Consumer Reports: BMW & Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Are Less Reliable than Japanese o

I've been lurking around here since I stumbled on a youtube series about a guy riding down to through central and south America. I've read several reports since then, to include bigalsmith's and another by some aussies, but the one that stuck with me was the guy that took a road king all the way down. I think he had two problems with the bike in 10,000ish miles of hard riding, and one of those was a loose battery connection. The other was fixed under warranty at a dealer. I'd ask that guy about HD reliability....

Yeah I always wonder why I never see guys pushing Harleys down the road. 'Cause I certainly don't see 'em sittin' on the side of the road.

It's cause they never see the road, and if they broke down, they're too heavy to push, especially with a 350 pounder riding pillion

Quote:
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What exactly does a 17mm wrench fit on a BMW anyway?
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Trans drain on a Hexhead.

Seriously, for all major tasks on the BMW it only takes a handful of tools.

Torx work exceedingly well if you use the correct one. Beats the crap out of standard or Phillips, and IMHO are far better than allens which strip too easily on very small fasteners.

Jim

Reliability is a many spendored thing.

They be too heavy to push down the road.
They be riding in the back of pickups.
You know, Harley and Hound Dog...

Sad. That is the best you've got? You Harley haters have such limited imagination. I guess that's to be expected with such narrow horizons.

BTW that's a Sportster.
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I heard tell that there was this guy that was 12 feet tall, rode a harley with 500hp that only weighed 300lbs wet and it never broke down and it would shoot lasers out the exhaust and it would go so fast it would reverse the rotation of the earth.

Hi,

I'm a newborn to bikes in general. So most of you can simply ignore my contribution here.
I just have one thread so far where I'm asking for buying advise on some of the bikes I found.

I have also been doing research and just keeping my eyes open for about a year or so as I got closer to getting a motorcycle.

Rather than bore you regurgitating opinions that I've found, I'll simply tell you what I witnessed as a observant student of life.

1) At the MSC class there were several classes going on at the same time. Each class had two teachers I believe. At the end of the weekend I left late and noticed that almost all the teachers were riding BMWs. I took notice and began exploring BMW for something that might work for me.

2) When I found one I was going to buy, it happened to be about 300 miles away. I did not want to drive a bike I was totally unfamiliar with on a long ride when I'm not even an experienced rider. Too many negative variables in that equation. I contacted a towing service through a local motorcycle group and had this guy give me professional help. When he shows up he comments that although dirty ("You can clean up the wire wheels or leave it and call it patina"), it looks like a nice bike. He tells me that he also rides a BMW (I forget exactly which but 1200 is in there somewhere). He further comments that BMW riders almost never call him. They simply don't break down that often.

For whatever reasons, it seems that these two samples (the MSC teachers and this motorcycle tow service guy) both chose BMW as their personal rides and bikes they like. Both may or may not also own other bikes including Japanese makes, I don't know about that. I didn't say exclusively, I'm just reporting what I observed and was told.

I found that interesting and perhaps relevant to the subject.

People like picking on Harley and BMW because they're name brand, prestige marques, but in reality they are both fine machines that do their thing in their own unique way.

I like them both............................but some of the riders............................

Sounds like Urinal guys.

Jim

Are you the pot or the kettle today?

Every time you open your trap you make no sense. I suggest you

Jim

I can write it , but I can't comprehend it for you. I'll type slower next time , just for you Mr. Wonderful.

Now girls, be nice...

Found some of them

Can a Harley make it to Magadan
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=681994&highlight=road+king

Central and South America on a Road King
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603979&highlight=south+america+harley

You joined to post that?

The report said BMW and HD had the lowest reliability and the highest owner satisfaction. Like Mini and Jeep owners, there is a larger emotional component to the purchase than with most buyers.

These are HUGE companies that got that way by spending a lot of money on branding: in other words, creating that emotional appeal.

So arguing with someone about that purchase as an economic decision makes about as much sense as arguing with a dog owner about whether they paid too much for their dog.

HD never could build a dirt bike..Bmw is ok but open the wallet to extensive mods for off road...i think hodaka is the best dirt bike ever like my combat wombat and super rat...well you gotta say hodaka sure has superior marketing sex appeal over HD or Bmw....how the hell can you not lust after a bike named super rat....oh heck i adore the f650's and i do like the HD's as well...never own a street bike though but i like all bikes...jap bikes best quality is nutin we did not already know

I don't need Consumer Reports to tell me this. I worked at Bob's BMW in the service department!