Does anyone at all here like Harleys?
Discussion
NMNeil said:
Euro5 doesn't apply to the US or Canada which is the main sales target for Harley. It was killed of due to lack of sales.
But the question is; is it still a Harley as it's not an air cooled V twin?
They went down the rebadging route with the Aermacchi, and this was met with disdainful cries of, "A 2 stroke Harley!!!!"
It's like asking, is it still a Rolls Royce if it has a BMW engine?
The first Aermacchi-HDs were 4-strokes. I'd happily find garage space for a short track Sprint - but with brakes.But the question is; is it still a Harley as it's not an air cooled V twin?
They went down the rebadging route with the Aermacchi, and this was met with disdainful cries of, "A 2 stroke Harley!!!!"
It's like asking, is it still a Rolls Royce if it has a BMW engine?
The 2-strokes were actually crap even when they were Aermacchis.
The SS250 my brother briefly owned was the joint most vibratory motorcycle I've ever ridden.NMNeil said:
bogie said:
Perhaps you mean the original VRSCA from 2002 to 2006? there were many subsequent versions of the V-Rod and it was in production from 2002 to 2017 when euro5 killed it off. The new liquid cooled HD engine in the Pan American looks pretty good with 150bhp, the most powerful production HD. The new naked they plan with that engine could be decent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_VRSC
Euro5 doesn't apply to the US or Canada which is the main sales target for Harley. It was killed of due to lack of sales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_VRSC
But the question is; is it still a Harley as it's not an air cooled V twin?
They went down the rebadging route with the Aermacchi, and this was met with disdainful cries of, "A 2 stroke Harley!!!!"
It's like asking, is it still a Rolls Royce if it has a BMW engine?
I guess to most HD traditionalists in USA a Harley has to be air-cooled, and I think they still have over 50% market share of big bike sales in USA even after losing some share to Indian.
I have had a V-Rod for 9 years, but I didnt buy it because it was a HD, I bought it because I liked the style of it.
NMNeil said:
bogie said:
Perhaps you mean the original VRSCA from 2002 to 2006? there were many subsequent versions of the V-Rod and it was in production from 2002 to 2017 when euro5 killed it off. The new liquid cooled HD engine in the Pan American looks pretty good with 150bhp, the most powerful production HD. The new naked they plan with that engine could be decent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_VRSC
Euro5 doesn't apply to the US or Canada which is the main sales target for Harley. It was killed of due to lack of sales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_VRSC
But the question is; is it still a Harley as it's not an air cooled V twin?
They went down the rebadging route with the Aermacchi, and this was met with disdainful cries of, "A 2 stroke Harley!!!!"
It's like asking, is it still a Rolls Royce if it has a BMW engine?
Edited by bimsb6 on Saturday 29th May 18:49
Bob_Defly said:
1. Harley riders never wave back to any other bikers, only to Harley riders.
Why do bikers have to even consider waving/nodding at other bikers? They’re just some randommer out on a bike - they might be a complete w
ker. In fact - they might be the lowest of the low, a bike thief. Why would I want to be their friend? I’d rather smash their hands flat with a lump hammer. Back to HD - I’m with the bloke up there about the ride outs and chapters, branded clothing. Cringe. They look pretty good in the US, but here they look ridiculous. My 2p.
Dog Star said:
Bob_Defly said:
1. Harley riders never wave back to any other bikers, only to Harley riders.
Why do bikers have to even consider waving/nodding at other bikers? They’re just some randommer out on a bike - they might be a complete wker. In fact - they might be the lowest of the low, a bike thief. Why would I want to be their friend? I’d rather smash their hands flat with a lump hammer. Back to HD - I’m with the bloke up there about the ride outs and chapters, branded clothing. Cringe. They look pretty good in the US, but here they look ridiculous. My 2p.
bimsb6 said:
Dog Star said:
Bob_Defly said:
1. Harley riders never wave back to any other bikers, only to Harley riders.
Why do bikers have to even consider waving/nodding at other bikers? They’re just some randommer out on a bike - they might be a complete wker. In fact - they might be the lowest of the low, a bike thief. Why would I want to be their friend? I’d rather smash their hands flat with a lump hammer. Back to HD - I’m with the bloke up there about the ride outs and chapters, branded clothing. Cringe. They look pretty good in the US, but here they look ridiculous. My 2p.
My biking antics began in the late 70s with RD Yamahas, so I hated lardy Harleys - they just seemed like 2 wheeled tractors to me!
Circumstances meant I didn't have bikes again until the late 90s and I went back to mostly 2 strokes. A KH500, RG250 and RD400C plus a scruffy XJ550 for commuting. Still didn't like Harleys!
I've been bikeless for the last 10 years because splitting up with Mrs Tidy meant I haven't had a garage, but I still hated Harleys.
I love some exhaust noise, like from a 2-stroke with spannies or something like a Z900 with a Piper 4 into 1, but Harleys seem to have no limit to how loud they are even though they still sound like some sort of 1950s farm implement - just with a knackered exhaust now!
So I still hate them, but I'm sure plenty of people like them!
Still it's their choice so good luck to them - just so long as they don't spoil my lie-in with noise pollution.
Circumstances meant I didn't have bikes again until the late 90s and I went back to mostly 2 strokes. A KH500, RG250 and RD400C plus a scruffy XJ550 for commuting. Still didn't like Harleys!
I've been bikeless for the last 10 years because splitting up with Mrs Tidy meant I haven't had a garage, but I still hated Harleys.
I love some exhaust noise, like from a 2-stroke with spannies or something like a Z900 with a Piper 4 into 1, but Harleys seem to have no limit to how loud they are even though they still sound like some sort of 1950s farm implement - just with a knackered exhaust now!
So I still hate them, but I'm sure plenty of people like them!
Still it's their choice so good luck to them - just so long as they don't spoil my lie-in with noise pollution.
I'm a Harley rider in as much as I like cruisers, and Harley's have always worked out way cheaper for me to insure than comparative models from Indian or Triumph. I grew up on scramblers and nakeds, but I always wanted a proper crusier as they have just always appealed to me in ways that sports bikes never have. I can appreciate a good looking supersports, but it just isn't for me.
I do about 20K miles commuting through the year and need something that will easily chew through those (mostly) motorway miles in comfort and leave me able to function at either end for the journey - as such the HD Sportster has always worked out a sensible option for me. I ride all year, so generally my bikes stay rather filthy for much of the year (hence the username). I prefer the chrome look but the blacked out appeals to me too, I've always bought based upon what is available when I was looking and so far ended up with chrome. I'm also a tiny bit concerned that the blacked out would end up looking tatty very quickly if not kept ontop of, chrome at least cleans up nicely 99% of the time.
I was riding about on an old fairly duffed up 883 that I got for £3,250 due to its 30k on the clock and overall pretty naff condition - after a few years of commuting and putting on about 120K of it its miles it experienced a bottom end failure (oooh err mrs!) around the 150K mile mark that made it uneconomical to repair, so I managed to sell it on as spares for £2,500.
I then bought a 1200T from a HD dealer that was on less than 1k miles for £7,500 that I did a stage one upgrade and a couple of other minor bits to. The 4.5gal fuel tank is a big boost over my old 883. I've now hit 30K miles on that after nearly two years ownership, other than having a niggling electrical issue with an aftermarket fuel gauge(!) the only real issue I have had is having to replace the clutch plates with a performance kit - although that is probably a combination of the miles I do and that I ride pretty aggressively with speedy starts off lights, some fairly quick making of progress on the motorway, and some tight peg dragging in corners. Oh, and I do filter at a good pace too as otherwise I'd get bloody nowhere the last few miles getting into London!
I would love to have a softail instead of the sportster but the reality being is that it wouldn't cut it for my commute as it would be too wide to fit some of the narrow filtering I have to do daily, nor would it fit through my garden gate to be securly parked.
In a perfect world I'd love to be in a financial position to own more than one bike, and would look at either a Bonneville or a Mugabe Twin as a weekend plaything/occasional commuter. But right now, I'll stick with my Sportster and enjoy riding it nearly every day, even in the pissing rain and ice!
Oh and I don't really fall into the typical "Harley Rider" camp - I'll nod at everyone (except deliveroo types or mopeds being ridden in cockwomble ways) and don't do any of the group rides or 'born to fart, fart to live' crap that is associated with HD's, I am also in my mid 30's and have been on HD's since my eary 20's - so I don't match the fat mid-life crisis category either. neither do I wear tassles, leather arseless chaps (are there any other kind!!?), or pisspot helmet. To each their own on what they ride and all that.
I do about 20K miles commuting through the year and need something that will easily chew through those (mostly) motorway miles in comfort and leave me able to function at either end for the journey - as such the HD Sportster has always worked out a sensible option for me. I ride all year, so generally my bikes stay rather filthy for much of the year (hence the username). I prefer the chrome look but the blacked out appeals to me too, I've always bought based upon what is available when I was looking and so far ended up with chrome. I'm also a tiny bit concerned that the blacked out would end up looking tatty very quickly if not kept ontop of, chrome at least cleans up nicely 99% of the time.
I was riding about on an old fairly duffed up 883 that I got for £3,250 due to its 30k on the clock and overall pretty naff condition - after a few years of commuting and putting on about 120K of it its miles it experienced a bottom end failure (oooh err mrs!) around the 150K mile mark that made it uneconomical to repair, so I managed to sell it on as spares for £2,500.
