What's wrong with Harleys?

[inspiron]

Sheesh. How hard do you think it is for someone to buy a Harley, tear it down and reverse engineer the engine? I don't need any plans to build a bike if I have one as an example.

Harley-Davidson is not just a brand, it's a culture. Either you are a member of the club (H.O.G.) or you are not. At the end of the day, does it really matter if the bike has the name "Harley-Davidson" or "Honda" on the tank? It's a motorcycle - ride it and enjoy.

[TumbleWeed]

Thank you Inspiron. That was what I was trying to get across.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by inspiron

Sheesh. How hard do you think it is for someone to buy a Harley, tear it down and reverse engineer the engine? I don't need any plans to build a bike if I have one as an example.

Harley-Davidson is not just a brand, it's a culture. Either you are a member of the club (H.O.G.) or you are not. At the end of the day, does it really matter if the bike has the name "Harley-Davidson" or "Honda" on the tank? It's a motorcycle - ride it and enjoy.

Your preaching to the choir Jim, most people on this forum, me included agree with you. The group that Hooligan is referring to wouldn't be caught dead associating with infidels like us. However that mind set isn't limited exclusively to Harley riders, I've seen it on all brands, in fact, recent observations suggest to me that Sport Bike Riders may have eclipsed the Harley Riders when it comes to being snobs.

[919Hooligan]

Originally Posted by Rickster

Your preaching to the choir Jim, most people on this forum, me included agree with you. The group that Hooligan is referring to wouldn't be caught dead associating with infidels like us. However that mind set isn't limited exclusively to Harley riders, I've seen it on all brands, in fact, recent observations suggest to me that Sport Bike Riders may have eclipsed the Harley Riders when it comes to being snobs.

I would agree that there are snobs in all genres of motorcycles. However, when I bought my M50, I got asked three different times why I didn't buy a Harley instead, all by people who have never owned anything but Harleys. They just could not fathom that I believed my shaft drive, water cooled, fuel injected, fat tired Suzuki was a better motorcycle than an 883 Sportster. When I pointed these things out, I was still labeled a chump by these people, even though they had no merit to base it on. I know everyone has a different view on this based on there experiances, but for me this just proved to me that most people that talk crap have no idea what the real facts are, and the only people I've had talk crap to me about my bikes were die hard Harley riders.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by 919Hooligan

I would agree that there are snobs in all genres of motorcycles. However, when I bought my M50, I got asked three different times why I didn't buy a Harley instead, all by people who have never owned anything but Harleys. They just could not fathom that I believed my shaft drive, water cooled, fuel injected, fat tired Suzuki was a better motorcycle than an 883 Sportster. When I pointed these things out, I was still labeled a chump by these people, even though they had no merit to base it on. I know everyone has a different view on this based on there experiances, but for me this just proved to me that most people that talk crap have no idea what the real facts are, and the only people I've had talk crap to me about my bikes were die hard Harley riders.

lol, I do know what you mean, been there, and done that. I love talking to guys like that (if they are sober) I just keep asking them to give me examples to prove there point. In the end, unless they are total jerks, they agree that Harley arn't better, and the biggest reason they ride one is so they can be the one dishing out the crap, instead of the one receiving it.

It all reminds me of a joke I heard years ago, goes something like this, riding a jap bike might be fun, but so is having sex with a fat chick,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,as long as your buddies don't see you doing it.

[919Hooligan]

The saying around here is " Riding a moped is like doing a fat chick; it's a lot of fun until your friends find out"

p.s. no offense to any big girls out there, I for one like a girl with a little meat on her bones

[96FXD]

Originally Posted by 4dtvman

Honda Goldwing is made in the US so how is that a jap bike.

Assembled in the US.

[inspiron]

If a bike is designed and built in the USA by a Japanese company, how can you say if a bike is "Japanese" or "American"? If it is being built in the USA by US workers, then it is providing jobs in the USA.

[4dtvman]

Originally Posted by 96FXD

Assembled in the US.

