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I've owned a motorcycle for every year of my life from age 15 to 67 and cannot begin to remember them all but the very first was a side shift 51 pan head Harley I bought used in baskets from Russ Winter in Toronto. An ex To police bike that had seen many stop and go miles with painted black spokes and the ugliest colour of cream paint for tank and fenders that I rode with my dad's WWII leather tanker's helmet ala Lee Marvin. A fine memory of that bike was having the Black Diamond riders catch up with me on a ride up old highway 11 (Yonge St.) holler for me to follow them into the only licensed tavern north of Toronto, the Queens Hotel in Bradford and join them for brewskis. Being only 15 at the time you can imagine how badass I felt and not one waiter asked for my I/D while with those guys.....wonder why?
I went through virtually everything out there from an early 128 James two stroke to competing in "Scrambles" on Bultacos and Maicos.
Triumphs came in rapid succession one after the other with first competitive bike for roadracing being a "Triton" I lovingly built up with the Norton featherbed frame, Ciarriani front forks, A Bonneville engine, DeLorto carbs, every internal crankcase surface polished to a mirror finish to aid oil return, polished rods, Dunstal pushrods, drilled and taper profiled cam gears to reduce contact surface of teeth, lighter rocker arms, everything that could be done to make a bonny engine competititve against the popular bikes of the day without having the thing blowing up on me every race, was done to that engine. I had Avon trigonex tires on that thing with Dunstall tuned exhaust and dearly wish I could hear that engine coming down through the gears for turn three at Harewood just once more before I die.
Alas that engine and Harewood are just 60 year old memories now.
Roadrockets I've owned have included among them the venerable Honda 750 when it was first introduced, those deadly Kawi 500 and 750 triples that I would not want to repeat the cornering experience ever again on one of those. Then through a variety of "mature" rider bikes like the Yamaha all black chrome, Midnight Specials that I had in the 1100 version and wife rode the Maxim 650 version - they were sweet running bikes.
Then tried on a Honda Aspencade for a few years to once again arrive on Harley's doorstep to buy a succesion of three of them with the last being a 2002 Ultra FLTCHUI with every option you could buy, including the Zepplin air seat and led spoiler lights for bags and tour pack.
I no longer ride at age 70 but have nothing but admiration for all of the manufacturers who've brought that industry from a 'ride for 4 and fix for 12' to one of change the oil and ride it like you stole it for as long as you own it.
Harley had to go with the twin cams to keep engine width down while increasing displacement. Then I believe the used the spring tension cam followers, (which are used in many automobiles), was the chain drive was quieter than a gear drive is. A manufacturer has to meet all sorts of regulations, emission, noise, safety, etc. Once you take the bike off the showroom floor as manufactured it's on you if you break those regulations. There are places where the cops use sound meters and give out tickets for loud exhaust. They also check the part numbers on mufflers. A lot of after market sellers say, "for race use only", Harley says that for some of their own performance parts.
The sound meter isn't really going to pick up the added noise of a gear drive. After owning Honda's. BMW's (that left me stranded at Sturgis), I'm going to stick to Harleys, mine seem reliable and if I do have a problem it seems there's a dealer close by, which if I'm on a trip is important to me.
That's the loophole for aftermarket exhaust. Race use only. It may be called OHV use only. Not sure. Of course everyone rides it on the street anyway.
Yes, dealers being close by is good for Harley riders. Be careful with the dealerships, though. Many are out to gouge people. I read about one fellow who needed a tire. The other one was in near new condition but the dealership would only replace both.
Only thing I "Hate" about them is the loud muffler. So annoying. And don't say "loud pipes save lives" because helmets do too
I just loved the sound of the Straight Pipes on my '72 Sportster and yes, like it or not, they made me feel very safe. I can remember being in a car's blindspot many a time, when I knew that they knew I was there. Although I would ride with no helmet just once in a while in certain occasions, I used it about 98% of the time. The only negative to the sound was my hearing.
