Go Buy a REAL Motorcycle!!!

[Toecutter]

Hey, congrats on post #3000! Keep 'em coming.

 

[twowheelnut]

3002

 

[dcarver]

3002? My Gawd TWN... do you ever take a break??

 

[dcarver]

BTW TWN and Toecutter.. Thanks for not flaming on my 'Love My Harley' diatribe. Looking back on it I was ez fodder... :huh:

 

[RadioHowie]

Probably any mention of HD on a metric bike forum will eventually turn into an anti-HD bashfest, but go back to the original post and read again...

...I did NOT start the thread to be what it turned into. The whole point of this thread was that it was a non-rider who approached me.

Now, he MIGHT have owned an HD, but I doubt it. If he'd had the money to buy a Harley, he probably would have spent it on rims for his Camaro, or at the very least, laser hair removal for his wife/girlfriend's upper lip.

Yeeech....

 

[Scab]

RadioHowie, after 500+ posts, you know these threads NEVER end as they start...

 

[sparky3008]

They have been in business for 100 YEARS and its the same crap.

This is the type of statement that is just as ignorant as the HD guys thinking that sport bikes are uncomfortable.

The HD motor has advanced a lot in just the last few years starting with the EVO and has only gotten better. The basic design of the motor, frame, etc is that way for one reason it is what HD comsumers want.

Sport bikes on the other hand are constantly on the edge of "technology" because there buyers want something different. They want the best suspension, brakes, handling, wind protection and aerodynamics, incredible power etc and that is what the japanese manufactures give us.

Now all of these have their "issues" but Harley does do a lot of things very well that many other v-twins don't. Reliability on modern HD is very good, their ability to run cool in hot stop and go traffic is another tribute to their R&D. Oil leaks while we all like to joke about it was for a basic reason and HD knew what it was but any rigid mounted motor with the type of crank they used created vibrations. It wasn't by accident, it was on purpose. If you want that, which they did, you have to accept that bolts will come loose and if you don't want to do routine everyday maintenance it wasn't for you.

It is like dcarver mentioning the radiator guard, hell jap man's use to make air cooled bikes but at a lose of HP and as you start to add aerodynamic plastic you loose air as a coolant and liquid is required it is all a trade off.

My two friends who are HD through and through and like to bash jap bikes, even though they both own 4 wheelers. They still can appreciate bikes like the fjr that can do a lot of things that the HD just can't do.

Also remember that most people who bash any bike are usually just ignorant and aren't worth paying much attention to anyway...

 

[Fallen Jim Rides again]

. . . . . The basic design of the motor, frame, etc is that way for one reason it is what HD comsumers want. . . . . .

An excellent point. HD is building the bike that HDs core customers want. To do anything else would spell the end of HD in todays market, or the market for the last 30 years for that matter.

I'm just glad we all get choices and I have the bike I choose. :cownoy:

 

[RonC]

I think that most, not all, but most of the ill will against HD comes from the image that many, not all, HD riders try to project.

I serve up an example. Saturday, on a ride, I passed the Stetson Bar about 2 pm. There were 7 HD's in the lot. Not one Japanese or German or British or Italian bike. This is a drinking bar, not really a restaurant. Then, I passed Suzie's tavern. There must have been 40 bikes, all HD's in their lot. How do I know the cruisers were HD's and not metric cruisers? Because they knocked over my buddy's Kawi Mean Streak in that lot. Foreign bikes are just not tolerated.

Those incidences support the stereotype, even though we know that there are reasonable, responsible HD riders, like some of the posters on this thread. The serious, safe HD riders get lost in the background when the hard-drinking, tough guy posing HD riders dominate. If you have a Harley, you need thick skin to deal with the prevalent image.

Ron

 

[sparky3008]

I think that most, not all, but most of the ill will against HD comes from the image that many, not all, HD riders try to project.
I serve up an example. Saturday, on a ride, I passed the Stetson Bar about 2 pm. There were 7 HD's in the lot. Not one Japanese or German or British or Italian bike. This is a drinking bar, not really a restaurant. Then, I passed Suzie's tavern. There must have been 40 bikes, all HD's in their lot. How do I know the cruisers were HD's and not metric cruisers? Because they knocked over my buddy's Kawi Mean Streak in that lot. Foreign bikes are just not tolerated.

Those incidences support the stereotype, even though we know that there are reasonable, responsible HD riders, like some of the posters on this thread. The serious, safe HD riders get lost in the background when the hard-drinking, tough guy posing HD riders dominate. If you have a Harley, you need thick skin to deal with the prevalent image.

Ron

The only place I have seen sport bikes gather in my area is Starbucks :lol:

 

[Mike-H]

At a few of the riding destinations I frequent in southern Ont , there always seems to be a mix...& I prefer to thing of that as a good thing......as far as jap bikes and reliability...there are a lot more of them around with high mileage....(never been touched) then any Harley....don't get me wrong I don't dislike hd but don't go says hd 's on the road forever without massive amounts of wrench time & parts.... not fantasy just facts.... "there I feel all better now doctor".....

 

[Scab]

The issue is not whether or not it is a REAL motorcycle, but whether or not it is a real MOTORCYCLIST.

We watch out for our own.

 

[throttlejockeyTJ]

Congradulations to going off topic and then returning. :bleh:

I don't care what anyone rides & I don't need their opinions if they are negative.

I was also there when RF stumpted the table of Old Fogies. :haha:

My whole ambition as a kid was Roadracing. Waiting for the schoolbus and watching driving styles. I always wanted to brake as late as possable for a corner, carry as much speed through, and get back to speed as quickly as possable. So that led to the decision as to what to drive in the afordable range.

As far as things that stop what shouldn't be going bump in the night... I just hope I never have to use one, and can travel to the next dimension without having to kill anybody. That don't mean I won't use one if n it's neccessary. h34r:

 

[krashdragon]

but don't go says hd 's on the road forever without massive amounts of wrench time & parts.... not fantasy just facts....

That is true... and there are at least two other boards I go to where the main purpose is about fixing and restoring Harleys...

Many of the guys also restore and fix old cars...same same...

When you've rebuilt a bike or anything from the frame up, there is a great and well derserved sense of pride...

Mary

 

[Mike-H]

Don't get me wrong here...live & let live...my fjr is for RIDING B) ...in some ways it's therapy....I have another bike & car that I wrench on all the time....but the fjr is to RIDE & ENJOY.. h34r:

 

[krashdragon]

Don't get me wrong here...live & let live...my fjr is for RIDING B) ...in some ways it's therapy....I have another bike & car that I wrench on all the time....but the fjr is to RIDE & ENJOY.. h34r:

You wont' ever see a bike parked in front of a pyschatrist's office....<BG>

Riding is soul food! <G>

Mary

 

[RadioHowie]

What does this mean ---->

I was also there when RF stumpted the table of Old Fogies.  :haha:

Explain to me as if I were a child.

 

[RadioHowie]

Riding is soul food! <G>

Chicken necks, cornbread and collards?

 

[panthercity]

...but don't go says hd 's on the road forever without massive amounts of wrench time & parts.... not fantasy just facts....

Please provide a link to these "facts".

 

[blueman]

I would love to see an American Motorcycle company develope and compete on the same level as the Japanese. I realize its becoming a world economy. The technology and money is their Why Not??? Just think cruise on up on your American made 150 mile an hour sport touring bike that you bought for about 12 grand. Smooth, fast, fun to ride.