my first harley ride

[mattness]

so we got a harley davidson sportster 1200 from a friend to try and get running. its a 2000 with 11k miles

well we did get it running, and heres the story.

we've all heard about how harleys suuuuuckkk, and they all leak oooiilll, and they vibrate parts pff, and theyre slooowww...

but im here to tell you right now.

its allll true llololololol

to get it to run we needed a battery, a spark plug, and some starter fluid, aired up the tires a lil bit. it coughed and choked but after a few mins it ran and idled on its own.

we rode it about 10 miles altogether. the torque rlly sucked, pounded it through first scond and third WFO and look down and i was going 60 lol i think i got it up to 75 and 5th gear was gutless.

the right mirror vibrated loose and hit the throttle grip and held it in place like a cruise control which was good or bad, the side cover on the side had 2 of the 3 bolts backed out, the 3rd was missing. the right foot peg vibrated almost completely off. it was out almost 2 inches and was spinning around and around.

its sitting in the garage right now. it was smoking like a S.o.a.B but it was just from the leaking oil out of the rear cylinder dripping onto the exhaust pipe. well, i dunno if youd call it a leak or a gush... it was sprayed all down the kickstand, battery, the battery cover was full of oil lol, the bottom of the engine had a puddle on it that was leaking over the sides, we parked it and it leaked pretty good so it has some cardboard under it now. i bet it leaked enough to fill half a pop can if not more. its leakin preeetty good just sitting there so i dont even wanna know how much was leaking as we rode it. we're prolly a quart down

 

[2fear]

What a lucky man, I have never ridden a Harley. I have rode next to a couple for about 10 seconds or so, then they kinda fade in the mirror.

 

[Ebein_486]

Just before I bought my max, I hit up HD ride weekend and a Triumph Ride weeknd.

Rode a 2011 103ci Road King, was comfy, except at Idle where it shook the shit outa me, was moderately quicker than my buick, but that isnt saying alot.

Rode a 2011 Triumph Rocket III, comfy and aptly named, this thing will flat out haul ass, I wouldnt try and carve any corners with it, as its got a fat ass, even fatter than mine, and thats saying alot.:rofl_200:

 

[twistedmax]

I bought a 91 skirtster brand new.the first year five speed ,sposed to be the fastest HD at the time:rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200: the best (fastest) I ever got out of it was 115.........redlined in 5th........down hill.............with a tail wind. But I can say that I did once own a HD:confused2:

 

[SpecOps13]

Make all the jokes you want, I have 2 VMax's and an 05, 1200 Sportster. It does top out at 115. That's the way I have it geared. It's not Stock, got mods similar to my VMax's.

A friend has an 09 Sportster that's also modded. I've run him with both my Sportster and my VMax's. My Sporty will stay within one bike length of his to 115. His top end is higher. We did some extensive speed runs between his Sportster and my 94 VMax. Both bikes could outrun the other with various starting speeds and rpm. In one straight up run, I hit 130 before getting past his bike.


My Sportster doesn't leak a drop, Gets 60 MPG on the highway, it's light and feels like a bicycle compared to the Max's. And, it's a rubber mounted engine so the shake is isolated to the engine for the most part. I can see in the mirrors at 115. I have done very little maintenance to the Harley other than scheduled maintenances. I spend all my time keeping the VMax's running right. They're High Maintenance by comparison, IMHO... Both Bikes have their place and I wouldn't want to give up either...

So, I've left myself wide open to be bashed,,, Have Fun...:rofl_200::rofl_200::clapping:

 

[bobzdar]

I rode a sportster 1200 once that was mint. It had less low end than the vmax (and harleys were supposed to be known for their low end?) and handled worse as well. Decent looking bike and relatively comfortable but thats all it had going for it. A buddy wants an 883r but I'm trying to convince him that it'll be way underpowered and to at least go for the 1200.

 

[SpecOps13]

In stock form, the normal 1200 is a slug. 883 is way worse. There is a 1200 XR. It is pretty hot stock at about 93 HP. Modified correctly, It Rocks....

