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| Bhud |
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Bhud
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| MarJay |
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MarJay
But it's British!
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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 Posted: 19:44 - 02 Mar 2019  Post subject: |
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| Johnnythefox wrote: | I am aged 58 and ride a Harley Sportster, I did ask my 28 year old girlfriend if I was a fag and she said no. |
two responses to this:
1.) Worst "I have a girlfriend half my age" post ever.
2.) That just screeeeams mid life crisis.
For those bitching about the power levels of large capacity engines:
You must bear in mind the rev ceiling of the Harley engine. Look at it this way:
My Buell XB12R makes 98bhp. It's rev limit is 6,200rpm. Low basically.
My CBR600RR makes 110bhp. It's rev limit is 15,000rpm.
So when you think of volumetric efficiency, the Buell motor and the CBR600RR motor are moving near as dammit the same amount of fuel and air per bhp (ignoring the 12bhp deficit for a minute...)
The Buell uses big capacity and low revs to do it, and the CBR uses low capacity and big revs. The Buell has twice the capacity of the CBR, but uses (just less than) half the revs to achieve (nearly) the same thing.
If the Buell were liquid cooled and allowed a bit better tolerances, you might find that 10bhp deficit was gone... The XB was originally designed to be turbocharged (believe it or not) and one was tested at 150bhp...
So the Harley engine is old, it is low tech but it's not as bad as people make out. What is bad about Harley (that Buell tried to resolve with their products) is the steering geometry, the quality of the brakes, the quality of the suspension and the weight. In my opinion, the benefit of a bike will always be power to weight, otherwise you might as well buy a car. If you're not striving for nominally low weight, and the best power you can get out of a motor (harleys as mentioned by other people are massively understressed, or detuned to put it another way) then you may as well not bother.
At least a Goldwing has decent power... At least a VFR has a good mix of power and weight... The only real remit of a Fat boy or a Bobber or whatever they are these days is the look. If you want to look good buy a new suit. If you want to have fun on a bike, buy something that is lighter and more powerful.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another. |
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| Sister Sledge |
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Sister Sledge
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| MarJay |
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MarJay
But it's British!
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| Robby |
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Robby
Dirty Old Man
Joined: 16 May 2002
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| Posted: 21:20 - 02 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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Oh look, another cruiser thread full of people who have never ridden one, or wouldn't like that kind of bike anyway.
They can handle well enough. Not like a sporsbike, but similar to a commuter bike. You can still have fun with one on country roads.
They make enough power. Often crap on paper, but in terms of having lots of grunt at normal road speeds, it's hard to make a litre+ engine that doesn't have that.
Combine cruiser geometry with an open-face lid, and 50 feels like 150 on a sportsbike.
As to why metric cruisers are dying out, no-one is buying them. Demographics and tastes have shifted. Born-again bikers and new middle aged riders want a BMW GS (or affordable equivalent). Cruiser enthusiasts tend to buy Harleys, Japanese cruisers don't quite get it right.
I think the big mistake for the Japanese manufacturers was going down the route of big, heavy cruisers with big engines - and price tags to match. The price got into Harley big twin territory, at which point you're spending £15k+. You want to be spending that on the thing with low depreciation.
Meanwhile, the 650 class disappeared. This was where they could undercut Harley sportsters and try to get some brand loyalty going. |
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| mentalboy |
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mentalboy
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Posted: 21:32 - 02 Mar 2019  Post subject: |
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| Bhud wrote: |
Cruisers are so quintessentially American it's hard to imagine anything more quintessentially American. Nothing wrong with that, as everyone likes a bit of Americana now and then. I, for one, would like to live in a more democratic, meritocratic, less classist society. The right to play with guns in the privacy of your own 'yard' would also make for a nice hobby.
...Fucking hell! I thought why not be kind to cruiserists, then I get called out as a fag. LOL
Tell you what though, apart from bikes and the art of riding we ain't got nothing on the US of A |
Off topic but what the fuck:
Where the fuck did you learn about the US, Penthouse magazine???
Where is this democratic, meritocratic, less classist society that you yearn for? It sure ain't the US.
I pulled a bullet out the side of a customer's house two days ago, we sussed that it was the same item that had punched a hole through the roof of his carport at New Year. It's not uncommon to find bullets around mobile homes when I'm working on them, even a small pistol will send a bullet clean through the side of one of those.
The trouble with spunking dollars worth of bullets around your yard is that they can quite often end up in someone else's unless you live in the sticks.