They are terrible bikes. They are slow,plodding, and noisy.I have ridden quite a few so no stranger to them. It is stated that Harleys are a device that convert petrol into noise, I agree with that one.There are many second hand ones on the market here in South Africa at give away prices. Anybody thinking of buying a Harley would be better off buying a Vespa,they are far cheaper to buy and maintain and are more lightly faster too. The fact that few (if any) American motorbike company will not state the HP of their bikes should say something.
That's the loophole for aftermarket exhaust. Race use only. It may be called OHV use only. Not sure. Of course everyone rides it on the street anyway.
Yes, dealers being close by is good for Harley riders. Be careful with the dealerships, though. Many are out to gouge people. I read about one fellow who needed a tire. The other one was in near new condition but the dealership would only replace both.
They are terrible bikes. They are slow,plodding, and noisy.I have ridden quite a few so no stranger to them. It is stated that Harleys are a device that convert petrol into noise, I agree with that one.There are many second hand ones on the market here in South Africa at give away prices. Anybody thinking of buying a Harley would be better off buying a Vespa,they are far cheaper to buy and maintain and are more lightly faster too. The fact that few (if any) American motorbike company will not state the HP of their bikes should say something.
here in the states Harleys are not cheaper than Vespa scooters, nor are they slower than Vespa scooters.
I suspect the available products and resale market is similar there
are you sure you are not exaggerating? maybe just a little bit
everyone has their favorite brands and clearly Harley is not yours but to say they are cheaper and slower than a beach scooter is ridiculous
they will not out perform sport bikes, they don't make sport bikes, it's not their market but when compared to something similar like a competing "Cruiser type" bike they compare favorably
here in the US the "cruiser style bikes from the "big 4" in japan are referred to as "Metric Cruisers"
both get 42mpg, 0-60mph is almost identical as is 1/4mi and top speed... and HD warranty is better
the Raider is slightly faster, and handles a little bit better but still cannot escape it's fast depreciation
Metric cruisers used to be about 1/2 the price of the comparable Harley, but recently have raised their prices due to a weak Yen and Strong Dollar....they are about the same price now, yet still depreciate much faster
are they more reliable?... they used to be but HD has modernized to the point where they are comparable now.... not sure where your Vespa Scooter ranks in reliability and performance, but I suspect well below Harley-Davidson
Harley makes a good product, which is the reason for their worldwide success. Are there better motorcycles out there? probably...... but certainly not anything made by Vespa
Last edited by azsportpilot; 02-25-2016 at 11:01 AM..
Metric cruisers used to be about 1/2 the price of the comparable Harley, but recently have raised their prices due to a weak Yen and Strong Dollar....they are about the same price now, yet still depreciate much faster
are they more reliable?... they used to be but HD has modernized to the point where they are comparable now.... not sure where your Vespa Scooter ranks in reliability and performance, but I suspect well below Harley-Davidson
I thought the strong dollar means an American's dollar buys more.
The EVO era Harleys were very reliable. I know there were some problems with the initial twin-cams but heard they got sorted out...From what I read, I acquired the impression the "big-twins" of the past few years fell a bit in terms of reliability.
I would consider a Harley if it had enough cornering clearance for me. None of the new models do.
I thought the strong dollar means an American's dollar buys more.
The EVO era Harleys were very reliable. I know there were some problems with the initial twin-cams but heard they got sorted out...From what I read, I acquired the impression the "big-twins" of the past few years fell a bit in terms of reliability.
I would consider a Harley if it had enough cornering clearance for me. None of the new models do.
i have a 2004 HD with the early "Twin-Cam" design, later versions are better but I have not had a problem
it's 12 years old and over 35,000 miles, so far nothing but routing maintenance at the published intervals
but it does have a shortage of cornering clearance as all harleys do (except maybe the XR1200X) even then.... not a "Crotch-Rocket"
It's good to hear your twin-cam has been reliable.
In addition to the XR1200X, there was the 1200S (made before '04). It had good cornering clearance and traditional Harley styling as well. The FXR model had good cornering clearance, but they don't make it anymore. I don't recall how many degrees of lean angle the FXR models had. I know it's more than any of the current Dynas, though.
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