Topic: Harley and Davidson

[ekpent]

 Hmm - rode my 750 into Perry's HD in Kalamazoo once, Michigan's oldest HD dealership and was welcomed with open arms. One of the mechanics gave me a tour of their new dealership and the service area in the rear and pictures of his old CB750 he had hanging in his work area. They host a lot of charity rides etc. and do good things. Sure some are better than others. One thing I have learned is a lot of these hardcore biker types cut their teeth when they were young whippersnappers on some Jap iron.  http://www.perryharley-davidson.com/learn-about-us--info

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, you reminded me of something that happened when I was working on my first K0 Eric. I bought it from a member in the US, and it was more K1 than K0. He'd bought a minty diecast K0, removed all the shiny parts and fitted them to a sandcast that he'd dragged out of a swamp somewhere, and sold the (now shiny) sandcast to another member. I got the rest.

Anyway, I bought a set of proper K0 carbs from another member here, and needed throttle cables. I saw a set on ebay, did the buy it now, and dropped around to collect them, as it turned out, from the Fawkner clubhouse of the Rebels MC.

I must admit I was in two minds of walking in there, but the seller saw me coming and came out to greet me, we had a good yack, and he was really stoked that I was restoring a K0, he had one he'd restored and was selling all of his leftover parts. Like you said, he told me that he'd had 750/4's "Back in the day", before he could afford his first Harley.

My wife and kids were out in the car so I had to keep going, because he invited me in for a beer or ten. Sometimes the nicest people you meet aren't on Honda's, but they still have one hidden in the shadowy recesses of their garage..........    

[Lostboy Steve]

It makes you a hater Steve? Hmmnn, maybe I don't want to see it after all.....

Lol I guess I should explain. The Harley's of the 2000s and 2010s just seem to be reaching for something that isn't there. To see what these guys built, the excitement and happiness it brought them... I feel like Polaris is doing a better job of that these days. The whole "street" lineup and even the new more sporty sportster, that's not what people want. Then there's the guy who buys a vrod because he wants a Harley, but the performance of a European bike. He's never the cool guy in a crowd of other twins. If they want to build a beginner bike like the street lineups, build a bobbed looking single cylinder thing. Kind of like a blast engine. Then all the hipsters with their tight pants can have a brand new bike to ride. Harley got one thing right in the last 20 years and that's because it's mostly unchanged, the sportster. Btw, not to rant, but the new road king, which has always been my favorite bike, looks ridiculous... In a bad way. I'm not hating. I love Harley's, I love all things powered by an internal combustion engine (except for a few). It was a good show. They shat on ford pretty nicely lol.

[BomberMann650]

Speaking of Ford -

Anyone else notice how the model a's and t's had the same sound effect as the bikes?

[kslrr]

I'm really diggin what I've seen of Harley and the Davidsons so far.

Really action packed, drama, and plenty of drinkin.

But somethin about the sound effects.  It comes across as another generic motorcycle sound ala walking deads cb750 "noise".

I was really hoping to hear the distinct brappapapapabraaap pop that I remember hearing at the antinque shows.

Yea, I also noticed the wrong sound in some of the race sequences: almost like a high revving multi-cylinder instead of singles and twins.  On the plus side, I read how they actually reproduced most of the bikes from original blue-prints using modern materials like aluminum instead of cast iron for the F-Heads.  Over all I did like the series since I have both '70's to '80's metric bikes and an '04 Sportster.

[Bailgang]

Hmm - rode my 750 into Perry's HD in Kalamazoo once, Michigan's oldest HD dealership and was welcomed with open arms. One of the mechanics gave me a tour of their new dealership and the service area in the rear and pictures of his old CB750 he had hanging in his work area. They host a lot of charity rides etc. and do good things. Sure some are better than others. One thing I have learned is a lot of these hardcore biker types cut their teeth when they were young whippersnappers on some Jap iron.  http://www.perryharley-davidson.com/learn-about-us--info

My wife and I went on a charity bike cruise years ago on my F2 and we were surrounded by HD's, a few metric cruisers and a couple sportbikes but otherwise all HD's and nobody gave me problems. During the ride we ran into rain so my shirt got soaked and we ended up at an HD dealership in Wabash Indiana and I swear this was the biggest bike dealership I've yet to go to I mean the showroom was huge and full of HD's. Well anyhow I had to change shirts and the extra shirt I brought along just happened to have the word "HONDA" in bold letters on it and here I am wearing it in a huge HD dealership in the midst of a multitude of HD owners. Everyone was cool and nobody gave me any attitude.

[bear]

It makes you a hater Steve? Hmmnn, maybe I don't want to see it after all.....

 Btw, not to rant, but the new road king, which has always been my favorite bike, looks ridiculous...

I brought the first Road King on the floor at Peter Stevens back in 1994. "The Lovely Evelyn" didn't like ridding with me on any of my jap bikes but decided she would be happy on the back of the FLHR, it didn't look too fast apparently.
I was sold when the sales man told me you could fit a slab of cans and a bag of ice in each pannier. 
It's sitting in the shed now, long after the rest have gone,  with 175000K on the clock.
Never had the the head of it.

