[rajushank84]

Personally not a fan of the Streets. For me Harley means mechanically simple, air cooled and easy to maintain. I'm not saying Harley shouldn't make progress - far from it - but when it comes to this type of bike the choices are too tempting. I'm surprised that this engine - with its liquid cooling - overheats.

I'd pick an old-fashioned Sportster over this anyday - or a Triumph!

[amitsatpathy]

Originally Posted by gthang

Food for thought: excessive locking up of rear wheels without pulling in the clutch can lead to same failure as yours.

Locking the rear without clutch might have been the case, I do brake without clutch at times and I need to be careful then. But then I have driven more than 8k KM on the street 750 and so far so good.

Originally Posted by amitkb

In 2500 kms and 5 months of ownership, the bike engine and transmission was opened up at the workshop by the same fine gents who could not diagnose the "grinding noise coming from the engine bay" that I had complained about on three previous different occasions, including just before the ride, during the pre-ride checkup (duly documented). They adjusted the drive belt on all occasions and sent me on my way. See pics below of my brand new bike torn apart at the workshop.

2500 Km is a very low figure and this is a serious case, we all do brake first and pull in the clutch later, HD does not say anything otherwise specifically as to how to brake and clutch. The grinding noise you mentioned was the culprit and this should have been caught much earlier.

Originally Posted by amitkb

The drive shaft that wore out the pulley teeth.

HD India simply refused to respond to my emails. I wrote to the India head and worldwide CEO of HD which also went unanswered. So much for customer service.

The Two Rivers HD dealership generously offered to pay me back the full price of the bike if I upgraded to an Iron at Rs. 3 lakhs extra cost. I refused since I was done with biking and HD. I wanted all my money back. In October 2016, after a long, futile, and one-way fight in which HD India simply did not respond to my emails, Harley-Davidson won a pusillanimous victory and I gave up and sold the bike back to the dealership at a huge loss.

HD India customer service is bad, that is pretty much evident from your ordeal with them, and but the dealer sounded different and at least tried to keep you in the fold, good marks to them.
On another note, was the dealer able to deduce the root cause of the issue? The motor is torquey and my assumption is we all tend to brake a little with the rear and just before the engine knocks tend to pull in the clutch to downshift, I think pretty much everyone drives this way, is that the reason this happened, I want to know the why, because this might happen to me and pretty much every other street 750 owner and can HD India clarify on the threshold point of this clutching while rear braking thing to not wear out the pulley teeth.

[motorhead16]

Originally Posted by gthang

You should probably have said that "you feel" or it's"your opinion" as a preamble to your statement.

Else someone like me could ask you to back that statement with some evidence.

It might be an unpopular opinion but there are ample horror stories about the unreliability of either brands as opposed to say, Japanese motorcycles. Harley Davidson might be a good buy in the US but definitely not worth it in India.

Check these links (not exhaustive by any means, just a couple off the top of my head): http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...ycle/index.htm

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superb...es-cochin.html

[timuseravan]

Originally Posted by amitkb

Terminal Update
Defective part on left, new part on right.

Offtopic and I have nothing to add which has already not been said but wow look at that clean shaft hole! If Harley can do this unintentionally and with just 2500km of riding, just imagine if they got into the business of making lathe tools! They would be the best!

[download2live]

This is new. Never thought that Harley will have such quality issues. I know it will be difficult pill to swallow but many a times it is best to move forward leaving past behind. Do not give up on biking though. Get yourself a simple comfortable reliable bike. I always feel that more gizmos a machine has more are the chances of it failing.

[Revvhead]

I was looking for something else when i came across this rather interesting thread.
Something that has made me post after a long hiatus.

In most cases i would have read and carried on as i have been doing for a while. However the picture of the sprocket caught my eye and suddenly i felt compelled to write in.

Firstly, i thought i'll throw in a wee bit of an intro & a few disclosures, before i get into the subject.

My intent was at some time to write and ownership review, which i shall hopefully get down to doing.

I was a total 4 wheel guy, who one day while looking for a second hand activa for purely practical purposes ( read - maddening traffic in Bombay )went and bought a Harley Street 750 and parked it in Goa !! ( i live there partly too ).
So much for reasoned decisions.

In that regard, i have several similarities with the OP Amit, viz....

Age Profile.
Totally Impulsive buy ( test rode it a month after booking it !!)
Lack of riding experience on large bikes ( previously have only very sparingly ridden an RX 135 , otherwise mostly scooters, that too relatively recently in terms of years.

So therefore at some level i feel i am in some way empathetic to the poster in several ways.

