Harley Davidson Owners w/100,000 Miles on Bike

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Good Evening,

Would like to hear from HD owners with 100,000 Miles on bike with the question of what was your maintenance routine and oil preference.

Thanks.
 
I cant comment on harley riders, but Ive serviced quite a few hondas and yamahas with that mileage. All did 3-5k oil changes and filters, and serviced all other fluids every 2-3 years.

Had one old guy with over 325k on his 86 wing with the first guidance system honda had. He rode the bike daily and travelled a lot.

What year manufacture harley are we talking?
 
Thank you for your response. The Wings are wonderful bikes.


Can be any year and model of Harley.
 
......the reason I asked what year, is because I have serviced more than a few harleys with lower mileage. The older bikes typically required oil, fioters, fluids, tires, and pads...the newer bikes tend to have a few too many economy parts from the factory.

Depending on the year, things change quite a bit.
 
Originally Posted By: RevRider
Good Evening,

Would like to hear from HD owners with 100,000 Miles on bike with the question of what was your maintenance routine and oil preference.

Thanks.



Do Harley bikes really get that many miles on them? Not trying to be argumentative, but honestly I've never heard of Harley owners putting that many miles on a Harley. This is very common for other big bikes. I know it's hard to find an older BMW with less than 80k - 120k miles, and more. And I know a lot of Gold Wing guys will put that many miles on their bikes. Both are just so more well suited for long, cross country rides.

But most guys I know how own a Harley won't even use their own bike for a big trip. Instead, they will fly out to a destination and rent a Harley. Are there really that many Harley bikes with over 100k miles on them?
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: RevRider
Good Evening,

Would like to hear from HD owners with 100,000 Miles on bike with the question of what was your maintenance routine and oil preference.

Thanks.



Do Harley bikes really get that many miles on them? Not trying to be argumentative, but honestly I've never heard of Harley owners putting that many miles on a Harley. This is very common for other big bikes. I know it's hard to find an older BMW with less than 80k - 120k miles, and more. And I know a lot of Gold Wing guys will put that many miles on their bikes. Both are just so more well suited for long, cross country rides.

But most guys I know how own a Harley won't even use their own bike for a big trip. Instead, they will fly out to a destination and rent a Harley. Are there really that many Harley bikes with over 100k miles on them?


A lot of harleys I used to deal with were in the 50-60k range.

They are fairly comfy tp sit on if the owner doesnt put on ridiculous apehangers.....
 
I have seen a few evolution engined Harleys with near 100k miles on them. I am a little less confident in the Twin Cam engines which had some real teething problems in the past with cranks that "scissored" because they are pressed together(not bolted) and had the chain tensioner issues. The new ones run hotter too to pass emissions requirements.

The high mileage harley engines I have seen have all needed some vale train and top end work. I only know they got regular oil changes, not sure with what brands of lubricants.
 
Been riding for a while. I have seen quite a few Honda's, BMW's, and even a Moto Guzzi in the 100,000+ mile range. But I don't believe I've ever seen a Harley over 100K that hadn't been rebuilt at least once. They're just not designed for it.That's why they continually rank at or near the bottom of the reliability ratings. Not bashing just quoting the facts.
 
I never seen one that made it anywhere close to that unless you throw everything away it came with and then maybe 30,000 miles no engineering marvels at all POS more like it
 
A friend I ride with sometimes has 150K+ on his Harley. He uses and swears by Red Line 20w-60 m/c engine oil and insists it's bad to use any additives with that oil, that the oil is good as it is. He does 5K intervals. Because of him, many of his friends that ride Harley's are switching to the same oil. His bike is a Sporster bobber.
 
Originally Posted By: cknight49090
I never seen one that made it anywhere close to that unless you throw everything away it came with and then maybe 30,000 miles no engineering marvels at all POS more like it


Almost every Harley since the Evo will go that far if you dont beat on it and neglect it. Now in the AMF era, especially some years, and especially with the Ironhead sprotsters...they could and did sometimes die very early deaths.
 
I've seen BMW oilheads (R series) with well over 100k, and one over 200k.

A Harley? The new ones seem to have better fit and finish, but I can't recall having seen one with that many miles on it.
 
A friend of mine has about 120k on his 2003 100th anniversary FLHTCUI. He has always had it serviced at the local Harley dealer, using their own brand fluids. It's all stock, right down to the stock mufflers. No major repairs, just regular oil changes, tire changes, a few sets of brake pads, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Franklim
HD has too much vibration for long distance travel.


They have too much vibration for any distance of travel. It is ridiculous that a "modern" machine should shake like they do. My riding buddy rides an '07 road glide, and on longer trips (50+ miles)he is constantly shaking his hands out because they go numb from the vibrations.
 
My Harley is like my dog...when I wash it I just start it up and it shakes itself dry. If it will start.
 
Quote:
But most guys I know how own a Harley won't even use their own bike for a big trip. Instead, they will fly out to a destination and rent a Harley.


Quote:
They have too much vibration for any distance of travel. It is ridiculous that a "modern" machine should shake like they do. My riding buddy rides an '07 road glide, and on longer trips (50+ miles)he is constantly shaking his hands out because they go numb from the vibrations


What a load of phooey!!

If they're vibrating that much something is wrong! Dump the stock exhaust and catalytic conventor, get them tuned...If you want to be bored riding a bike or fall asleep get a Gold Wing.

My wife and I rode to Sturgis from Texas 2012..

We routinely run up to Eureka Springs (AR) 10 hour ride each way on a long weekend.

Next year going to Sturgis then Montana, down thru Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Grand Junction (CO), Santa Fe, NM for total of 3500 miles..

I ride mine daily to work and on weekends routinely put 200-300 miles on it! In the past year I've racked up a little over 15k miles on it with no issues. My buddy rode from Central Texas to Fresno, CA then down to LA and across Route 66 to Chicago, up to Milwakee, back to Sturgis, back to Fresno then to Colorado and back to Texas last year. He put 10k miles on his bike in little over 30 days..
Gotta love Harley haters!
 
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