What is the Harley Mystique?

[Mike-H]

krashdragon; it's a couple (okay 3) long days in the saddle... it doesnt mean speeding tickets :haha: , herself did talk about flying briefly...buts she has been in Reno before on business & wasn't really impressed. :dribble: & she thought WFO would than again be just another case of boys with their toys...(trying to see who could pi** farther than who)...maybe next time... if your ever north of the border, drop us a line ..& you'll get free room & board for a few nights (because herself says so) any wayward rider is always welcome to a room... have fun & ride safe... B)

 

[krashdragon]

krashdragon; it's a couple (okay 3) long days in the saddle... it doesnt mean speeding tickets :haha: , herself did talk about flying briefly...buts she has been in Reno before on business & wasn't really impressed. :dribble: & she thought WFO would than again be just another case of boys with their toys...(trying to see who could pi** farther than who)...maybe next time... if your ever north of the border, drop us a line ..& you'll get free room & board for a few nights (because herself says so) any wayward rider is always welcome to a room... have fun & ride safe... B)

dont' know abou the pissing contest....but I havent' been to one of your gatherings yet...

but, the invite sounds way cool!

Umm.... like where do you guys live? I'm guessing Canada, but what part?

I havent' a clue! :huh:

I'd love to meet herself and the other people that inhabit this place.. but Reno this year is out..

Thanks

Mary

 

[Toecutter]

I'd love to meet herself and the other people that inhabit this place.. but Reno this year is out..     

Too bad. Looks like Reno is THEE place to be this year. Click

This thread needed to be hijacked, or moved to "Never-ending-pointless".

 

[sparky3008]

I'd love to meet herself and the other people that inhabit this place.. but Reno this year is out..     

Too bad. Looks like Reno is THEE place to be this year. Click

This thread needed to be hijacked, or moved to "Never-ending-pointless".

I don't know I think the starter had a legit question that many people have and don't know the answer to. I don't think it was a bash in anyway.

I meet many Harley riders that also think that a Harley is the only bike that can be ridden for long distance and think bikes like ours will hurt your back.

I also know many people on pure sport bikes that have travel all over the USA and even as far north as Alaska.

Stereotypes will never be stopped if people aren't willing to talk about them and don't take these topics as a bash on anything...

 

[user 1521]

I don't know I think the starter had a legit question that many people have and don't know the answer to. I don't think it was a bash in anyway. I meet many Harley riders that also think that a Harley is the only bike that can be ridden for long distance and think bikes like ours will hurt your back.

I also know many people on pure sport bikes that have travel all over the USA and even as far north as Alaska.

Stereotypes will never be stopped if people aren't willing to talk about them and don't take these topics as a bash on anything...

The OP had a legit question, but by the 3rd post the thread was hijacked.

To answer the OP:

• it's fun to ride
• bike looks great
• V twin is a pleasure (if derestricted), lots of torque
• lots of torque, don't need gears to cruise
• the sound is a pleasure
• chopper is more relaxed riding position, but can still be pretty spirited if the mood takes you (do have to accept that you will get passed by sports cars if they're in a hurry though)
• my Mrs can see over my shoulder, which she can't on my FJR
• my wife feels "cool" when we ride out (as do I obviously). This is not "strutting" cool, but how you feel cool, doesn't require an audience in the least. Feeling wild, Bonnie and Clyde, kind of thing.
• pose factor is higher, though not so worried about that personally, but non-riders will look at a HD way more than most jap bikes.
• bike is a lot simpler mechanically to work on than modern jap bikes
• resale can be very good. I actually made money on my first HD
• HD does a great job marketing it, and selling the brand. I don't own a single HD branded item other than the bike itself, as they are overpriced IMHO. I don't buy their crappy oil. But a lot of clueless folks do, and that keeps the company making money. Doesn't hurt me, so I have no complaint. Helps me, as the bike remains desireable, and therefore increase my resale should I ever decide to sell it.
• Bike actually cost me the same as my FJR
• if farkling is your thing, there's a whole world of farkling for HD's
• more likely to be a comfortable seat height for those people who are inseam challenged
• can be far less intimidating for some riders, than the jap powerhouses (don't think I could have bought the FJR first for example, wife would have had a fit)

There's lots of other reasons that other people would have.Same as there's lots of reason people hate them

 

[sparky3008]

[*]lots of torque, don't need gears to cruise

Disagree, they invented the 6 speed transmission for a reason <_<

 

[user 1521]

[*]lots of torque, don't need gears to cruise

Disagree, they invented the 6 speed transmission for a reason <_<

Disagree with what? Not sure what the invention of the 6 speed transmission has to do with what I said.

Maybe I worded it badly, should have said

"it has lots of torque, so I don't need to be rowing through the gears when cruising in a relaxed manner"

If you need 6 speeds to cruise, then you cruise way different to me

 

[Fallen Jim Rides again]

Borrowed this from a different tread, but it is on topic and poses an important question.

Luvtoride said:

Actually, I have a question for them... I'm going to ask "If you love your bike so much then why don't you ride it?"

For many I suspect that the "Harley Mystique" is really just herd instinct.

 

[sparky3008]

[*]lots of torque, don't need gears to cruise

Disagree, they invented the 6 speed transmission for a reason <_<

Disagree with what? Not sure what the invention of the 6 speed transmission has to do with what I said.

Maybe I worded it badly, should have said

"it has lots of torque, so I don't need to be rowing through the gears when cruising in a relaxed manner"

If you need 6 speeds to cruise, then you cruise way different to me

Lots of torque come on now you are really stretching it. Most sport bikes now a days have more torque than a Harley.

The gear ratio of the 6 speed is completely different than the 5 and works very well with the way the Harley V-Twin builds power and works with its power curve. Many are retro fitting the 6 speed to their older Harleys and the Dyno come stock with them.

Has nothing to do with how I ride, for the Harley they match up very well...

 

[sparky3008]

Stock 5 speed on everything else

1st 10.110

2nd 6.958

3rd 4.953

4th 3.862

5th 3.150

6Speed on Dyna

1st 9.876

2nd 6.810

3rd 5.064

4th 4.164

5th 3.477

6th 2.960

Around town maybe of no use but on the highway can lower rpms up to 300-400 saving on fuel. The gearing just doesn't add another gear, the entire trans is redesign and each gear performs very well together.

Most that I have read that either own the 6 or have retrofitted have been very happy with its performance.

My disagreement was your statement that you don't need gears to cruise with torque and I just feel the 2 have nothing to do with each other.

No one wants to cruise at 80 with RPM's running 3100+ torque or no torque.

With the proper gearing you can cruise even faster, less rpm's, less gas, less wear.

The 6 speed trans was a big deal when it was made for the Harley and many who have them love them...

 

[Silver Penguin]

The OP had a legit question, but by the 3rd post the thread was hijacked.
To answer the OP:

• it's fun to ride
• bike looks great
• V twin is a pleasure (if derestricted), lots of torque
• lots of torque, don't need gears to cruise
• the sound is a pleasure
• chopper is more relaxed riding position, but can still be pretty spirited if the mood takes you (do have to accept that you will get passed by sports cars if they're in a hurry though)
• my Mrs can see over my shoulder, which she can't on my FJR
• my wife feels "cool" when we ride out (as do I obviously). This is not "strutting" cool, but how you feel cool, doesn't require an audience in the least. Feeling wild, Bonnie and Clyde, kind of thing.
• pose factor is higher, though not so worried about that personally, but non-riders will look at a HD way more than most jap bikes.
• bike is a lot simpler mechanically to work on than modern jap bikes
• resale can be very good. I actually made money on my first HD
• HD does a great job marketing it, and selling the brand. I don't own a single HD branded item other than the bike itself, as they are overpriced IMHO. I don't buy their crappy oil. But a lot of clueless folks do, and that keeps the company making money. Doesn't hurt me, so I have no complaint. Helps me, as the bike remains desireable, and therefore increase my resale should I ever decide to sell it.
• Bike actually cost me the same as my FJR
• if farkling is your thing, there's a whole world of farkling for HD's
• more likely to be a comfortable seat height for those people who are inseam challenged
• can be far less intimidating for some riders, than the jap powerhouses (don't think I could have bought the FJR first for example, wife would have had a fit)

There's lots of other reasons that other people would have.Same as there's lots of reason people hate them

I agree with what was said about owning a HD. We like to make fun of them as much as they enjoy a laugh at our expense. The issue revolves around what you want in a motorcycle. Thank goodness that we have choices.

Do you want to cultivate the 'bad boy' image that constrasts so sharply with your Mon-Fri persona? Do you want people to stare when you ride by? Do you want to cruise on down to a coffee shop on Sunday afternoon? Do you want to outfit your bike with all kinds of bling to make it a one-of-a-kind?

Me, I want a reliable pair of wheels that gets me from A to B on a daily basis. I want understated, smooth good looks. I want a bike that goes very, very fast and handles like a dream. I want somewhere to stow my purse and lunch pail on the way to work. I want weather and wind protection too. I want to be able to hop onto my commuter bike and carve canyons, or head out across country. Thank goodness there is one bike that fits me perfectly (apart from the seat heigh being about 6" too high).

Jill

 

[krashdragon]

(apart from the seat heigh being about 6" too high).

I saw a Suzuki Busa yesterday... that bike is bigger than the FJR... and taller...

I swear the guy riding it couldn't be much over 5'.. I think..not sure because i was driving, that it not only had smaller wheels, but that there might have been 2 inches..maybe... clearence between the tail and the rear tire....

he looked tall cause his knees were bent... but when I looked closer, the bike seemed like it was squished down about 8 inches or so...

also saw a F6 that had about 4 inches of ground clearance.. the gal that owned it had them lower it... I sat on it, could never ride it... way too short for my 30" inseam!

We got lots of short peeps here in Hawaii! <G>

Mary

 

[user 1521]

Lots of torque come on now you are really stretching it. Most sport bikes now a days have more torque than a Harley.
The gear ratio of the 6 speed is completely different than the 5 and works very well with the way the Harley V-Twin builds power and works with its power curve. Many are retro fitting the 6 speed to their older Harleys and the Dyno come stock with them.

Has nothing to do with how I ride, for the Harley they match up very well...

Peak torque, yes. Don't know about the dyno curves, never looked at them. Maybe I'm wrong, but it certainly seems to have more of something, but I'm no expert. All I know for sure is, it's definitely different to ride than my FJR, and I like both, in different ways, at different times, in different moods.

And a sports bike as a replacement for the harley is not really relevant.

We like to make fun of them as much as they enjoy a laugh at our expense. The issue revolves around what you want in a motorcycle. Thank goodness that we have choices.

I made my choice, I have a HD Dyna Wide Glide and a Yammy FJR. B)

I just get sick of the bigoted views "that all harley riders are idiots" etc yadda yadda., gets annoying. I'll go grow some thinker skin :erm:

 

[user 1521]

Lots of torque come on now you are really stretching it. Most sport bikes now a days have more torque than a Harley.

For 2006 models at least:

FJR

I4

Compression ratio: 10.8:1

Bore x stroke: 79 x 66.2mm

Maximum torque: 134.4Nm @ 7000rpm

Maximum power: 105.5kW @ 8000rpm

Dry weight (kg) 264 kg

FXDG

V2

Compression ratio: 8.9:1

Bore x stroke: 95.3 mm x 101.6 mm

Maximum torque: 106 nm @ 4000 rpm

Maximum power: about 50 I'm guessing, no idea

Dry weight (kg) 295kg

Ok, looking at the numbers, I can see you're right. Specially as my older (derestricted and debaffled) HD is carbooretted, not this fancy ESPfi thing.

So what do you call feeling where the motor never feels other than "lazy", able to plonk and run on whatever the circumstance?

From what I read on a post somewhere about I4 vs V2 (they were talking racing), I would expect the HD @ 2000 rpm would have more torque than the FJR at 3500 rpm (half peaks).

I'm guessing that from statements to the effect that one of the characteristics of a V2 compared to an I4 is a fatter mid-range torque.

Maybe it's just that I sit lower, but over 0-100km/h it doesn't feel that much slower.

The gear ratio of the 6 speed is completely different than the 5 and works very well with the way the Harley V-Twin builds power and works with its power curve. Many are retro fitting the 6 speed to their older Harleys and the Dyno come stock with them.
Has nothing to do with how I ride, for the Harley they match up very well...

My dyna has 5. I'm not saying I wouldn't like a 6 speed, for the reasons you say it would be great. But the point I was trying make, in the original context, was not needing to row through gears to get anywhere.

The points that have been raised from what I said are all on the technical things, and on that basis, then yes, something like the FJR beats (easily) every aspect of the HD.

