I recently read a blog about the HD sportster.
Made the smallest and cheapest HD sound like the best HD to own.
I don't know anything about HD motos but the blog certainly made an impression on me. I may have to put this on the next bike wish list.
Here's a link to the blog.
http://www.jamesrussellpublishing.biz/sportster1200.htmlAny one familiar with HD's care to chime in on the accuracy of the bloggers points?
Be happy to.
I'm a 5 time Harley owner - All EVOs, mostly Sportsters, but I did love my Road King I had in the 90s. Can't think of a better way to ride cross country like I did.
The blogger is a bit of an idiot in some ways. I love that his complete lack of writing skills is showcased on a site claiming to be a "publishing" company. As a technical writer myself I hang my head in shame for him.
I really don't know what motivates the blog, but I suspect there's something he's not telling us.
That said, there is some truth to the fact that Harley released a HORRIBLE valve train design on the early Twinkie (Twin Cam) motors. And yes, I believe ALL TC88's (except the one-year only TC88 released in the 2006 Dynas before all BTs were upgraded in 07 to the revised TC96 design) have potential for catastrophic failure due to worn cam chain tensioner shoes. But you really have to be negligent with regards to maintenance to get to that point.
Honestly, it's easier to check the cam shoes than it is to say replace a Ducati Timing belt. There's a small cover, out in the open that you can unbolt for access to the camshaft chest and quickly see if the shoes are worn and require replacement.
The problem is there's about 1.5 million of them out there (give or take a hundred thousand or so) and MOST of the owners aren't aware of the potential (because I think MOST of the owners treat em like garage queens) or because they just change fluids and ride.
There's an easy enough fix if you want to upgrade the system (one OEM, two or more aftermarket including switching to gear driven cams), though you could easily just replace the shoes on the original system and go on.
The shoes CAN fail in as little as 20k miles, though on gently ridden bikes it seems like they are lasting anywhere from 30-50k.
The redesign that occurred in 2007 changed from heavy spring loaded tensioners to hydraulically controlled tensioners (that allow the amount of tension to be better suited to conditions dramatically reducing the tendency for heavy wear). Thing is it requires a lot of parts (Oil pump, timing chain, shoes, possibly camshafts not 100% sure, and adjustable pushrods if you want to do it without taking the top end apart - meaning do it with the bodywork, tank, rocker boxes etc still installed). Dealers charge around $1200-1500 for the whole thing installed.
This past summer I was on a road trip with some friends and acquaintances and one guy said his 2005 RK was making a funny noise (at about 50k miles on the odo). I asked him when was the last time he checked/replaced the timing chain shoes and he looked at me like I was an alien (thing is the guy is a ASE master cert that works for an automotive dealer, you'd think he'd have paid attention to his bike maintenance schedule). Turns out his shoes were shot, and coming apart, and if he'd ridden it much longer he might have lost the motor because the swarf could get picked up by the oil pump and trash it. We rolled into an out of town dealer at 2:00 pm on a Friday afternoon - they had the parts (they were literally about to go on another customer's bike) - they installed them on his bike instead (while we had a late lunch) and we rolled out of there by about 5:00 pm.
The new design is supposed to be pretty much bulletproof though I would still check them by 50k miles or so JUST TO BE SURE.
Now me, I still like having my 4 gear-driven camshafts in my EVO Sporty, but I could own a TC with the upgrade.
And that's about it.
Oh, and Harley HAS switched over to Brembo brakes for the BTs in the past couple of years, they're much better.
And THIS YEAR Harley finally upgraded the brakes on the Sportsters - they're all single disc (in the US) but they're pretty darn good. The one I rode a week ago felt as strong as the dual 2-pot Nissins that are on my current Sporty.
