I want a Harley some day
HA! I am my mechanic. And what would a mechanic have to do with the original parts failing prematurely???? I used to be a supervisor at one of the HD manufacturing plants. The main thing you are paying for is overpriced Union labor. Even the guy sweeping the floor makes $50k. I like all bikes regardless but my foreign bikes were faster, handled better, more reliable, and a lot cheaper.
I'll agree with the "union labor" comment, 100%. I despise unions. They're outdated and hold little water with me, now that OSHA is keeping people from cutting their hands off in saws ;)
As far as faster, better handling, more reliable, and a lot cheaper...it's challenging to find all that in one particular Jap bike. Personally, if I'm going to buy a cruiser, I'm going with the real deal and buying a Harley. That's what they're made for, and they do it best, in my opinion.
However, if I want to ride the dirt, will I buy a Harley? Of course not. I'll buy Jap. If I want to road race, the XR1200 does well in certain classes but it's no gixxer.
It's all about application. HD's ARE expensive. They're also built with better components and have better warranties and are, surprisingly, more technically advanced in a lot of ways. The Delphi fuel injection that HD has used since what, 2001? 1999? is still way ahead of the Japanese EFI as far as tunability and features.
But just as you would not want to use a hammer to mow your lawn, nor would you use a lawnmower to drive a nail, you should pick your bike for what you want to do with it. In this case, when it comes to cruisers, there are some non-HD that I think are decent (Kawasaki's VN900 line, for example) and some that suck $hit (Honda 750 and 600), but HD still trumps all in general-sense cruiser world. In my opinion.
My personal bike? Best of both :)
1998 Buell S1W. Modified XL1200 motor, nimble chassis. It's accompanied in the garage by a Honda MB5, an RD350/FZR600 hybrid, a FZ50 Suzuki, a QT50 Yamaha, and a GS550L Suzuki. This is the fewest number of bikes that I've owned at any given time in the last 15 years. I've got enough parts to build a couple more FZR600's and an FZR400 with Banshee motor while I'm at it.
Where am I coming from? Well, I worked as a Master of Technology in HD shops for a decade and I worked on Jap bikes for a decade (some overlap as I worked on the Jap bikes that came in to HD world). My specialty was and still is Buell. I've worked on everything from personal watercraft to ATVs and dirt bikes, ricky racers, and even a few sidecars and trikes. It was a lot of fun getting paid to do what I love, but it did take the shine off riding bikes, and I got tired of seeing my friends get all busted up or dead.
So, yeah, the OP can build an awesome HD chopper. He can build an awesome Jap bike chopper. He can ride any of them stock, modified, or whatever. Hell, he can even pull a John Britten and build his own. It's all good.