Honda vs Harley

What about Victory? I love my Gunner.

It's a $13,000 motorcycle, has a 106 ci engine, has aftermarket support and a nice ride. And the dealer I bought from and have done service with has been excellent.

 

I've had plenty of Honda motorcycles, and even a couple Yamaha's. That said, I now ride Harleys. I had a Honda sabre that had bags, windshield, aftermarket seat etc..... I told my wife I wanted a new Harley. She didn't understand the difference until she ride on it. Before we got to the end of the street she commented on how much nicer ride the Harley had. Harley has fixed a lot of their reliability issues.... That said, I could take a Honda 100,000 miles without any major services but will probably replace my heads twice by then on a Harley...... It's rare that people keep bikes that long though. Most people get bored and switch before anything major becomes due.

 

"Had" a Harley Sportster and then upgraded to a Harley Street Glide. Never really liked them. I guess it depends on your driving style as well. I have a 40 mile piece of road that I like driving. The Harley's had to slow down as the response wasn't what I liked/ I sold them and bought a Suzuki VStrom. Never been happier. The response is incredible. More comfortable to ride. Glad I made the switch in a huge way.

 

I had a 2004 Harley Sportster and then I went up to a 2004 Wide Glide. I still have it. I like both bikes. The only reservation I have about Harley is you pay a lot more money because of the name. You do get 'little things', like a real all-metal air filter cover instead of chrome-plated plastic, you get nice allen head fasteners everywhere..things like that.

Just beware that just because you pay all that extra money up front for a Harley, your NOT done paying for stuff yet. You'll have to get a new seat, you'll realize this after your first 500+ mile ride. Upgrading the suspension components is a wise move too, as is adding pipes and an after market air cleaner.

If you haven't done this yet, I would defiantly rent a Honda and then rent a Harley if you have a place that will do this reasonably close.

I'm happy with my Wide Glide, and I don't want anything else. I just want spring to be here so I can fire it up, change the oil, and ride all year.

 

The V-rods are nice. They really aren't a Harley. If you want the Harley name get a v-rod. If you want a bar hopper to ride around town once in a while, the smaller big v-twins are good if you keep them relatively stock. Such as the street bobs, wide glides, etc. You can pick up some that are a few years old with a stage one kit for $10K or less.
If you want good power, breaks, durability get the v-rod, Honda, Yamaha, etc. I would definitely look at Victory's before a Harley.
Make sure you get the style you like. Like BYBO stated, most people don't keep bikes too long. If you aren't 100% happy with style you will regret it. Then if the bike doesn't start or has issues, you will regret it.

 

I guess I am in that small percentage that keeps bike for a long time. I have had the same '97 Fat Boy since 2006. It is a great bike for cruising and a few modifications made it it's own in the curves. The motor went out on it at 15 years of age (but only 45k miles) - but it was attributed to the bike was a garage queen before I got it and then I rode it as much as possible.

If/when I get another bike I am really giving the VRods a hard look; or the new Sportsters with the downsized VRod motor. Yeah - they are not traditional Harley but who cares. I have test rode Victory bikes and was not that overly impressed with them. Also the lack dealer/parts support bothered me. I like to ride all day when I can and do not want to find myself in BFE without access to that one easy-to-replace-unfindable part.

 

V-Rod not really a Harley? Then who's bike is it? I've had several Harleys and the V-rod is as much a Harley as any made. Fastest one one out of the box. Don't like the water cooling, look at all future Harleys, what bike do you think they got the experience from? V-Rod has won more races than any bike except the XR750/1000's dirt tracers for HD. Who gets those troghys? Porsche? Old school thinking has made Harley stagnant. Only recently has new thinking and direction come out of Milwaukee.

 

Exactly - old guys scoffed at the Evo saying the Shovel was the last "real" Harley motor. Now the Evo is the gold standard and the Twin Cams are working on that.