No one's butthurt. You're just coming off as always making an excuse not to listen to the advice from current/former HD owners so therefor not looking interested in one.
Advice is one thing, but the "you just cant afford one" ******** along with the claims to just "not worry about it" does not jive with my idea of due diligence.
Due dilligence being key...because
I do not want to end up like this guy.
While I've been doing that due diligence I came across another gem that will be haunting future owners of low mileage Milwaukee 8's decades from now - the now infamous
"Sumping issues" with these engines. Engines failing catastrophically at 1200km because of a manufacturing defect that causes them to scavenge themselves right out of oil to the point the engine seizes is just inexcusable. Pretty funny watching the apologists saying "You're riding it wrong!" as a response as well. Check out that whole thread I just linked to - it's a good read.
So 15 years from now I could be looking at a HD again and be left starting at
this issue wondering if it was fixed, or if that's another ticking time bomb scenario.
Anyhow, the more I've learned about the cam chain thing in the last month of searching the more I've realized that the whole thing is a potential can of worms that I'm reluctant to open, nor do I want a bike in which I have to partly tear open the engine every year or so to inspect it's internals.
Is this all a deciding factor? Yes, absolutely, nor will I be an apologist for a flawed design that can't even be
permanently fixed (by installing gears vs the chain) on 100% of the bikes on the road (because of the runout issues) once and for all.
In the end...I wouldn't buy ANY motorcycle that isn't going to be reliable, no matter what the name on the side, yes, including a metric.
You keep aying HD owners won't budge on price but I've seen lots come down after some time sitting (and life happens, whether it's a sudden home repair needed or their wife cracks up the car, etc). Giv'r time lad.
Reality is we're on the edge of price
increase season for bikes, not decreases. The reason I'm selling my bike now and buying a replacement is because I don't want to deal with it once riding season is here - I want to be riding, not dealing with endless Kijijji window shoppers when it comes time to sell my bike, & nor paying *more* for my next bike because the owner knows as soon as the first warm day arrives everyones mind turns to 2 wheels again. I got a heck of a deal on what I'm pretty confident will be my new ride
because this same situation - the market hasn't picked up quite yet, buyer needs to sell bike to pay for new one, etc.