Yeager bought a new motorcycle

[kawtech87]

It amazes me how many Harley riders can't go to the ice cream stand without having a group. I got to the point I despise riding with others.

I have an 07 ultra with 44,000 miles. It's nasty dirty because I have to ride a half mile of gravel to get to asphalt. I don't see the point in trying to keep it clean. I've never actually waxed it.

You sir are a rider! Not a "biker". There is a difference and it is huge. That is a complement in case you couldn't tell.


I have no real problem with Harley's as much as I bash them they are very good looking and sounding. They really are not any different than anything else. As long as it is maintained it will run forever.

What I have a problem with is shallow thinking people who only own a Harley "because is a "real bike" dude, if you own or ride anything else you are a "puzzie"! Now if you'll excuse me I have to put on 40 pounds of leather all of which is HD branded so I can ride the 15 miles back to my house to spend 6 hours detailing my bike so it will look good sitting in my garage for the next six months".

 

[lovemachine]

Your wife made you sell it?

Nope. I sold it years ago because I was riding less and less. Got to a point where the bike just sat there, and I was mostly riding 4-wheelers and dirt bikes at that time anyway.

I knew around that time my girlfriend was going to be my wife, so I sold the bike and used the cash to pay off my bills and bought her a ring.

Year later, married, I had to sell my 4-wheeler because we couldn't afford the payment.

We have talked about getting a Harley Davidson lately, but it won't happen if things go well in the next couple months.

 

[hornadylnl]

You sir are a rider! Not a "biker". There is a difference and it is huge. That is a complement in case you couldn't tell.


I have no real problem with Harley's as much as I bash them they are very good looking and sounding. They really are not any different than anything else. As long as it is maintained it will run forever.

What I have a problem with is shallow thinking people who only own a Harley "because is a "real bike" dude, if you own or ride anything else you are a "puzzie"! Now if you'll excuse me I have to put on 40 pounds of leather all of which is HD branded so I can ride the 15 miles back to my house to spend 6 hours detailing my bike so it will look good sitting in my garage for the next six months".

I put 30,000 on it in the first 3 years. The last couple, I've just ripped to work and back other than my trip to Tulsa last year. I've done many 500+ mile days. Would have had 700 miles in 13 hours had my stator not gone out in Illinois on the way back. I've ridden down to 28 degrees the 25 mile trip home from work.

I used to be that die hard Harley guy. Had tons of shirts and couldn't tell you the last time I wore one. After putting 500+ miles in the seat in a day enough times! you start caring more about comfort. If I ever get another bike, it will be a bmw r1200rt or r1200gs.

If you haven't seen them yet, check out Long Way Round and Long Way Down on netflix.

 

[kawtech87]

. If I ever get another bike, it will be a bmw r1200rt or r1200gs.

If you haven't seen them yet, check out Long Way Round and Long Way Down on netflix.

Good choice! BMW makes an excellent machine.

I have seen both those series. We actually used to watch episodes of them at the end of class when I was attending MMI. Those of us who finished our labs early and had exceptional grades were given free run of the shop while other people were finishing up. We worked on each others bikes and watched lots of Youtube vids and they Long Way series was a favorite of mine

 

[Harleyrider_50]

I would be interested in learning the lesson, but it's kind of hard following your posts. () Can you just type normally and post the differences between someone who rides either style bike? I've always wanted a HD, just to own some American history, but it's hard to beat what you get for the money, considering the metric bikes. I have always owned metric bikes and may get something next summer, if the finances work out.

Well...............nuth'n wrong with the metrics,I don' rec'n.......only thing out there I'd consider over a HD'd be.....a Wing,for 1,'specially the new'st 1....a F6B,or FB6?......cain't remember the model #.......or.......bad's I hate ta say it.......a Beemer.....

Far's Harley Davidson ......I'd never drop the coin for a brand-new 1.......yyyyy too many great bikes on'a used mkt.......I did'n buy this 1 new,much less pay 30K(previous owner's a local....) for it,LOL!............I paid 18,267.00 in '08,and the bike still books for 17 an' change.....(NADA)
IF.......ya want a HD.......I'd hawk the used mkt.....

 

[Harleyrider_50]

Best Harley ever made. ^^^ Because at least you can pedal it home WHEN it breaks down.

No you really did not hit any nerves on my part. But I know plenty of people who would take offense to your comment by essentially calling anyone who rides a metric bike a "puzzie" as you put it. I know people with literally Millions of miles under their belts. People who I guarantee have spent more time in the saddle than you have on your feet. And guess how many of them ride HDs?

