Hi all, I'm new to  forum,  I rode a mates night train which convinced me I wanted a Harley. I'm in a predicament, so far the research I have done is steering me away from a twin cam bike due to design flaws  or reliability issues. I have around 15 to spend on my bike, I have seen the last of he evo wide glides in my price range aswell as fuel injected sportsters 1200c's?. I guess I need advice on the most reliable bike I could get for that cash, bearing in mind if I get a 1200c I will do my utmost to make it look like a wide glide. Any advice would be great. Cheers Ryno

If you want the look of a wide glide than buy a wide glide, if you don't you will always regret it and in the end you will buy a wide glide so why not start there!

There are a shitload more twin cams riding around than sitting in a garage somewhere broken. The digital age makes it easy to bag a product out and make it sound legit, and basically build a mountain out of a molehill. There will be evos that shit themselves, there will be sportys that shit themselves and there will be twin cams that shit themselves. Get the WG its what you want. And if its an EVO at least you will stand out in a sea of TC's. hahahaha

PS I rode a 1200 custom the other day and had a blast. Good luck looking.

I disagree about your thoughts on the reliability of twin cams. But if you're dead against a twin cam, $15k would get you a nice vrod

Cheers for the replys, I actually want a twin cam but read an artical apperently written by a mechnic describing faults. He said the sporty engine was most reliable, so then i thought the 1340 is a bigger sporty engine(although I could be wrong). So all in all do you hear much going wrong with the twin cams? I suppose since this is a huge purchase for me, the wife will loose her shit if I but a harley and the engine shits the bed soon after I get it. Pretty much just after reliablility.

Its just something I read on the net whilst researching. I'm not taking it yet but I'm trying to see if its valid by asking here. I guess researching before buying is my thing.

 Harleys have been pretty bullet proof since the days of the first evos, mind you though if you stripped a shovel down and rebuilt her to specs you had a reliable bike, It comes down to you when choosing your bike, you want a wide glide then get a wide glide but if your not to clued up on harleys and your going to shellout a lot of $s you would be wise to have the bike you choose checked out by a person who knows what their looking at (even if you have to pay them) before you hand over the bikkies, good hunting to you cheers.

Oh yeah and Welcome aboard ryno enjoy the ride.

I thought it was well known that the first twin cams had problems with the chain tensioners? Led to a design change that fixed it.

With regards to the OP, an early twin cam should be fine, because if it was going to have problems, it would be fixed by now.

Here's a 3 page thread discussing problems with the flywheel setup from 12 months ago.

http://www.hdforums.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=71&forumid=4&postid=435436&view=topic

I have a 85 wide glide & a 01 sporty, I prefer to ride the sporty. It's lighter, handles better, out brakes, seems to quicker to 100k's, great for hooning around town. The wide glide better for longer trips 2up ect. Go to a dealer and take them both for a test ride, to see which you like. Twin cams must be alright, there's heaps out.

After hearing that most people aren't having dramas with their bike I guess I should just buy what ever bike I like. Decisions decisions decisions...

You said it ryno, buy the bike you want.

Hated my first shovel, Loved the second one, Really liked my evo, Will never sell my twin cam. Done 53k and nothing but oil changes and tyres to keep her going

I've got a 2011 Superglide Custom and couldn't be happier ...except for the rusty spokes...gotta get me them reaper wheels

 You can get an evo for well under the $15K, but you'll find it very hard to shift when you upgrade. As more HD's hit the market the resell price drops and it's been superseded so many times that unless it's in pristine condition, it's worth fuck all.  However after saying that, they are a good bike if you are happy to treat them for what they are. You could pick up a grey 96" dyna for similar money. You then have a six speed box and reasonably quick motor compared to a slug ( unless its been tricked) with a five speed box.

I have had mine since the begining of March, and I have almost 18,000ks on it now, and the only time it has been in the dealers, was for a service. That spells reliable to me, mine is a handbag softail classic but the same engine as the wide glide, so if you like the wide glide then as someone has pointed out, you will regret it and end up buying one later, so grab the bike you want now and avoid the frustrations and dissappointment of later on.

Well I'm going to look at an 05 wide glide and an 01 night train. Anything I should be looking for in particular with any of the models?

Well I went and looked at a Wide Glide today. It looked in good nick although I will get it inspected professionally. Has anyone heard of Motorbike Inspection Services (MIS) in Sydney? Also is 45000 on a 1450 wide glide too much? Any help would be good.

to the forums Ryno.