Who Hates Harley Davidson?

Discussion in 'Anything Goes' started by Bubba Zanetti, Jan 31, 2008.

  1. Alaskan

    Alaskan Member

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    My brother and I took a ride around No. California last summer. We bumped into lots of bikers on the trip. Quite a few of them oohed and aahed over my brother's Ducati, but that's another story. We met 4 Harley riders on the trip. Two of them were riding Fat Boys (apt name for these guys' bikes) and had pulled into the same gas station as we did to fill up. They were decked out in the assless chaps vest look. They seemed nice enough, but at the next stop my brother told me that one of the guys was swigging booze from a bottle in a paper bag. What's up with that?

    The other two guys were firefighters from New York City. They were riding fully decked out tourers, but I really can't tell you what kind. Screaming Eagles? I dunno. But they had ridden all the way across the country. One of the guys was a longtime rider and had been on several cross-country trips and the other guy had recently started riding. These guys were very cool and were wearing textile armored MC gear. They were very proud of their bikes - which had custom side cases with "NYFD" tooled into them. We talked to them for about an hour in front of a diner. They were decent guys on a road trip, just like us.

    So, if I were to generalize about Harleys and Harley riders from my experience on that trip, I would say that half are really great, 25 percent are OK and 25 percent drinks while riding!
     
  2. Wabbit1961

    Wabbit1961 New Member

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    BUBBA - YOU CLEANED IT UP!!! DAMN!!! Ok, maybe it was a bit crude in original form... lol... but it's true. :smile:

    bikeknight - Glad you have both, but tell me this; Which one do you ride more, and which one spends more time in the shop or under the care of chrome polish Wait, let me guess. :biggrin:



    Is it just me, or do guys riding choppers look like little kids on Big Wheels? *lmao*
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2008
  3. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    never thought of it, but you are right. boy I miss my bigwheel! I rode the wheels off two of em when I was a kid... aww hell, who am I kiddin, it was last year. ;)
     
  4. Wabbit1961

    Wabbit1961 New Member

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    World's cheapest trike - Take a Big Wheel, replace the wheels with tubeless front tire and rear slicks, switch out the pedals with hiway pegs with ball bearings, stick a 10hp Briggs and Stratton engine behind the seat, and HANG ON!...lol

    Ok, so you need to put a plate of sheet steel under the motor and behind the seat so it doesn't melt through the plastic!

    Wonder what the insurance would be like for that?
     
  5. rngdng

    rngdng New Member

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    Another t-shirt of mine, which I happen to be wearing today.....

    [​IMG]


    The ultimate Harley accessory:

    [​IMG]

    By the way, smoking is not a bad habit: it's an alternative lifestyle.


    Lane
     
  6. Jimtt

    Jimtt New Member

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    That guy going down on his Harley is at Deals Gap (he was not hurt)
     
  7. Wabbit1961

    Wabbit1961 New Member

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    You know what they say about Harleys...If you can't pick it up after you crash it, then you shouldn't own one. This guy really looks like he went ass-up!

    Looks like the photographer caught the beginning of the accident. The chrome exhaust is sparking and the bike was caught in the pic just as it started to go down, since I do not see pavement scratches behind the bike. From the blur of the landscape versus the clarity of the bike in the pic, I would say he was going maybe 25-30mph.

    Glad you say he wasn't hurt though. I don't wish that on anyone.
     
  8. Kbrick

    Kbrick New Member

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    my .02

    Harley riders are like the rest of us, just different.

    Some of us go for tassles on the handlebars and some go for an Ohlins shock.

    Some are trailer queens, some are real milage hogs.

    I have a nice car but I would prefer to ride when I can.

    Many of the Harley folks would too, I know Harley riders that need to take a break after 50 miles, some Ducati folks can go 75 miles before getting off and admiring themselves. One crazy Sportster guy I know rode down to Tampa from Cleveland straight through, yeah he stopped every 100 miles but on a Sporty I couldn't blame him.

    Its riding... its all good.

    :grouphug:
     
  9. OKCVFR

    OKCVFR New Member

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    Amen! Brothers.

     
  10. speed

    speed New Member

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    Who hates Harleys ?
    Well i like motorcycle, people are strange we have our own quorks, likes and dislikes so i have to say i myself like Harleys and own one and yes i have friends in clubs and ride with them from time to time and they all ways say what the hell are you on that sport bike for ? however i dont like all the image that follows the Harley name and bike ?
     
  11. PorscheBob

    PorscheBob New Member

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    One area that HDs will beat the VFRs and that is in heavy side winds.

    A few months ago when coming home from a trip down through northern California my friend on a '96 VFR and myself, '98 VFR,
    were having a rough time staying on the road on the Altamont pass.

    This is a famous area for when a Hells Angel stabbed a guy at a rock concert bag in the hippie-do-dah days.

    Also this is an area where the hills are covered with electrical wind generators,
    so you can imagine how much wind this area gets.

    Anyway, we were both all the way over next to the right side of the highway,
    (approximately 30-50mph wind was coming from our right) barely able to stay upright at 35mph, and here comes a HD in the lane on our left,
    chugging pass us doing about 50mph and looking like he was having no problem at all!

    This happened to us several time that day with HDs passing us. Between the two of us we have about 70 years of accident free experience.

    I think the big difference, in the wind, is that the HDs have a lower center of gravity, no fairing, and heavy weight.
    Even the HDs with handlebar fairings performed better than us in heavy side winds.

