Harley touring versus venture

[Ga Dawg]

Hey Bob Cat. Go to your local HD dealer and rent you one of those for the weekend. They rent them around Ga. and Fl.

[N3FOL]

Had a Harley, but it's been a while and it wasn't a tourer.

 

 

Don't get me wrong. I like Harleys. I just wouldn't want one as my only bike, and I really wouldn't want to go touring on one. I've been spoiled by the liquid cooling, the V-Four, and the shaft drive.

 

Could just be me though.

 

I've had a V-Twin for a about 2 years and may never go back to a V-Twin as long as I have my RSV.

[roadwarrior]

Choosing a Harley versus Venture rarely is about pros and cons of each bike (there is nothing wrong with that) but in many cases the "status"of owning a Harley which if money is not an issue is fine.I rode an Ultra last weekend and my friend drove my RSTD and at the end of the ride we both agreed the RSTD was a smoother more refined ride but I must admit I did enjoy the feeling of riding that Ultra.

[KiteSquid]

My Venture is a lot more comfortable to ride than my H-D, but my H-D gets more headturns, when I ride it, which is not often.

 

See my signature...

[Monsta]

...you can shut the rear cyc off with just a twist of the wrist when you want or let the computer do it automatically.

Can anyone go into detail on this? Am I reading that the Harley has a rear cylinder deactivation feature??

[nelsonrl]

On models prior to 09 there is a download for the electronics that shuts the rear cylinder off at stops. Clutch in, no revs and the rear jug will stop firing. Keeps things cooler in parade mode. On the 09 you can control the shutoff with the throttle.

 

I have a race tuner for mine so I can program it and honestly do not notice a difference either way, but I do not do a lot of stop and go city driving.

[Tombo]

Harley has had the feature for a couple of years. I think it was first available when they went with the bigger engine in 07. Originally it was a programming option on the ECM, then for 09 it became a standard feature. You just roll the throttle forward (past closed) and it shuts down the rear cylinder to reduce the heat in traffic during hot weather. The Harley is drive by wire. Pilot can correct me if I am wrong on this.

[Monsta]

Wow, that's pretty cool! ...(hardy, har, har)...

[dynodon]

Been wanting to ride a Harley for years. Finally this past SAturday, my son calls and says he is at the local dealer and they are doing test rides. 20 minutes later I am leathered up and there with my '86 VR.

 

Took an Ultra for the pretty nice 7 or 8 mile ride on two-lane roads. Nice mix of slow, curves, fast and turns.

 

Impressions? The vibration anytime you pull in the clutch and coast or at idle stopped is enough to blur my vision! That alone would be enough to make me not want one, but also, the bike feels almost like a toy under me compared to my VR. Maybe for some that is a plus, but I like my room. The handlebar fairing protected me better than I expected and a little better than the one on my VR. Mainly because it is about 6" closer due to handlebar mount.

 

It wasn't windy, so I can't speak to how the wind effects the bars with a bar mount fairing.

 

Electronic throttle gave a false impression of LOTS of power off idle, but the Ultra did have more than enough power. Don't know where they get the reputation for not being powerful, it had plenty. But it was hard to control, especially when my hand started going to sleep because I could not figure out the cruise, and the lettering on everything was too small to read with the vibration and being on a strange bike. Grips were too small, but that can be fixed.

 

Got back on my 23 year old VR and felt like I had stepped from a $10,000 bike to a $30,000 bike! Smooth, not as much off idle power till I relearned to give it more throttle.

 

Did I say smooth?

 

I really got my need to own a Harley out of my system, but it wasn't as bad as some say, and I can see a little bit why they have loyal owners. Turn signal system is wierd and old feeling, but again, it is what you get used to.

[Eldermo]

[Now the resale on a Harley is MUCH better then that on a Venture. So if your not sure buy a Harley and if you don't like it sell it and buy a Venture that way you won't loos as much as if you went the other way around.

 

I had to chime in on this one.

I have a 06 black cherry Venture that I bought last year for $9800 with 19k miles, the person I bought it from bought it brand new for $14500 and had it 4 years, it is in excellent condition.

I went and looked at an 06' black cherry Ultra the other day with 12k miles the guy had bought it for $30000 with all the accessories. He was also throwing in helmets and intercom.

at 10k miles he paid $1500 for maintenance. He was asking $15500 for it. It too is in excellent condition. I could ride my venture for a year and throw it away and still be better off.

[Kirby]

On models prior to 09 there is a download for the electronics that shuts the rear cylinder off at stops. Clutch in, no revs and the rear jug will stop firing. Keeps things cooler in parade mode. On the 09 you can control the shutoff with the throttle.

 

I have a race tuner for mine so I can program it and honestly do not notice a difference either way, but I do not do a lot of stop and go city driving.

 

 

So what happens to all that raw gas that still being sucked into the engine and out the tailpipe?? One model of Harley, don't know which, has a dummy exhaust pipe on the left side of the bike. Is the raw fuel dumped into this??? LOL Is there a feature to cut off the fuel in this mode???? Inquiring minds want to know!!

[dynodon]

Update on my own comparison and shopping. I rented a '10 Ultra this winter in FL. Rode it 600 miles in 1.5 days. IT was comfy, smoother on the road than I thought and plenty roomy. Even the wife enjoyed a 1/2 day on the passenger seat and she rides her own bike and doesn't like riding with me on my '86 VR.

 

So I went looking to buy an Ultra, but they didn't make an '09 or '10 in a color I could handle, so I remembered test riding a GoldWing, and well, to make the story short(er). I am picking up a nice '04 Wing tomorrow. Will report at the end of the day how my 3 hr ride home went. I was back and forth..wing or ultra...ultra or wing. Basically the heat at stops on a perfect 80 degree day in FL was a LOT on the Ultra. So I chose a water cooled bike.