I then bought a 1200T from a HD dealer that was on less than 1k miles for £7,500 that I did a stage one upgrade and a couple of other minor bits to. The 4.5gal fuel tank is a big boost over my old 883. I've now hit 30K miles on that after nearly two years ownership, other than having a niggling electrical issue with an aftermarket fuel gauge(!) the only real issue I have had is having to replace the clutch plates with a performance kit - although that is probably a combination of the miles I do and that I ride pretty aggressively with speedy starts off lights, some fairly quick making of progress on the motorway, and some tight peg dragging in corners. Oh, and I do filter at a good pace too as otherwise I'd get bloody nowhere the last few miles getting into London!
I would love to have a softail instead of the sportster but the reality being is that it wouldn't cut it for my commute as it would be too wide to fit some of the narrow filtering I have to do daily, nor would it fit through my garden gate to be securly parked.
In a perfect world I'd love to be in a financial position to own more than one bike, and would look at either a Bonneville or a Mugabe Twin as a weekend plaything/occasional commuter. But right now, I'll stick with my Sportster and enjoy riding it nearly every day, even in the pissing rain and ice!
Oh and I don't really fall into the typical "Harley Rider" camp - I'll nod at everyone (except deliveroo types or mopeds being ridden in cockwomble ways) and don't do any of the group rides or 'born to fart, fart to live' crap that is associated with HD's, I am also in my mid 30's and have been on HD's since my eary 20's - so I don't match the fat mid-life crisis category either. neither do I wear tassles, leather arseless chaps (are there any other kind!!?), or pisspot helmet. To each their own on what they ride and all that.
DirtyHarley said:
I'm a Harley rider in as much as I like cruisers, and Harley's have always worked out way cheaper for me to insure than comparative models from Indian or Triumph. I grew up on scramblers and nakeds, but I always wanted a proper crusier as they have just always appealed to me in ways that sports bikes never have. I can appreciate a good looking supersports, but it just isn't for me.
I do about 20K miles commuting through the year and need something that will easily chew through those (mostly) motorway miles in comfort and leave me able to function at either end for the journey - as such the HD Sportster has always worked out a sensible option for me. I ride all year, so generally my bikes stay rather filthy for much of the year (hence the username). I prefer the chrome look but the blacked out appeals to me too, I've always bought based upon what is available when I was looking and so far ended up with chrome. I'm also a tiny bit concerned that the blacked out would end up looking tatty very quickly if not kept ontop of, chrome at least cleans up nicely 99% of the time.
I was riding about on an old fairly duffed up 883 that I got for £3,250 due to its 30k on the clock and overall pretty naff condition - after a few years of commuting and putting on about 120K of it its miles it experienced a bottom end failure (oooh err mrs!) around the 150K mile mark that made it uneconomical to repair, so I managed to sell it on as spares for £2,500.
I then bought a 1200T from a HD dealer that was on less than 1k miles for £7,500 that I did a stage one upgrade and a couple of other minor bits to. The 4.5gal fuel tank is a big boost over my old 883. I've now hit 30K miles on that after nearly two years ownership, other than having a niggling electrical issue with an aftermarket fuel gauge(!) the only real issue I have had is having to replace the clutch plates with a performance kit - although that is probably a combination of the miles I do and that I ride pretty aggressively with speedy starts off lights, some fairly quick making of progress on the motorway, and some tight peg dragging in corners. Oh, and I do filter at a good pace too as otherwise I'd get bloody nowhere the last few miles getting into London!
I would love to have a softail instead of the sportster but the reality being is that it wouldn't cut it for my commute as it would be too wide to fit some of the narrow filtering I have to do daily, nor would it fit through my garden gate to be securly parked.
In a perfect world I'd love to be in a financial position to own more than one bike, and would look at either a Bonneville or a Mugabe Twin as a weekend plaything/occasional commuter. But right now, I'll stick with my Sportster and enjoy riding it nearly every day, even in the pissing rain and ice!
Oh and I don't really fall into the typical "Harley Rider" camp - I'll nod at everyone (except deliveroo types or mopeds being ridden in cockwomble ways) and don't do any of the group rides or 'born to fart, fart to live' crap that is associated with HD's, I am also in my mid 30's and have been on HD's since my eary 20's - so I don't match the fat mid-life crisis category either. neither do I wear tassles, leather arseless chaps (are there any other kind!!?), or pisspot helmet. To each their own on what they ride and all that.
I was looking forward to your post on this thread. I do about 20K miles commuting through the year and need something that will easily chew through those (mostly) motorway miles in comfort and leave me able to function at either end for the journey - as such the HD Sportster has always worked out a sensible option for me. I ride all year, so generally my bikes stay rather filthy for much of the year (hence the username). I prefer the chrome look but the blacked out appeals to me too, I've always bought based upon what is available when I was looking and so far ended up with chrome. I'm also a tiny bit concerned that the blacked out would end up looking tatty very quickly if not kept ontop of, chrome at least cleans up nicely 99% of the time.