    Our VFRs are great in every other aspect but not wind. That is one reason why I cringe when some say our VFRs need to lose weight.
    I think they forget that basically it's a street bike not a race bike.
     
  12. Shinigami

    Shinigami New Member

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    Don't hate the ride, hate the rider... ;)

    Seriously though, I have to try extra hard not to paint all Hardly riders with the same brush- because the few I personally know are seriously not good people- two convicted felons and one obnoxious loudmouth with a bully streak. I have to try hard not to let that color my view of this large diverse group we're speaking of here.
     
  13. speed

    speed New Member

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    I do agree, i guess you find out witch ones you like but for the most part i would perfer our crould and then again we have some nuts here also ?
    its just life and make the best of it .
     
  14. R.W.

    R.W. New Member

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    The Altamont Pass is were my wife took her last ride and swore never to ride again after one of those 50mph side wind rides, I swear I still have fingernail marks in my side after that ride :lol:
     
  15. Bubba Zanetti

    Bubba Zanetti Member

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    It's on www.killboy.com.

    That's the photographer who got the pic rngdng was nice enough to post. If you can find the shots, you can see he's in trouble a good few pictures before the picture above.

    I'm with you, I don't wish crashing on people.

    BZ
     
  16. Bubba Zanetti

    Bubba Zanetti Member

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    What type of comments do you get when you sport that shirt outside the house?

    BZ
     
  17. rngdng

    rngdng New Member

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    Most people don't even notice unless I point it out. I did have the pleasure of modeling it for the owner of "Harley-Davidson of Milwaukee WI". The "home shop", if you will. I and a bunch of my two-stroke buddies were up at Deals Gap and a tour group from Milwaukee showed up.

    They thought the shirt was funny. Nice group of folks, actually, and most of them made it through the Dragon at 20mph. Only three out a dozen riders crashed.

    I wouldn't wear it to Sturgis........ of course, I'll never GO to Sturgis anyway.


    Lane
     
  18. KC-10 FE

    KC-10 FE New Member

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    Quite a few have said, "Don't hate the bike, hate the rider with the 'tude" or something to that effect. To each their own, but I just can't buy into that. I hate any company that makes junk. Especially a company that hasn't done any meaningful research & development for the better part of 75 years. Just because they slap a new 7 letter prefix & a flashy paint on a bike doesn't mean the bike is new. So, if the machines HD make are under-powered, over-weight, low quality, paint shaking death traps, I simply don't see how I can overlook that. If they make crap, then I don't like it.

    The same goes for any company. My Ford truck is an unbelievable POS. I've owned 40 vehicles in my life, 35 on 4 wheels, 5 on 2 & my current F-150 is the worst of the bunch. Because of that, I hate F-150's & all Fords. The F-150 pays the bills for the FoMoCo so you would think it would be their best model. If mine sucks this bad, then I'd hate to see how the rest of their crap is. The new CBR1000RR may be so fast it breaks the space-time continuum when it accelerates. Problem is, it's so freaking ugly, I don't care how fast it is. Same goes with all the new bikes coming out these days. The B-King, the C14, all the Gixxers & Ninjas, the're ugly, plain & simple. I can't overlook ugly. Motorcycles are supposed to look cool.

    Another great example of this would be the changes the VFR went thru between the 5th & 6th gens. The 5th Gen is just about motorcycling perfection. Yes, I know I'm biased. When they "upgraded" the bike for the 6th gen, it was heavier, slower & uglier. I voted with my wallet & that's why there's still a 5th gen in my garage & always will be. Until Honda gives me a reason to upgrade, I'm not going to. That's also why there's a 19 year old bike next to it. Honda hasn't made anything worth upgrading to. Ducati has but I don't want to spend the extra cash just to have an Italian word on my bike.

    :blah: So yeah, I do hate HD. F em.

    KC-10 FE out...
    :plane:
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2008
  19. smackinass

    smackinass New Member

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    Quote-If I ever want to put my feet up in stirrups like a woman at a gynocologist's office, I'll buy a cruiser with hi-way pegs, and tool around town airing out my nut sack and anus.

    LMFAO!!!

    yeah they look pretty, but here is a classic example; on my way home from work one day and an old biker is broke down on the side of the road, no tools and his chain had come loose. because i got love for anyone on two wheels i stopped and asked him if he needed help or a phone or my tools, he used my phone to call a tow, and then started talkin sh!t about my vfr. so of course i started talkin bout his POS and asked him how many times it craps out in a month, and you could really tell that hit a sore note with him.

    but we are all saying the same thing, elitest snobs with bad attitudes and no sense of brotherhood for anyone on two wheels, except their neighbors in the next trailer!

    lemme finish by saying that the coolest biker of any kind i met rides i think a 55 knucklebuster, coolest dude ever, 27 years old, taught me so much about working on bikes, got my 86 vfr700f started again after two years of sitting in the rain, and is the exception to the rule. but the rule is harley owners are a$$hole$

    can i now take you all off track and ask who hates gixxers or busas with stretched swingarms and chromed and nitrous bottles all ridden by punk kids who dont know how to turn? oh yeah their trailer queens too.
     
  20. KC-10 FE

    KC-10 FE New Member

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    YO!!!:attention:

    Cool call sign, by the way.

    KC-10 FE out...
    :plane:
     
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