Harley riders a little soft?

The Aero is what replaced the ACE. The ACE, Spirit and Aero all used the exact same motor with different styling cues. From what I know, Harley actually dropped the suit.

I rented a couple Harley's the past couple years. I rented a V-rod and also a Fat Boy. Both of them sucked. Believe me I went into it with an open mind as I do with every bike I test ride.

The Fat Boy vibrated like crazy at highway speeds and also pinged like crazy. I took that one back early as I was not enjoying it at all.

The V-Rod was good at accelerating. That's about it. The seat was a rock. The handling was "long" like a Hayabusa is. The one I rode had less than 3,000 miles and already had corrosion on a lot of the bolts. Are you kidding me?

 

Two4One is getting some serious credit from the Harley Haters Union, Local 1010.

 

I think some of us forgot why people rides HD...It is the image. Which I believe say " I am a BAAAAD dude." But then why would someone wants to advertise he is Baaaad. If you are BAAAAD, others see that.

 

Haha! I call 'em as I see 'em. Having ridden every cruiser make and most models out there sans Suzuki, I cannot understand for one second how anyone can conclude that a Harley is the best bang for their buck.

The Victory line is incredible both function and form wise. The Yamaha v-star line is incredible also. There isn't a bike out there with more soul than a Yamaha V-Star Warrior. Honda's are Honda's and Suzuki has some interesting models in their lineup as well. I'd love to throw a leg over the Suzuki M-109R (I think that's the right name) just for giggles.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the Harley styling and continued effort to improve and offer more models. When it comes down to sitting on one and actually riding it, I've experience a far inferior product to the other choices on the market.

 

I'm guessing that a Harley is like a jeep. Like an old CJ-7 or even a wrangler. They are bumpy, they vibrate, and they have a look, among other traits. You really have to want a jeep to drive one. I think that it's the same for harley. I posted a few months ago about putting a v-twin in to a vfr frame. Well, my skin grafts have healed from that flaming and I am going to stand by the fact that I love the sound. I love the offset crank pins that gives it that "part of a radial engine" sound. The bikes are not practical to the way that I ride (or the feeling in my groin) so I don't have one. I have contemplated buying an old 70's sportster just for giggles but I have a lot of better places to put $3000; like an actual "revised" v-four instead of a vf.
I have a very healthy respect for "old tech". I love it, actually. It's really cool to see how thing were done years ago and harleysaurus is a way to see it in real life.

 

I will get flamed for this...

But Harleys do have a feel, you do feel like a bad ass on one. I road a bored out harley something or other and it did feel cool. It's hard to put to words. It just felt bad ass.

But going up a hill or cornering or accelerating elft a lot to be desired even compared to other cruisers. other cruisers also lacked part of that "feel".

that said if i was into cruiser i would 100% go with a Vulcan Nomad, that right there is a powerful and smooth cruiser.

Just wanted to mention the feel. It felt the way one would imagine a Harley should.

 

My old roomate had a V-Star and one day we swicthed off. I have to agree Two, that was one nice cruiser. Seating was nice, power was smooth, it was just a pleasant ride.

When Ron and I traded back I said "Man your bike is smooth and comfortable" and he said "Jesus, you bike is fast!" LOL. That's back when I had the 93 and lived in MD.

I haven't forgot that ride.

BZ

 

Hey AW, is that you in your avatar?

 

i rode a hd 98 fatboy, and was not impressed with it one bit, it was the most uncomfertable bike i ever rode for being a 1300 it was a dog ill take my vf any day of the week, we to start up a fan club here :cheersaf:

 

Ok, I will tell you the truth about this question, it was a question wasn't it, anyway, most Harley owners couldn't ride a VFR around the block. This is the truth and you know it. I work with Harley Riders and they all talk smack about my VFR. I tell them to take it for a spin but they never do. Did you ever see a 350+ pounder on a sport bike? Now you know why the talk the smack. So from now on just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave> as you pass by......at mach2

 

I have nothing against Harley and have met some really great people on Harleys. I agree with 15dollar they sell a lifestyle that is recognized by all.

But here are some things to think about.

Panhead, Flathead, Knucklehead. Bikes? Engineers? Owners?

When Briggs and Stratten closed one of it's plants in Milwaukee, Harley took it over. What were they looking for? Horsepower boost? New Engineers? Higher Technology?

 

I keep hearing "They (Harley) sell a lifestyle..."

I can't help but think about the Cake song 'Rock n' Roll Lifestyle' and the lyrics:

"You're taken what their sellin...excess ain't rebellion..."

BZ

 

Well now I feel like I'm beating a dead horse! Slick 50 anyone?

Maggot made a good point about meeting great people on Harley's. I have myself also. I remember meeting this one guy from Ohio when I was on a tour in West Virginia. We happened to pull into the same "scenic view" area on the Highland Scenic Highway west of Marlinton, WV. I struck up a conversation with the guy who told countless stories of long rides he was on. Not just to the bar or next town. I mean stories like "I stopped in Texas" on the way kinda' stories. I in turn told some stories of my own. Turns out he had 98,000 miles on his Harley. All put on my him. The bike was dirty! It looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the last time he took it in for service. How many Harley's do you come across that aren't spit-shined? I had a connection with this guy. He was single just like I am. Every chance he had he would take off for parts unknown, just like I like to. Despite the fact that we were on two completely different machines, we both had that little twinkle listening to each other's tales of the road.

