks. handling is fantastic.  I have had to replace the exhaust, cracked through at 2000ks,  replaced two Willie G throttle grips, one falling off literally, the other the chrome came off  and the horn wouldn’t work after water got in when caught in the rain one day but all fixed under warranty.

Gruvy