Even if the well-worn cliche that Harleys are incapable of speeding, comes to mind.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/harley-davidson-motorcycles-investigated-brake-122642530.html

I heard they were trying to lay it off on not changing the brake fluid as required. Sounds familiar.
How many times as anyone changed the fluid in their car?

Junk. I don't have an identity. Lets buy a hardley and we can dress up like  pirates. Then we can parade around and rev the crap out of them.

I was surfing the Iron Butt website yesterday. From what I could tell, there are probably 50 Harleys that have completed certified rides for every one Kawasaki. Must be because Harleys are junk and the pirates that ride them never leave town.

I heard they were trying to lay it off on not changing the brake fluid as required. Sounds familiar.
How many times as anyone changed the fluid in their car?

When I worked at Honda automobile dealerships, brake fluid flush was part of scheduled maintenance every 2 years. And yes, we actually flushed out the old fluid when we did that maintenance.

Hardleys sell 50 to one as well. Once a year riders are chosen to compete in the Iron Butt Rally. How many farm implements compete in that? I mean tractors. I mean Johnny poppers. I mean hardleys.
Junk. Slow arse junk.
Go buy one, Badarse.

Harley has 36% market share, Kawasaki has 9%. Sounds like only 4 times as many.

A Harley also recorded the most miles logged in the 2015 Iron Butt Rallye.

Since I already own 2 Harleys in addition to my Concours, it may be a couple of years until the stable expands.  Oh, and a Honda too.

Slow is also relative. I know more than a few Harley riders that decidedly ride significantly faster than some C14 owners. No, a HD will not accelerate as quickly as a C14, nor will most go over 150 like a C14. The vast majority of C14 owners don't travel or accelerate as fast as their bikes are capable of so I suppose it's a moot point. 

Edit:
 And my last HD, a 2006 Electra Glide Classic, was ergonomically bone stock for virtually every on of the 90,000 miles I owned it. 1000 mile days were a non issue.

That market share statistic is somewhat misleading since it does not detail the price points and engine performance generally needed for an Iron Butt mission. Hint: Kawasaki sells more "entry level" bikes than Harley.
Since we are talking about speed and reliability, I'm curious which modern-era official races do Harleys compete in?

Since we are talking about speed and reliability, I'm curious which modern-era official races do Harleys compete in?

The top speed and acceleration points have already been conceded.

Are top speed and acceleration the only criteria for a "good" motorcycle? Or a motorcycle "worth owning"? Does comfort come into consideration? How about a network of dealers for support after the sale? What about aftermarket support? Or percentage of repeat purchasers?

Look, I'm not here to sing the praises of HD motorcycles. Some people like them, some don't. I understand personal preference. What I don't understand is the genuine bashing of the oldest continuously produced motorcycle. Harley owners are generally rabidly passionate about their bikes. And rabidly loyal too. I know that I am.

I absolutely LOVE my C14. It does everything I want a motorcycle to do. And it does those things exceptionally well. I do a lot of high speed, long distance runs across the desert when the ambient temperature is above 100°. (We have over 100 days per year over 100° here in Phoenix.) The C14 fills that bill nicely. So would a lot of other bikes. I got mine because of the praises it received on this forum. Even after reading about " heat issues ". (I laughed when New Englanders whined.)

Bottom line: the C14 is a good bike, so was my Electra Glide.

I would have kept my old RK if I could have stood the care and feeding cost of multible bikes. It was the only bike I could make the wife comfortable on. Since I couldn't afford both I kept the one that was most conducive to my riding style. The wife doesn't ride anymore. 

I heard they were trying to lay it off on not changing the brake fluid as required. Sounds familiar.
How many times as anyone changed the fluid in their car?

I flush the brake systems in all my vehicles every two years, or as suggested by the owners manual. 

"Riders reported that the brakes on the hand lever and foot pedal did not work, causing one driver to crash into a garage door. NHTSA said it received 43 complaints, three reports of crashes and two reports of injuries."

Dude, that garage door pulled out right in front of me. I had no choice but to lay the bike down...

Any other bike brands reporting brake failures?

Or could this be like the infamous Audi "Unintended acceleration when shifted out of park" fiasco that causes the brake interlock to be installed on all cars with automatic transmissions?

I flush the brake systems in all my vehicles every two years, or as suggested by the owners manual. 

"Riders reported that the brakes on the hand lever and foot pedal did not work, causing one driver to crash into a garage door. NHTSA said it received 43 complaints, three reports of crashes and two reports of injuries."

Dude, that garage door pulled out right in front of me. I had no choice but to lay the bike down...

Only 43 complaints which resulted in three crashes and a couple injuries. Seems like there are enough "normal" accidents to warrant that number of "failures" given the tens of thousands of inexperienced riders on big heavy motorcycles trying to pilot them.
I would venture to say more than that injured themselves on bar stools, or rather being "ejected" from said stools, not to mention other common household events. Chalk it up to pilot error and move on.
NTHSA should find more significant trend "failures" to turn into recalls instead of responsible owner maintainence. Most all vehicles service schedules have brake fluid flush/change every two years. Few (myself included) do it at that recommended/required interval. Who's fault is that?? Mine only, not the manufacturer.

In today's society, no one wants to take responsibility for their own actions. It's always someone else's fault.

Only 43 complaints which resulted in three crashes and a couple injuries. Seems like there are enough "normal" accidents to warrant that number of "failures" given the tens of thousands of inexperienced riders on big heavy motorcycles trying to pilot them.
I would venture to say more than that injured themselves on bar stools, or rather being "ejected" from said stools, not to mention other common household events. Chalk it up to pilot error and move on.
NTHSA should find more significant trend "failures" to turn into recalls instead of responsible owner maintainence. Most all vehicles service schedules have brake fluid flush/change every two years. Few (myself included) do it at that recommended/required interval. Who's fault is that?? Mine only, not the manufacturer.

Do these stools have stock exhaust systems? When the 'rider' was ejected was the front brake in use? Sounds to me like these stools might be defective and a recall may be in order...

Do these stools have stock exhaust systems? When the 'rider' was ejected was the front brake in use? Sounds to me like these stools might be defective and a recall may be in order...

 Were the stool drivers texting when they were ejected? Obviously they were not wearing their stool belts.

Were the stool drivers texting when they were ejected? Obviously they were not wearing their stool belts.

 

The must have had a loose stool...

IIRC when I worked the Iron Butt Rally in 07 I recall two HDs 9there may have been more). One was a 73 FLH that had been completely rebuilt (and he was doing major repairs in the rally parking lot) and the other was a new rubber mount Sporty piloted by a factory rep. As I recall the Sporty finished well.
There were a few Connies.
But FOUR BMW final drves failed and BMW said they were "lubed for life", aka service free. All failed due to bearing/seal failure.
I rode three of them to the dealer for service.

I do know this on HDs-Shovels were prone to cam bearing failures. Then Evo's. Then the Twin Cams. And it was never HDs fault. That's a long time for the same part to fail.

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings around here. So I'm about done. But I will say that the only times I've had my Kawasaki tool kits out, was to limp a Hardley wobbleson back home. I'm done now. At least for this thread.

In today's society, no one wants to take responsibility for their own actions. It's always someone else's fault.

I'm not sure whether it is shifting blame or whether we simply have become more litigious, thanks to more aggressive lawyering.
Frankly, some lawyers make that profession as odious as the original stool drivers (septic tank trucks and porta-potty transports).