Not asking anybody to pic what I
ride 
But looking for some critical input from people who may have some knowledge or perspective other than my own. No Wing for me as long as I have the LT for that role. Not enough difference. Other options would be a nice, well maintained Valk or one of those Yamaha Stratoliners. Both seem dated and ABS is a must-have.
I'll rant a bit, then give you some critical input. Then probably rant some more. It is a hobby of mine.
I have put 430k on Electraglides, Love 'em. I have also put 200k on other Harleys, and 67k on a Buell. I love the Electra Glides...... After I hit a deer last fall and killed my FLH, I decided to try something different. I got tired of having oil on my hands. Now I have oil AND antifreeze. 8^)
The HD is a different bike. Maintenance is cheap and simple. Parts, as long as they are not chromed or painted are cheap and generally available everywhere. No longer will you go to a dealer to get shims for your valves and be told that they have to order them and they are $10 each. And NO, they won't sell you the ones from the mechanics area.
For me, I like a stock FLH. Try it to ensure you like the style. Make sure it is a stock one. I tried a Road Glide that the dealer was very proud of. They had bumped it up with a new cam and absurdly loud pipes etc. When I got back I told the dealer it was a POS. He was not happy. I was able to try a stock one and rather liked it, but they have taken away the more basic one and gone custom with it. I would have to put a lot of miles on one to decide whether it is better or worse than an FLH. The shape of some of the new seats seams a LOT better, but some are still shaped like my 2004 model, which was not flat enough for me. There is buffeting behind the shield but a different shield can help that. I would get the anti-lock. I looked at the Wings but felt way to confined and cramped on it. There was no place to put my feet. Even the ST has more room for me. A lot more than the wing, in my opinion.
My personal experiences are that the HD's are very reliable up to about 50k. After that, some things CAN go wrong, but generally not much. The belt can last close to 100k, but due to the rear sprocket teeth being made of aluminum with chrome over them, the belt sometimes wears quicker. The aluminum corrodes under the chrome so the chrome becomes sharp and wears the belt, then eventually the aluminum just wears away. I think this is a phenomenon seen mostly in winter riders of new england (salt). Change the rear sprocket every once in a while and the belt will be fine. (or don't ride in the winter)
The right choice in tires and you will get 13 to 15k fully loaded out of them. Not sure about the new sized tires on the '09 and '10's.
If you leave it stock nice people will come up to you and say that is the quietest HD they have ever heard and ask you how you made it so quiet.
There are a few things that I complained about with the HD, that I no longer complain about now that I have an ST. For example, to change the stator it can take an hour and you need an impact wrench so cannot do it on the road. Of course, they almost never go these days (from my experience), but some of the older models were an issue. The starter should take no more than 15 minutes to replace due to where it is, but a minor design flaw (in my opinion) makes it a good half hour (more if you are inexperienced with it). This usually needs to be done at around 70k due to the starter clutch slipping. That's painful at around $60. I hate that a belt and sprockets change can take 4 hours (3 hours is my personal record) and that it cannot be done easily on the side of the road. But the Forwoods seem to be able to do it easily enough.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/forwood/ I don't like the new die by wire throttle, but then everyone, even Toyota is going that way and I have not heard of problems with the HD ones. The heads will seldom last more than 100k without touching up, although that might be partly due to riding in very cold weather and very hot weather with traffic. Just my theory. If you do the work yourself, the heads are relatively cheap you can just buy a set rather than machining it. Oil cooling might help. I used synthetic oil and changed it every 7 to 10k whether it needed it or not. The pre-2007?? twin-cam bikes did not use a hydraulic cam chain tensioner that would sometimes be short lived. I have been told that that is no longer an issue, I don't know.
The new engine layout should cool better. It looks like they took some of the crap out away from the heads, even the tank seems to give it more room. Might be an optical illusion.
I used to ***** about these things. But then I had to change my ST thermostat. And adjust the valves. And fix the anti-freeze leaks that showed up after the thermostat repair. And adjust the valves (what an amazingly involved job). And now it looks like oil coming out of the weep hole of the water pump. Plus the tiny battery..... And all that Tupperware to remove. I think I'm going to refasten it with velcro.
Same-Same.
I have loved every bike I have ever owned. And I have found something to gripe about every one. Every model has *features* that are known. Some are major, some are minor. Some are easier to fix than others. I will probably get another EGlide eventually. And when the ST wears out, I may get another one of them (or it's replacement)
Ride what you want. I would have 100 different bikes if I could afford them.
And don't anyone go picking apart my rants. They are just that, rants.....
:bat1:
