Harley, an American success story

[Thug]

Ooops that little bugger snuck in...

 

[PapaUtah]

Those twins are just like a Harley-Davidson™! They look nice on the surface, but if you look a little closer you can see they not what they purport to be. Just silicone in a plastic bag.

 

[zorkler]

Like i said before i would love a road glide sitting next to the 1300 . Its the CASH 18k and up no way . Just if i purchased some of there stock 8 years ago . They have some of the best p.r. people working for them .when the last time the harly rider you passed did not have a harley shirt on ?

 

[sparky3008]

Like i said before i would love a road glide sitting next to the 1300 . Its the CASH 18k and up no way . Just if i purchased some of there stock 8 years ago . They have some of the best p.r. people working for them .when the last time the harly rider you passed did not have a harley shirt on ?

I had a party this weekend and a good friend of mine brought his 2000 Springer Softail over.

Man I have to admit I was drooling over the stuff that he had done to it.

Besides the Springer front end, he had custom chrome wheels, bigger rear tire, forward controls that were absolute perfection, Vance&Hines shorty exhaust, the linkage on the shifter had Steelers in it, solo seat, lowered, drag bars, custom mirrors, the engine was black which I really like with chrome accents, chrome primary cover on and on. I know he had it jetted to. He paid $12000 for it and put about $7000 into it.

Start it up and it sounds nice, wack the throttle and you can feel the delay and the need for some engine work.

He already has plans for a 96inch kit and a friend is going to do the work.

He is getting a great deal on that and believe the labor is going to be free. Most mortals though this would be $3000 +

It looked really nice sitting in my garage.

Would I like one, a small voice will always say yes just for their looks, sound, feel, and the attention they get.

Would I give up some type of sport bike for it no but if I could have a second YES!

Right now I just like cornering and weaving in and out of traffic too much to make it my one and only bike.

Do they need to change? I don't know fuel injection has hit them. Are they still pushrods I can't remember if the newer ones are overhead? I do know the 88 went to dual cam and the V rod is overhead.

Now for the money they cost I can't see them coming stock with so little HP.

If they came built from the factory like I think they should be it would be much more tempting.

 

[panthercity]

Lots of folks sayin' they need to build this or that, need to modernize, need to update, need to come into the current century, need to quit buildin’ what they build.

Truth is, no, they don’t. Like NASCAR, they understand their market and build what that market wants. Dance with the one that brung ya.

If they outsell all other street bike makers in the US, how does not building the bike you want make them wrong?

 

[sparky3008]

Lots of folks sayin' they need to build this or that, need to modernize, need to update, need to come into the current century, need to quit buildin’ what they build.
Truth is, no, they don’t. Like NASCAR, they understand their market and build what that market wants. Dance with the one that brung ya.

If they outsell all other street bike makers in the US, how does not building the bike you want make them wrong?

Sorry but they are leading the market because they are listening unlike the Jap bikes that fell off in the 80's and are now making a come back as they got lazy.

HD can't afford to keep building the bikes for the guys/girls of the 60's as the new market is now for the guys/girls of the 80's.

The V-Rod and now Street Rod were suppose to be the answer for this and yet their sells have not done what they anticipated for that market. Buell didn't do it either.

If they indeed are going to listen to the next generation that want to buy HD it is being said and people like you aren't listening.

I hope they do.

 

[Longrider]

I thank HD for all their dividends and stock price increase since I purchased shares in late 1998. It has enabled me to buy three Hondas, a Toyota, and two Yamahas. Last Yamaha was my 04 FJR. I hope they continue to do well.

Longrider

 

[panthercity]

Several times ove rthe past two decades I've thought about getting out because I just "knew" the "fad" couldn't last any longer. Glad I've been wrong.

Yeah, I laughed at their IPO in `86. Then got in a year or so later. Bought the FJR and the last two R11RS's and a few other toys.

Still long. Despite the nay sayers (or neigh sayers)...

 

[sparky3008]

Several times ove rthe past two decades I've thought about getting out because I just "knew" the "fad" couldn't last any longer. Glad I've been wrong.
Yeah, I laughed at their IPO in `86. Then got in a year or so later. Bought the FJR and the last two R11RS's and a few other toys.

Still long. Despite the nay sayers (or neigh sayers)...

I am not saying they are going anywhere. I know too many people who would buy them no matter what just because they are HD, American and what they like. FIne.

But, every single one of them I know want more HP, scraping pegs because they don't corner, have put their last dime into chrome accessories, and it is more of an obsession of tinkering and looks than a bike for riding with them. They do ride don't get me wrong but I don't know too many people that would go out and buy a 150hp Corvette and be happy with it just because it was an American car but they do it with a HD.

 

[panthercity]

"...but they do it with a HD."

Edd Zachary!

In the past two years, every trip I've taken (between 25~30k miles) in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Virginias, actual on-the-road HDs outnumbered sport-touring/sport bikes 10:1. (Which was pretty scarry, not to mention irritating, at the Dragon and on the BRP!)

 

[sparky3008]

"...but they do it with a HD."
Edd Zachary!

In the past two years, every trip I've taken (between 25~30k miles) in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Virginias, actual on-the-road HDs outnumbered sport-touring/sport bikes 10:1. (Which was pretty scarry, not to mention irritating, at the Dragon and on the BRP!)

