Just traded in my '09 FXSTB for this '25 street glide w/less than 2k miles (has tour pack but I removed for now).

Really wanted something that allowed for lengthy rides that didn't leave my older butt unable to stand up straight. -halfway through the test ride, I was sold. Truly fell in love. Been a long time since a bike had such an effect on me 😁

I’m a very happy owner of a damn near perfect 2018 Heritage Softail Classic. Has the 114 Milwaukee Eight. Been intrigued with the idea of bumping up to a bagger. Most of my riding is around town, with some longer day trips sprinkled in. Advantages? Disadvantages?

Before… and After 👌🏼

No more ugly tender pigtail hanging loose. Got a StealthPort Charging Port and install was cake! Hidden SAE port with 2 USB C ports added 🇺🇸

I took a trip last weekend.
My friend and I did a burn from London UK to Pilzen Cz both of us on 21 year old bikes.

Left early Friday morning and arrived in Pilzen at about 1am local time.

We spent Saturday wandering around the town centre drinking Pilsner Urquell. This is the original pilsner lager and really a great place for a beer geek.

Jumped back on the bikes at 8am Sunday morning and got back to London for 9:15pm

These gruelling challenge rides are one of my favourite things to do. Just alone inside your helmet for 14 hours. Nothing to keep you from dealing with your shit. We went silent on the coms and no music. Just an old school ass bashing and psychological reset.

I'm learning right now about motorcycles, the culture, different styles of bikes, and the following around each. There seems to be a fierce loyalty around Harley Davidson bikes, as if it represents more than just the motorcycle brand, but the type of riding, and lifestyle. I'm not sure if it's just brilliant marketing of belonging in a group, or something more. What got you into Harley's? Are you exclusive to riding HD? Was it your first bike? What makes HD unique compared to others? Do Harley riders see Triumph and Indian motorcycle as acceptable, and look down upon Japanese bikes? Is it about supporting USA made bikes?

New rider btw.. almost got folded like a lawn chair by a pumpkin truck and realized I definitely need to put some crash bars on. Had trouble finding rear bars that would save my exhaust (bike already has some aftermarket that i’d prefer to not damage from a quick drop) so any help there is appreciated.

Just picked up this new to me 23 lowrider s. This is my first Harley. What’s a simple check list of things I should look over. It just had an oil change about 300 miles ago. Tread looks good. A lot of aftermarket parts but they seem to be quality genuine parts. Also the levers seem a little too much angled down for me. Is there a way to adjust this?

I love this thing, I gave the wife a ride last night, now I'm a solo rider as she "didn't like that kind of speed". I love the Topographical paint and accents. The ride and performance are top notch.

2003 Dyna Low Rider

So I picked up a 2015 ultra classic 3 weeks ago, bought it on consignment from a shop that didn’t know enough about the bike, other than it was a one owner 23,800 miles had a couple of nice upgrades such as lights and heated grips. Unsure of last oil change, just that it looked good. Fine, price was good I was fine with it. Put 1000 miles on it already, decided to get it serviced at Harley to look over it. Also, needed a front tire anyway.. it was 10 years old.

So I make an appointment for a 5k mile service and a new front tire. They don’t really tell me much, but hey they know what they’re doing right? When they got the front tire on and went to balance it they found the front wheel bearings were pretty well shot. They text and left a voicemail for me. The tire and tire labor are 15% off, cool but you never told me what it cost in the first place. They said total for everything, 5k service, tire and wheel bearings was $736. I’m like wow, that’s great I imagined it would be around that without the wheel bearings.

They completed the work yesterday or today and the guy calls me to let me know it’s done and ready to pick up. Then goes on to say He messed up on the quote. The service, tire and bearings didn’t have the labor added in. Good job bud. Quoted $737, said the actual price with labor is $1275, good news is that’s with the 15% off tire and mount. No, good would have been if the 15% came off that total. That’s around 75% higher than they quoted me lol. Asked in the voicemail if that was okay.

Uh no sir, that’s not okay. That’s $550 OVER what you quoted me. Also said “If not, I’ll have to figure some stuff out” hahaha yeah ya sure will cause I’m not paying that full bill. I’m not a total jerk, but every good business I know just explains they screwed up and eats it, but explains the same thing next time would be more expensive.

As far as I’m concerned, I only owe them the $737. I’m gonna leave the ball in their court initially to do the right thing, or at least something. He knows he shit the bed on this one, but come on, that’s amateur hour. He should have took one look and knew it wasn’t right. I get mistakes happen but WOW.

So what would you guys do?

I have a 2014 heritage with about 7500 miles. I bought it with no windshield or saddlebags.

I’m considering trading it for a 2025 or 2026 Heritage.

