About the Harley thing---for just a moment, seriously...

[Biking Sailor]

The HD bikes, in and of themselves, are no better or worse than any other of the same type/style. They are however a bit over priced. Is a sticker on the tank to tell you the brand really worth the added cost?

Seroiusly, and not to be argumentative, but have you wrenched much on Harleys and metric cruisers?  There is a huge difference, IMHO.

[Carbonero]

Seroiusly, and not to be argumentative, but have you wrenched much on Harleys and metric cruisers?  There is a huge difference, IMHO.

That's true. I'll take a Harley for maintenance any day of the week.

$.02

[dan88z]

That's true. I'll take a Harley for maintenance any day of the week.

$.02

That's because you are doing maintenance every day of the week. (sorry, couldn't resist!)

[Carbonero]

That's because you are doing maintenance every day of the week. (sorry, couldn't resist!)

hehehe Job security is key!  

[black hills]

That's true. I'll take a Harley for maintenance any day of the week.

$.02

An oil change on my VTX was pretty easy, I think it is quicker than the HD

[Cablebandit]

If it's easy to work on, odds are they expect you'll be working on it a lot.  

[Bounce]

Personally I'd probably ask WHY they wanted to get a bike. What kind of riding did they think they wanted to do? What did they like about Harleys? Were they interested in long distances? Twisties? Fire roads? Cruising?

+1

as with computers, cameras, and audio gear... WHAT'S THE GOAL drives WHAT TOOL TO BUY.

[Rattlehead]

That's true. I'll take a Harley for maintenance any day of the week.

$.02

I wouldn't necessarily go that far myself.
My Harley (Sportster) had a lot of "hidden" maintenance that my other bikes didn't have. Such as:
-primary chain adjustments
-primary oil changes as well as engine oil
-Clutch adjustments- not lever adjustments but the release cam on the clutch itself. Harley still hasn't come up with a self-adjusting clutch.  
-frequent oil checks- Now I know, this is "required" for all bikes but my Sportster and my Buells were the only ones where it was required. The oil reservoir is small and they all "ate" some oil (no, they didn’t leak). It had to be checked almost weekly during prime riding weather (especially the Buells). All my other bikes have been "set it and forget it" as far as oil level.
-weekly washing and polishing. I mean full on drag out the hose and sponge kind of washing and hand polishing. The reason it was "required" is because of this little thing called rust. I could tell when I had neglected doing this as some rust would start to form and the front wheel would start pitting and looking terrible. Keeping that bike looking nice was "HIGH MAINTENANCE”

Now, I’m not bad-mouthing that bike. I really wish I still had it, but, I don’t buy that Harleys are these maintenance wonders that require ½ the work of other bikes. My experience was that they required just as much, or more, but in different areas. My lowest maintenance bike has probably been my Busa. Change the oil every few 1000, clean/lube the chain once a week (takes less than 5 min), check the valves once every blue moon (I checked them at 30k and they were still well within spec) and clean it if you want it to look nice. That’s it.  

I will give Harley one thing though, they are easy to wrench on and they seemed to design them with ease of service in mind.  

[Carbonero]

'zactly.

I'll trade all of that on the sportster and big twins over a valve check on most of the bikes I've owned (and own now). The clutch and chain adjustment added about 5 minutes to the overall 20 minute maintenance.

[Kootenanny]

-frequent oil checks- Now I know, this is "required" for all bikes but my Sportster and my Buells were the only ones where it was required. The oil reservoir is small and they all "ate" some oil (no, they didn’t leak). It had to be checked almost weekly during prime riding weather (especially the Buells). All my other bikes have been "set it and forget it" as far as oil level.

Interesting...my Buell seems to require very little maintenance.  Yeah, I don't like that it has a primary chain, which has to be adjusted occasionally (less often than a final drive chain would be, but still...).  But as far as "eating" oil...uh, no.  7 seasons so far, 60K km, and still it uses very little oil.  I understand the Buells have a reputation for using oil, but mine never has...I wonder sometimes if it's because I used the "Motoman" method when I broke it in (basically, ride it hard right from the get-go ).

It has developed a few minor leaks (nothing that drips, but the cases always have a fine coating of oil).  But overall, it's been rock-solid, mechanically.

[black hills]

another plus to the HD's (from friends who own them) is that tires last forever! not uncommon to get 20,000+ on a front and 15,000 on a rear

[Carbonero]

another plus to the HD's (from friends who own them) is that tires last forever! not uncommon to get 20,000+ on a front and 15,000 on a rear

The stock dunlops are rock-hard pieces o' crap. I got 8k out of some sticker ones on my Street Glide, but they were quality miles. My brother gets about 15k out of a set on his.

[Rattlehead]

'zactly.

I'll trade all of that on the sportster and big twins over a valve check on most of the bikes I've owned (and own now). The clutch and chain adjustment added about 5 minutes to the overall 20 minute maintenance.

Hmm. A valve check on my Busa took me an hour maybe and it was the first time I've taken off the cam cover so it was "slow and easy" so as to not break anything. Next time I bet I can do it in less than 1/2 that time; shimming I bet I can do in less than 2hrs total. I'm no stranger to OHC valvetrains though and I'm one of the weirdo's that actually likes that kind of work.  
YMMV, I guess.

[black hills]

Hmm. A valve check on my Busa took me an hour maybe and it was the first time I've taken off the cam cover so it was "slow and easy" so as to not break anything. Next time I bet I can do it in less than 1/2 that time; shimming I bet I can do in less than 2hrs total. I'm no stranger to OHC valvetrains though and I'm one of the weirdo's that actually likes that kind of work.  
YMMV, I guess.

Once I did my 990 I'm perfectly comfortable with it. Still takes a while but thats what crappy days are for

[Cablebandit]

Yeah, the 650 Suzuki twin is a breeze.

[Mr.Black]

How difficult would the Bandit be?

[Carbonero]

Hmm. A valve check on my Busa took me an hour maybe and it was the first time I've taken off the cam cover so it was "slow and easy" so as to not break anything. Next time I bet I can do it in less than 1/2 that time; shimming I bet I can do in less than 2hrs total. I'm no stranger to OHC valvetrains though and I'm one of the weirdo's that actually likes that kind of work.  
YMMV, I guess.

Do a C14 or an SV and get back to me.  

[Cablebandit]

How is the SV different than the Vstrom?

[Carbonero]

How is the SV different than the Vstrom?

Lack of room around the back cylinder.

[bluepoof]

Yeah, the 650 Suzuki twin is a breeze.

Seriously?  I must be retarded, then, because adjusting the valves on my SV650S was a huge nightmare.