Whats up with the blind alligance to Harley Davidson and everyother bike it crap thing?
Like why cant Harley riders appreciate things like good engineering or technology and not just loud pipes and heavy ass chrome?
Yeah "grouse" I hear that all time, its the only comeback HD riders have in lieu of horrible specs. I have ridden them and yes I dont understand whats so great about a poorly handling machine thats slow and makes a lotta noise, and doesnt stand out from the crowd when you pull up at the spot.
Some people have tunnel vision.
EDIT: This whole buy American thing is BS. