Evo and Twin Cam

[Stuarty]

When the Twin Cam came out it was looked upon by many as nothing short of the devils spawn (a bit like facebook!) due, at least in part, to the perceived complexity of the unit.

Well here we are, 13 years down the line from the launch of the TC and I wondered if the reluctance to accept the TC was justified. Was it really THAT complex? Or was it a case of its new and therefore difficult to accept?

What do you think?

[Tony G]

im sure they thought the same of the EVO when that came out !!!!

[Limey_Dave]

Some more on the subject,that Tony might remember.

http://www.harley-davidson-hangout.c...s-twincam.html

[chilly]

Originally Posted by Tony G

im sure they thought the same of the EVO when that came out !!!!

Some still do

[girlyglide]

Originally Posted by Stuarty

When the Twin Cam came out it was looked upon by many as nothing short of the devils spawn (a bit like facebook!) due, at least in part, to the perceived complexity of the unit.

Well here we are, 13 years down the line from the launch of the TC and I wondered if the reluctance to accept the TC was justified. Was it really THAT complex? Or was it a case of its new and therefore difficult to accept?

What do you think?

It's not really that complex an engine to fix. Most of the parts are replaced as a unit, like many things nowadays, instead of repaired.

If you've ever shimmed up a four speed sportster transmission or struggled with the 88 individual rollers on an early four speed trans then you might welcome the cassette style later units.

Personally I was drawn to Harleys because you could repair rather than replace. You could tell where the oil pump was because you could see oil lines going to and from it. They were crude but simple, much like myself

What started to put me off the new models was sitting in the workshop with my pride and joy connected to my laptop FFS! Fuel injection, closed looped this, sensored that, not to mention the God awful alarm/immobiliser that causes more grief to owners and repairers than it will ever cause a thief!

I'm turning Luddite.

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by girlyglide

It's not really that complex an engine to fix. Most of the parts are replaced as a unit, like many things nowadays, instead of repaired.

If you've ever shimmed up a four speed sportster transmission or struggled with the 88 individual rollers on an early four speed trans then you might welcome the cassette style later units.

Personally I was drawn to Harleys because you could repair rather than replace. You could tell where the oil pump was because you could see oil lines going to and from it. They were crude but simple, much like myself

What started to put me off the new models was sitting in the workshop with my pride and joy connected to my laptop FFS! Fuel injection, closed looped this, sensored that, not to mention the God awful alarm/immobiliser that causes more grief to owners and repairers than it will ever cause a thief!

I'm turning Luddite.

i know how you feel Phil, i can remember riding down our coast road on a GSXR 1000 with a laptop on my back pluged into the bike !!!!!!!!!!!! to me thats not a mechanic so i left all that and now i fix lawnmowers just like a Harley.

[kevscrivener]

Originally Posted by girlyglide

I
What started to put me off the new models was sitting in the workshop with my pride and joy connected to my laptop FFS! Fuel injection, closed looped this, sensored that, not to mention the God awful alarm/immobiliser that causes more grief to owners and repairers than it will ever cause a thief!

Yup. That's what puts me off them too; I bought that 1200R of mine primarily cos it was a carb model, okay its still got black boxes, ECU and all that shite but at least I can pretty much do it all myself.

As mentioned by Foxster in that other thread a lot of it is unavoidable due to emissions regulations and all that crap, but in my experience modern Harleys do less to a gallon than the old ones do so whilst it may be provable that they kick out less crap, surely they're burning more fuel to do it? That don't stack up.

I'm convinced that a lot of these so-called "improvements" have less to do with efficiency that they have with keeping manufacturing costs down, and also making it more and more dificult for the average joe to do any work on the bike; or even the skilled indies unless they invest heavily in special equipment.