been putting this off, can't believe it happened

[element80]

Well, as you all know I ride daily, unless there is ice on the ground (which is almost never in East Texas (75791).
Compound - is a fellowship of sober bikers (not a r/c or m/c) and we had our national meeting in Colorado Springs last week in august 1st week in september
and I had a week of vacation to burn and friends in Central Arizona I hadn't seen in 10 years.
A bro rode up from Shreveport on his '14 FLHXS street glide special and I got 'ol red ready and we decided to do an IBA 1000 mile less than 24 hour ride.

MODS:
performance:
PCV with ignition (with quite a bit of advance)
had Racnray's coolant mix and throttle mod, and fan switch
took off the 6 speed/stator cover and polished the housing
wrapped pipes/v&h slip ons
tornado air kit, throttle body gasket

Comfort/style:
phat risers and roaringtoyz apes
iso grips, rays throttle mod
corbin young guns

bagger shield
phone mounted between risers using otterbox belt clip

pin striping
Had a car tire on my vaquero 195/60 radial michelin
had just done brakes front/rear, flushed all coolants, rewrapped pipes and changed front tire and feelers under floorboards...new spark plugs and amsoil with k&n filter

bike was strong at 84hp and 104tq
I weigh 250, my buddy probably 100lbs heavier than i am...several times on our trip his antiquated harley pulled away from me like I wasn't trying!!!! very similar setup and displacement, he had a supertrap 2into1 and heavy breather air cleaner with tuner -- his dyno numbers were a little better, i saw the sheet but don't remember exactly what it was...

we left Tyler TX at 3pm CST Friday and made it to meteor crater rest area near Flagstaff 24 hours later and were in Prescott AZ by 6p after a few stops... let me tell you that the sky in West TX and New Mexico is amazing at night! I played the Tuba in school and went through Tuba City - kinda nerdy i know
saw signs that said deer crossing, cow crossing, horse crossing, donkey crossing, buffalo crossing, bear crossing, and on and on.
My gear position indicator quit working and i was stalling at lights because it said i was in 1st but I was in 2nd or 3rd - fatigue was a real issue on the first leg of that trip...this was a concern but thanks to the forum i knew it was a simple fix and covered under warranty - which i still had 6 or so months left on
We hung out in AZ for a day, didn't sleep then headed out that evening to go through Sedona, and up into UT...stayed in Monticello Utah that nigh/morning, then rode all the way into Denver the next day....racking up miles!
When I got to Denver he needed to do a 5k service on his bike at the harley shop, and I needed my gear position indicator to get fixed, I also had some ticking noises like Ray had and wanted them to check that (could've been low oil from the high speed high altitude riding)
first and largest Kawasaki shop in the Denver area is near the Harley shop - figured, that works, my bro can get his 5k done, I can get my gear sensor fixed and we can chill and get some food with my lil bro *who works at the mazda shop next to the harley shop!
WRONG!
the kawasaki shop said they were busy and to try another dealership!
so I called the next one...they told me it was an expensive fix, that I would need to pull the motor, split cases etc...i called bs and asked to speak to the GM....she said that is what he told her...so I hung up
the third shop put me on perpetual hold and I never got anyone on the phone, then my father *the fair weather harley rider called.....i vented and he said why don't you trade the kawasaki on a "real bike"...i was already pissed and said, what you gonna pay the difference? he said yes! (it was a lie) but after a few days of looking and trying to get a new Road Glide, i ended up with a '14 flhx 19,500 for the harley, they gave me 9k for the kawi (i originally paid 11k for the kawi)...took delivery, picked up my ol lady from the air port and headed down to colorado springs for our national meeting on a new bike.....proposed to my ol lady the next day at garden of the gods after going up pikes peak for a wedding and road 1k miles home ...shoot took delivery on the streetglide 8/27 and have 5k on the odo already.
*********EDIT**************
now I had already had tons of trouble with the kawi...rear brakes came apart at 24k miles, had to replace everything (rotor, hanger, calipers etc...) not covered under warranty, replaced front wheel bearings 3 times in 38k miles - kawi refused to admit that was the issue with my "any speed" wobble...had kawi dealers say they fixed it by putting 45lbs of air in front tire and "remaping your power commander and replacing spark plugs"....because "your bike was pissing fuel ou the pipe" then try to charge me 700 dollars for all that unauthorized work because it wasn't covered under the warranty - bike still wobbled....also the paint looked hazy and terrible after 15 - 20k and took me a year to get them to replace that.
the streetglide handles much better than the vaquero, but i do miss the vaquero...
now the harley has already gone through 2 horns...so far that is the only problem and they have taken care of it no problem, I also got 2 additional years of warranty and 3 years of service included....did those instead of pipes, breather tuner....birthday is coming up! and 4 of my bros picked up 15 roadglides, 1 standard, 2 specials and 1 ultra CVO....they are sweet...likely my next bike unless Victory or Indian gets a better dealer network, and a better looking fairing....

here are some pics from the trip

right before we headed out




sedona


grand junction co


headed up pikes peak
me and the 'ol lady on pikes peak






more pikes peak








6 states in 6 days

[Top Cat]

So is the 9th picture down a salute to the Kawasaki dealers who blew you off when you tried to get them to service your bike

I have heard many time of Harley dealerships getting out of town riders back on the road.
I have also heard many times the Kawasaki dealers don't really care if your stranded or not.

