Yeah, I don't know if all AMF bikes were lemons either, Davey (my mate with the Electra Glide) had a 1979 AMF Sporty and it was brilliant, I loved riding it and even offered to buy it, but Davey wouldn't sell it, so I bought my 1984 XLH in Feb 1987 and shortly after, Davey traded the sporty in on the 'Glide.
To give this all a little contrast, after I sold it and moved to Queensland in 1989, I bought a 1980 Ducati 900SS. Well what can I say, it was the most beautiful POS that I ever owned. While it looked superb, handled like it was on rails and sounded like a big V twin should through it's Conti pipes, I had problems with it from day one. When it got hot the valves would stick due to dodgy cast iron valve guides, the electrics were 1950's lawn mower quality, it vibrated worse than any bike I've ever owned, things fell off it on a regular basis, and that was just the start.
I did an oil change and there was just too much metal to ignore, so I took it to a Ducati specialist. He quoted me 4000 bucks just for parts, (a crank pin and rods assembly was $1300, compared to only $300 for the same item for a Sporty, back then) so I brought it back to Victoria in pieces and bought my first BMW K series bike, which crapped all over the Ducati in every aspect, apart from perhaps, "Soul", but I didn't care, I just loved being able to ride 6 or 7 hundred miles in one day, in comfort.
I sold the Ducati for $2750 at a swap meet, and even though they're selling for up to 10 times that amount now, I've never been tempted to buy another one. I do like the modern Ducati's though, so if I wanted a bike that I wouldn't ride much, I'd probably buy one. I'd still rather have a Harley though, they're a great bike. Cheers, Terry.
