O/T Harley's 100 Aniversary

[robk]

Harryman

 

+1

 

The bikes without the Anniversary logo will be more collectable.

[mold100]

I gotta say I hope that the Harley lovers dont believe that the bikes are made in america.

[A-ron1286490684]

I think Harleys are bitchin bikes. I'd love to get one someday -maybe a Fatboy with the Herritage running lights. I've also considered a BMW 1000. Heard they were ultra reliable.

 

I've owned a 1989 GSXR750, my favorite of 'em all -red black and white with D&D race pipe, Dynojet carb kit, valve and head work and K&N filters. It would beat the stock 1100's even with my big arse on it. Iv'e also owned a 1995 CBR600, a 1984 XR500, a 1987 XL600, and a 1990 CR500. The XL was a red, white and blue Jap bike. -he he he he, got slome slack one time for that.

 

No one has mentioned the KTM Duke. That one looks too fun! Big fat Superbiker tires and the weight and power of a dirtbike. Beat that one up a real twister of a road -I don't think so.

[Tony]

cg977

I Have a FMF SST with shorty silencer

for a 00/01 CR250 it is dead mint

With about 3 hrs on it.

$100.00

 

Tony

[Müřlıń®]

I want one of those bikes that is made from Harley parts.

 

What's it called....Ironhorse or somethin?

 

I don't think there is a year waiting list for those. heh

 

 

Murlin

[Rick Damiani]

quote:

---

Have you seen any of the new custom painted V-rod's?

---

Why would you want to paint a V-Rod? Anodized aluminum is beutaful.

 

quote:

---

boy did i think u put your head on the chopping block with that one. but in retrospect to my first comment, 9 out of 10 girls will get on the back of a harley not rice burners.

---

You obviously don't know the same girls I do. Most of the ones I know own thier own sportbikes and aren't much interested in riding behind anyone else.

 

quote:

---

but i do agree with you, depending on what your looking for. performance? then go with jap crap

style and long rides? harley by all means.

again i agree with u on the price. hd prices are

bs. you can get two rice burners for one harley.

---

Strip away the famous name and you have an overly massive and underly stiff motorcycle that, if it made enough power to outrun an Escort, would rip it's transmission off of the back of it's engine while turing it's primary case into a finely finished pretzel. Harley survives because Harley figured out how to market a brand before marketing brands became popular. Not because they sell great motorcycles. What Harley sells are motorcycle kits, as demonstrated by the vast catalog of Harley-manufactured replacement parts for all of the perfectly good parts it dosn't bother to actually equip it's motorcycles with.

 

I ride. A lot. More than 40,000 miles a year. I've been riding since I was 12, and owned my first bike (a Honda XL100S) at 14. I don't even own a car. My normal commute is 30 miles one way, and I frequently make longer trips to various customer sites (I was in Corona and San Diego just today). I know a little about longish trips and what kind of motorcycle works for them and what dosn't. Flying down the road doing a Jesus-on-the-cross impersonation is not the way to comfortably rack up the miles and the sale of millions of ape-hangers and forward-control kits won't change that.

 

When I was younger and dumber, I tried various Harleys out, and have made a stab at some of the Buells as well. Fit-and-finish on the Harleys (not the Buells) is as good as that found on any mass-produced vehicle. Unfortuneatly, that is where it ends. For a company that calls itself a 'Motor' company, it builds some amazingly bad motors. I ain't talking about oil leaks or reliability - modern Harleys, like old Bugs, don't make enough power to hurt themselvs. I'm talking about flat-out-dumb stuff like air cooled cylenders arranged so that the front one blocks the air flow to the other one, ensuring that you need individually managed spark and fuel settings for each cylender. Or the quaint idea that such an arrangement can be effectively fed with a single carb, located in the hottest part of the engine compartment. Primary drives so wide that you'll lever the rear wheel off of the ground making right turns in parking lots. Seperate transmissions afixed loosley enogh that third-party manufactures do a thriving business selling braces to keep them from twisting themselvs apart. Enough slop in the fitment of the drive components that many Harleys ship with rear wheels as much as 2" out of line with the fronts (a problem that is so prevelant that many dealers believe that misalingnment to be 'correct', dispite the evil handeling such bikes exhibit).