I was riding about on an old fairly duffed up 883 that I got for £3,250 due to its 30k on the clock and overall pretty naff condition - after a few years of commuting and putting on about 120K of it its miles it experienced a bottom end failure (oooh err mrs!) around the 150K mile mark that made it uneconomical to repair, so I managed to sell it on as spares for £2,500.
I then bought a 1200T from a HD dealer that was on less than 1k miles for £7,500 that I did a stage one upgrade and a couple of other minor bits to. The 4.5gal fuel tank is a big boost over my old 883. I've now hit 30K miles on that after nearly two years ownership, other than having a niggling electrical issue with an aftermarket fuel gauge(!) the only real issue I have had is having to replace the clutch plates with a performance kit - although that is probably a combination of the miles I do and that I ride pretty aggressively with speedy starts off lights, some fairly quick making of progress on the motorway, and some tight peg dragging in corners. Oh, and I do filter at a good pace too as otherwise I'd get bloody nowhere the last few miles getting into London!
I would love to have a softail instead of the sportster but the reality being is that it wouldn't cut it for my commute as it would be too wide to fit some of the narrow filtering I have to do daily, nor would it fit through my garden gate to be securly parked.
In a perfect world I'd love to be in a financial position to own more than one bike, and would look at either a Bonneville or a Mugabe Twin as a weekend plaything/occasional commuter. But right now, I'll stick with my Sportster and enjoy riding it nearly every day, even in the pissing rain and ice!
Oh and I don't really fall into the typical "Harley Rider" camp - I'll nod at everyone (except deliveroo types or mopeds being ridden in cockwomble ways) and don't do any of the group rides or 'born to fart, fart to live' crap that is associated with HD's, I am also in my mid 30's and have been on HD's since my eary 20's - so I don't match the fat mid-life crisis category either. neither do I wear tassles, leather arseless chaps (are there any other kind!!?), or pisspot helmet. To each their own on what they ride and all that.
150k miles is more than most bikers will do in their lives.So in essence you find them comfy, reliable and do the job you ask of them well whilst enjoying how they look and feel? Sounds like damn fine value too.
LordFlathead said:
TimmyWimmyWoo said:
I did 1300 miles on a Harley last year. Loved it.
Excellent! How are you finding it and what is the real range? I bought a Tesla in December and now seriously looking at an EV bike It'll do about 100-110 miles of B road riding to a charge, or about 70 on the motorway – constant 70mph speed kills the range, so you end up cruising at 60mph to prolong it a bit. It takes about 1hr 15 to charge from 10% to full, on a 50kW charger. No point going for faster chargers because I think the bike maxes out at less than 50kW…
TimmyWimmyWoo said:
LordFlathead said:
TimmyWimmyWoo said:
I did 1300 miles on a Harley last year. Loved it.
Excellent! How are you finding it and what is the real range? I bought a Tesla in December and now seriously looking at an EV bike It'll do about 100-110 miles of B road riding to a charge, or about 70 on the motorway – constant 70mph speed kills the range, so you end up cruising at 60mph to prolong it a bit. It takes about 1hr 15 to charge from 10% to full, on a 50kW charger. No point going for faster chargers because I think the bike maxes out at less than 50kW…
I'm in talks with Lightning in the US about setting up a small dealership in the UK. It is moving really slowly due to the current state of world affairs. I keep on re-evaluating the opportunity as these will "be a thing" once the charging speed and range is addressed. I'm not too fussed about the weight aspect, having owned Goldwings and Pans, ZZR's you just get used to it. I love the tranquillity, the torque and even the motor noise once you understand it.
Going back to the Livewire, it really needs to lose £10k off the price to become competitive. At £30k the kids can't afford it and old-'uns don't want it so they have missed a trick. These will become very collectable as first editions going forwards.
jason61c said:
LordFlathead said:
Excellent! How are you finding it and what is the real range? I bought a Tesla in December and now seriously looking at an EV bike
I’ve no idea why anyone would want an ev bike unless it was a little scooter.Petrol bikes, even big ones, are already very economical. EV bikes not only look pants and unbalanced to the eye, but are heavy and a 1 speed, totally silent motorcycle really makes me want to get ready for a day out in the bends or on the track. Well, as much as a trip to my dentist does, anyway!
Versus a 1900cc Harley, 1300cc Ducati twin or 1000cc R1 going up through the gears? No contest. But i guess we already did the EV petrol thread!
LordFlathead said:
Going back to the Livewire, it really needs to lose £10k off the price to become competitive. At £30k the kids can't afford it and old-'uns don't want it so they have missed a trick. These will become very collectable as first editions going forwards.
No they won't, it's not like an NA engine. Nobody wants old battery tech, it becomes unserviceable.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff