I don't know if the engineering got better, but I rolled mine out of the dealer, put about 600 miles on it in the first 2 weeks, then took it to Kansas City and back (from Chicago), straight shot each way.

Over the summer, took it to Taos New Mexico. 10,000 miles in the first year alone. The column lock went bad, but they replaced that no questions asked.

I'm very happy with mine. Sorry to hear you got a lemon.

Rick

Clayton, interesting discussion. First the most popular foreign named bike, Honda is manufactured at Marysville, Ohio and Florence, South Carolina. Kawasaki at Lincoln, Nebraska. From my prespective, the notion that a person cannot afford a Harley as opposed to a foreign bike is no longer true. When my wife was ready for her first bike she wanted a Sportster. After sitting on probably 50 bikes she decided on a Honda Shadow that she put 15,000 miles on in 2 years. The price $9,000 out the door, I could have purchased the Sportster for the same $$$$. The Shadow was safe and reliable, but did require constant drive chain maintenance. This was a great first bike and she graduated to a Softtail. Her first comment after we got it home was "I didn't realize how much I was getting beaten up on the Honda". She has had it 4 months and put 5,500 miles on it and would not give it up for anything. The new Harleys as a whole simply do not break down any more than other bikes. If the others are so perfect why do their dealers have repair shops?. Most Harley riders cause their own mechanical problems. BOB

I read with amusement your 4 year struggle with a Sportster. I've got a 2000 Sport model and have had a few of the same problems. But overall, while the Sportster isn't as reliable as a new Honda, it IS as reliable as a 1970s Honda, which isn't too bad. Harley sells a lot of Sportsters because it says Harley-Davidson on the tank. What most purchasers don't realize is that the Sportster was introduced in 1957 and remains today a 47 year old design. For those of us who rode motorcycles 40 years ago, we think it's pretty cool we can buy a brand new 50-year-old motorcycle.

Hey Clayton,

Me again! reading all these memos from your web site makes one wonder, why does anybody ride a Harley? There must be a reason. I'll give you my 2 cents worth here.

Hi Clayton,

I have an oil leak problem that seems to require a custom solution, as there is no off the shelf part for my particular engine case. That is how my search engine stumbled across your site.

Any way, I've been reading all these postings with a mixture of sympathy and amusement. My fist bike was a Kawasaki at the age of 16. I saved my pennies worked a night job through high school and bought my first Harley at the age of 19; a 1977 Sportster XLH. A tempermental bike at the best of times. Working on it (and a tight budget) taught me a lot about maintenance.

My current ride I've had for ten years. A generator shovelhead. Best bike I've ever ridden. It's been my daily rider when I have the money to maintain it, the rest of the time it's a bit of a project. Right now it runs astoundingly well. I've got 8000 miles on it since the last rebuild and the gaskets are just starting to weep a little now. I may put new gaskets in it this year, maybe not.

The most important lesson I have learned about Harleys and I include new bikes in this; GET THE ENGINE BALANCED BY A COMPETENT MACHINIST. It will make a world of difference. Your parts will stop falling off, your feet will not buzz off the pegs at high speed, your hands will not become numb from vibration. and your oil leaks will become much less frequent and severe. You will get twice the mileage out of your engine between rebuilds.

I did it to both my Harleys and it turned them from tempermental and unreliable machines, into very pleasurable rides.