Topic: Honest Harley Davidson Commercial

[Don R]

A former co-worker had a 74" harley. He never would race my CB500, he knew after all his spouting off it would be too painful for him to get beat by a Honda.

[Caymen]

I will be first to admit my CB550K is faster than a Harley is. No doubt about it.

Riding a Harley is not about speed. It is not about corners. It is not about the 1/4 mile.

It is about the class, the low end grunt, the sound, the looks. That is what riding a Harley is all about.

My wife and I are visiting Las Vegas in September. We are going to rent a motorcycle to ride to the Grand Canyon to walk on the sky walk. We are not renting a Honda. We are not renting a Yamaha, Kawasaki, or anything else. We are renting a H-D Ultra Classic.

The class a Harley has is above anything else. Honda, Yamaha, etc. build bikes that look like a Harley. They try to make them even sound like a Harley. They make really big engines that look really good.

They still can't beat Harley at their own game.

in no way am I putting down Honda. Compare apples to apples. Don't say how much better a Jap sport bike is over a Harley. that is like comparing a Ferrari to a Lincoln. Sure the Ferrari is faster, more power, stops quicker, handles better than the Lincoln does.

In the end, people buy the Lincoln because it is not a Ferrari. The Lincoln has its place just like the Harley does. no everyone needs to "prove" how superior their bike is and inferior another one is. Harley riders know what they like.

I know what I like. I like my CB550K and it would be better sitting right next to a Road King...complete with a loud exhaust, gobs of chrome, and nice fat tires. potato...potato...potato that is the sound I want to hear.


Tom

[Retro Rocket]

The class a Harley has is above anything else. Honda, Yamaha, etc. build bikes that look like a Harley. They try to make them even sound like a Harley. They make really big engines that look really good.

They still can't beat Harley at their own game.

Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder because they are classless as far as a lot of people are concerned. The Japanese only make clones of Harley's because of the American market anyway, thats what your market dictates, in Aus we have a lot more sport and middle of the road bikes like the new 1100 Honda everyone here raves about. Harley, under its own steam would have rolled over and died years ago if the government didn't keep bailing them out all the time, it happened again only a few months ago. A really great product would be able to support itself don't you think?

Mick

[traveler]

you guys seem awfully sure of this.

I'd pay good money to see a stock CB beat my beast.

My CB is pretty fast....but not even close to my HD.

and no....it is NOT stock.

~Joe

[Terry in Australia]

The problem with threads like this that I see here and in another Jap bike forum I'm a member of, is the opportunity for some thinly veiled Harley Hating. I love my CB750's because I was as excited about them in the 1970's as Caymen is about Harleys now, but honestly, the rest of the Japanese bikes built since, including all the Harley wannabes, just leave me cold. If I wanted a sportsbike that excited me as much as my old CB750's, it'd have to be a new Ducati, BMW or Triumph, not just another run of the mill Jap bike.

The story about the Harley with the engine failure would seem a damning example of a particular brand ignoring it's supporters, unless you've been around long enough to remember Honda's run of failures with the early DOHC CB750/900/1100 models with dodgy electrics including melting ignitor boxes, the VF750/1000's with their chocolate cam shafts, the VT250/500's that hand-grenaded on a regular basis, and the ill fated CBX750/550 models, all of which were heaps of sh1t, and none of which, were covered under a factory recall. There are a lot of folks out there who were just as keen on Honda's as Soichiro's dad was on Harleys, who wouldn't p1ss on a Honda now, if it was on fire.

My point being, that none of the bike manufacturers can claim that they haven't built motorcycles that have failed under normal riding conditions, and none has a better name than others when it comes to recalls or warranty claims. Having said that, I bought a 6 year old BMW K100RT from a dealer, and when the dealer noticed that it had a rear master cylinder that was supposed to be replaced under a recall when new, replaced it free of charge, and a friend of mine bought a new Triumph Daytona 1200 back in the early 1990's and blew the engine up racing it, and while not expecting any support from Triumph, told them what happened anyway, and Triumph replaced the engine free of charge and sent it back to England to find out what went wrong with it because at that stage they hadn't had any blow up. I've owned BMW's since, and recently bought a Triumph Rocket III, and I've got no complaints about their bikes, or their service.