So HD is Assembled in the US. Right . In 2001 19% of HD was made over seas and only 16 % of goldwing was made over seas.
So get over it and tell me what we all drive that is made in the US 100%.

[inspiron]

Well, I could say something about my ex-wife.

(She was conceived and born in the USA - her parents were German immigrants who returned to Germany when she was about 4 years old).

[Apertureguy]

Oh...so it's our fault?

[Rickster]

OK, now you guys are making me feel bad for using the term "Jap bike", What I should have said is "Metric Bike" Jap bike is an outdated term, and really doesn't apply anymore.

[azkober]

Yep, most everything we sell in this country is made either in China, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan or the Phillipines. Hell, you can't hardly get a customer support hotline that doesn't terminate in India anymore.

We don't build a lot of things in this country anymore. We are now a "service" oriented economy. For the most part, basically we sell fastfood to one another and sell each other the stuff other countries manufacture. Look around you and try to find something that's 100% made in USA.

[96FXD]

Originally Posted by azkober

. We are now a "service" oriented economy. For the most part, basically we sell fastfood to one another and sell each other the stuff other countries manufacture. .

Looks like a bright future.
The United States got to where it is today by manufacturing.

[Stray Bullet]

Love the bikes, belly laugh at the genre.

I have some riding buddys with HD. Don't get me wrong, I love these guys but when they put on their chaps and beanie helmets, I just have to snicker. And the loud pipes on some of them are just plain irritating "Since its not powerful, lets make it sound powerful". Its like putting cards in your bicycle spokes.

But then again, they laugh at me too!

[4dtvman]

Originally Posted by Stray Bullet

Love the bikes, belly laugh at the genre.

I have some riding buddys with HD. Don't get me wrong, I love these guys but when they put on their chaps and beanie helmets, I just have to snicker. And the loud pipes on some of them are just plain irritating "Since its not powerful, lets make it sound powerful". Its like putting cards in your bicycle spokes.

But then again, they laugh at me too!

They shouldn't be laughing at you. With that kind bike you have they should be affarid. I'd love to have one of those but I'm too short. DAM

[scrimmer]

I love HDs! They are some of the nicest looking bikes out there. But myself, I've got a wife, two kids and a mortgage and I do't make 6+ figures a year, so they're just totally out of my reach. The thing that gets me is the people I encounter that say "I won't ride anything if I can't have a Harley!" They don't ride at all! Yet I've got an M50 and ride nearly every day! Go figure.

[TumbleWeed]

Being a member of a HOG forum, I must congratulate this entire list on it's civility. I ride a Harley, but it took me 30 years to get one, and it is my dream bike. I rode a CB650 until the tires fell off (my father-in-law) still has the frame. This same conversation on a HOG thread goes from ignorant to violent and everything in between. Very little resemblance to actual conversation. It is the experience not the bike. I will whole-heartedly agree that there are bikes with better specs and there are bikes much more comfortable and well equipped, but they still do not say Harley-Davidson on the title. Bikes with loud pipes are going to get us all in a fix one of these days with the noise police, likewise sportbike folks that like to do wheelies down the interstate do nothing for our rep either. Black leather jackets and bad attitudes are prevalent on both sides of the street, but at least here it is well done.

[Clint]

Thanks, 'Weed. Good post.

[POE-BOY SAMICH]

[quote=TumbleWeed]I will whole-heartedly agree that there are bikes with better specs and there are bikes much more comfortable and well equipped, but they still do not say Harley-Davidson on the title. QUOTE]

H-D makes a beautiful bike alright, but hey, I'm a motorcycle lover. I've never seen a motorcycle I didn't like at least a little.

What I don't understand about the comment above is why would ANYONE pay up to double/triple the price for a motorcycle just to have "Harley-Davidson on the title". WTF!

If I bought an H-D, and the name on the title is the only thing those EXTRA thousands of dollars is getting me, I've got to question my reasons for getting a motorcycle.