The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

Bullshit. I've never had anyone on an import cruiser shout at me for riding the "wrong" bike or be a dick and have a club prospect "clear the road" so they could ride out of a parking lot after boozing for the last hour.
 
Blind_Io said:
Bullshit. I've never had anyone on an import cruiser shout at me for riding the "wrong" bike
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Because he (or more likely she) was on the wrong bike to begin with.

You sound angry at people who ride Harleys... for getting angry with people who pretend to ride Harleys.
 
Mr. Nice said:
As for me, I am bent and determined that my next bike will be something like a VFR1200 or a Hayabusa. I think I'd rather the VFR1200, as I don't really care about the "driveline lash" that everyone talks about with a shaft. Less maintenance is something to look for with all vehicles.
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I recently went to a motorcycle show and the VFR1200 was the one that impressed me the most. Great riding position, very well-equipped and pretty good build quality.
I must be getting old. :mrgreen:
 
Redliner said:
I recently went to a motorcycle show and the VFR1200 was the one that impressed me the most. Great riding position, very well-equipped and pretty good build quality.
I must be getting old. :mrgreen:
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If wanting something that is comfortable, well made and well equipped makes me old, then I'll take that AARP card now.

hansvonaxion said:
Because he (or more likely she) was on the wrong bike to begin with.

You sound angry at people who ride Harleys... for getting angry with people who pretend to ride Harleys.
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You are making a fairly huge assumption that all people on metric cruisers are trying to imitate a Harley Davidson. What if they want a Honda shadow, because it appeals to them for no reason other than itself?
 
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hansvonaxion said:
Because he (or more likely she) was on the wrong bike to begin with.

You sound angry at people who ride Harleys... for getting angry with people who pretend to ride Harleys.
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I'm not angry at people who ride Harleys, most of them are middle aged accountants and dentists. All I'm saying is that I have never had anyone on a Yamaha or Honda shout at me or anyone else for riding the "wrong" motorcycle. I have, however, had a Harley owner try to start a fight with me because I didn't move my Honda out of the way while I was gassing up, forcing him to back up to make the corner to the pump. I have had a club come out of a bar, boozed up, and have their prospect "clear the road" of our "Puke-green bike club" (they were so drunk they couldn't ride straight or tell that our bikes were yellow). They didn't even need us out of the way, they just were trying to cause shit.

I'm not pissed at Harley riders, I'm pissed at some Harley riders. I've heard import owners say that we shouldn't separate riders into different categories, but Harley riders have done that already. Just read some of the comments from this recent local news story about the PD getting new BMW bikes: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=15996871&comments=true

Again, I've never had a Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki,Triumph or Ducati owner chastise me for not riding the same make of bike, or for a bike from the "wrong" country. The only time this has ever happened is with Harley owners. I'm sick of the bullshit hype around that brand. Their bikes are heavy underpowered pigs. Ducati also sells a lifestyle, but they have the bikes to back it up and are more reliable, require less maintenance, are more efficient than Harley. As a bonus, Ducati actually wins races, Harley can hardly win a race series with double the displacement and they still needed to bring in Buell to build a decent chassis.
 
Mr. Nice said:
I forget where I saw that info, but that would make the potato-potato noise more accessible to some nicer folks who might actually wave back. Whether or not any nice people would actually buy one has yet to be determined.
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I am not going to sugarcoat this, I have met a countless motorcycle riders over the years, and the people I have talked to are typically very friendly. Hell, I've even met a few friendly Harley owners. But, every now and then I get a person or two who act completely out of line and/or try to instigate an argument or fight with me.

They always have a late model Harley FXCHDLHCL Ultra Deluxe Super Wide Glide Classic Deluxe Ultra Deluxe. Not anything else, not even a metric cruiser. It's always a Harley. In all my travels I have yet to meet an asshole riding anything else. In fact, typically my bike tends to be a conversation starter and I've actually made quite a few new friends because they were checking out my bike. Seems like everyone either owned one or knew someone that did!

On Saturday I was on the H1 Triple and I stopped at a gas station, and immediately I had a Harley owner heckling me and in general being a condescending ass. Ironic considering that my 36 year old, two stroke machine is more reliable than his POS highway tractor.

I wished him the best of luck pushing his bike back to Massachusetts.
 
Crazyjeeper said:
If wanting something that is comfortable, well made and well equipped makes me old, then I'll take that AARP card now.
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:lol:

Well, I used to be the kind of guy that wouldn?t even look at a bike that didn?t have a bunch or "R?s" and "S?s" in the name. Nowadays I prefer drooling over things like the VFR1200 and the Z1000.
Not sure if I am getting older or wiser. :p

Blind_Io said:
Ducati also sells a lifestyle, but they have the bikes to back it up and are more reliable, require less maintenance, are more efficient than Harley. As a bonus, Ducati actually wins races, Harley can hardly win a race series with double the displacement and they still needed to bring in Buell to build a decent chassis.
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I agree completely.
I know a guy that bought a Sportster 883, and I quote:
"It?s slow, heavy, has costly maintenance and is a general pain in the ass do ride in town. But it?s a Harley!"
Owning a Harley-Davidson is bordering on religion. :mrgreen:
 
Now I feel guilty for wanting a Harley Nightster (so sexy).
I took a testride on one and it was pretty nice, ground clearance is an issue & it begs for suspension/brake mods, but the smile that I had on my mouth was bigger then it has ever been on my Fazer.

On the jap side there is really no cruiser that appeals to me (except a custom 1400 intruder, that shaft drive somehow looks sweet :p), then again neither do the bigger Harleys.
 