Personally, I don't think Bill (Ecosse) should have started this thread, because these threads only bring out the worst in this otherwise agreeable, friendly group. Cheers, Terry.    

[Retro Rocket]

you guys seem awfully sure of this.

I'd pay good money to see a stock CB beat my beast.

My CB is pretty fast....but not even close to my HD.

and no....it is NOT stock.

~Joe

Well my 1988 GSXR1100 stock straight out of the crate was good for low 10 second quarter mile runs and they are slow by modern standards with only around 135 horsepower. The funny thing is that i don't mind Harley's or the look of some of them, so some time ago i looked into building a good reliable one and was stunned to find that most nice custom built Harley's that i saw had not one piece of original Harley on them, you can build one of these bikes from the ground up and not use one standard part. Why is this so if they are that good ? Its more about image with those bikes and not quality, the quality stuff is all after market.

Mick

[winnipeg550guy]

 When they tried to trade mark the Harley sound thats when I lost any respect I may have had for the company.

 George Carlin said it best: "You ain't cool, you're #$%*ing chili" on the "Pussy-fication of the American male"

http://www.illcuts.com/2009/08/george-carlin-harley-davidson.html


 

[spill]

Harley's are nice little bikes that the Japanese manufacturers have been trying (unsucessfully) to emulate for many years, but Triumph's magnificent Rocket III is the best of both worlds, lumbering Harley-esque road presence, with massive horsepower and more importantly, bags and bags of torque, great for blowing away modern Jap sportsbikes.

I'd like to have a Harley for a second bike, they're great fun to ride, and once I sell off a few of my surplus CB750's, I should have enough money to buy one. Cheers, Terry.

Terry, this was the funniest thing I've seen all week.  Now for the funniest thing I've read all week: http://www.nerve.com/scanner/2009/12/23/guy-posts-his-sisters-hookup-list-to-facebook-and-tags-all-the-guys

[myhondas]

" in no way am I putting down Honda. Compare apples to apples. Don't say how much better a Jap sport bike is over a Harley. that is like comparing a Ferrari to a Lincoln. Sure the Ferrari is faster, more power, stops quicker, handles better than the Lincoln does.

In the end, people buy the Lincoln because it is not a Ferrari. The Lincoln has its place just like the Harley does. no everyone needs to "prove" how superior their bike is and inferior another one is. Harley riders know what they like.

I know what I like. I like my CB550K and it would be better sitting right next to a Road King...complete with a loud exhaust, gobs of chrome, and nice fat tires. potato...potato...potato that is the sound I want to hear."

My vf750cd is NOT a sport bike but a cruiser like a HD and no it doesn't potato potato potato....in fact you would probably call it a sleeper cause it is not a loud bike. But it does preform like a street bike and it does it with plenty of CLASS. And to boot, it get pretty good gas milage doing it. What really turn my opinion on HD's was the reliability and smoothness of the first Honda I bought after my HD had broken down four times in the first six months that I had it. Bought it brand new from the dealer. Every day I would arrive at work and it felt like my arm was numb and sore from all the vibration. One of my best friends just bought a brand new HD ultra classic electra glide custom $37K...Holy crap....My regular riding buddy just sold his 94 goldwing and bought a very low milage 05 goldwing totally loaded with all the options and deck out with tons of kury bling. He paid a whole lot less than half of the HD's price and got twice the bike for it. At most of the bike gatherings I go to, even the HD owners are drooling over the custom bikes with S&S motors. It just seems like the hd bikes are a dime a dozen and very few stand out as something special. But let me say this...if a HD is really what you think you desire....then go get one and enjoy it while you still feel that way. Once the newness wears off and the body starts to feel the effects of the downside aspects of the bike, you can always get on your cb and ride it into your retirement years cause it will probably still be running strong.

[traveler]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Money talks, bull$hit walks.