NONE! Not a one. Just ask them what they think of HD and you will most likely be laughed at. Mind you most of them have owned an HD at one point in time and they all say the same thing. They do not hold up over time. They cost more up front and cost more than any other bike to have serviced and they need service more often than any other bike.

I have seen plenty of HD riders in my time. I know how they are and the stubborn way they think. I have noticed one trend. The more leather, the more HD branded stuff they wear, the more chrome on the bike, the shinier it is. The less miles on the machine. I recently did a tire change on a '98 Ultra Classic. Pristine bike, looked like it just rolled off the show room, owner was covered head to toe in HD gear and the bike front to rear with HD custom chrome. He ordered the HD branded Dunlop tire (even though I tried to tell him that is the cheapest crap tire that Dunlop makes he still wanted it because it said HD on it) he would've had a better tire for less money with the Metzler. Bike had 12,000 miles on it. 12,000. He was no biker. 15 year old bike with less than 1,000 miles a year on it. Poor machine sat more than it was ridden.

And this is typical in my experience with HD riders. Its all about the image of being a "biker" and not actually about being a rider.

Que. Look into the new Indian line. They are owned by Victory which is a subsidiary of Polaris but are not in any way shape or form a Victory. They are pure Indian with the same classic Indian style and an all new power plant that is really something. And they actually have a reasonable price point this time around with an actual powersports company backing them for warranty or service work. Polaris has been making huge strides in the powersports industry and are currently one of if not the biggest powersports company in the US and closing in on the World market.

Polaris already owns Indian. My prediction, within 10 years they will own Harley too. And maybe then Harley will get a much needed update in technology and performance.

If you dig into Harley's racing history you will find it stained with bribes and damn near out right extortion of the AMA so they would change the rules and allow Harley to run bikes that were twice the size of the competition in the races.

The really funny thing. After all the money HD spent cheating and changing the rules in their favor. THEY STILL LOST RACES! They couldn't even win by cheating!

Even today. A 2003 HD V-Rod the highest performance motorcycle that Porsche ever built for Harley. And it still looses to a stock 1983 Suzuki GS1100. HDs top of the line at the time VS a 20 year Japanese machine. And it LOOSES.

[video=youtube_share;5eBpkA4XX58]http://youtu.be/5eBpkA4XX58[/video]

They shut down Buell because Eric Buell wanted to build a genuine American sport bike but was limited by Sportster 883 and 1200 engines they gave him to use. Even after being highly modified by Eric and his crew they still were getting spanked in AMA sanctioned races. Even pulling Harley's old tricks and running a 1200cc machine in the Sport (600cc) class they still were getting their asses handed to them on a platter by Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, KTM, BMW. Eric Buell got fed up and wanted to build a bike that would actually preform so he started using Austrian made Rotax engine for the Buell 1125R. and low and behold an American superbike was born! But the powers that be at HD wouldn't stand for being snubbed by Buell and dropped them like a bad habit expecting to watch Buell twist in the wind and die. Instead he gave HD the finger and Started building bikes again under his own name. And they are better than they ever under the HD banner. It just sucks that they cost 30K.

........Daaayyyyyuum dude................you blood presssure's up.................could have a anneurysm or sumthin.....

Oh...............here ya go.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXsoAdh5P5g


Oh..............netherlands.......this'ns CC'd......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myGMlgk3PuI

 

[Bennettjh]

I dig my HD. I like the history of them (except the bowling pin folks owning it), the sound, all sorts of things. Also, I can travel quickly with good MPG.

Plus CHROME!

 

[chezuki]

Well...............nuth'n wrong with the metrics,I don' rec'n.......only thing out there I'd consider over a HD'd be.....a Wing,for 1,'specially the new'st 1....a F6B,or FB6?......cain't remember the model #.......or.......bad's I hate ta say it.......a Beemer.....

Far's Harley Davidson ......I'd never drop the coin for a brand-new 1.......yyyyy too many great bikes on'a used mkt.......I did'n buy this 1 new,much less pay 30K(previous owner's a local....) for it,LOL!............I paid 18,267.00 in '08,and the bike still books for 17 an' change.....(NADA)
IF.......ya want a HD.......I'd hawk the used mkt.....

........Daaayyyyyuum dude................you blood presssure's up.................could have a anneurysm or sumthin.....

Oh...............here ya go.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXsoAdh5P5g

 

[kawtech87]

........Daaayyyyyuum dude................you blood presssure's up.................could have a anneurysm or sumthin.....