That's because they are at the track! Around here VIR, Summit Point are busy all week long with guys/girls riding their sport bikes there. Hard to believe people don't tour on bikes I know since so many here do it.

I went out sunday for a 20 mile ride on back roads and had a blast.

I did 1 day 350 miles on a HD and I have no desire to do it ever again.

I wouldn't do it on a fjr either.

Just not my thing, not bashing.

I know a group of guys who ride Hayabusa's, R1, Kaw etc of about 13 that are taking a trip to Western WV next month.

I actually see more sport bikes up and down 270 and Jap cruisers and Gold Wings myself.

Oh on the weekends when all the guys are home they get together and go on their rides but they aren't riding them everyday back and forth to work like most of the sport bike guys/girls do.

Really don't know what your point is.

The FJR is not a very big seller but that doesn't make it a bad bike.

Being that the HD sells well doesn't make it a good bike.

How many late night TV commercials sell useless crap that people buy all the time because marketing says you have to have it.

The thing is most Japanese bike companies really don't give a rats ass about that segment of their company.

They almost all have some other market they are more interested in such as Cars, electronics etc.

Japanese bikes give us exactly what we want in a bike for how we ride.

I don't care if they don't outsell the other company as long as they give me what I want at half the price it works for me...

So many people in this country go out and buy huge SUV, Lincoln Navigators, Hummers, Muscles cars etc and until recent with fuel prices they sold very well. Did they need them, were they practical? No, most people who owned them simply bought them because they had the money, they thought it showed off how much money they had and it was an ego boost.

HD, Custom Bikes, Corvettes, Vipers etc all fit right into that market.

Doesn't make them better, HD just knows that Americans will buy them so they can flaunt. Who cares.

 

[panthercity]

"Japanese bikes give us exactly what we want in a bike for how we ride."

And HD gives others the bikes they want for how they ride. Neither is better nor worse.

Japanese make bikes I like, SV and FJR.

Germans make bikes I like, R11xxRS.

HD makes a bike I like, the current Buells.

"Doesn't make them better, HD just knows that Americans will buy them so they can flaunt."

Ed Zachary!

"Who cares."

The guy who started this thread?

The folks that have started all the other HD threads?

The folks who've participated in this and the other threads?

 

[sparky3008]

"Japanese bikes give us exactly what we want in a bike for how we ride."
And HD gives others the bikes they want for how they ride. Neither is better nor worse.

Japanese make bikes I like, SV and FJR.

Germans make bikes I like, R11xxRS.

HD makes a bike I like, the current Buells.

"Doesn't make them better, HD just knows that Americans will buy them so they can flaunt."

Ed Zachary!

"Who cares."

The guy who started this thread?

The folks that have started all the other HD threads?

The folks who've participated in this and the other threads?

No they don't give hd riders what they want. I don't know one personal friend who owns a Harley that at one time or another hasn't wished that they had more power, handled better.

They will put up with it for the image... This is FACT!!!

Oh, your ass and face comment I get it I have just been ignoring it.

I am so hurt, I feel the pain. Bite me!

 

[panthercity]

Oh, your ass and face comment I get it I have just been ignoring it.I am so hurt, I feel the pain. Bite me!

What?????????????????

 

[sparky3008]

Oh, your ass and face comment I get it I have just been ignoring it.

I am so hurt, I feel the pain. Bite me!

What?????????????????

https://www.jokesandhumor.com/jokes/385.html

I assume this is what you were talking about?

 

[panthercity]

Oh, your ass and face comment I get it I have just been ignoring it.

I am so hurt, I feel the pain. Bite me!

What?????????????????

https://www.jokesandhumor.com/jokes/385.html

I assume this is what you were talking about?

You assume too much. Ed Zachary and Egg Zactly are old standbys from the Village Idiots and IBMWR lists for the past decade or more...

I think I'f you look back at my posts, obscure references aren't my style.

I call a spade a spade.

(Well, unless he's a really, REALLY BIG dude..)

 

[sparky3008]

Oh, your ass and face comment I get it I have just been ignoring it.

I am so hurt, I feel the pain. Bite me!

What?????????????????

https://www.jokesandhumor.com/jokes/385.html

I assume this is what you were talking about?

You assume too much. Ed Zachary and Egg Zactly are old standbys from the Village Idiots and IBMWR lists for the past decade or more...

I think I'f you look back at my posts, obscure references aren't my style.

I call a spade a spade.

(Well, unless he's a really, REALLY BIG dude..)

Gotcha Wasn't looking for the obvious Exactly!

And oh, I know a whole bunch of 170lb guys that will walk over most guys big or small.

Size doesn't mean crap if you know what you are doing.

 

[panthercity]

sparky, if I pay-pal you a quarter, will you rent a sense of humor?

 

[sparky3008]

sparky, if I pay-pal you a quarter, will you rent a sense of humor?

I got your sense of humor just fine.

I think the topic has got more of your goat than mine.

 

[Thug]

And oh, I know a whole bunch of 170lb guys that will walk over most guys big or small.

Size doesn't mean crap if you know what you are doing.

 


Never meet one yet...oh except in the movies... :assassin: