Which Harley...

This is a friend of mine from the Norton club. The blue is stunning. Who wouldn't want this bike?

Harley had the best colors and graphics during the AMF years.

Looks similar to the Rootes group's 'Lagoon Blue'.... A gorgeous shade I used to polish to death on my '67 Rapier. So much depth you'd think you could put your hand in it

If you polish your bike, it has less wind resistance. Geoff Duke was one of the first riders to use close fitting leathers to cut down on drag. And Peter Williams designed a Norton on which the rider has his feet closer in together and out of the wind.

Dare I say it? "Electra glide in blue". Probably about the same year too.

F.E.
I've got a 2013 Road Glide Ultra. I've had several Road Glides, Tour Glides, Electra Glides, Super Glides and even a couple of Sportsters. The Road Glide is great on the hilly twisty roads around my home, great on the interstate if you're just going from point "A" to point "B" and even in a slow tight parking lot as long as the wheels are turning. If you ride it like a motorcycle and not like a Harley it performs a lot like a motorcycle. I do not like it in the garage though. That's when you realize how much it weighs. I've added heated seat and heated grips. No chrome gee-gaws or pretties, just whatever makes riding more enjoyable. I never add any "go fast" stuff either. You can dump a wheelbarrow full of money into a Harley to make it go fast and you might have a fast Harley, not a fast motorcycle. It'll do the ton but you can't set the cruise control over 100 mph. Nigel, you've already got a Monster, what more speed could you need. My Harleys have been trouble free bikes that you can use every day. I'm religious about keeping up with the maintenance, check the bike weekly and get 20,000 miles out of the Dunlop tires. Gas mileage varies with temperature, much more than riding style, as on any motorcycle. In hot weather the 6 gallon tank will take me 250 plus or minus miles, fill up to fill up. Cold weather can drop as low as 160 mile between fill ups. I had Harleys back when they were less than dependable, vibrated, leaked oil, started hard and had "character" just like a Norton. But today's Harleys are more trouble free than most anything you'll find.
Charlie

Back in 1962, a friend had a Duoglide. It did 50,000 miles and only needed one rear chain replaced. In those days, most British bikes needed a complete rebuild at 25,000 miles.

cehenard said:

F.E.
I've got a 2013 Road Glide Ultra. I've had several Road Glides, Tour Glides, Electra Glides, Super Glides and even a couple of Sportsters. The Road Glide is great on the hilly twisty roads around my home, great on the interstate if you're just going from point "A" to point "B" and even in a slow tight parking lot as long as the wheels are turning. If you ride it like a motorcycle and not like a Harley it performs a lot like a motorcycle. I do not like it in the garage though. That's when you realize how much it weighs. I've added heated seat and heated grips. No chrome gee-gaws or pretties, just whatever makes riding more enjoyable. I never add any "go fast" stuff either. You can dump a wheelbarrow full of money into a Harley to make it go fast and you might have a fast Harley, not a fast motorcycle. It'll do the ton but you can't set the cruise control over 100 mph. Nigel, you've already got a Monster, what more speed could you need. My Harleys have been trouble free bikes that you can use every day. I'm religious about keeping up with the maintenance, check the bike weekly and get 20,000 miles out of the Dunlop tires. Gas mileage varies with temperature, much more than riding style, as on any motorcycle. In hot weather the 6 gallon tank will take me 250 plus or minus miles, fill up to fill up. Cold weather can drop as low as 160 mile between fill ups. I had Harleys back when they were less than dependable, vibrated, leaked oil, started hard and had "character" just like a Norton. But today's Harleys are more trouble free than most anything you'll find.
Charlie

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Very well said. I think I agree on every point. Not as many as you, but I've had a few. From Shovels to Evos to Twin Cams.
They are very competent for what they were designed for, and that's Crusing our vast interstates and highways.
The low revving, plodding engine just has a soothing feel to it. Yes, I like the baggers...

The biggest reason I don't have one now is this.... "I do not like it in the garage though. That's when you realize how much it weighs."
All my former residences had a flat driveway out of the garage. You could wheel it straight back onto the flat to get it out of the way.
The current residence has a sloping drive. Not a big one, but sloped. Complete pain pushing that 800lb beast....

Doesn't mean I won't have one again. Currently, Harley less....