A couple of months ago an old boy with dementia showed me how he'd removed an unwanted tenant, by pulling a loaded pistol, that he carries all the time, and waving it around in the air - nothing scarier than knowing there are hundreds of the old gits round here who have lost their marbles but still carry.
But you carry on dreaming, heck, the streets of New York City are still paved with gold...
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| Bhud |
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Bhud
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Posted: 23:19 - 02 Mar 2019  Post subject: |
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| mentalboy wrote: | Where is this democratic, meritocratic, less classist society that you yearn for? It sure ain't the US. |
Well, we're getting a bit off-topic here, but if you recall Clarkson leaving Top Gear and then being interviewed about it afterward, he had a gripe with the BBC for not appreciating him like the American networks and multinational companies did when they approached him practically begging him to do business, while gushing with praise. They also respect people and don't try to drag everyone down to the bottom to commiserate in drudgery. Theirs is a different culture - even waiters and waitresses have a good attitude because they're pure and proper capitalists with an optimistic outlook, to be frank.
Like it or not, that isn't how we do things here in the UK.
I'm just like everyone else here. I know what we've got (superb roads for riding, world's best ales, etc.) and what we haven't.
As I get older I start to value being 'right' less and less. At the end of the day, and I'm not having a dig at anyone because I know it's a small world, but this just an observation based on what I've been watching recently: would you rather be right about everything to do with engines, with a small but loyal following, in a miserable cold garage somewhere in Cambs, or wrong about everything to do with engines in a massive 'yard' somewhere in sunny Texas, with an huge, adoring and appreciative following?
America, and this is a fact and I truly believe this, just makes more things possible for people. Here, people try to trip you up, give you a basket to carry water then expect you to carry them, etc. It's a different culture. I like business because business is a rational forum and basis for social interaction, and America revolves all around business not cliques or feelings or even politics. I appreciate what you're saying about the dangers of guns, etc. But the 'real' America most of us have in our imagination is the 'deep', rustic America, not the 'hood'. |
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| EazyDuz |
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EazyDuz
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| Posted: 00:34 - 03 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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| MarJay wrote: | | Sister Sledge wrote: | I want some answers:
If you want to look ??, buy a Harley. |
Well, seeing as the leather look has been, shall we say, borrowed by certain communities, I can't help but see them as... well... pretty damn camp these days.
Nothing wrong with camp, but I don't think that's how most Harley owners see themselves. They see Sons of Anarchy, most people see Rob Halford in his fetish gear. |
In fairness does anyone who owns a Harley in this country even do the whole 'leather look' thing anymore?
Of all the ones I've seen on the road, the rider is typically wearing a pretty inoffensive dark coloured open face helmet, kevlar jeans and something that looks a bit like this:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/KV8AAOSwMtxXvG9v/s-l640.jpg
Maybe thats what gay people dress like, cant say I follow the latest camp trends though.
Note, not a cruiser in sight 
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/G7HFYT/london-uk-25-june-2016-members-of-the-gay-bikers-motorcycle-club-gbmcc-G7HFYT.jpg
'London, UK. 25 June 2016. Members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (GBMCC) during the parade. Thousands of spectators lined the route of the 2016 Pride London LGBT parade'
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| EazyDuz |
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EazyDuz
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| Posted: 00:42 - 03 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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| Robby wrote: | Oh look, another cruiser thread full of people who have never ridden one, or wouldn't like that kind of bike anyway.
They can handle well enough. Not like a sporsbike, but similar to a commuter bike. You can still have fun with one on country roads.
They make enough power. Often crap on paper, but in terms of having lots of grunt at normal road speeds, it's hard to make a litre+ engine that doesn't have that.
Combine cruiser geometry with an open-face lid, and 50 feels like 150 on a sportsbike.
As to why metric cruisers are dying out, no-one is buying them. Demographics and tastes have shifted. Born-again bikers and new middle aged riders want a BMW GS (or affordable equivalent). Cruiser enthusiasts tend to buy Harleys, Japanese cruisers don't quite get it right.
I think the big mistake for the Japanese manufacturers was going down the route of big, heavy cruisers with big engines - and price tags to match. The price got into Harley big twin territory, at which point you're spending £15k+. You want to be spending that on the thing with low depreciation.
Meanwhile, the 650 class disappeared. This was where they could undercut Harley sportsters and try to get some brand loyalty going. |
Kawa are still trying to undercut Harley with their 2019 Vulcan with the Ninja engine in it posted in the OP.
