12-20-2013, 10:25 AM
My biggest disappointment on two wheels was a brand new '83 Harley Sportster. I don't know what I was thinking. After having owned 3 Kawasakis, I guess I just assumed that most motorcycles were reliable. I was young and naive.
This was just after Harley took back ownership from AMF and the quality of their bikes hadn't really had time to improve. My particular example had problems from the start. Oil leaks, parts falling off, unexplainable cooling problems, leaking gas tank, etc... Long story short, I owned the bike for 6 months and it spent 3 of those months in the dealer's shop. The dealer didn't seem to think this was unusual
I learned a painful lesson about the importance of quality manufacturing. Without a car, I depended on motorcycles to get around. Fortunately, I'd kept one of my old Kawis and it got plenty of use as my backup bike.
This was just after Harley took back ownership from AMF and the quality of their bikes hadn't really had time to improve. My particular example had problems from the start. Oil leaks, parts falling off, unexplainable cooling problems, leaking gas tank, etc... Long story short, I owned the bike for 6 months and it spent 3 of those months in the dealer's shop. The dealer didn't seem to think this was unusual
I learned a painful lesson about the importance of quality manufacturing. Without a car, I depended on motorcycles to get around. Fortunately, I'd kept one of my old Kawis and it got plenty of use as my backup bike.