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BMW dealer near me won't touch anything over 20 years old. There is a speciality shop near me that deals specifically with older bikes - generally pre 1970 restores though, so kinda niche market.

Mechanic friend of mine says their independent shop won't work on anything over 30 years old - the electrical gremlins they are asked to troubleshoot aren't worth the time/money.

twin cams aren’t quite “the same”

there’s differences in mainly the cam timing chest and what’s inside it. Also various displacements. Oil pumps, etc. they’re only “the same” on the outside

The dealership I recently departed from now will not work on anything prior to '06. Bikes over 10 years old have a higher labor rate. And the most experienced tech on site has 5 years experience.

My dealership will work on any Harleys regardless of age. They have mechanics that don’t rely on the computer to do their diagnostic for them. They also have no issue renting me the dyno to do my own tuning instead of paying their guys to do it, but that’s only because they know me well and know that I used to own an independent shop.

Yeah but that difference didn't occur in 2005.... it was 06 for the Dyna and 07 for everything else.

So 04 as a cutoff is mental.

This looks fun:

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/motorcycles/sportster-s.html

And they went to Delphi EFI from M/M in 2002, Can-Bus in 2011? So, yeah, I don't get 2004, either.

The onboard diagnostics changed between ‘03 and ‘04

So that still doesn't justify an 04 cutoff weird, and dumb. But I'm used to seeing that from dealers of all brands.

I’m not saying it does, just pointing out minor changes in those years. I think it’s just a dealership with either too much work or too inept mechanics so they picked an arbitrary cutoff to turn down work.

One room school house on the Great Plains

Working on something more than 10 years old (regardless of brand) often turns into a Mongolian Clusterfuck. You get elbow deep into that POS and the owner won't pay for your time. So it's a cost saving move. You oughta know that. If I choose to accept a job on an older bike there's a hefty deposit (typically 50%) and a signed contract before it comes off the trailer. Or you go somewhere else. I will not patch something together 'cause owner is too cheap to do it right. I've spent 40+ years garnering respect and a reputation for doing top shelf work. One job isn't going to hurt that.

It will be interesting to see how the local hd shop treats the "lifetime" scheduled maintenance and tire warranty on my '03 over the next few years.

I don't think they have a choice.

You seem to be making the assumption that anyone without a brand new bike is a cheapskate that wants halfassed work. Maybe we just have different clientele due to regional differences, but that doesn’t match my experiences. In fact, most of the cheapskates I have dealt with are people who couldn’t afford the new machine so they had to finance it and now they can’t afford to make a payment and pay a repair bill at the same time. The guys with 10y+ yr old machines that want to keep them going have never been an issue in my shop.

Nowadays that’s not an issue though as I restore 50-80+ yr old cars so every job has the potential for a shit show.

No assumption just my experience. Of course there are exceptions.

Finally got her out of her winter/long trip clothes (above) and in to her summer duds:

Had to get out for a quick ride. Nice and cool in the mountains.