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It's the design that attracts people. I ride a RoadKing, it has the traditional lines of a police biker from the 60's. In a lot of ways the engine is simple, parts are readily available it your halfway around the countryAa dealer. I had a couple of BMW's and could tell the horror story I had with them, It's a cruiser ride, nice sweeping curves on 2 lanes, not really for racing through deals gap.
They hold there value, better than many other motorcycles.
I could ride longer on my bmw 1200llt, but I had it towed (past 2 Harley dealers) back to the dealer that sold it. A third time it broke down on my across the country, the part wasn't available, it was a couple months out of warranty and BMW wouldn't make good on it. Although it was a problem that was an issue. I rented a truck, brought it back home to a dealer, they repaired it, strored it and I sold it on consignment. That experience sort of soured me on "german engineering".
There attitude seemed to be, "Vhat, vee haf no prroblems vith the final drives." The next Iron butt run I think 5 of the beemers did not finish because of final drive problems.
It's the design that attracts people. I ride a RoadKing, it has the traditional lines of a police biker from the 60's. In a lot of ways the engine is simple, parts are readily available it your halfway around the countryAa dealer. I had a couple of BMW's and could tell the horror story I had with them, It's a cruiser ride, nice sweeping curves on 2 lanes, not really for racing through deals gap.
They hold there value, better than many other motorcycles.
I could ride longer on my bmw 1200llt, but I had it towed (past 2 Harley dealers) back to the dealer that sold it. A third time it broke down on my across the country, the part wasn't available, it was a couple months out of warranty and BMW wouldn't make good on it. Although it was a problem that was an issue. I rented a truck, brought it back home to a dealer, they repaired it, strored it and I sold it on consignment. That experience sort of soured me on "german engineering".
There attitude seemed to be, "Vhat, vee haf no prroblems vith the final drives." The next Iron butt run I think 5 of the beemers did not finish because of final drive problems.
Totally agree. The IBA Rally really sorts them out. The only people more deluded than the HD faithful are the BMW Disciples.
I think it has to be that once you spend more than the price of a decent car on a bike, you really need to work on your justification.
I used to own a Yamaha, great bike, now I own a Dyna and even though its more finikie than my Yamaha I still like the thump thump and history of the company. For other HD owners what do you like about HD?
there are alot of things I like about my Harley, but if I had to narrow it down to one thing:
Residual Value.... They depreciate more slowly than any other brand
Just go on KBB... plug in any 5 year old honda, kawi, suzuki, Yamaha, star, BMW, Indian, Victory or whatever you can think of
compare the original MSRP vs the Current value 5 years later... then calculate % lost
then try it with any Harley model available....... the Harley always comes out on top
well, plus they are fun, reliable (really they are these days) and comfortable
I am not partial to any one brand of bike. I have owned honda prior to my 2 Harley's I own now. I enjoy cruiser style bikes the most (but love many, many types of bikes) and for my type of riding (Touring), the Harley touring line fulfills my needs the best. Ample accessories. Large dealer network. Functional bike.
That being said, I know there are others that maybe do many aspects better, but not for me.
On my list of bikes for touring though will be:
FJR1300
BMW R1200RT
BMW R1200GS
Indian
Other bikes considered for non-touring..... ALL OF THEM
I have never owned a HD and probably never will. I see too many of them parked on the side of the road being fussed over because it stopped for some reason.
Anyone considering a HD should do themselves a favor and get a test ride on one the new Polaris Indians (not the Gilroy S&S bikes).
Traditional lines, built in the US, might be a bit more expensive right now because there are no used ones available, but having ridden both I am actually impressed with the Indians. Victory isn't bad but I didn't find them better than a HD.
I once rented a GeezerGlide in Vegas and found that it became unpleasantly hot, pinged, sounded awful. And then at Sturgis this year one ofthe Indian reps took a Chief on a 100+mph dyno run, then reached down and laid his hand on the head of the engine, it was warm but didn't burn him. Obviously Polaris has the cooling worked out nicely. No 20w-50 oil in that motor!
Wow, alot of misinformation about Harleys in this thread.......not unusual though.
Most people who have to ask what the attraction is about Harleys over other bikes have never ridden a Harley.
How about trying that first before spewing the same old tired stereotypes on the Internet?
Nah......Where's the fun in that lol.
Been there, done that. I did like the engine of the V-Rod but the ergonomics of the bike were barely ridable. The other bikes were simply not competitive in any way with any other bike.
If you want an America cruiser, buy the new Indian Chief or Raodmaster. They are awesome.
Been there, done that. I did like the engine of the V-Rod but the ergonomics of the bike were barely ridable. The other bikes were simply not competitive in any way with any other bike.
If you want an America cruiser, buy the new Indian Chief or Raodmaster. They are awesome.
The new Indians are the only cruiser/touring bikes that I would consider over a Harley.
I've ridden the Chief Vintage and the Chieftain very nice bikes with lots of personality. Personality is important to me in a bike, I've ridden some very nice looking, very reliable and very fast bikes that had all the personality of a wet noodle. Say what you want about Harleys, but for the most part they have no shortage of personality.
Even Victory's are nice but they just feel a little too "metric" to me. Not that I have any problem with metric bikes per se, I've owned a few myself.
But the metric cruisers and wannabe Harleys leave me flat, with a few notable exceptions like the Kawasaki Vulcan Vaquero.
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