i bought my ยด79 fxef new off the show room floors. i have made some modifications that were inprovements over stock. i have made some mods that i changed back to stock. in 26 years i have seen the design problems that led to failure down the road. the shovel is designed to be completely rebuildable so we can keep them running. last year it drove mine from lincoln, ne to l.a. aside from vibrating the exhaust pipes and stop lense loose, it was a trouble free trip. not bad for a bike designed when the interstate limit was 55.