Or you can pick up a Vulcan Custom from a couple years ago which looks almost identical to a Sportster but cheaper.
I guess thats the only benefit to the metric big engined bikes, they depreciate like you said, so you can get a lot of power for not much money.
Honda VTX 1800:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-VTX-1800-Very-low-mileage/233145128892?hash=item36488857bc:g:yngAAOSwYyVccvaq
Performance
Max power 95 bhp
Max torque 102 ft-lb
Top speed 134 mph
1/4-mile acceleration 12.1 secs
Average fuel consumption 42 mpg
Tank range 140 miles
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| mentalboy |
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mentalboy
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| Nobby the Bastard |
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Nobby the Bastard
Harley Gaydar
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| Posted: 11:29 - 03 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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Is that Doovy on the left?
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
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BTTD
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| ThatDippyTwat |
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ThatDippyTwat
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| Posted: 19:07 - 03 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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| jnw010 wrote: | There are several members on here who buy Enfield's that piss oil, break down, put out sub 30hp and have "interesting" handling, but that's okay.
I've never understood the Harley hate, and the tired old cliches rolled out get pretty boring. |
£4K for a 500EFI vs what, about £9K for a Sportster, which seems to be universally acknowledged as a shit Harley. Say £15K for a good one? I dn't know, I'm, not up on either, and Harley seem to make it hard to find firm prices.
I don't like either, but if I was going to spunk money up a wall on a bike to portray an image, then I'd rather spend it with Enfield. It's still flogging a lifestyle, but it's not as offensive as the Harley techniques to part you from your cash.
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| linuxyeti |
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linuxyeti
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| trevor saxe-coburg-gotha |
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha
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linuxyeti
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| Wyberton John |
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Wyberton John
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| Posted: 21:55 - 03 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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I've been feeling a bit too old and groggy for my Fazer Thou - so in recent months (last year or so) I'd been looking for a Virago to take things easy on.
Cuppla months back, I took a test ride on a 750 in Skeggy.
FEKK ME!!!! 
Now I'm after a Bonnie 
btw - don't know what learners take their tests on now, but in '96 I did a 2 days course and my test with CSM Peterbohorror on an SR125 (mind you I had a TZR-125 myself).
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| A100man |
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A100man
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Posted: 15:45 - 04 Mar 2019  Post subject: |
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| Johnnythefox wrote: | I am aged 58 and ride a Harley Sportster, I did ask my 28 year old girlfriend if I was a fag and she said no. |
I'm sure you look great together and no-one takes the piss at all. Not ever.
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Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600 |
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| Johnnythefox |
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Johnnythefox
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| grr666 |
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grr666
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| Posted: 02:54 - 05 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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Most 28 year old girls don't want kids. But are quite partial to older men who arent skint like most 28 year old blokes normally are and are more likely to worship their far younger squeezes.. See how she feels in 5 years or so. I have a younger partner who was 18 when we first got together. Shes 36 this year and all I'll say is Im very glad we have our dog or I'd probably be decorating the smallest bedroom.
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| Robby |
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Robby
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| ART-ADS |
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ART-ADS
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| MarJay |
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MarJay
But it's British!
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| Posted: 11:50 - 05 Mar 2019 Post subject: |
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| ART-ADS wrote: | I don't understand the cruiser hate. 'you cant use them on British roads' complete bollocks. boring fazer cunts that cant get their big heads out from their own arses to even bother to look at other bikes with an open mind.
there's two wheels and an engine. you like the looks, the sound and satisfied with how it goes then there's no reason why you cant use it.
bunch of UJM wankers |
I don't understand the good bike hate. 'You can't use them on British Roads' Complete bollocks. Boring Harley C*nts that can't get their heads out of their own arses or even bother to look at other bikes with decent geometry, good power, actual handling and decent braking with an open mind.
If it's got two wheels and an engine, and has handling, power, braking, comfort, practicality AND looks good, why would you not? Why would you then choose a bike with poor brakes, poor handling, poor practicality and the looks of something from a poor 1950's B movie with Marlon Brando?
I mean, even a Triumph Bonneville is a better bike than most Harleys...?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another. |
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redeem ouzzer
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| ART-ADS |
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ART-ADS
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 5 years, 64 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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The Evo engines date back to the 80's, and they are actually reckoned to be pretty bullet proof. That's when Harley started sorting build quality and moving their game forward. Since then there's been the Twin Cam and more recenty the new Milwaukee Eight on the big bikes is reckoned to be seriously good.
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