Harley's, what's your view of them?

[reddeviljp]

Reason I ask is because two older bikers in my local were arguing last night because the oldest of them, 60 and newly returned to biking, had always wanted one and had just bought one. Another bloke was arguing with him about the 'old codger's bike' and it got a bit heated.

I don't like them, not even the sound of them, but what's your view and does anyone own one?
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Bike: 1993 CB400 SuperFour - 1999 Yamaha FZS600 - DAS passed 7/11/13 - Working my way towards a Yamaha FZ1.

[CaNsA]

assless chaps and tassels.

/thread

[fatpies]

Low powered, heavy and 1950s (maybe even older) tech.
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"It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one"

[Snorty]

Gay.

The poster bike for all non-bikers. "I bet you want a Harley don't you". No... just no.

Hardly Ableson
Hardly Dangerous
Any more?

Also, since when do we add an apostrophe when making something plural? I see it more and more every day.
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Current: Yamaha FZ1 '07 | GSXR 750 SRAD

Past: CB125TDC | TZR125 | GPZ500 | CBR600F3 | ZX9-R | GSXR1000 K4

[Ste]

Fag (făg) n.
1. An extremely annoying, inconsiderate person most commonly associated with Harley riders.
2. A person who owns or frequently rides a Harley

[-Matt-]

Overpriced tosh generally.

Don't mind cruisers although i'd never ride one myself - but the price tag on a lot of the harleys, with their lame attempts to make new models 'cool' like something out of a batman movie is just... well

[Mario_Kempes]

There's two I quite like the look of. The Night Rod (which sounds like a lady's toy) and the XR1200.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gz2UUb3k_io/TVe8o40wNmI/AAAAAAAAAY0/M0a7lX_QmVE/s1600/2008_harley_davidsion_night_rod_special.JPG

https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2009models/2009-Harley-Davidson-XR1200e.jpg

But the whole harley thing in general is a bit cringeworthy. Not to mention I can't be bothered dealing with a bike that weighs that much.

[MarJay]

Harley Davidson have always been backward looking style oriented tatmeisters with the ability to make a bike with terrible build quality, camp styling and extremely low technology sell for a shocking amount of money. They had one opportunity to redress the balance with Buell.

They were short of cash after the financial crisis of 2008, so they just shut Buell down. They didn't re-think their tech or their style or their build quality, they simply took their only decent asset and flushed it down the toilet. This was done because if they had have cut the new FLXTSFTSTSWTCV Ultra wide glide classic custom bobber, then a few HD VP's would probably have difficulty justifying their existence. Instead they got rid of the guy in East Troy Wisconsin who was taking up too much of their development budget building bikes that went around corners and didn't even have the Harley name on them.

They have no love for bikes, they are just cynical morons who can't see beyond the next iteration of a bike that was first designed in the 1930s and has since been improved with precisely no high technology. The Engine for the V-Rod and subsequent liquid cooled bikes was developed in house at Buell, until Harley made a number of demands to be able to use it in one of their cruisers. It became too big and heavy to use and Harley then declared the development money that Erik Buell spent on the engine to be wasted and gave the design to Porsche who made it bigger and heavier. This was the justification they used to kill Buell.

I have no good words to say about them.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[-Matt-]

[Mario_Kempes]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I'd have one, couldn't bring myself to buy a new one though.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[jjdugen]

Not a fan, but....
Long product runs, (OK, of old tech) so parts readily available.
Built like brick shithouses, they are virtually indestructable.
Very comfortable for those of advancing years with spinal problems. (Not me, but lots of my contempories).
Can be dressed any way you choose (admittedly at a price).
The general public seem to look at them with slightly fonder eyes than Billy Whizz on his crotch rocket, so moderately good for the biking image.
For some reason, females are quite happy on the back of them, so bringing a bit of gender variety into the scene.
Not everyone wants to, or is capable of controlling hyper dooper sports bikes. If you are going to chug around, why not do it in style rather than on a Blandit or similar.
You can put an awful lot of luggage on them without seeming to faze them in the slightest, so a good touring cruiser.
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[MarJay]

[MC]

They're for people who didn't get enough attention as kids.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[chickenstrip]

[_Iain_]

I think realisticly I need to borrow one for a few weeks & use it daily.

My experience of cruisers consists of hitting pegs on tarmac within half a lap of a roundabout & noting very lazy steering. The footrest position felt very odd & if i'm honest wasn't all that comfortable. It was however a 125, and I would like to ride one with a proper engine in it to see what all the hype is about...

Would I buy one? Nah.
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Please be aware that the above post may be full of complete nonsense.
Riding: '07 KTM Duke II, Baotian BT49QT-20 Driving: '88 Volvo 340

[stevo as b4]

They make a decent investment/pension and that is all!

A proper cruiser has more than two cylinders and over 100bhp IMO!

[waffles]

I had the misfortune to be stuck behind a gang of Harley riders when driving back from the coast. 10 slash-cut exhausts all droning at the same pitch for twenty minutes was pretty much all I could stand and I was glad when they all pulled off the road. If I was on the bike I would have been a tiny dot on the horizon. They all did just enough under the speed limit to add to my building hatred. And I did see leather waistcoats and tassels.

It's not just the bikes I detest, it's the mentality that goes with them. Only yesterday I was chatting to some folks about bikes and I was asked if I had a Harley. "No, I have a proper bike" was met with confusion. They are style over substance and I am not a fan of the style to begin with.
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[MC]

Last time I saw a gang of Harleys they were protesting about something at Waterloo station. Funny whilst they were revving their engines all it reminded me of was: https://youtu.be/xGyKBFCd_u4
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Ribenapigeon]

Put it this way. If George Bush Jr was motorcycle he would be a Harley. Theyre an embarrisment for 'mericans and even more so for any other nationals that ride them.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Tarmacsurfer]

I love this place. It really is a triumph of opinion over experience in the most part

Personally speaking, I dislike the brand. The machinery itself, while it doesn't do much for me I can appreciate the quirks and attractions that some seem to find irresistible. Like most older forms of hardware they tend to have a certain degree of character.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[mogstar]

At least they aren't rusty straight from the showroom......

[G]

I shall reiterate an experience of mine - embarrassingly enough, I have once been 'beaten' by a Harley on a twistyish country road.

He had me on the straights, but I was up making serious grounds in the corners and under braking, despite warped braking surfaces giving very troublesome braking.

Initially there was a long straight where he passed me, after a couple of corners I caught up, then it was a bit of cat and mouse.
He still JUST pipped me to the junction on the main road at the end by a few seconds.

I reckon if my rims weren't buckled so I had better braking, I'd have had him.

Yes, RIMS.
Yes, I was on a push bike!

And yes, this did actually happen, not a copypasta of the similar story going around.

[The other Paul Rudd]

Don't really pay much attention to other people or bikes to have an opinion on them in that way. Test rode a huge fully loaded thing once, for a laugh, and hated it as it was pretty much everything I hate in a bike. I would like to own an 883, just to see if they're a bad as people say, as you can't slag something off until you've owned and used one.

I'd love a Harley Aermacchi 350 single, but that's only because I have a thing for old European tat.