I get this feeling your kind of aiming this my way, boy did you miss the boat. I'm in no mid life crisis and I was buying a new Harley's every year while I still had kids at home, the one year I bought 2 new Harley's. I stopped buying a new one when I purchased my 2006 Ultra Classic which I still own and will continue to own. The dealer I used to do business with had an owner who knew what customer service meant and a service department to back it up. I could walk in an take any bike they had out for a ride to see what I thought. I took a new 2007 Ultra classic for a 150 mile test ride to see if I wanted to trade my 06 in on an 07. I road freeways, some slow easy cruising 2 lane and stop n go city driving. I found the 07 to be bad ju ju, it was one hot running bugger compared to my 06 and the transmission sounded like bolts where being tossed around in it when it was in 5th gear.
Thus the end of my new Harley every year streak, that is until they came out with the Triglide. I checked out my dads and was pretty happy with it, I was looking for something the wife could comfortably travel on for long distances. She has a bad knee that stiffens up which causes her to either get off and walk around or move around a lot on the bike. A trike is a perfect mode of transportation for someone like that because it is a stable platform, she could break dance in the back seat and not upset anything. I learned there was another issue with traveling long distances for the wife, she is deaf in her left ear and her right ear is very sensitive to certain noises and wind buffeting. After riding for 12 hours on the Triglide she was having some serious issues with her hearing due to the wind noise, I tried several things to help it but to no avail.
I can tell you my decision to switch brands was methodical studied and planed, I didn't just jump to a conclusion, I came to a very well educated conclusion. I spent the $360 to rent a 2012 GL1800 and ride the heck out of it to see how it met mine and my wifes expectations, 1st thing the wife noticed was her right ear didn't hurt after riding freeway speeds and long distances due to the Wing having less wind blasting onto the passenger. I spent weeks reading everything I could on the GL1800, FWIW I've even turned wrenches on them in the past. One other thing I bet you don't know, I plan on triking the Wing after I put a couple years of miles on it to make sure there will be no glaring warranty concerns. No mid life crisis here, just the Triglide didn't fit my needs and I'm pretty disappointed in quality difference between my 06 Ultra Classic and my Triglide, to me the 06 has a much more solid feel.
You mention maybe X Harley riders should go to a Wing board, you missed the mark with me once again. I still own a Harley, and I also possess a great deal of knowledge which I enjoy sharing with folks. You on the other hand seem to be someone who is either disgruntled or used to having his own way by way of bullying, I have yet to see you add much constructive when someone is having an issue. If someone wants to know what cam they should select, I can give them knowledgeable feedback on the subject, your normal rant is its not meant for racing or some other bluster. If someone had a problem with the heat, your normal response is take it to a dealer even though the poor soul has been that route and the dealer and Harley Davidson is no help. With your limited knowledge of the inner workings of a modern Harley Davidson I can understand why your heavily reliant on your dealer.
In this thread I advised the OP to rent or try a Goldwing so he could make an informed decision, isn't that one of the reasons he ask for help? I do plan and sticking around and I'm more than willing to help anyone who has a question, and I'm sure if I wear out my welcome one of the Admin will surly ask me to move along.