Cheers,
Brian

[Lostboy Steve]

It makes you a hater Steve? Hmmnn, maybe I don't want to see it after all.....

 Btw, not to rant, but the new road king, which has always been my favorite bike, looks ridiculous...

I brought the first Road King on the floor at Peter Stevens back in 1994. "The Lovely Evelyn" didn't like ridding with me on any of my jap bikes but decided she would be happy on the back of the FLHR, it didn't look too fast apparently.
I was sold when the sales man told me you could fit a slab of cans and a bag of ice in each pannier. 
It's sitting in the shed now, long after the rest have gone,  with 175000K on the clock.
Never had the the head of it.

Cheers,
Brian

My uncle ordered his back in 95. Back when there was a waiting list. Great bikes!

[Lostboy Steve]

And here's the 2017 for comparison.

[scrapvalue]

And here's the 2017 for comparison.

And from the reports I have seen, It's as smooth as a Honda!

[74cb750]

Hmm - rode my 750 into Perry's HD in Kalamazoo once, Michigan's oldest HD dealership and was welcomed with open arms. One of the mechanics gave me a tour of their new dealership and the service area in the rear and pictures of his old CB750 he had hanging in his work area. They host a lot of charity rides etc. and do good things. Sure some are better than others. One thing I have learned is a lot of these hardcore biker types cut their teeth when they were young whippersnappers on some Jap iron.  http://www.perryharley-davidson.com/learn-about-us--info

My wife and I went on a charity bike cruise years ago on my F2 and we were surrounded by HD's, a few metric cruisers and a couple sportbikes but otherwise all HD's and nobody gave me problems. During the ride we ran into rain so my shirt got soaked and we ended up at an HD dealership in Wabash Indiana and I swear this was the biggest bike dealership I've yet to go to I mean the showroom was huge and full of HD's. Well anyhow I had to change shirts and the extra shirt I brought along just happened to have the word "HONDA" in bold letters on it and here I am wearing it in a huge HD dealership in the midst of a multitude of HD owners. Everyone was cool and nobody gave me any attitude.

Last charity run my wife and I went on I drove my 1974 CB550 and was the only Japanese bike, all others were HD's.  We were made to feel uncomfortable with all the negative comments on my Jap bike.
Maybe it is a New England thing, where all HD riders around here look down on you if youi don't fit in their definition of a Real Biker.
michel

[dhall57]

A while back I was on one of my 750's getting gas and a half dozen Harleys pulled in and the next thing I know several of them were checking out my CB and saying nothing but good things about

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I'm starting to think everyone just hates Michel.......... (but I still like you mate, even if you only ride a 550.......)

[grcamna2]

Hmm - rode my 750 into Perry's HD in Kalamazoo once, Michigan's oldest HD dealership and was welcomed with open arms. One of the mechanics gave me a tour of their new dealership and the service area in the rear and pictures of his old CB750 he had hanging in his work area. They host a lot of charity rides etc. and do good things. Sure some are better than others. One thing I have learned is a lot of these hardcore biker types cut their teeth when they were young whippersnappers on some Jap iron.  http://www.perryharley-davidson.com/learn-about-us--info

My wife and I went on a charity bike cruise years ago on my F2 and we were surrounded by HD's, a few metric cruisers and a couple sportbikes but otherwise all HD's and nobody gave me problems. During the ride we ran into rain so my shirt got soaked and we ended up at an HD dealership in Wabash Indiana and I swear this was the biggest bike dealership I've yet to go to I mean the showroom was huge and full of HD's. Well anyhow I had to change shirts and the extra shirt I brought along just happened to have the word "HONDA" in bold letters on it and here I am wearing it in a huge HD dealership in the midst of a multitude of HD owners. Everyone was cool and nobody gave me any attitude.

Last charity run my wife and I went on I drove my 1974 CB550 and was the only Japanese bike, all others were HD's.  We were made to feel uncomfortable with all the negative comments on my Jap bike.
Maybe it is a New England thing, where all HD riders around here look down on you if youi don't fit in their definition of a Real Biker.
michel

I think it is a New England thing.
I got that crap too starting in the 70's and on through and I was brought up in CT. and now I live in PA. and it's the same stuff. They say "why don't you get a 'Real' motorcycle"... they said I was riding something they called 'Jap junk' or 'rice burner'  Like what was said in an earlier post,these Harley riders all started out riding Japanese bikes.

[Lostboy Steve]

And here's the 2017 for comparison.

And from the reports I have seen, It's as smooth as a Honda!

Yeah I heard that after 113 years the clunky shifting has been fixed.

[JBMorse]

I thought this thread would be about a joke about what kinds of motorcycle you have. "Both kinds, Harley and Davidson..."
Definitely not my cuppa but I like old bikes and history so I'll look for this program if it makes it to Netflix or something.

[grcamna2]

I thought this thread would be about a joke about what kinds of motorcycle you have. "Both kinds, Harley and Davidson..."
Definitely not my cuppa but I like old bikes and history so I'll look for this program if it makes it to Netflix or something.

How about 'Harley Davidson and the Marlboro man'  it was a movie.