Probably one of the many reasons a lot of members have gone to Harley, Victory,Honda,BMW and Yamaha.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

Probably one of the many reasons a lot of members have gone to Harley, Victory,Honda,BMW and Yamaha.

Ya think?

[element80]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

So is the 9th picture down a salute to the Kawasaki dealers who blew you off when you tried to get them to service your bike

I have heard many time of Harley dealerships getting out of town riders back on the road.
I have also heard many times the Kawasaki dealers don't really care if your stranded or not.

Probably one of the many reasons a lot of members have gone to Harley, Victory,Honda,BMW and Yamaha.

That was the determining factor, found a new Victory Magnum that I wanted, was cheaper than the Streetglide - but passed due to having to deal with lawnmower and power equipment people for service and poor dealer network

[Rasta]

Nice pictures from your ride! Sad it had to come to this but if I had those kinds of issues I would have done the same as you. Didn't have an issue with your tire too shortly after you got your bike?

[element80]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

So is the 9th picture down a salute to the Kawasaki dealers who blew you off when you tried to get them to service your bike

I have heard many time of Harley dealerships getting out of town riders back on the road.
I have also heard many times the Kawasaki dealers don't really care if your stranded or not.

Probably one of the many reasons a lot of members have gone to Harley, Victory,Honda,BMW and Yamaha.

Originally Posted by Rasta

Nice pictures from your ride! Sad it had to come to this but if I had those kinds of issues I would have done the same as you. Didn't have an issue with your tire too shortly after you got your bike?

yep, at 6k miles had a bad wobble...continued till 15k nobody could id the culprit, kawi wouldn't/couldn't fix it = told me "see page xx in the owners manual....note that it says ' never release your grip on the handlebar'" was a $20 wheel bearing - which i then replaced 2 additional times, all on my dollar

[Cajunrider]

Best of luck with your new ride.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

So is the 9th picture down a salute to the Kawasaki dealers who blew you off when you tried to get them to service your bike

I have heard many time of Harley dealerships getting out of town riders back on the road.
I have also heard many times the Kawasaki dealers don't really care if your stranded or not.

Probably one of the many reasons a lot of members have gone to Harley, Victory,Honda,BMW and Yamaha.

BMW does the same thing. Out of town riders that have troubles go to the head of the line. HD does that too from what I understand. I don't know if the Victory, Indian or the others of the big 4 do that.

[Monkeyman]

Originally Posted by element80

That was the determining factor, found a new Victory Magnum that I wanted, was cheaper than the Streetglide - but passed due to having to deal with lawnmower and power equipment people for service and poor dealer network

That's funny and totally inaccurate. Most Victory dealers are also Polaris dealers and most don't sell "lawnmower and power equipment". If they're a Victory dealer, the sell and work on motorcycles. Not really sure why you'd think a lawnmower dealer would even sell motorcycles.

The dealer network isn't poor. Victory just doesn't need one on every corner. They're that reliable. I guess you would have known that if you'd done some research.

[OldSchool]

I won't talk bad about brands they all have their good and not so good. But if I had my druthers, I'd be riding the Victory right now.

[redjay]

I had zero issues with my 2010 Voyager apart from a rear shock that was replaced under warranty. I rode the bike in and was on my way in an hour.

[GIBBY]

Congratulations on the new Street Glide, but without pictures of the new bike it never happened I truly believe it is the individual dealer and not "The Dealer Network" that determines what kind of service you get. If enough complaints are lodged against any dealer the manufacturer will usually drop that dealer. In my area we have good and bad dealers of all makes including Victory, Kawasaki and yes, even Harley Davidson.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by Monkeyman

That's funny and totally inaccurate. Most Victory dealers are also Polaris dealers and most don't sell "lawnmower and power equipment". If they're a Victory dealer, the sell and work on motorcycles. Not really sure why you'd think a lawnmower dealer would even sell motorcycles.

The dealer network isn't poor. Victory just doesn't need one on every corner. They're that reliable. I guess you would have known that if you'd done some research.

The dealer I bought my BMW also sold Victory and John Deere farm implements and mowers. In fact the John Deere stuff was the bigger part of the business.

[schoeney]

You don't hear story's like this very often.

[robjob]

Originally Posted by ponch

The dealer I bought my BMW also sold Victory and John Deere farm implements and mowers. In fact the John Deere stuff was the bigger part of the business.

Ya same thing here in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Our local Victory dealer also sells John Deere equipment. Been selling it for years - just added the Victory line about 6 years ago