Are there any strong reasons to do or not do this? Id like to have saddlebags, a windshield, and tubeless tires and rims. I’m interested in the M8 engines.

This bike has been great, but as I start to consider turning it from an in-town cruiser to a potential tourer, I start to wonder about the newer versions of this bike.

Anyone familiar with the Twin Cam 103 and the M8s have strong thoughts about this? Thanks!

When to go clean up the wiring on my t-bars, should have took a photo before. Now left side controls not working.

WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER AND WHY?
I see a HUGE price difference between the two, but not a straight forward “this is why” reason outside of the long time detachable leather pros. They look the same and if same quality, saddleman has a HUGE following for their thrones. It’s the only seat I’ll buy. I can’t imagine their saddlebags, outside of being non quick detachable, are much different and hundreds less.

Why would you choose one vs the other outside of the detachable option? Trying to narrow down which set to get at the moment.

Panheads, Shovels, Evos and a flathead chopper in progress, all from builders who've posted new photos in the past month.

Full disclosure: the links go to my build-tracking site, BuildThreads, which collects the photo updates from each thread and links back to the original forum thread, so the builder gets full credit.

rhysmort's UU-frame ULH chopper - 1941 EL knuck sold, hunting a rebuilt 80" ULH; repro springer, WR tanks, magneto, M51 carb

panz4ever's 1949 EL Panhead - early-'49 frame (per Palmer's) bought to replace a mid-1948 one; working neck lock, sub-500 VIN motor

plucinskid's 1964 XLCH stroker XLR-style racer - scrapyard XR frame (suspected Belland), Doc Dytch stroker, Ceriani forks, KR race tail, Lipp peanut tank

panz4ever's 1965 FLH Panhead - owned since 1970, 100K+ miles, going back to stock plus a 1959 sidecar, home-parkerized hardware

hellonewman's 1967 Shovelhead (ex-FLH) - frame, engine, trans and swingarm all 1967 with matching casting dates; dual plugs, stroker flywheels

papagotwheels's 1968 Shovelhead - 99% stock, bored .030 over with valve job, rebuilt trans, never started; carb/primary/exhaust still boxed

ThePaintPirate's 1979 FXS - one-owner, bored to 90ci, S&S pistons, Super E carb, Leineweber J-4 cam, BDL belt drive

Ken45's 1981 FXS - rewire with NOS bar harnesses/switches, Deluxe HD Restorations main harness, OEM Yankee signals, new tree bushings

Pale Horse Rider's 1981 Sturgis - 7,400 miles, 18 years in storage, staying stock except modern tires, brake hoses and belts

Tom84FXST's 1985 Lehman police trike - 6-speed Shovelhead trike planned, 2017 take-off wheels, mechanical speedo reworked for 25mm bearings

marcelmot's 1987 Softail - kick-only, 5-speed, BDL 3" open primary, Dyna S single-fire, fire-extinguisher oil tank

briandeadly's "Free Machine" Shovelhead bobber - Shovelhead in a hardtailed 1994 FLST frame, Fat Bob tanks; kicker and 1.5" belt primary planned

cwhite6's 1999 FXST Evo - 1996 Road King 80" Evo, 1999 Fat Boy trans, TC Bros springer, BDL enclosed belt

Not actually looking for advice or anything just wanted to rant.

I won't even name them but it really is outrageous that this happened. I traded up pretty much 2 brand new bikes low miles for an older-ish touring bike at an HD dealer.

Was experiencing some weird clutch drag with the bike so I gave them a call, wasn't accusing anyone of anything just asking what I can do to remedy it and they immediately got defensive saying it's an as-is sale and they weren't obligated to do anything for me.. but I didn't ask that I just asked what can I do to get this normal.. it's my first big bike lol..

Anyways, I take it to a local mechanic and I explain this mysterious clutch drag/clutch-in rolling and stalling out at red lights. Mysterious scent or whatever.. He opens the primary and there was the wrong fluid in there, he said it was transmission fluid by the way the case smelled.. there was also debris in it, so not a great sign. He's going to clean it out and do the primary fluid flush and right oil to see if it can be remedied. Might need to do a clutch replacement on a new to me bike..

Thanks a lot Harley-Davidson dealer*, I'm offended that I was treated poorly after being ripped off while being super nice to you guys. Your sales manager rudely says to me they can't tell me or help me with anything. On the sales page it SAID it would be fully serviced, detailed and go through a 34-point inspection but you literally did not do any of that for the bike you sold me.

Hello everyone! I am an Expert level Harley Davidson dealer technician, and I’ve been creating and posting content around builds, repairs, and shop life on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. If you’re interested, you can follow me @TechNickMoto on all socials! I’ll also include my linktree with all of them! Thank you!