[Terry in Australia]

I think it is a New England thing.
I got that crap too starting in the 70's and on through and I was brought up in CT. and now I live in PA. and it's the same stuff. They say "why don't you get a 'Real' motorcycle"... they said I was riding something they called 'Jap junk' or 'rice burner'  Like what was said in an earlier post,these Harley riders all started out riding Japanese bikes.

It's more than that mate, it goes back to WW2. My father absolutely hated the Japanese, so when I brought home my shiny new CB750 in 1978, he took one look at it and said, "The best thing to ever come out of Japan was a mushroom cloud".

You can call that bigoted, or racist, or whatever, but his generation fought them in the pacific theatre, and unlike the Germans, they absolutely hated the Japanese because of the atrocities that the Japs carried out against them and the civilian population, and those guys influenced the next generation (my generation) into also hating the Japanese.

Not all of my generation were brought up on Japanese bikes, there were plenty of BSA Bantams to learn on, then BSA's, Norton's, Triumph's and Harleys to ride, so several of my friends have never ridden a Jap bike, nor do they want to. Even though we're all friends again now, you don't have to go back too far to understand the dislike of all things Japanese.

[Lostboy Steve]

I think it is a New England thing.
I got that crap too starting in the 70's and on through and I was brought up in CT. and now I live in PA. and it's the same stuff. They say "why don't you get a 'Real' motorcycle"... they said I was riding something they called 'Jap junk' or 'rice burner'  Like what was said in an earlier post,these Harley riders all started out riding Japanese bikes.

It's more than that mate, it goes back to WW2. My father absolutely hated the Japanese, so when I brought home my shiny new CB750 in 1978, he took one look at it and said, "The best thing to ever come out of Japan was a mushroom cloud".

You can call that bigoted, or racist, or whatever, but his generation fought them in the pacific theatre, and unlike the Germans, they absolutely hated the Japanese because of the atrocities that the Japs carried out against them and the civilian population, and those guys influenced the next generation (my generation) into also hating the Japanese.

Not all of my generation were brought up on Japanese bikes, there were plenty of BSA Bantams to learn on, then BSA's, Norton's, Triumph's and Harleys to ride, so several of my friends have never ridden a Jap bike, nor do they want to. Even though we're all friends again now, you don't have to go back too far to understand the dislike of all things Japanese.

That's absolutely right. They were a ruthless enemy, but they built an outstanding product. Think about what they accomplished in engineering and production. Consider their resources. It's pretty amazing. They successfully attacked us on home soil with planes that rivaled our own and even surpassed us in some areas. Yeah, it was evil, but it's history. Bad #$%* happens, can't hold a grudge forever, and not buying a product because of where it comes from over its quality is a terrible idea.

[754]

I think Americans more than any country, have quite a few. Riders that never rode Japanese.. More than say Canada.....
However a lot did start out on Japanese bikes.
 I find a tremendous amount of acceptance fir the CB 750, more than I expected given the nineties attitudes.
On our BC vintage forum, I see a lot of riders, not getting a good reception from the HD bunch, and I cant help but think its their rides..
 After all..not many bikes are as universally instantly recognizeable.....as the CB 750.... So they get the most respect..

[Terry in Australia]

Well the other issue of course is that the "quality" of many Japanese products after the war was absolute rubbish Steve. Honda got it right in the 1960's, but up until then, a lot of stuff that came out of Japan was terrible quality, hence the term "Jap Junk" or even "Jap Crap" which was common when I was a kid growing up. Cheers, Terry.

[grcamna2]

I agree about not holding a grudge forever Steve.
I have to remember that when it comes to my reverse discrimination thinking about it.I rode w/ 2 Harley roommates and their Triumph 500 Daytona buddy and I was the only Jap bike rider at the time(early 70's)and i was getting that 'jap junk' look from them occasionally because I rode my bike which was a 73' RD350 Yamaha.I had to do something so I would blow by them on the back wheel in 3rd gear(I was 17..)and smoked'em !  and it upset all those dudes because here my "rice burner' was cookin their goose 
I was told "you ride behind us" every time we would all go for a ride.. so I would ride by myself most of the time since then.I've got to just forget that stuff and put it behind me.I still don't like how lot's of Harley riders seem to think their bikes are better than Japanese bikes.

[scrapvalue]

Somebody needs to inform the group of Harley riders that bash "Jap junk".
The Harleys have Jap suspension, Jap ignitions, Jap carbs and fuel injection systems, Chinese chrome and the list goes on.
Harleys may be assembled in the good ol' USA, but they sold us out as much as the big car companies.

[ekpent]

 In the series I did not realize back then how aggressive Indian was in trying to destroy ALL competition, especially HD. Looks like they almost succeeded with the 'patent' lawsuit.  .

[BomberMann650]

Somebody needs to inform the group of Harley riders that bash "Jap junk".
The Harleys have Jap suspension, Jap ignitions, Jap carbs and fuel injection systems, Chinese chrome and the list goes on.
Harleys may be assembled in the good ol' USA, but they sold us out as much as the big cart companies.

*mic drop*