 

If I wanted a Harley looking bike I might have gone with the RSV, because under the skin it is basically the same as my '86 VR. I LOVE my VR but wanted something newer that you could get parts for easier. Will keep the VR, but I am looking forward to getting to know the GW.

[tsigwing]

So what happens to all that raw gas that still being sucked into the engine and out the tailpipe?? One model of Harley, don't know which, has a dummy exhaust pipe on the left side of the bike. Is the raw fuel dumped into this??? LOL Is there a feature to cut off the fuel in this mode???? Inquiring minds want to know!!

 

If its fuel injected I would think that they would could stop sending fuel to that injector.

[rlyons]

So what happens to all that raw gas that still being sucked into the engine and out the tailpipe?? One model of Harley, don't know which, has a dummy exhaust pipe on the left side of the bike. Is the raw fuel dumped into this??? LOL Is there a feature to cut off the fuel in this mode???? Inquiring minds want to know!!

That's how it shuts down the cylinder, by shutting off the injector which stops the flow of fuel. Only bad thing is sometimes it shuts it off when it is not supposed to. I too came off a Harley but not sure if it was an improvement or not,with the gear noise and lack of parts stocked at the dealers it almost makes me afraid to travel any distance. At least with the Harley if I needed a part it was in every small town Harley shop and most indy shops. The dealer stocks almost zero parts for the Venture. I do like the lack of shaking at idle and the more power but the cool factor is way low on the Venture compared to the Harley.

[MasterGuns]

Why is there always posts on this site as well as many others about Ventures vs Harley; Honda vs Harley; Suzuki vs Harley; Triumph vs Harley and on and on and on. I've figured this out long ago.

[slick97spirit]

I chose Yamaha over Harley for 2 reason.

 

1):mo money:Not enough laying around to be able to afford the Ultra

 

2) If you go for a ride this saturday and you see 50 Harley's on the road,

40 of them will be Ultra's. They are everywhere.

Now don't get me wrong. I love em, always have, always will. But I just

didn't want to be riding the same thing everyone else is. I wanted a

bagger that was at least a little different that all the others.

[N3FOL]

Well let me see, is it safe to say that Harley is the 'Gold Standard' of motorcycles?

[Kirby]

Well let me see, is it safe to say that Harley is the 'Gold Standard' of motorcycles?

Not in my book! But then, I'm the only one that reads my book.

[Nemo]

I believe that the name "Harley" is what some non riding public uses to refer to a motorcycle in general. They do the same thing when calling a motorhome, "Winnebego!"

[Sylvester]

I was very excited in 1999, when my wife said I could buy a Harley Ultra. I made the deal and was happy with my blue and silver 96 CI bike. In the next 8,000 miles I was left stranded in five different cities (Dalla, TX; St. Louis, MO; Pittsbugh, PA; Raleigh, NC; and Columbia, SC) all because of faulty stators. I got no help from Harley Davidson since they were selling the heck out of bikes at this time. Bottom line, I sold it and bought an 02 RSMV in 2001. I am still riding this bike with 126,000 miles on it. I bought it for $13,500 because they weren't popular back then. Now, you, tell me that I lost money. This has been the most economical vehicle I have owned since a '71 Beetle. And it's more comfortable for touring than my GW 1500 or 1200.

 

I will wait for the newest Venture, whatever it may be.

 

[SilvrT]

I believe that the name "Harley" is what some non riding public uses to refer to a motorcycle in general. They do the same thing when calling a motorhome, "Winnebego!"

 

yup, and a personal water craft a "Seadoo" and a snowmobile a "Skidoo" which are both Bombardier brands.

[footsie]

Not in my book! But then, I'm the only one that reads my book.

 

Not at all Kirby, I read the same book.

 

Gregg

[screamstone]

I rented a road glide last summer and really liked it. I like the frame mounted fairing. Seems to be less influenced by sidewinds than the rsv's. A friend rented the ultra. We said we'd trade for a few hours on one day, but I hated it. Didn't last more than 15 mins. Felt like a toy to me. Harleys are easy to rent. I really suggest a road glide for a weekend before settling on any other harley.

 

Biggest probs with Harley is the maintenance. Hard to do on your own, expensive at the shops. Parts are always handy everywhere as everyone says. But that's because there's a huge market for them since harleys are notorious for being unreliable. I know 5 guys I ride with have harleys, 3 of them broken this weekend. The other 30 or so of us in the group have various other models, never miss a ride because of a maintenance problem.

[tibadoe]

Since I have a 09 Ultra I will have to say that doing your own service is a little more challanging. Not as simple as pulling one or two drain plugs, etc. That is why I have the local dealer I trust do mine. Have not had any breakdowns on any model I have owned (1990 Sportster, 1999 Sportster, 2001 Wide Glide, 2007 Road King, 2009 Ultra Classic). I have had some recalls but all were simple and fixed through the dealer. From reading the owners / service manuals on the RSV models I could do just about all the service myself. I like that! And I will give the water cooling a big plus!!

[Bobby G]

Never had a big boy Harley, but the '03 Heritage Softail is a classic, and rides great around town. A very sexy bike that always draws a lot of attention with its classic look and awesome sound. It's my "bike night" ride, and my sexy wife's regular ride when she's not having me do the driving.

 

But for the money, power, reliability, serviceablity, comfort and security, I'll take the RSV any day, hands down, over any H-D. Faster, quicker, cooler engine, less heat, shaft drive, etc. Just wish it had just a little more of the H-D "look".

 

Oh, and a sideways opening tour pak!