 

[WIKDMAX]

Each bike has it's own purpose and following. I have an 09 FLHX and have no oil problems, runs great and stock to stock will way outhandle a Vmax in the turns but will get blown away on the straights. Each bike has it's own strong points and weak points and let's face it, you don't come to a Vmax forum and talk up another bike.

 

[CaptainKyle]

Harley is a Jap bike now to why we ragging on them.:rofl_200:

 

[SpecOps13]

Harley's are made in part in so many countries, God knows where it actually comes from.....:rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200:

My Bad, I was just Stirrin the Pot...:confused2:

 

[Heretic]

I love to make fun of Harley's, but mostly it is because I am pissed that the 'American' motorcycle company produces such crap. Leader of the world material it is not. Plus, the attitudes of most Harley riders suck.

I would love a 'real' American motorcycle, not some 50hp vibrating noise maker. They are closer to this with the XR1200R, but not quite there. It would be nice if they could design a good engine without having to go to Porsche or Rotex to do the work for them, or design a bike that is 'new' instead of building one from a 30 year old parts bin. But when you employ 'stylists' instead of engineers...

 

[old timer]

Harleys haven't really changed since day one...v twin , shitty , if any , suspension , questionable frame and on and on . The one MAJOR change is the person and mentality of said person that rides a Harley . I rode a Panhead hardtail from 68 to around 85 and didn't have to deal with the dickheads that ride them now . :bang head:

So give them their due and remember they have 2 wheels like every other bike...unk:

 

[RobCar]

Buying a harley is like buying a state of the art led ,hdtv with all tube style tv parts inside.

 

[mattness]

i was actually really surprised. and not in a good way. the way harley guys talk up their bikes i was expecting a huge low end torque hit as soon as i let the clutch out. i thought it was gonna yank my arms off. nope. my honda shadow 750 made more down low than that thing does. this one is geared taller also, the torque couldnt be more than 40 or 50 ft lbs at the wheel. and it didnt even make it that low

 

[mud_shark86]

My buddy said...

"Do you know why Harley riders won't wave when you meet them on your Vmax?"

I said no...

He said..."Did you ever let one hand go on a wheel barrow?"

Needless to say...I laughed! lol

 

[95spfldmax]

In stock form, the normal 1200 is a slug. 883 is way worse. There is a 1200 XR. It is pretty hot stock at about 93 HP. Modified correctly, It Rocks....

I took the XR around the racetrack up here last summer (and a couple other bikes on demo). It was "entertaining" but that's about as far as i'd go on a positive description. At the end of the day it's still a HD.............

 

[EvilD]

Harley is a Jap bike now to why we ragging on them.:rofl_200:

I think they are more Chinese than Jap.

 

[CaptainKyle]

I think they are more Chinese than Jap.

I worked at Harley as a tech for a while & most of the stuff that came in was Japan. The forks have been Shoie forever & the carbs have been mikuni for a long time now with fuel injection its mostly bosh. I am still not a huge fan mainly kust because I am not into slow cruisers but Harley has came a long ways over the years they are way more dependable than they used to be. The main thing I ran into working for Harley is shift shaft seal leaks on almost all of them after about 5,000 miles & they eat a lot of stators & the timing covers leak & you better start looking at the cam shoe tensioners around 30,000 miles.

 

[Slacker]

Never sat on a HD, either, excluding a V Rod on the show room floor. Then again, that's not suppose to be a HD. Guess I have sat on a Porsche. :biglaugh:

 

[RaWarrior]

It's what HD is all about... You pay $15k, for that you get a $7k Japanese cruiser and an $8k emblem on the tank.

Overpriced and underperforming (even by cruiser standards). The sportster line is a joke...the XR is the only thing that even approaches "sporty", and for the price you'd drop on one, you could pick up a liter bike. And at 92hp, HD is finally catching up with the first "muscle standard"...the V65 Magna...that came out nearly 30 years ago.