If I could have only one, it would be the FJR. But I have two, and one is a harley, so :bleh:

 

[user 1521]

No one wants to cruise at 80 with RPM's running 3100+ torque or no torque.With the proper gearing you can cruise even faster, less rpm's, less gas, less wear.

I couldn't cruise any faster, I can't hold on past 80 :haha:

But yes, point taken

 

[sparky3008]

Lots of torque come on now you are really stretching it. Most sport bikes now a days have more torque than a Harley.

For 2006 models at least:

FJR

I4

Compression ratio: 10.8:1

Bore x stroke: 79 x 66.2mm

Maximum torque: 134.4Nm @ 7000rpm

Maximum power: 105.5kW @ 8000rpm

Dry weight (kg) 264 kg

FXDG

V2

Compression ratio: 8.9:1

Bore x stroke: 95.3 mm x 101.6 mm

Maximum torque: 106 nm @ 4000 rpm

Maximum power: about 50 I'm guessing, no idea

Dry weight (kg) 295kg

Ok, looking at the numbers, I can see you're right. Specially as my older (derestricted and debaffled) HD is carbooretted, not this fancy ESPfi thing.

So what do you call feeling where the motor never feels other than "lazy", able to plonk and run on whatever the circumstance?

From what I read on a post somewhere about I4 vs V2 (they were talking racing), I would expect the HD @ 2000 rpm would have more torque than the FJR at 3500 rpm (half peaks).

I'm guessing that from statements to the effect that one of the characteristics of a V2 compared to an I4 is a fatter mid-range torque.

Maybe it's just that I sit lower, but over 0-100km/h it doesn't feel that much slower.

The gear ratio of the 6 speed is completely different than the 5 and works very well with the way the Harley V-Twin builds power and works with its power curve. Many are retro fitting the 6 speed to their older Harleys and the Dyno come stock with them.
Has nothing to do with how I ride, for the Harley they match up very well...

My dyna has 5. I'm not saying I wouldn't like a 6 speed, for the reasons you say it would be great. But the point I was trying make, in the original context, was not needing to row through gears to get anywhere.

The points that have been raised from what I said are all on the technical things, and on that basis, then yes, something like the FJR beats (easily) every aspect of the HD.

If I could have only one, it would be the FJR. But I have two, and one is a harley, so :bleh:

Please don't take mine as Harley bashing as I wasn't.

Also the comments of bashing I have read on this thread is more of uneducated people just blindly thinking HD is bettter and bashing anyone that has anything different.

I like HD just not enough to own one...

Money is not the issue as many would like to believe.

I actually have $20000 worth of bikes in my garage now but 3 bikes instead of 1

 

[radman]

Power and torque figures that resemble those on my washer and dryer blow.

 

[sparky3008]

From what I read on a post somewhere about I4 vs V2 (they were talking racing), I would expect the HD @ 2000 rpm would have more torque than the FJR at 3500 rpm (half peaks).

These numbers are hard to compare. A I4 revs so quickly that getting to peak tq or hp can happen extremely fast. Just because you need to rev higher to get to peak doesn't necessarily mean that down low the fjr doesn't have more than enough tq to pull very hard.

For instance also, a 600cc class sport bike may have less tq and hp than my fjr and come on at even higher revs but I don't for a minute think I can out race one in a straight line... or even in turns for that matter..

On an fjr you are almost never in the 2-3000 rpm range and they come and go quickly.

On a HD you are always in that range and is almost peak rpm range. No comparison...

Do you remember when Honda first came out with the big 1500cc cruiser. The gearing on that bike was not very good at all its first few years. Huge power but it didn't match up very well at all with the transmission so you would be reving high, feel the need to switch gears and then it would lug. They quickly fixed it but my point is even on big VTwin's gearing is important. The HD does it very well...

 

[SouthernCruizer]

My thing is that although I don't particularly like HD's, its goes beyond that into the entire V-twin cruiser line. I have been riding "multi" (3 or more) cylinder bikes for so long now, every time I get on a V-twin I just cant tolerate the vibration or the sluggishnish. Dont matter if its a HD or a Honda, I just dont care for em. I was debating between another cruiser and a sport tourer, and was seriously considering the Yamaha Royal Star Deluxe (V-4 power)....sure glad I ended up with the FJR though

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

 

[Scab]

Call me ****, but if it's got 2 wheels, I'll ride it.