Torn between a Heritage and a Stratoliner

[GeorgeC]

Originally Posted by 93Horse

Slow down a little, your about to drop in to Harley ownership, not just buying a bike, but making it into yours. If you must change handlebars (how many miles have you ridden this bike) I suggest you get a set of take off original style bars for this bike and start from there. What ever you do make sure the present cables wit fit,, or cost of replacing them.

I guess you're right, I may be jumping the gun. I can go for a few rides first. Good call on the cables; Thanks!

[Greg MacD]

Originally Posted by GeorgeC

The Strat is such a strong highway bike, 1900cc of freight train. The Heritage is a really cool Classic bike, 2004.

The thing that gets me is, the Strat is less expensive to purchase, costs less to maintain and is more dependable. The Harley on the other hand, is cooler and more iconic.

What you guys and gals think?

Ride a Harley for 10 years and see what it is worth (dollar value), ride a Star for that same duration of time and take a look at their value and ask yourself what bike is the better "cost" value. Also think about the parts and their availability, in 10 years I will be able to buy a drive belt for my H-D, you might not be that lucky with the Star. I had this problem with my early Victory Motorcycle, just could not buy parts.....sucked!

[coastie56]

A lot of guys get heritage bars which are essentially baby apes and come standard on some of the police bikes. Also as a previous poster pointed out it appears the controls were mounted in an awkward position. It will improve the comfort if they are simply rotated to fit the normal extension of your hands so that you pull the clutch and brake levers straight back in line with your arms for better leverage. If longer cables weren't installed with the beach bars the cables will probably be fairly close to the right length as well for the baby apes fir close to stock also.

[GeorgeC]

I rode the bike about 60 miles today; did not like the beach bars. Also, need to get a windshield, or... put on the fairing from my Roadstar. I put a Road Glide fairing on my Roadstar recently - nice setup!

Has anyone ever put the RG fairing on a Road King? It's basically the same as a Road Glide, right?

Also, my speedometer stopped working halfway through the ride - is this a common problem? Maybe a fuse??

[RKC-Charlie]

Easy yo see that the headlight opening will not match that RK's.
Your license is expired, sept 2012, if that is a recent snapshot..

[Thundermug]

Glad to see you finally made a purchase, it looks nice!

Originally Posted by huskerbob

for me the question to ask yourself is a very simple one:

"when I walk into the garage and see my (insert brand name/model name here) sitting there, how does it make me feel?"
.

4 and a half years ago I bought a sporty. I still look at it and smile. Did I do that with the other (honda, kaw, yama) bikes I have owned? No.
I don't have a garage, I live at the beach, and there is some rust due to the salt air...but I still smile and feel good inside because that dark blue and chrome sporty sure does look good!

I'm sure the OP will feel the same way a few years from now...grinning, ya know?

[autoworker]

These bars may interest you.
J&P catalog part #500-772 are beach bars that will fit your bike.They are not nearly as wide as the ones you have.

I have a set on a RK and at roughly 6' 3" tall I really like the way the fit me.

[gb1500]

the thing is most street metrics don't have an engine performance upgrade world.... just the oem parts to fix em back up stock when something breaks....harleys have a universe of aftermarket upgrades to get it performing like you want it....and the great satisfaction of your new found power and much better if you wrenched it yourself.....you gotta think about the whole package...if you don't like to tinker and if your not a mechanic you need $$ for one...but now most harleys are very dependable if you dont mess with it and are happy with stock....but they can be made much more dependable with the right mods..and degraded with the wrong mods....if you just want to turn a key and not care whats going on down there that will hold you off for now...until you save up for that harley....of course!!

[1bdBagr]

Here is a pic of my RK with the beach bars, mine are (i believe) Burly Bikini Bars they are 36" wide at the ends of the grips. I'm at 6' and they are quite comfortable. I think where your hand controls are make for a funny angle and being uncomfortable. Then again, i've never liked the wide beach bars on anything but softails. Mine are not too wide pretty good for splitting lanes. Also have a Bob Dron /Ness Fairing, It doesn't have the coverage of a full windshield but i like it. I think it will help deflect the wind around my tunes too. I think i have a steel braided clutch cable that was on my bike i'd give you if you needed it. I don't think it was mint condition, clear outer sheath has some scuffs, buy you could have it if you were up Ontario way ever.




Tim

PS bike isn't sitting on lift straight lol they look crooked

[1bdBagr]

Oh yeah, Pull seat off and unbolt dash/speedo assembly and make sure its all plugged in correctly and nothing was loose. Re-Check speedo....i've never had mine act up like that.
Second thing i forgot, putting the Road Glide fairing would be a good size project. Better to look into a batwing detachable type at least for ease of install and keeping the bike's heritage. Good luck
Tim