Nice Beemer You Got

[Lauren_TK]

So there I was, standing outside the stop and rob next to my bike, eating a burrito, when the flame-painted Harley pulls in.

I nod at him as he gets off his bike, and he nods back. After he gets his beanie helmet off, he saunters over and asks, "BMW?"

Unlike some people, I have left every single bit of Yamaha/FJR badges and identification on the bike. My mouth was full, so I had time to decide how much of an *** I wanted to be. I decided that since my physical therapist would be upset if I got into a fight, I replied with all the perk in my voice I could muster, "Yamaha, baby!"

He nodded, and said, "Yamaha always knows how to make a good looking bike. I had a Yamaha cruiser, but then I sold and got the Harley."

He then went into a long monologue of all the issues he's had with his bike from the electrical system to the illegal, ear-splitting exhaust. Apparently, the previous owner wasn't very good at farkling.

Then he asked what kind of exhausts I installed. This question took me aback, as I still have the stock exhausts (probably always will), and why would asking about the exhausts be the first technical question you ask about a bike?

I said they were stock, and then went on to list all the other stock features. He was most amazed the by adjustable windscreen. When I mentioned that it is a great canyon carver, and I am comfortable all day, he replied, "I can't ride for more than a couple hours."

The conversation ended with him saying, "I gotta get me one of those after I pay off the Harley."

I nodded and smiled thinking, "You'll never get one of these. You'll probably buy another broken, used Harley."

The lesson I learned was: life is too short to ride bad bikes. (I am not saying Harleys are bad, I'm just saying his was.)

 

[Top_Speed1]

Good story, thanks for sharing

I have a lot of HD friends. They ain't given them up evah!

 

[Intech]

There are a lot of nice looking Harleys, but there are also a lot that are not comfortable to ride for very long. Any bike that you can't stand riding for more than an hour or two is not worth wasting time on no matter how good it looks.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I had a Harley FX Superglide in the 70's (it was stolen in 1980)...have lots of great memories from those days. Back then I would have never considered owning a rice burner (other than my Yamaha 175 Enduro)...times sure have changed, I don't think I'd ever go back.

Ride what you like.

 

[ionbeam]

There are a lot of nice looking Harleys, but there are also a lot that are not comfortable to ride for very long. Any bike that you can't stand riding for more than an hour or two is not worth wasting time on no matter how good it looks.

That is what sets us FJR owners apart from other bike owners. My FJR is an official HOLY S#IT bike. Every year since I have owned it, at inspection time the inspector (from different shops) looks at my mileage and says, "HOLY S#IT"

When my bike was younger the inspector used to use his finger to count the digits to be sure he had the reading right, it seems my odometer always had one more significant digit than what they expected. Some riders like Skooter must leave the inspectors stunned.

Some bikers don't put on the miles or the hours like we do so a 2 hour motorcycle probably exceeds the need. Be the need high speed, or to look (and sound) good.

 

[BkerChuck]

I love it! Working for a HD dealership, I see this all the time. Fortunately for me the previous owner of my FJR chose to trade it on a HD StreetGlide. His loss, my gain! I deal with a small handful of customers who ride as many miles in a year as what I consider an average month or a good long weekend.

 

[Fly Bye]

All things considered, I'll keep my FJR and my HD FLHR.

Why all the concern about what other people ride?

 

[Dutch]

There are "Bikers" and there are "Riders".

I've ridden with Harley's that were hard core, get down the road, pile on the miles, riders.

Seen a lot of poser's on everything else too.

 

[bhendron]

My uncle has owned bikes for almost all of his life and definitely mine, lots of Yamaha's (ventures, v-max, etc.). For the last several years, he's been working at Harley dealerships, in Colorado Springs in the summer and Tucson in the winter. Employees get the option to buy a new year's model every year at a huge discount and then HD buys it back the next year. Anyway, that's a long way of saying he'd riding HD these days.

Until this last winter, he'd only seen pictures of my FJR. I rode it down to Tucson and pulled into the garage. He started looking it over and his eyes got kind of wide and his voice kind of trailed off as he said "That's a fricken Yamaha..." with half a grin on his face. He was sure I'd bought a BMW.

My aunt was amazed by the adjustable windscreen as well.

 

[SkySoldier]

People always mistake my ride as a BMW also. Maybe its the silver color, I don't know. I had a Sportster 1200 once; never again. Definitely wasn't comfortable. Mostly for me, a Harley represents a very unrefined, harsh ride. But others like that kind of thing.

 

[Fly Bye]

I don't think I would knock any motorcycle company that has been in business for 111 years.

 

[Lauren_TK]

I wasn't trying to knock HD in the OP.

It was that this guy's bike had been poorly farkled and poorly maintained by the previous owner that had turned the bike into an unejoyable ride.

 

[builderwill]

People always mistake my ride as a BMW also. Maybe its the silver color, I don't know.

Nope, most cruisers mistake my black 08 for a BMW as well. Never offended, though, because I'd do the same thing with their bike. Can't tell one model cruiser from another

 

[Niehart]

Lauren, I saw that BMW in Kingsgate late yesterday afternoon.

 

[Lauren_TK]

Lauren, I saw that BMW in Kingsgate late yesterday afternoon.

Was it being chased by a Spyder?

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

I don't think I would knock any motorcycle company that has been in business for 111 years.

Just because they've been in business for 111 years doesn't mean they make that great a product.

It means they have great marketing.

It amazes me how so many people think Harley is the be all of motorcycling.

I've had quite a few people say to me over the years, "don't you want a Harley some day"

If it wasn't for the Japanese they'd probably still be making the same motor from the 50's.

To me, a Harley is everything a motorcycle shouldn't be.

Poor handeling

Too heavy.

Underpowered

Poor brakes.

Expensive (anything but a Sportster)

Not as reliable

Expensive to work on

Only good thing is they hold their value better than a Japanese bike.

That being said it's your money to buy what you want, they just don't impress me at all.

 

[ionbeam]

Slightly back on topic -- I had a guy come running across a parking lot saying that he just loves the look of that new BMW (my FJR). He was looking at it from the front, sides and back gushing about how BMW got it right this time. Then he asked me what model it was, and at that point I had to confess that it was a Yamaha FJR. Light switch. Joy gone. Bubble burst. Flaccid. And just like that he says a dull, lifeless, "oh", and walked away.

Many people have confused my FJR for a BMW in spite of the badging and logos.

On the other hand, a group of us NERDS were out enjoying Vermont on a very hot day and pulled into a parking lot for a water break. A short while later a guy on a bicycle that we passed miles back came churning into the parking lot saying, "Are those all FJRs? I want to buy one but I've never seen any before!" We were stunned he could ride hard enough to catch us, the man must have been averaging incredible speeds. Then he abruptly passed out and fell nearly face first onto the asphalt leaving us all fearing that we just met a modern Philippides (look it up).

 

[Lauren_TK]

Then he abruptly passed out and fell nearly face first onto the asphalt leaving us all fearing that we just met a modern Philippides (look it up).

No need, sir. I read books.

 

[Niehart]

Lauren, I saw that BMW in Kingsgate late yesterday afternoon.

Was it being chased by a Spyder?

Yes, yes you were.