Topic: Are there any left?

[Killer Canary]

I've noticed a trend on this and other vintage sites: when a poster includes a list of current rides which includes a harley, it's invariably a later model in a slough of old Jap bikes. Are vintage harleys not as desirable as vintage fours? Are new Japs not considered to be worth spending money on? Are there no vintage harleys to be had?
I'm hoping one of theguilty parties can speak up and sort me out on this.

[ThomasD883]

I own a 95 sportster 1200 evo motor so i suppose i fall into that category. For me it comes down to, on the Harley side, vintage is VERY expensive due to rarity, scarcity, and the current owners reluctance to let go of a good bike. if you want the same vintage this site caters to its roughly a 7000 buy in and they are not nearly as reliable as a similar vintage cb750, kaw , yammie, etc. The aftermarket is there but again its HD ( hundred dollar).

On the honda side i have owned an 81 cb 650 (great bike after the cv carbs were done right the 8th time) an xr100r maybe 1990 or so and currently a 73 cb350f basket case. I love my hondas and wouldnt hesitate to jump on a REASONABLY priced vintage sohc honda. Demand has absolutely put them out of my grasp. Wonderful bikes as they are i am tired of pouring through craigslist ads of halfway finished custom bikes.

My harley is what i see as the modern CB package. Its reliable, gets 35mpg with a worked motor, rides and handles excellent, and parts are readily available. My bike has drag pipes, is stereotypically loud and i wouldn't trade it for anything. I've a friend with an 98 evo motor Ultra Classic with 160,000 miles with no internal issues. Original engine, people who will not give harley a chance these days have not given them a chance. The AMF days are long gone nightmares, which is a terrible thing to say seeing as they bailed out harley in their time of need.

TL;DR Harley these days is like honda then, and vise versa, looking at you sandcast dudes

[Killer Canary]

I did give a harley a chance. Cornering that thing scared the bejeezus out of me.

[seanbarney41]

Most of my riding buddies are into old and new Harleys.  I have ridden most of their bikes, although I am scared of the foot clutch Panheads.  It would be fine if it was mine to drop, but I don't wan't to risk it on somebody else's bike.  From what I have seen hangin' and riding with these guys for the last several years, the Evo bikes (mid '80's til present) are fine motorcycles.  They go great, stop alright, and handle acceptably.  I wouldn't mind owning a Buell or an XR1200.  Seems like the Shovels and Ironheads are pretty underpowered for their displacement and terribly undependable in stock form.  Panheads and older are amazing and beautiful machines for their age, but I am just not interested.  And the price?  ...bout the cheapest thing in my area is a Ironhead basket case for $2500 and you can count on 5 grand more to have a viable motorcycle.

[ThomasD883]

Yeah i'd agree with you there seanbarney, i'd love to get a buell through the twistys for an afternoon. They look like a 1200 evo in aluminum from the outside. The shovels and older were woefully underpowered and leaked bad, but riding one makes the experience that potato rrtrtr potato of a shovel is visceral at speed. Its a different experience and i feel like any riding career isnt complete without it.

 Killer Canary i can not speak for the state of maintenance of the harley you rode but its worth giving the dealer a chance to try and convince you otherwise. My sporty is FAR more maneuverable than my old 650 due to the low center of gravity. It rolls through the corners without the effort of trying to muscle it over. If you ever come local to baltimore I'll set you up on a good road for some seat time. Times change and products improve, i will never sell that bike. 

[Killer Canary]

It wasn't a lack of maneuverability, lack of clearance. I'm kind of locally known for an aggressive riding style.

[ThomasD883]

Same here , theres no patch of tire that doesnt see road on my bikes. seanbarney mentioned the Buell's , while out of production they were an honest attempt at a cheap club style race bike. They had no chance against the jap giants. Its all in what you are seeking, my harley has great speed, great handling, and is a comfortable cruiser. In the american demographic for motorcycles, long distance riding is very important. I regularly ride 70 miles to go to the area where i plan on rolling hard. Its a great compromise. And like the CB750 650 550 500 400 350 etc... , if you upgrade the suspension, forks tires, there is more on tap. Seems like you are letting a bad batch ruin your taste in wine, besides there is evidence that jesus rode a harley.

[seanbarney41]

+1 Thomas, but to me and my local economy?...Harleys just plain suck.   Why the f would I pay 2500 for a clapped out pos when there is the whole spectrum of jap bikes for 1000 or less...same reason why I don't have a brit bike too

[faux fiddy]

Same here , theres no patch of tire that doesnt see road on my bikes. seanbarney mentioned the Buell's , [  ]They had no chance against the jap giants.

Danny Eslic won Daytona on a Buell first, then a triumph.

Unless you meant beating jap giants among the consumers.

Buell was the red-headed stepchild at the Harley dealers. It just didn't fit in with all the bikes that looked like Harleys. Dealers gave them minimal floor space and the people that went to Harley Dealerships weren't there to look at sport bikes.  The blast was a throw away from what I hear.

[Bailgang]

It's not that I haven't seen any vintage HD's I just haven't seen one in original condition at least not on the road, all of them that I've seen have been thoroughly customized to some extent. Similar situation with Z1 900 Kaws, every single one I've spotted on CL in my area has been converted to a drag bike. I would imagine the reason you see a lot of late model HD owners that also have some vintage Jap bikes is because the Jap bikes were the ones that first got them into riding in the first place, the majority of the compliments my 750 gets is from HD owners and one of the first things they say is "my first bike was just like that".

Another possible reason you don't see many vintage HD's is because they may not have made/sold too many of them in the first place. I grew up in Chicago during the 70's (AMF years) and 90% of the bikes that I can remember on the streets back then was Jap bikes.

[dusterdude]

First bike was a cl350,great little bike,then a 73 sportster,sold that and bought my 49 fl in a bunch of baskets,still have,bought my 750 because i always liked them,still have it.bought my 94 sportster,sold that in june.ive always liked old stuff,now i have a gl100 project that im working on.btw,the panhead can be bought if anyone is interested

[ThomasD883]

Same here , theres no patch of tire that doesnt see road on my bikes. seanbarney mentioned the Buell's , [  ]They had no chance against the jap giants.

Unless you meant beating jap giants among the consumers.

 The blast was a throw away from what I hear.

This is the killers IMO. The buell never really had the support, funding, marketing , aftermarket etc.. support that they needed. I didnt know it was a daytona winner , but the blast was a terrible bike. Rode one for the msf course through harley. They took a cylinder off the back and left you with this shakey little S.O.B. The front wheel hopped something terrible through the corners because of the engine lugging. Still had fun throwing it around.

[ThomasD883]

I would imagine the reason you see a lot of late model HD owners that also have some vintage Jap bikes is because the Jap bikes were the ones that first got them into riding in the first place, the majority of the compliments my 750 gets is from HD owners and one of the first things they say is "my first bike was just like that".

Another possible reason you don't see many vintage HD's is because they may not have made/sold too many of them in the first place. I grew up in Chicago during the 70's (AMF years) and 90% of the bikes that I can remember on the streets back then was Jap bikes.

Pretty much anyone i know who currently rides a harley, myself included, started out on a honda or somesuch bike. Then when they could afford one they got a harley. Also I do believe that another BIG part of the prominence of jap bike from that era comes to they were better then, but sportbikes now, harley had serious reliability issues then, and has sorted that #$%* out. So the guys who loved a good classic looking cruiser then have been ailenated by the market focus and have turned to the company whose dominant focus is good cruising bikes. Just my .02 cents.

[ThomasD883]

+1 Thomas, but to me and my local economy?...Harleys just plain suck.   Why the f would I pay 2500 for a clapped out pos when there is the whole spectrum of jap bikes for 1000 or less...same reason why I don't have a brit bike too

Its pretty bad here for good , well maintained vintage jap. I've seen 2200 for a bike that dosent run and has a deep "patina" to it. The people around here are learning the market and putting that bike which been under dat tree over yonder , up for sale for the same price a bike in good restored condition should go for. Sucks for the wrenchers.

[Killer Canary]

I only have a suspicion, but I always figured that it must be simply because there just aren't any more AMFs left on the planet. I also suspect that a harley is a priority for a lot of people to be part of the crowd or whatever ie., worth spending the money on, but a japper has to be cheap to own and operate to be worth the bother. I'm bright enough to not expect anyone to admit to this.
 

[ThomasD883]

I think for a certain part of the biker community that does apply. Harley does sell an image, just look at their outrageous clothing line. That said the sportbike community has a similar appeal. race ready road legal. I see a lot of "weekend warriors" that put on that hat to show off. Some, not all. You cant let a few #$%*s ruin your idea of the biker community, this fourm should be evidence enough of that.

[Killer Canary]

Yeah, this site is always interesting. I've been hanging around here for 9 years now. I've never even had a job last that long.

[754]

I know of three AMF bikes near here, that are still together, run I think,and still with original owners. Well two are the other one the guy when it was a year old or less..

[ThomasD883]

I almost picked up an AMF iron head months ago, cheap basket case. And i know of a guy who won one and garaged it until last year, never ridden. Guess that counts as still together.

[Duanob]

Wasn't the late 70's early 80's the bottom of the barrel for Harley? They almost closed their doors because the bikes they put out were crap and falling apart. Why would you spend the same amount of money on one of those bikes when you can have a newer one that looks the same but is way more dependable? (relatively speaking of course!)

Not so for Japanese bikes. The look back then was definitely period and classic and the bikes were way more simple to own and operate than now. "They just don't make em like that anymore" makes them worth more. Just my thought on the Harley phenomenon.

[Ravie]

I'm just not personally interested in Harleys. There's nothing "special" about them. Everyone has one. It's like a 57 Chevy at a car show. Is it a good car/bike?  Maybe, but...everyone has one. To me, if it's not something special and different I'm not interested. But that's just me. I'm a weirdo that way. Same reason my dad had a 58 Edsel and my first big resto was a 65 Corvair.

[72 yellow]

I had 2 new AMF era Harleys.  A 73 XLH Sportster which I liked a lot and never gave me any problems even though it was recalled.  I was forced to sell it to buy a work van.  Later I bought a 1977 FXE Superglide.  By far the worst bike I ever owned.  Between the poor build quality and even poorer dealership mechanics, I near died the day I picked it up.  The dealer offered me free storage for the winter.  He said call 2 weeks in advance to pick it up, so they could perform dealer prep.  I did as asked.  When I pulled out into heavy traffic and hit the brakes, both the rear and front failed.  I was just able to squeeze between  a car and the curb and made a quick right turn (Lucky no one was coming) and shut it off.  That was just the start.  After fixing a deliberately damaged carb, poorly installed rear wheel bearings and other minor issues and a recall, I gave up and sold it.  I then bought a 1978 CB750F.

[eigenvector]

I've never looked at Harleys.  I don't like cruiser and bagger style motorcycles - just not my thing.  Harley went out of their way it seems to hide the fact that they made Buells, had they opened up about them a bit I think I would look twice at how I view Harley's overall.

I did go into a Harley dealership once looking at a modern bike - they had the worst attitude problem.  I felt like punching a kitten after talking to them. 

[Don R]

There's a mid 60's harley dresser around the corner, when the guy rides he's on a goldwing. I heard he bought it from a guy going to prison. I wonder if he's coming back to get it when he gets out.

[HondaMan]

I know of three AMF bikes near here, that are still together, run I think,and still with original owners. Well two are the other one the guy when it was a year old or less..

Now, THERE's some rare ones! When I had my Honda-Suzy-BMW-Harley shop, it was the AMF era. Of the Harleys we sold, more than 50% of them shucked (fill in the blank) before their first year on pavement. The Harley warranty was: "the dealer charged whatever they wanted to for the bike, because the warranty was on them". We replaced whole trannies, top ends, crankshafts, anything engine, on those miserable bikes.

Have you ever set timing on an old Sportster? It still makes my eyes water, just thinking about it...