Me and my Hawg. My first Harley-Davidson.

I love the look and the feel of this bike, which this poor-quality picture doesn't really do justice to. This Sportster turns heads on the street and in parking lots, and it is stock right off of Bartel's[1] showroom floor. Not only does it drive like a rocket, but it sounds and feels like one too, with the trademark vibrating rumbling Harley roar. There is no question that Harley has figured out the aesthetics of selling motorcycles.

Too loud, you say? The truth is many Harley owners alter their bikes after purchase to make them much louder, and then universally wear earplugs. I quite possibly damaged my hearing in my first few months of riding before someone told me this, as even my stock Harley is too loud for my taste without the plugs. With them, I don't mind the noise, because one dimension of the issue is safety....a motorcycle rider who is seen and/or heard is a motorcycle rider who lives. In most car/motorcycle accidents, the car driver invariably didn't even see the bike. That said, I think obscenely loud bikes with little or no muffling at all should be fined right off of the road.

So Harleys are aesthetically correct, what about the engineering?

Unfortunately for Harley, I place much greater weight on engineering than aesthetics when it comes to bikes, and it is the disappointing reliability of this bike that makes me wish I had gone Japanese instead. Right after the 1000 mile mark the gear shifter started sticking, both up and down. This is dangerous. Lube, and more lube, and disassembly by a mechanic at the dealership followed by more lube, helped but did not cure. It has not been sticking recently, but it caused me great aggravation off and on between the 1000-7000 mile marks.

Dieseling. This started around 2000 miles, and continues off and on to this date (7500 miles). A good tune-up might eradicate the problem. But in 10 years and 30,000 miles, my old Yamaha Seca 550 never dieseled once.

Oil leaks. "What, Harley's leak oil?" That is what the mechanic said with a wry smile on his face when I took the bike into my dealer, Bartel's of Marina Del Rey[1], to diagnose the slick that I was leaving behind me on the pavement. Obviously, the myth that the new Harleys no longer leak oil is indeed just a myth. Mine started leaking from underneath the valve cover of the rear cylinder after a particularly hot ride in slow, heavy traffic on the freeway, at about 5500 miles, just a week or so after my warranty expired. Makes you want to shriek "PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE", doesn't it?

But wait, this story is not over. I called the dealer to try to get it fixed, only to find out that Harley is much better at selling bikes then keeping them serviced.....during summer peak season Bartels was booked over a month in advance. But hey, I have tools, I can surely handle a mere valve cover.....so I buy a shop manual for the bike, and a set of gaskets for that rear valve cover, and have a go at it one fall afternoon. First surprise.....in the war on seat height, Harley engineers have the top of the frame passing within an inch of the top of that rear cylinder, and I guess no one noticed that one of the bolts on the cylinder cover is directly underneath the frame. So I had to get out my hacksaw and cut my hex wrench in half to get at that bolt. Irritating, but not yet infuriating.

I removed all the bolts I could get at, and the top of the three-piece cylinder cover, and more bolts, but the rest of the cover would not slide off. Off with the gas tank.....still can't get those pieces off, after an hour of struggle. There is just not enough clearance between the frame and the rest of the engine to get the cylinder cover off. The only solution I could see was REMOVING THE WHOLE DAMNED ENGINE. No mention of this in the shop manual. The mechanic at Bartel's whom I talked to about the job didn't mention this little fact. The guys at the parts desk did not have anything to say either, although I thought I saw some funny looks on their faces. Now I am FURIOUS. Bolt everything back together. Still driving the thing leaking oil. Looking forward to a huge bill when I get it fixed, if they really do have to remove the engine.

Damn poor engineering, or damn poor documentation (in the shop manual) in my not-so-humble opinion.

Bottom line: am I recommending Harleys to people who talk to me about the bike? After relating the above story, how could I? And I repeat, the leak started mere days after the warranty expired, while the bike was essentially still brand new. I am so far very disappointed with this experience.

[1] http://www.bartelsharley.com/