However, there are a few differences too...
I knew i was going in over my head.
I was aware that the bike would kill me if i didnt start up easy and respect it and learn to ride it.
I had read all the reviews available online, and knew that poor brakes were a factor. however i also knew that i really wouldnt be riding fast, and the speeds would be commensurate with my skill ( or lack of thereof), and therefore i could temporarily live with the very average brakes

I had actually given myself 2 weeks to get to grips with it , failing which i'd sell it and move on.

Needless to say, i was comfy enough with it on day 2, and grinning on day 3.

Now onto the subject.
As i intend to write a review later, im gonna keep this short.

Lets start with the Cons :

BRAKES - yes this is a big downside, simply because i feel a manufacturer should have put sufficient stopping power commensurate with the speed and power of the machine. Ideally your brakes should be better than your engine. This is not the case here. they are crappy. so one has to ride well within their capability or upgrade them.

Shitty Mirror positioning - Proper rear visibility should not be an accessory. its a safety must - i bought and fitted the extenders .

now the issue of heat - yes it does heat up , but its a big engine and tha'ts whats its going to do. but it Does Not Overheat. You feel the heat for sure if you're going Stop- go in Pune, and even more so in summer, but to say it overheats is unfair & incorrect. The cooling system manages the heat and the engine stays within required parameters.

This is not a bike to be ridden in shorts.

Where i do feel there is insufficient insulation is the Heat Shield at your right calf on the exhaust and it is ridiculously easy to burn yourself there. That is a negative for me.
You need to stand with your right leg out wide.

Headlight insufficent for highway.

Worst pillion space ever.

Sounds like a sewing machine ( non technical con :P )

Damn - i though i was going to keep this short.\

PROS

Super Smooth engine with amazing torque.

Love the way it rides , with overtaking power on tap regardless of which gear i'm in.

Happier every day that i ride it and i guess that's what bikes like this are for.
IMO a bike of this nature has to fit your or its no fun whatsover.

( EG i loved and salivated over the looks of an X-Diavel and didnt enjoy dislike the ride,
whereas i didnt have any attraction to the Monster other than visually, but it blew me away when i rode it.)

FINALLY the reason that im posting...

I'm simply astonished with the photo of the drive gear, the inner gear wheels are completely stripped !!!! They're polished clean.

In my experience with varied mechanical things with damaged gears that's a rarity.

It usually takes a lot to do that, and while i'm not doing to sit and critcize riding style, t-shirt style, or whatever style of someone i dont know ( I'll happily do that about some ive met tho ) ... This kinda thing doesnt happen in one go. It usually preceded by a loss of power initially.

My advice to Aditya on this is , if in future you hear a mechanical grinding sound on any of your bikes, esp coming from the engine, just don't ride another meter, till it is fully sorted.

[Himalayan_Ice]

Can't recollect how I landed on this thread, but I sure am glad that I did!

Have had my heart set on buying a big(ger) bike for a while now, and this place has been an absolute revelation!

A little background:

1. I crashed my first bike in Shimla when barely in my 20s, broke my left leg in five places and spent a good month and a half in the hospital

2. My parents took me to Chandigarh for a change of scenery (I had a cast on then), and I ended up stealing my cousin's CBZ for a short ride (I LOVE riding bikes)

3. College in Bombay, and I bought a 2003 RE Thunderbird. Couldn't start it sometimes cuz I was too reedy. Joined a gym to counter that and I still ride that bike today

4. Shifted to the NCR and my riding became increasingly rare because of the beastly conditions here (dust, eight months of BLAZING heat, cabbies, vikram autos and for some unknown reason, people love spitting around these parts)

Back to where we were. In the market for a bigger bike, and what do I do? I get my TB350 going proper again, ride it as and when I can, plus do my research as to what'd be a good bike to buy. Come across this thread and bless my luck that I did.

Here is what I have learnt/deduced:

1. My buying decision should NOT be an emotional one (which it was going to be), because for a guy who is not rolling in it, 5L+ is a massive amount. Nothing less than that will satiate my want.

2. Rationally, in a country which has the highest rates of road-accident related deaths in the world (?), riding a bike in itself is like betting on a losing horse. However, you increase the power on the machine and add the variable of rider skill (and in this case compromised braking capabilities) into the equation, and suddenly the scenario looks seriously pitted against the rider. (A lady driver T-boned my car recently. Had it been a bike? Dead. Done. Over. Sandwich filling.)

3. Did NOT know about the very funnily put "tandoor between legs" heat scenario. That's pretty much gonna ensure that the bike remains parked for all of the hot months. It's an 8 hour ride to my hometown of which 5-6 are through the plains.

4. The more I read about the difference in pricing of one product abroad and in India, the more it annoys me. Why should I be paying premium for all the good stuff? Price it right, or I am happy seeing my money eventually paying for a fancier nursing home.