 

There are many Harleys that are fine-looking motorcycle kits, no doubt. I must admit to being a tad partial to the looks of the Road King, for example. But only as a second or third bike. For a daily driver, you can't beat a good Triumph. Which is why I ride a Speed Triple.

 

As for the other over-priced motorcycle marque - BMW has made a pretty good business out of selling 'long haul' motorcycles with even more built-in-dumb than Harley has. Such as a bi-annual requirement to remove everything aft of the rear main seal to lube a set of too-fragile splines. Or power brakes that contain no user-serviceable parts (replace the brake pads yourself and the ABS disables itself until you bring it to the dealer to get the brakes reset). I'd not take one of them for free.

 

[ 08-15-2003, 09:58 PM: Message edited by: Rick Damiani ]

[Brendan P]

Rick,You also forgot about the skinny little tire (130mm) on the back!

[Rick Damiani]

Skinny tires are not necessaraly a bad thing. Sure as hell is a lot easier to spoon a 130 over a 3.5" rim than it is to spoon a 180 onto a 6" rim.

 

I'll be the first to admit that there are quite a few interesting custom bikes built as kinda one-off Harleys. Some even equipped with skinny tires. As nice as they are, thier niceness comes from taking the motorcycle kit (or the ideas built into that kit) and finishing it so it is an actual motorcycle. Actual motorcycles, of course, being about the only thing you *can't* buy at a Harley botique.

 

While I'm taking about Harley botiques...

 

...fookin' places give me the creeps. My uncle owned an independant Harley shop in Joliet. It was a real motorcycle shop, with oily bike parts on the counters, work-in-progress in the 'showroom', and a staff composed of real bikers. Not one of these 'modern' aniseptic places full of stuffed animals and slick used car salesmen wearing suits and stick-on tatoos. Not many shops like that left anymore.

[tryon]

Just today i saw a women wearing a t-shirt that said "Harley-Davidson....If they made an airplane would you fly in it?" or something like that.

[Brendan P]

I'll never forget the first time I saw someone riding a bike with SANDALS!

This I cant comprehend.

[kathy]

Okay -

 

Riding a Harley is like sailing vs. a power boat. Sure a power boat is so much more powerful - you’ll plow through the waves like they don't exist.

And it’s not to say that Harleys aren’t powerful. But who you have to know what you are doing to ride one. And you have to how to sail to sail. It’s an art.

 

Kathy

[cadcam]

cg777, Nice words guy Jap crap.

You seem to let your mouth run that is for sure.

Harlys Are nice to look at but a GSXR thru the rock store at high speed is hard to beat...

 

But you are aloud to have your opinion I Just think you need to watch how you speak about your thoughts.

[Rick Damiani]

You can troll in a power boat, and can race along under full sail, heeled over far enough to rase a wake with your yardarm. It's all in how you approach it.

 

I've owned a couple of cruisers in my time, and have some experence with that style of bike. There is noting different about riding a Harley than there is about riding any other cruiser-style bike. At various times I've embarrased squids on hyper-sport bikes while mounted on a cruiser, and cruised smoothly and slowly down PCH with groups of cruisers while mounted on hyper-sport bikes. Cruising is a state of mind, not a collection of nuts and bolts.

[Jack Mitchell]

Awesome thread - informative and yet contains a little spice.

 

Great banter Rick D. - Spooning the tire/rim reminds me of the good old bicycle days.

 

Regards, Jack

[kathy]

Oooh Oooh - see I'm disappointed - no one had raised their hand and requested -

Kathy please tell us your stories..

 

If I wanted to ride my own bike I would be. It just that simple. But I don’t - must be old age.

 

I wanted to get Steve’s input on this thread (we live 408 miles from each other here in California) but he must be away this weekend cause his cell phone is turned off today. Such is our relationship. He’ll probably only say something profound like - “ If I have to explain to you why the grass grows, you wouldn’t understand it anyway.”

 

Kathy

 

PS - Rick - have you ever been 40 degrees heeled over (with the cabin windows in the water) in a power boat? Every surf down a huge wave? Even the wakes caused by them fast running power boats are fun to surf. I wave to them as they roar by.

 

- Great Thread -

[Brendan P]

There is 1 thing that I'm still trying to figure out.

Are the guys that ride the "Japanese Cruisers" (royalstar's ect...) riding them because they can't afford a harley?

Why would you want to ride a bike that mimmics a Harley.

Why not just get the "Real Thing"?

I can understand if you like the rice rockets.

 

I once ran with a guy who would never wave to anyone on a japanese bike.

Man what a real dufus.

[KMaynard]

It's funny how i'm reading that Harleys are way over priced. Seems like over the last 5 years the "Japanese Cruiser" large cc market is catching up quickly. At least with the harley you wont lose your shirt in the end .. maybe just along the way in maintainence costs ..

 

As far as the comments about the anniversary bike quantities .. apparently Harley decided to over build this year .. extended their build time by 2 months which added about 30k more bikes to the line this year. This worked out decent for anyone looking to buy late season as Harleys were going for MSRP and under.. that's rare up here in the northeast as they mark them up thousands above msrp ...

 

Worked out good for me ..I now went from a 1200 sport to a 1450cc softail nighttrain ... and the wife has her 883 .. it's not about anything less than having pride in what your riding ... if having a royalstar makes you grin driving down the road then make yourself happy ...

 

btw all you sport bike lovers.. please explain to me how you can be comfortable on long trips in that postition ..doesn't you hands wrists and elbows ache after a while?

 

[ 08-18-2003, 08:33 AM: Message edited by: KMaynard ]

[Brendan P]

quote:

---

btw all you sport bike lovers.. please explain to me how you can be comfortable on long trips in that postition ..doesn't you hands wrists and elbows ache after a while?

---

I'm not too sure about how the comfort,but it sure does look funny with (2) men on the bike.

Very awkward position.

 

[ 08-18-2003, 09:22 AM: Message edited by: BUCKET HEAD ]

[Toolfab]

I wasn't looking looking to start a battle between the different classes of riders here. Although I must say this has been a very interesting debate thus far.

 

to those of you that are HD riders, any plan on coming to Milwaukee for the party? I guess the loyalty is what intruges me. I find it facinating that people ride from all over the continent to come to this party. Thats pride in ownership!

 

For the sport bike crew out there, does your manufacturer('s) do anything like this for there riders. I havent heard of any, but then again, there arent made in Milwaukee either!

 

Keep up the posts, this is great!!!

 

to the two wheel crew!

[cadcam]

quote:

---

I'm not too sure about how the comfort,but it sure does look funny with (2) men on the bike.

Very awkward position.

---

ROTFLMAO, I agree and I love the Rice Burnner's..

[Oppiz]

I saw one of these (Boss Hoss) on the road this weekend. WOW!!

Anyone ever road one??

 

http://www.bosshoss.net/

[Harryman]

There's a very popular biker bar in Stillwater, P.D Pappy's. The other night there were 8 Hoss' there. They are cool eye candy for sure. One had neon tubes embedded in the paint job. One had a sign: 546CUI 800Hp. Another just said 900HP Can you imagine sitting behind that V8 blast furnace? A three foot wide radiator three feet away, plus headers inches away from your shins? Gotta be a real rush for about an hour.

 

The rear tire is very wide and flat profile. I can feel the flat spot on my narrow rear tire as it gets close to changing time. Handling on a Hoss can't be too great.

 

My 99 Victory is a comfy cruise ride. Plenty of belch-fire and clunky enough too.