Oh...............here ya go.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXsoAdh5P5g


Oh..............netherlands.......this'n s CC'd......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myGMlgk3PuI

Again no. Sorry. You are not getting to me. Trust me I know I'm beating my head against the wall talking to you. Let alone trying to read your posts. This is simply the nights entertainment for me.

Congratulationso n finding the one video of someone beating a sportbike on an HD. I could post video after video of people beating the snot out of HDs on sport bikes. And not down an alley. But on a real drag strip with real racers and real times posted. But I know it wont do any good.

So here is Ricky Gadson on a STOCK ZX-14R. Show me the HD that can run a low 9 quarter off the showroom floor.

[video=youtube_share;1jr_iVo7p_g]http://youtu.be/1jr_iVo7p_g[/video]

 

[kawtech87]

I dig my HD. I like the history of them (except the bowling pin folks owning it), the sound, all sorts of things. Also, I can travel quickly with good MPG.

Plus CHROME!

Nothing wrong with a nice Harley. But there is apparently something wrong with Harleyrider_50

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

I like the new Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda, they all look just like my Harley!! For the record I wouldn't own a new Harley either! Hate fuel injection and the twin cams,, sounds like a jap bike to me.

 

[kawtech87]

OP sorry for the derail of this thread. I didn't mean to start a huge mess. Yeager seems to like his new bike and good for him. I like the Vaquero too. But he miss pronounces the name in the same way a lot of people do. It is pronounced Va-kar-O and is a Spanish word meaning Cowboy.

 

[Bob2]

Here I hoped on a gun forum the anti anything but HD crowd wouldn't jump out as quick, should have known better. I have nothing against HD, other than they are overpriced, marketing scam LOL. Did you every try to count how many times HD is imprinted on bike and rider? Bring a calculator... Oh, and of course the few( well maybe many) of their owners who think you don't ride if it isn't a HD. Whatever.

I test rode the Victory, HD, and the Kawasaki Vaquero before buying the Vaquero. I had pros and cons for each bike, and had they all been within a couple grand of each other it would have been a very tough decision, as there wasn't any one thing I had to have about any one bike....and I wasn't going to pay just for a name / image.... so that left the HD out. Coulda got the Vic for a few grand more than the Vaquero, and while they are both different than what the HD sheep ride, the then brand new to the market Vaquero just caught my eye. At 11k out the door plus tax, it was about half the cost of a street / rode glide, and 4k less than every street / rode glide on the used market. Apparently EVERY HD never drops below 15k LOL. No sour grapes because I couldn't afford a HD, could have wrote a check for it had I wanted one. (Reminds me of my buddy who was excited to almost have his 6 year loan on his HD paid off, he had major miles on it, about 5000) Bought my bike 2 years ago this month, has 20,500 miles on it, and right now pretty dirty. I could have spent the weekend cleaning it, or riding it.... I bought it to ride

Took a demo ride on the new Indian Chiefton a few weeks ago, pretty impressed.... starts at 23k. That 111 engine is a powerful, torque monster.

 

[kawtech87]

I like the new Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda, they all look just like my Harley!! For the record I wouldn't own a new Harley either! Hate fuel injection and the twin cams,, sounds like a jap bike to me.

Notice lots of people copy the style of the HD...... Not the technology or engineering.

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

Notice lots of people copy the style of the HD...... Not the technology or engineering.

Guess who designed the Yamaha v- max motor?? Go ahead guess!

 

[kawtech87]

Guess who designed the Yamaha v- max motor?? Go ahead guess!

An English man by the name of John Reed who was living in California at the time. He has worked for almost every motorcycle company on the planet at one time or another.

Got anymore Zingers?

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

An English man by the name of John Reed who was living in California at the time. He has worked for almost every motorcycle company on the planet at one time or another.

Got anymore Zingers?

Answer the first question first, I thought you went to school for this stuff? Oh well , here's a hint, look up Harley Davidson Nova. ZING!!!

 

[printcraft]

While you guys were here arguing on the interwebs I was out riding..... nice cool night ride.

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

While you guys were here arguing on the interwebs I was out riding..... nice cool night ride.

Great ,glad the big wheel is still up and running! I loved those!

 

[kawtech87]

Answer the first question first, I thought you went to school for this stuff? Oh well , here's a hint, look up Harley Davidson Nova. ZING!!!

Hmm, never seen that before. Thanks for the history lesson but just because it is a V-4 doesn't mean it shares anything else with Yamaha's V-Max engine. In fact the difference is noticeable just by looking at the cases that nothing internal is even remotely similar with the exception of dual overhead cams and 4 pistons.