I have my own Harley Story to tell now!

[Desolation Angel]

Nick, 1st I had to laugh, then I cried. You see, (gulp), in 1980 I sold my '78 GS750E after spending months drooling over the 1980 HD Lowrider 1340 in a brochure. I spent almost $6000 of the bank's money and got nothing for my tradein, but was I proud as I settled into that saddle for the ride home. It was pretty fun until I got to the freeway entrance ramp and no matter how hard I twisted the grip nothing much happened, but I did make a big noise. I started to get worried about my decision as I attempted to look in my rearview mirrors and saw nothing but a blur in both, my hands started feeling numb, and my butt tingled (and it wasn't a good tingling).

It wasn't long before my brand new pipes were blue and black, my battery shattered from vibrations as I drove down the highway one day, my rear STEEL fender split crossways directly above the back tire and had to be welded, and I lost one of my rear turn signals along with miscellaneous nuts and bolts on other drives. Not to mention the starter was barely able to turn over the engine most of the time. But my God it looked nice ('cept for the pipes). I sold it one year later and the whole experience + a new wife kept me off bikes for 23 years.

Before I ever bought the thing I KNEW from reading cycle mags and reviews (and word of mouth) that Harleys weren't a wise decision; they had looks and nothing else. But I did it anyway because that bike was so pretty. I've kicked myself for being so dumb all these years and have missed that damn 750 like crazy. What a great bike that 750 was and I didn't even realize it until I was financially incapable of having another one.

Man, I gotta get another one some day!

[Anonymous]

Nick, 1st I had to laugh, then I cried. You see, (gulp), in 1980 I sold my '78 GS750E after spending months drooling over the 1980 HD Lowrider 1340 in a brochure. I spent almost $6000 of the bank's money and got nothing for my tradein, but was I proud as I settled into that saddle for the ride home. It was pretty fun until I got to the freeway entrance ramp and no matter how hard I twisted the grip nothing much happened, but I did make a big noise. I started to get worried about my decision as I attempted to look in my rearview mirrors and saw nothing but a blur in both, my hands started feeling numb, and my butt tingled (and it wasn't a good tingling).

It wasn't long before my brand new pipes were blue and black, my battery shattered from vibrations as I drove down the highway one day, my rear STEEL fender split crossways directly above the back tire and had to be welded, and I lost one of my rear turn signals along with miscellaneous nuts and bolts on other drives. Not to mention the starter was barely able to turn over the engine most of the time. But my God it looked nice ('cept for the pipes). I sold it one year later and the whole experience + a new wife kept me off bikes for 23 years.

Before I ever bought the thing I KNEW from reading cycle mags and reviews (and word of mouth) that Harleys weren't a wise decision; they had looks and nothing else. But I did it anyway because that bike was so pretty. I've kicked myself for being so dumb all these years and have missed that damn 750 like crazy. What a great bike that 750 was and I didn't even realize it until I was financially incapable of having another one.

Man, I gotta get another one some day!

Yeah, those years were a low point for Harley. Quality control left a little to be desired. I bought a used 1981 FLH in about '85 or maybe '86. It vibrated like hell and was not overly powerful, but back in those days the people who were buying Harleys, and there weren't a lot of us, mostly considered them raw material to build a bike out of. On mine I shimmed up the motor mounts and carefully aligned the engine and tranny, fixed the clutch with aftermarket stuff, changed the exhaust, modified and tuned the carb, and it ran pretty good. The vibration was mostly gone and it was actually pretty comfortable to ride. It was still a dog power wise but I loved it anyway and put a lot of miles on it, including several multistate tours. Oh, the starter, I installed a kick starter as a back up to the electric foot. In a way those were the good old days of Harley riding, they took way too much effort to ride for the yuppies, the "Herd Mentalities", so the people you met on them were mostly genuine riders who were serious about it.

[Anonymous]

Now you got me missing my first street bike, an "82 GS450E. What a cool little piece it was. I didn't appriciate as much as I should have.