In our areas where we ride and on any Sundays you see a lot of Harley's, but most of the time they are parked outside the local water holes in big line ups as most riders ride short rides and just like sitting around bragging how good their Harley's are, some of my closest friends who have all owned British bikes most of their lives and now riding Harley's but they don't do long ride with us no more they say we ride to quick, go to far and ride mostly on tight back roads and don't stop to often, but I do know one or two Harley riders who do ride them hard and of course do clock up the miles on them, but there seems to be more who think riding out to a small town with in a 100km is enough for a day out on their Harleys.
When the mates I ride with our Sunday rides we will clock up over 450km for our day out stopping somewhere for breaky and a few sort stops for a bit of a gas bag and late in the afternoon splitting up to make our own ways home, most of my Harley mates don't seem to like that except for one or two diehards.
Best Sunday rides are when its overcast or a bit of rain hanging around, you very rarely see any Harleys out, they don't seem to like getting them dirty or getting themselves slightly wet, that's when I stir them up about missing a great day out LOL.

Ashley

Fast Eddie said:

Ok, I know there’s several Harley owners / lovers on here... So, a quick question or two to y’all...

Which Harley do you have, and why?

Which of the current range do you like, and why?

Which do you particularly dislike, and why?

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The first important decision is sportster or big twin based, then you go from there. If you go big twin, i see an fxr frame & evo engine in your future.

Thanks for that, some good reading there!

Not sure about the Evo though, I fully get why they’re ‘a classic’ to the Harley fans, but the only one I ever rode was decidedly underwhelming performance wise! Whereas the 103s and 107s I’ve tried have been very impressive...

The EVO motors were the start of Harley becoming a reliable motorcycle and able to clock up long miles without problems and now the newer models they seem to have the handling down pat and bigger cubes, would I still buy one, no thanks I stick by with what I have in my collection, new Harley's are out of my price range.

Ashley

Fast Eddie said:

Thanks for that, some good reading there!

Not sure about the Evo though, I fully get why they’re ‘a classic’ to the Harley fans, but the only one I ever rode was decidedly underwhelming performance wise! Whereas the 103s and 107s I’ve tried have been very impressive...

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After looking at your fab build threads, i was thinking you'd build your own.

cheers

84ok said:

After looking at your fab build threads, i was thinking you'd build your own.

cheers

Build a 95 HP Stage 3 engine

www.nightrider.com

80 CID Evolution

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Unlimited EVO

www.nightrider.com

FXR Division

AT FXR DIVISION: QUALITY MOTORCYCLE PARTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR HARLEY-DAVIDSON FXR THAT ARE MADE AND MANUFACTURED IN THE USA.

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I thought that’s what you thought !

But no, if I went down the HD path it would have to assume the role of ‘modern’ bike in my shed and def not ‘project’ !

So, whats the consensus on the 103 vs the 107?

The 107 has more power, but to me at least, the 103 has more character. But I’ve not ridden them back to back, and am therefore curious if this is a common conclusion?

I bumped into an old mate I hadn't seen for maybe 20+ year's
He now has a Harley , after the usual back n fourth banter about Harley ownership/tassels/tankards and leather chaps
He said to me "you have to own one to understand them" I nearly pissed myself laughing
There's nothing wrong with owning any motorcycle from any country, it's the riders that are funny including myself

I had a 2000 road King, I really liked the motor , but it was just too heavy and out of it's depth on the mainly narrow welsh roads I tend to ride on. Had a good reliable feel to it as well. The Harley I fancy now is an XR1200, like a few guys here have , it looks great to me and is probably competent in all areas for me, I'm not Rossi. My problem is really how many bikes do I need, I have 5 and that does seem to be enough.

As you know Sam, I had a Road King rental bike when I did R66. It was a fabulous thing. But I could not believe how heavy it was. I simply wouldn’t be able to get it in and out of my shed!

I tried a 1200 Sportster a while back, quite a capable thing to be honest, but it just didn’t have the addictive grunt that the big twins have. Of the big twins, I like the Sport Glide and Softail Slim, still heavy, but no where near Road King levels.

I had a decent ride on a Sport Glide the other day, very nice motor (107) and really great handling and braking (yes, seriously). The only downside was, not being used to the physical size, I daren‘t even try filtering through traffic on it. On the way home my humble T140 felt so tiny... and so slow...!

Don‘t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s quite a few XR1200s on the market in the UK currently...

I've ridden Buells, Big Twins, Sportys and an XR 1200. All had some likeable qualities but if I were to get a Harley to my liking, it would look something like this;

Since this particular Harley requires a battery and starter motor in a backpack, I would likely build it with a 1200 Sportster motor with 2 front cylinders to get the forward-facing exhausts and dual carbs.