Well, I was really surprised this season - all round, I have seen more Harleys stuck on the side of the road than any other maker. Not sure whether it was the owner's fault on not maintaining it through the winter season or just the bike in general. It doesn't mean I won't stop and give them a push (like I did a few weeks ago) though ... just kinda' sad at the reliability.
 
Kiki said:
Well, I was really surprised this season - all round, I have seen more Harleys stuck on the side of the road than any other maker. Not sure whether it was the owner's fault on not maintaining it through the winter season or just the bike in general. It doesn't mean I won't stop and give them a push (like I did a few weeks ago) though ... just kinda' sad at the reliability.
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I have to agree with you on this one, I live in a motorcycle-loving region and during the summer months it's quite commonplace to see a Sportster or Road Glide broken down beside the road, but very rare (if ever) have I seen a broken down bike of any other make. One could say that it's because there's a lot of Harley riders in the area, but it doesn't change the fact that they break down a lot more than any other bike.
 
It's been a while since I heard the SR50 DiTech I purchased for $200 run... and finally managed to get a chance to ride it. It's not bad, though the one thing I hate was that feeling where you have that unidentifiable wobble (Virtually nonexistent on the SR50 Carb) before you get the impending Slam-onto-the-blacktop-at-30-MPH incident. And I don't know if it's running fine or needing some sort of repairs somewhere, yet it just feels a tad bit slow.


I thought Direct Fuel Injected models are supposed to outperform their carb'd models?
 
The wobble isn't engine related and direct fuel injection doesn't have anything to do with handling.

Check your steering stem bearings and the frame under the step-through.
 
Crazyjeeper said:
What if they want a Harley Davidson, because it appeals to them for no reason other than itself?
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FTFY. ;)

eltoro507 said:
I took a testride on one and ... the smile that I had on my mouth was bigger then it has ever been on my Fazer.
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Blind_Io said:
I'm not pissed at Harley riders, I'm pissed at some Harley riders.
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Well that isn't what was implied earlier.

Besides, most people hate squids but they don't lump all sports bike riders into the same category of morons. Next time someone looks at you sideways when you tell them you ride a bike remember...

Blind_Io said:
Harley is for posers, not riders.
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...just like (sports) bikes are for brainless arseholes with a deathwish and no regard for other road users (or something like that).

Blind_Io said:
Ducati also sells a lifestyle, but they have the bikes to back it up and are more reliable, require less maintenance, are more efficient than Harley.

As a bonus, Ducati actually wins races, Harley can hardly win a race series with double the displacement and they still needed to bring in Buell to build a decent chassis.
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My Japanese imitation Rolex with quartz movement keeps better time, doesn't need winding/maintenance and was a lot cheaper. (no need to pick holes in this analogy, it's just an analogy)

Have you forgotten Ducati having a displacement advantage in WSB for years? :p More cylinders can produce more power.

Don't forget that not everyone lives in the US so we don't deal with the same people everyday and don't build the same prejudices. Anyway, my original comment was related mainly to the poser comment, I don't have time to elaborate now, maybe later if I can be bothered.
 
hansvonaxion said:
Besides, most people hate squids but they don't lump all sports bike riders into the same category of morons. Next time someone looks at you sideways when you tell them you ride a bike remember...
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The day I hear someone who has never ridden or owned a bike, or been close to someone who does call a Squid a Squid is the day I will eat my own helmet. The difference is that this is coming from within the rider community - it's riders talking about riders.

...just like (sports) bikes are for brainless arseholes with a deathwish and no regard for other road users (or something like that).
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Show me one rider who thinks this way categorically. My opinion about Harley is as a rider about a motorcycle and the people who tend to buy them. As in your previous point, what you have posted is the opinion of someone who knows dick about riding or motorcycles. One is the opinion of a person who is knowledgeable about the subject and has personal experience, the other opinion comes out of ignorance.

My Japanese imitation Rolex with quartz movement keeps better time, doesn't need winding/maintenance and was a lot cheaper. (no need to pick holes in this analogy, it's just an analogy)
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But it's a flawed analogy. Rolex is the height of mechanical craftsmanship using only the highest quality materials and unmatched quality control. The movement of your imitation isn't even the same technology, it would be like comparing a handbuilt steam engine to a Honda Fit. Harley doesn't have the reliability of a Rolex (my dad's old Rolex was worn for over 20 years and keeps perfect time), it doesn't have the finish, the design or the craftsmanship. Harley is not the pinnacle example of motorcycle technology, it's just outdated. If Harley was making the Rolex of motorcycles I would let it go, but they don't.

Have you forgotten Ducati having a displacement advantage in WSB for years? :p More cylinders can produce more power.
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It wasn't double the displacement and the bikes were still competitive.
Don't forget that not everyone lives in the US so we don't deal with the same people everyday and don't build the same prejudices. Anyway, my original comment was related mainly to the poser comment, I don't have time to elaborate now, maybe later if I can be bothered.
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That is why I posted, to share my experiences with the "hardcore" Harley crowd.

Here is why I say Harley is for posers: They sell a "lifestyle" item. A Harley bike can be outmatched in every way by import machines - horsepower, torque, reliability, price, technology, riding comfort, handling, you name it. If Harley owners were interested in buying a bike to ride, they would have gotten an import. Period. The fact that they paid more money for less machine shows that they want the "lifestyle" and they want people to know that they have that lifestyle. That is called posing.

When there is a Harley Davidson machine in the front half of the starting grid at MotoGP then they can talk about building the best bike. Until then it's all just marketing bullshit.
 
We need a collection of gifs showing Harleys cage fighting imports.
 
So it is cool to have a Harley in Tokyo because it is a Harley and he missed the point?
 
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