Enough said.

~Joe

[Retro Rocket]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Money talks, bull$hit walks.

Enough said.

~Joe

You can race my 750 when its finished Joe, remember to bring the tissues mate....

Mick

[traveler]

no.....This started with "a stock 550 being faster than a H/D".

~Joe

[myhondas]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Money talks, bull$hit walks.

Enough said.

~Joe

I'll bring the magna and $500 + the pink slip. You can choose 1/4 mile...set of twisties or a combination of both. But before you commit...ride your bike one last time and tell it good bye cause you will definately lose it. And I will definately sell it as fast as I can to Joe if he is still interested.

[Retro Rocket]

no.....This started with "a stock 550 being faster than a H/D".

~Joe

So wouldn't that constitute a stock Harley as well?   I am sure You said yours wasn't stock.

Mick

[traveler]

hehe....my Harley isn't stock...far from it.

That's why I know, it will be a quick 100 bucks!

~Joe

[traveler]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Money talks, bull$hit walks.

Enough said.

~Joe

I'll bring the magna and $500 + the pink slip. You can choose 1/4 mile...set of twisties or a combination of both. But before you commit...ride your bike one last time and tell it good bye cause you will definately lose it. And I will definately sell it as fast as I can to Joe if he is still interested.

This started with a stock CB550.  Since I have a CB 550, that isn't stock, I KNOW that they don't have the guts to handle a modified H/D

~joe

[lowflyingdutchman]

Said it before and will say it again.

If there were an american brand motorcycle that builds machines of the caliber of honda or bmw, I for one would not hesitate to buy one. And that's just it.

HD is probably the only motorcycle that is not primarily bought for things like ride enjoyment or an affinity for engineering, It is primarily bought as an attempt to fit in a certain social niche. The proof is in the pudding. When one says "harley rider", ones psyche pretty much automatically fills out the profile and one will hardly ever see this preconceived profile proven wrong. and with it, the commercialized attempt to escape the corporate uniform has become a corporate uniform in itself.

It is an illusion. It is captain america personified. It is a teary eyed throwback to a time when things where simpler and conceivably better. And there is a sense of community and bond to be derived that is obviously much more prevailing that that following any other brandname.

And therein lies its sadness as well. The world has moved on. And as much as there is comfort and beauty to be had in the past, a desperate clinging to days gone by will eventually lead to an unwillingness to face the challenges of today and with it, the position in the world of a once technologically leading nation.

And thus HD manages to represent everything I despise and everything I love about this country in a single machine.

Well done.

[Caymen]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Now we got a my di__ is bigger than yours contest. Yes, I have pulled up to friends H-D's and got them. This was a new 96 CI twin cam. I had to spin it up to 8000 RPM to catch him, but I did. Once I got the RPM's up high enough, I kept on going.

The point is this, nobody can say what the best definition of a motorcycle is. Fast in a straight line? Fast in the twisties? Smooth ride? No bike will give you everything.

To say Harley Davidsons are old technology just isn't true. Here in America we are seeing a resurgence of retro designs. One look at the new Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger will tell you we want old designs with new technology.

A Harley Davidson has fuel injection, one cylinder shut off at idle, twin cams, throttle-by-wire, etc.

Anyways, one bike for you is not the bike for me. What you like may not be what I like. We still got one thing in common. We ride on two wheels and we wave to each other when we pass.


Tom

[CannibalCrowley]

South Park already covered this in depth.

[BeSeeingYou]

Last weekend I had to make a 300 mile round trip for a family function ( in the car with my wife) that took us down the Mississippi River valley and back home by the opposite shore.  This is a very popular weekend/day trip bike route.  Lots of bikes and it seemed that HD was by far the most common one I saw.  The downside was that many of the riders seemed to be fat.  Is there a correlation between beer bellies and Harleys?

[Retro Rocket]

To say Harley Davidsons are old technology just isn't true. Here in America we are seeing a resurgence of retro designs. One look at the new Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger will tell you we want old designs with new technology.