This is the "Harley" guy I like to run into. He was a rider. Not a poser. He expressed no sense of entitlement because of his bike nor did he talk down to mine. He just enjoyed the ride and comradery with the open road.

That's what it's all about in the end. Sadly, some riders never get to fully understand it.

 

That's what I call a "motorcyclist" the others that ride on nice days and short distances are "bikers". Half of those are posers. You know the ones that think 50 or 100 miles is a trip! Hell that's nothing but a little jaunt down the road. A lot of people are drawn to Harley because of the "status of being a biker". But some are hardcore like my neighbor. Bought his first Harley classic cruiser what ever and has to have put more than 15k miles on it since May. He rides with a club, friends and his wife is on the back all the time. All over the USA. Going out northwest in the spring of next year. His wife had never ridden before either. Guess she likes the vibration!

 

I would respectfully say you're slightly off base here. I say that because HD & Jeep are not even close to being similar in any way shape or form.

HD is in your face every where you go. The spend a fortune on advertising. I see HD ads in my Cigar Afcianado magazine. Their owners will tell you you are a POS if you don't like or own one. HD's are useless for anything other than owning. HD claims to be the best motorcycle that money can buy. In reality, they are complete junk. I'm sure the baggers are a competent machine but the entire remainder of the HD lineup is a joke & waste of money.

Jeep on the other hand does little to no advertising. Their owners are perfectly normal for the most part. The biggest thing that sets Jeep & HD apart is the fact that Jeeps actually do what they are designed to do very well. Right out of the box you can take a Jeep & flog it off road & it will probably do what you ask of it. You can modify a Jeep & make it that much more usefull.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

actually I know at least two riders who bought Hardleys after owning other brands. My dad, and my best friend. At the time of his purchase my friend had in his garage, an MV Agusta, BMW, and a Duc. He bought the Hardley and loves it, is going to get another one in the Spring he says, and likely sell all the other bikes, or maybe everything but the one BMW.


And I don't think they are out of touch with their customer base when they tune in vibration and noise. They can't sell the bikes on the merits of the bikes, we all agree to that, they sell their bikes based on the character and image. Even if they came out with a true sport bike, it wouldn't sell in numbers the same exact bike from Honda, Suzook, Kawi, or Yami would sell. Because that customer would shun a Harley, and a Harley rider would shun that type of bike. Not all, of course, but the vast majority on both sides of the equation.

Not everyone makes their buying descision objectively, even more so on a bike than a car. Since the bike is for most a recreational vehicle, they are more willing to accept flaws they would never accept in their car. But even in the car world, the objective "best" car for any purpose isn't always the sales leader. Now in the case of the mainstream cars sold by Ford and GM, that is not as true of course.

Don't get me wrong, I think Hardleys suck; over priced and under engineered, but to each their own.

But remember this, when you look at overall sales numbers in the US going back for a pretty long time. Off the top of my head I beleive about 20 years, the top two selling motorcycle brands in the US by far have been Hardley and Honda. One has always been the #1 with the other #2, usually Honda has been number 1. But think about it, Honda sells a bike in every catagory to reach those numbers. Harley has cruisers, and dress cruisers - that is it. That is pretty impressive.

Although I do like the orange & black T-shirt that says "if they made an airplane, would you fly in it?"

 

I think they didn't make bikes though in one of the early years. Like '05 or something.

With the recent 100 year anniversary bikes, they had an extended build calendar. Off the top of my head they built them for 14 months instead of the usual 12 months.

 

"The biggest thing that sets Jeep & HD apart is the fact that Jeeps actually do what they are designed to do very well. Right out of the box you can take a Jeep & flog it off road & it will probably do what you ask of it. You can modify a Jeep & make it that much more usefull."

Well the HD does do what it does very well right out of the box. It gives the owner: status, bad boy image and the feel of power using torque and sound. The manly man feeling. That's what they are designed for mostly.

"Even if they came out with a true sport bike, it wouldn't sell in numbers the same exact bike from Honda, Suzook, Kawi, or Yami would sell. Because that customer would shun a Harley, and a Harley rider would shun that type of bike. Not all, of course, but the vast majority on both sides of the equation."

It's called a Buell. How many of those sell and to who?

 

I have to chime in here, because my brother has just been converted to the First United Church of Davidson.

He just traded his '05 GSX-R 750 for an '03 HD 1200 Sportster. (how's that for a switcheroo?)

I don't know what convinced him he wanted to do this, but I told him that he'll quickly grow tired of going so slow...

"No, that Sportster's really fast," he says. "Wait until you ride it."

Yeah, OK. We'll see this spring. I know he bought it to be "cool", and the Gixxer hurt his wrists...

 

I can see wanting something comfier than the gsxr.

Also how is buel doing? I looked at there bikes and was intrestend in there cornering and focus on fun riding. But all there bikes where to small. Not engine wise but erganomically. Who rides those things, friggen midgets?
Still looking forward to test rides in the spring as i missed the ones this year.