[Jack Mitchell]

I always thought that riding the crotch rockets looked very uncomfortable.

 

A friend of mine explained that lying into a bike is more comfortable since his weight is evenly dispersed across the whole machine (no pressure points to speak of); I also makes sense that the closer you are to the chassis then the machine and rider might feel as one.

 

I have to say that watching these guy's pull up a wheelie at 80MPH is some amazing control and feel indeed.

 

 

Regards, Jack

[Rick Damiani]

quote:

---

Great banter Rick D. - Spooning the tire/rim reminds me of the good old bicycle days

---

Reminds me of last week, when I spooned a set of D208s onto my Speed Triple.

 

quote:

---

If I wanted to ride my own bike I would be. It just that simple. But I don’t - must be old age.

---

My mom prefers to ride on the back too, even though she's had her motorcycle license for a very long time. My wife, too. It's all in what you prefer.

 

quote:

---

PS - Rick - have you ever been 40 degrees heeled over (with the cabin windows in the water) in a power boat? Every surf down a huge wave? Even the wakes caused by them fast running power boats are fun to surf. I wave to them as they roar by.

---

No. I have, OTOH, spent a week (on several different occasions) dealing with 40+ degree rolls while making steam through hurricanes in the North Atlantic. I've been above the Artic Circle twice, crossed the equator, and spent 3 months anchored off the coast of Somalia. I've seen whales in the Indian Ocian, chased and been chased by dolphins in Guantonimo Bay, and once I even saw the entire ocean glowing pale white. I've spent a long time at sea.

 

While I've never been all that interested in small craft that can't leave the harbor, I can see and do understand the attraction of sailboats.

 

quote:

---

btw all you sport bike lovers.. please explain to me how you can be comfortable on long trips in that postition ..doesn't you hands wrists and elbows ache after a while?

---

If your wrists hurt, you are doing it wrong. You support yourself with your back and by keeping your knees pressed into the tank. The wind provides some support as well. I'd not try a long trip on a hyper-sport bike, but on something like a VFR, an older CBR900RR, or a TT600, it's not that bad at all. Much better than the legs-kicked out nonsence found on way too many cruisers.

 

quote:

---

For the sport bike crew out there, does your manufacturer('s) do anything like this for there riders. I havent heard of any, but then again, there arent made in Milwaukee either!

---

Honda has a couple of large rallies every year called the Honda Hoot. Triumph has RAT rallies all over the place a lot of the time. Ducati and Aprillia sponsor race-track events, and I've been on a couple of Ducati sport-touring events as well. Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and BMW don't seem to get invovled like that, though.

 

As for the guy asking about owners of metric cruisers not being able to afford Harlies - Maybe they decided that a 10K metric cruiser this year would give them greater enjoyment than a poster of the 20K inch cruiser they will be able to buy three years from now. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

 

[ 08-18-2003, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Rick Damiani ]

[Rekd™]

quote:

---

btw all you sport bike lovers.. please explain to me how you can be comfortable on long trips in that postition ..doesn't you hands wrists and elbows ache after a while?

---

Some bikes are more confortable than others. Lately, the more un-comfortable ones are the better handling/faster ones.

 

You shouldn't have that much pain, if you do, you're doing something wrong, or something VERY right; Like when you're going into a curve at high speed, you've got roughly 2 to 3 square inches of rubber on the road, (not including plastic from your knee pucks and/or elbows ), and in order to counter-steer one of the heavier beasts, you're looking at exerting 200+ lbs of downward force with your arm to keep the bike leaned over.

 

2 or 3 hard-core trips up the S6 on Palomar Mtn will cause extreme pain and satisfaction if you do it correctly. I've done 6-8 hour trips on my crotch rockets, usually 2 up, and as long as you're not pushing hard thru turns the whole time, you should be fine, if you have a comfie seat.

 

It also helps if you have a good mechanic... (mine's the red one, my wife's is the blue one)

 

 

'Rekd teh been there, rekd that