5. People are always going to rave endlessly about the "spirit" of biking and the romance of it and what not. I agree, biking is extremely liberating when done in the right conditions, but let's not get influenced by all the talk. It is not for everyone. Heck, it's not for most, given the conditions here.

6. The last one: I still love riding bikes, I am gonna ensure I give my 350 all the hard love this winter, see if I can head out on a group ride out to the mountains in spring, but come summer, am gonna park it for six months in the shady corner.

New big(ger) bike?

Guess the idea is shelved till I end up changing my location or end up making a LOT MORE $$$. I can't afford to spend buttloads of money to have it rusting in a corner for eight months in a year. Not as of now.

Bike tax (my 14 year long love-hate relationship):

[ads1485]

Bit late to the party...I just came across this thread and thought it might be relevant to bring to light, the crusade of one Mr. Udham Singh Hooda, from Gurgaon, who has been single handedly pursuing HD, to issue a recall of the 750, in order to rectify the sub-substandard brakes.

Just putting this out here, because I've been following this gentleman's social media blitz against HD for a while now and the more I see/think about it, the more justified it seems.

Posting his Facebook Profile here, so that like-minded peeps can join in and hopefully HD India wakes up and does something useful.

Udham Singh Hooda on FB - https://www.facebook.com/udhamsinghhooda?fref=ts

I haven't gone through all the replies on this thread, so forgive me if the case of Mr. Hooda is already well known amongst you guys - I just thought I'd do my bit to get his message out.

The relevant posts on his FB profile are all Public and all interested parties, kindly feel free to get in touch with him and support him, in any way possible.

Cheers!

[Himalayan_Ice]

Originally Posted by ads1485

The relevant posts on his FB profile are all Public and all interested parties, kindly feel free to get in touch with him and support him, in any way possible.

Cheers!

Shared on my Social Media pages. Thanks for sharing this!

[ruchirtnt]

I will give you my perspective on this. I started my heydays with my dad’s fiat who was a trouble machine. There was no day when we could drive her without any niggle. It was a routine to do a daily check and mechanic visit was quite regular. We always had to check radiator and different stuff before bringing her on road. It took us a while to come to terms with our next addition Wagon R who actually ran without any niggles and no bonnet opening/ checking ceremony. The other features were also a big surprise for us. Similar leap was from Wagon R to Fiesta sxi and then Ecosport. Only Thar was the one who remained an old school. Now, Octavia style plus has taken it to another level. An automatic saloon sedan which is not so easy to maneuver in the city and it took me a while to get used to it and now after a year of ownership, I have built my confidence around it. Yes, we have to build a relation with our automobile since we have to adapt ourselves to it.

Similar two wheeler story is from LML Vespa to Bajaj Caliber to Hero Honda CBZ to Royal Enfield Thunderbird and finally to my current muse Royal Enfield Desert storm 500. I am not trying to blame you or prove something. Nowadays, I am planning to buy a HD Fat boy and looking at all the possible combinations around it but one thing is for sure that it will always be a change and we have to get used to it.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

I wil give you my perspective on this. I start----snip---- to it.

So, in this case, the Skoda behaved like the fiat. That's the parallel?

[ishan12]

Making this thread alive after so long

I had gone through his thread earlier sometime in late 2016. (Wasen't a member then)
And I would like to thank Amitkb for putting this review up.

More often then not we get to hear the good sides of owning a big machine and not the practical aspects of it.

I was just out of B school in 2015 and was a year into my new job and was looking for an upgrade to my 2012 TBTS 350.
Like all 90s kids I also had a Harley dream, went to the same Amanora show room to take the test ride. Loved the torque surge and smooth engine on the 750, coming from a TB350. But hated the mini Harley looks and the cramped riding position. Less said about the brakes the better.
Had I booked the ST 750, I would have had to take a loan, plus the exorbitant maintenance.(Given I was just a year into the corporate world with salary just about enough to go by)
Went through this thread and decided to wait and not buy something prematurely.

Then came the spy images of RE testing a twin (Rumored to be a 750 at that time) and I decided to wait.
And I am glad I did wait

Spent half the money of a ST750 and got a great twin (comparatively large capacity) motorcycle.
I am also now in a better position to afford such a motorcycle, and anyway the maintenance on the twins is way cheaper then a Harley.
Doesn't heat as much and I can take it even to office in Bumper to Bumper Hinjewadi traffic without any worry.
And it is a breeze to ride on the highways.

Now being in late 20s, better sense has prevailed and I no more dream of getting the Harley of my dreams that I used to drool over looking at the posters in my room.

But don't know why these days I have put up a Street twin wallpaper on my laptop, who knows what the future holds in the late 30s