The woes of riding a high-mileage bike

(June 14, 2015) My patience and wallet are growing thin. In spite of meticulous maintenance by me and the competent mechanics at Jockeys Cycle—and J&D Cycle before them*—my bike continues to develop new problems. Yesterday, as my friend and fellow rider Mike Russo and I were heading out of Fuquay-Varina, NC on our way back home from a visit to Fuquay Gun & Gold, my bike just quit, as it did last Wednesday. I’ve now been stranded twice in less than four days; that’s bad even for me. Apparently, there is something less obvious wrong with my fuel system than simply a faulty pressure regulator. Of course, as with most problems on my bike, it’s never quite what it seems.

I am extremely grateful for Mr. Russo’s patience and generosity. While I waited by the side of road, fortunately in the shade, on a very warm spring morning, Mike rode home, got his pickup truck, drove over to Jockeys Cycle and got his trailer, and drove all the way back to Fuquay-Varina to get me. That was about 25 miles each way. I definitely owe Mr. Russo some gas money and beer. We left my bike in the trailer at Jockeys and will talk with Kevin on Monday (tomorrow) about it.

Coincidentally, I spent several hours last Sunday going through my scanned motorcycle receipts, which I store in an Evernote database, and keyed the information into an Excel spreadsheet. I wanted to see how much I’ve actually spent on my Electra Glide since I purchased it for $15,000 from my friend Mitch in 2009. (FYI: It had 36K miles on it at the time I purchased it from him.)

The total stunned me. I’m too embarrassed to tell you, not so much because of the amount itself, but because I spent so much on the damn thing without more consideration. I should have kept closer track of what I was spending. I will admit that I’ve spent more on maintenance since 2009 than I paid for the bike itself. Reviewing the history of repairs and modifications gave me a lot of food for thought and motivated me to share my thoughts about it with you.

It’s a very difficult decision: continue to maintain this bike, which I and my mechanics know very well and which has been customized to my preferences, or start over with a new bike? I’ve spent so much on maintenance that it has become clear to me I’ve approached that level where perhaps buying a new bike every 3-5 years is preferable. I'd pay a little more than I am now, but I would get more: the latest upgrades and warranty coverage--and in theory greater peace of mind. Guys like Bill Amerson of the Patriot Guard Riders takes this approach. Bill rides an average of about 25K miles per year, the only person I know who rides more than I do. And he’s been riding like that for years. Ol’ Bill, as he’s called, earned his 200,000 miles HOG mileage program patch last summer. (I still have 9,000 miles to go just to reach my 175,000 mile patch.)

Still, I do ride more than the average person, having ridden two Harleys more than 166,000 miles since July 2000. I put 92,000 on my 2000 FLHRCI Road King Classic and 74,000+ (110,000 - 36,000) so far on my 2006 FLHTCI Electra Glide Classic. That’s an average of about 11,000 miles per year. What I’m pondering about here generally applies more to the high-mileage rider, someone who spends a lot more on maintenance each year than the typical rider. We ought to ask ourselves: at what point mileage-wise are we better off trading in the old bike for a new one? And by better off, I’m being very subjective; I’m not merely looking at the dollars and cents. By the money alone, I’m still better off with the older bike, but there are other important factors to consider. For example...

My friends Cutter and Z want me to go with them to the Black Hills Motor Classic rally, aka Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, in South Dakota this August for the 75th anniversary. If I had a new bike, as these gentlemen now do, concern about breaking down along the way would be much less of an issue. (As it is, I probably can’t go anyway: my body needs more time to recover from some problems I’ve been having and I can’t afford it financially.) A new Ultra Classic Electra Glide Custom, the bike I want, would offer a water-cooled engine (heads only) with a six-gallon fuel tank, six-speed transmission, and a 45 mpg efficiency that makes my current 30-32 mpg look really sad. On the other hand, I’d worry much more about the new bike being stolen than the old one. I would probably also have to take time and spend money modifying the new bike to fit me comfortably.

For the last couple of years, when a seemingly-endless string of problems with my bike provoked a steady series of calls for me to buy a new one, I’ve resisted the idea of giving in and getting a loan to buy a new bike. I hate owing money and making payments. But here I am, thinking about it. I’ve even had passing thoughts of going back to Honda. The price of the Harley bikes and then especially the total-cost-of-ownership seems absurdly high to me right now. 

Keep the shiny side and have a great summer!

-The Long Rider 

*I’ve had two different local Harley-Davidson dealers work on my bike as well, but the quality of their efforts left a lot to be desired.