Topic: SOHC'S ARE SMOOTH, BUT WHY DO THE HARLEYS SHAKE SO MUCH?

[mystic_1]

Yeah I'm just going off the fact that no one can find a Harley Davidson reference to the Vrod being designed by Porche.

mystic_1

[BobbyR]

Yeah I'm just going off the fact that no one can find a Harley Davidson reference to the Vrod being designed by Porche.

mystic_1

I would see nothing wrong with the fact that they hired  engineering expertise to spped up thier development. Honda commisioned two bikes from Jesse James. One was a Sportbike that he felt his cusomers would ride and the other a chopper. He could do anything he wanted as long as they were painted Honda red and had Honda Engines. Jesse says they stayed close to his design and made changes necessary for mass production. Companies license technology from other companies all the time, no shame in that.

[mystic_1]

Of course, not at all.  I'm more commenting (and this will be my last post on this as I don't want to bash Harley really I was just poking fun) on the whole "the only real American Bike is a Harley" snobbery that is often displayed by their owners (inventers of the term "Jap Crap" ).

I actually applauded the Revolution engine as it showed some real technical innovation, something the Motor Company was lacking.  They still rest too much on 'tradition' in their engineering principals though, and some of that goes back to the attitude I mentioned earlier, "it's not a real Harley unless it has external pushrods, common crankpin rods, etc etc.

mystic_1

[kslrr]

Of course, not at all.  I'm more commenting ... on the whole "the only real American Bike is a Harley" snobbery that is often displayed by their owners ...mystic_1

I have a Harley in my collection and I think the "the only real American Bike is a Harley" snobbery" is a bunch of crap as well.  When my wife and I were at the Harley dealer back in 2004, the salesman even commented on the fact that Harley forks have Japanese internals because they are the best.  He had no problem with that and was simply saying that HD was smart enough to go with what works instead of using R&D to develop something that would not be any better.  Now HD rear shocks?  They are not even close to being good.  At least not the stock ones on Sportsters and Dinas.  The salesman admitted that as well.

[crazypj]

Honda Davidson   
 (forks and brakes)
 Kei-Hin and Mikuni carbs, depending on year.
 Denso or Hitachi electrics
 I'll have to find speedo/rev counter and see who made them.

PJ
 

[Bodi]

Porsche didn't design the V-rod engine, but HD has used Porsche as a technical advisor for decades. Porsche, after all, originally used air cooled engines and has a lot of technical expertise with them. Porsche did help a lot with the tuning of the V-rod engine - getting the intake, exhaust, and EFI working together to run smoothly.

[Retro Rocket]

Porsche didn't design the V-rod engine, but HD has used Porsche as a technical advisor for decades. Porsche, after all, originally used air cooled engines and has a lot of technical expertise with them. Porsche did help a lot with the tuning of the V-rod engine - getting the intake, exhaust, and EFI working together to run smoothly.

http://www.porscheengineering.com/filestore.aspx/default.pdf?pool=peg&type=download&id=press-magazine-2003-01-pdf&lang=en&filetype=default

Well thats not what Porsche says....Look at the first page of the PDF file.

Mick

[traveler]

I like my Harley and my 550K.

Who says you have to pick over the other?

~Joe

[Tnutz]

just like i love ducati's more than hondas....