Originally Posted by f350ktm

Since we are still awaiting repairs to the transfer case I am assuming ahead of time I have permission here to draw this thread even further off subject.

In late 2012 the wife and I started considering what street bike we should get. Having spent most of our lives focused on a variety of off road activities we wanted to transition in part to some long distance touring to see the country on pavement.

We are boomers in the middle of our 7th decade so the allure and attraction of Harley is well embedded in our souls. So very happy the company was rescued as for me Harley is an iconic representation of the American way of life. Pride in ownership is so very evident in every Harley rider I get to share with. Since my high school years I have always heard Harley calling my name. For me, if it has 2 wheels and a motor, I'll ride it.

In 2012 I was hearing a second voice also however. The dirt bike community in general tends to lean a little more towards performance and some in that community find Harley a foolish endeavor. On the other side my 2 sons (in their mid thirties) were pushing hard for a Harley.

I had not been on a Harley since my college days and the boys had never ridden one so I told them since we know what dirt and dual sport bikes are like lets go rent some Harleys. Rentals are sparse where I live so we drove down to Vacaville, CA and rented 3 different Harleys.

Heading north on straight and gently curving roads I led the first 20 or 30 miles as I usually do when riding off road with the boys. Approaching Lake Berryessa I let them by as I often do when approaching a more challenging section, don't want to hold them up.

Starting to feel comfortable on the bikes now the boys are riding side by side (which I don't like to do) and I am following close behind entering the first significant curve on our route. Suddenly I find myself confronting a wall of sparks, what the heck? Both boys had compressed their suspensions and grounded pegs dragging them exiting the curve.

We pulled over to discuss and re-group and came to the obvious conclusion that these bikes were awesome, but did need to be ridden a little differently. We enjoyed the rest of the ride immensely.

The wife and I ended up with a 2013 BMW R1200 GSW, the first water cooled GS for BMW, and just love it. If I had room in my life for another vehicle a Harley would be in the running for sure. We just returned from 16 days on our bike staying in hotels every night this time and I would estimate about 1/4 of the vehicles on average in the lot every night were motorcycles and 85 to 90% of those Harleys.

Originally Posted by EpicCowlick

Rating one ride against another is of course hugely subjective. I agree that the F150 is far more car-like than the SD and that is precisely what I don't like about it. It's just... boring. I feel like I'm just four more hoofs in the herd, so to speak. Raptors excluded.

The reason I prefer the HD is similar to the reasons I have a Harley and not a Honda. The Harley is twice the money, half the power, half the suspension and double the noise of the wonderful Japanese and German road bikes. But in my opinion, it has twice the soul and gives double the satisfaction while cruising down the open road.

The great thing about the Super Duty (and the exact opposite of the Harley) is that it is second to none in terms of capability. But there's no question it's a truck when towing or when parking at Jamba Juice. In my opinion, it wins when measured objectively or subjectively.

Originally Posted by Karl4Cat

Epic, check Tyler's sig line and you'll see why he's all sweet on F150's these days....

Originally Posted by troverman

Hey, I have a Harley, too! Lol. I know what you mean, I like listening to the rumble and I like the style...even if it is slower.

As for the trucks...I never felt terribly exclusive in my Super Duty trucks. There's a huge amount of those on the road, too. I did feel special in my 2017 Super Duty...I was the only one to have one of those for quite a while, and even after a few more started hitting the roads nobody had a dually with LED headlights. But give it another year or two, and these too will be commonplace. I feel more exclusive in the Raptor.

But there certainly was that smug feeling of superiority with the 2017 dually...31.4k max towing, 5,440lbs max payload...440HP...925lb-ft. That part I will completely miss.

Originally Posted by EpicCowlick

No news update. I got a call from the service writer and he said the same thing as last week. Still waiting on parts. He's going to make a couple of calls tomorrow to see if he can shake anything loose. I'm not holding my breath as these kinds of things tend to go on their own schedule.