A Harley Davidson has fuel injection, one cylinder shut off at idle, twin cams, throttle-by-wire, etc.

Some of the more modern models have modern parts {although even fuel injection is old hat now} but the basic engine design hasn't changed much at all which leads to an overweight under powered bike, but thats fine if thats what you want but most of the responses here were directed towards your comments about them being fast and able to blow most Jap bikes away which simply isn't true. And one more thing, most of the "updated" improvements are Japanese, kinda ironic wouldn't you think....

Mick

[Caymen]

Some of the more modern models have modern parts {although even fuel injection is old hat now} but the basic engine design hasn't changed much at all which leads to an overweight under powered bike, but thats fine if thats what you want but most of the responses here were directed towards your comments about them being fast and able to blow most Jap bikes away which simply isn't true.

You read into my comment with something I said. I did not once say that H-D's are faster than most Jap bikes. I did say that H-D's are powerful. (100 foot lbs of torque and 75 HP) They may not be fast, but they have power. One cylinder alone produces more power than my 550 does.

You guys read it as I said H-D's are fast. You read more to what I actually said.


Tom

[BeSeeingYou]

Does it really matter if one bike is a bit faster than another?  Are we racing our bikes from one light to the next? As long as the bike can get you up to highway speed quickly and cruise at 75 does it really matter if one does it a second or two faster?  Not in the non racing world.  It has all the trappings of a pissing contest.  Having the quicker bike does not mean you have bigger balls.

I have my Japanese bikes because they are affordable and easy to maintain.  I don't have any doe-eyed love affair with all things Honda or Yamaha but I do like the particular models I own.  I would also like to own a HD but they are way out of the price range I can justify for a motorcycle and the ones  I can afford serve the purpose I ask of them.

[Terry in Australia]

And there is the rub. On a Harley, or a Moto Guzzi, you can enjoy cruising along at legal(ish) speeds, whereas on a modern "plastic fantastic" sports bike, you can't enjoy it unless you're riding along at "heading for heaven" speeds. While I love seeing 140 MPH on my Rocket III's speedo, I can also enjoy just putting along at 60. Cheers, Terry.  

[traveler]

bring your stock CB550 to Rapid City, and I'll put $100 on a drag race against my H/D.

Now we got a my di__ is bigger than yours contest. Yes, I have pulled up to friends H-D's and got them. This was a new 96 CI twin cam. I had to spin it up to 8000 RPM to catch him, but I did. Once I got the RPM's up high enough, I kept on going.

The point is this, nobody can say what the best definition of a motorcycle is. Fast in a straight line? Fast in the twisties? Smooth ride? No bike will give you everything.

To say Harley Davidsons are old technology just isn't true. Here in America we are seeing a resurgence of retro designs. One look at the new Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger will tell you we want old designs with new technology.

A Harley Davidson has fuel injection, one cylinder shut off at idle, twin cams, throttle-by-wire, etc.

Anyways, one bike for you is not the bike for me. What you like may not be what I like. We still got one thing in common. We ride on two wheels and we wave to each other when we pass.


Tom

WOW....you read THAT in my post?

A stock 96 incher isn't that powerful.  Me thinks you guys have never seen what a turbocharged sporty can do.  If you are talking a STOCK harley, that is one thing....but to say any harley is maybe a tad bit shortsighted.

My bike is still at 88 cubic inches/1450cc.  But it is a modified "88".  Gear driven cams, 510 lift, etc.etc.  it'll do the job.

Never said mine was the fastest, and don't even try to be......all I can tell you, is that I know what a stock 550 feels like, and I know what my Hog feels like, and my hog is faster.

That said....just ride and quit with the starting posts meant to disturb the enjoyment of the forum.

It is.....a topic/discussion without end....like poltics and religion.

Seems like too many guys want to bash Harley.....maybe some of it is born out of some sort of jealousy?  

Also...remember....the V-Rod is a Harley.....and a fast one at that!

A Harley is like a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe hot rod.  A sportbike is like a Ferrari.  
You're comparing apples to oranges.

Anyway....I'm done with this post.

~Joe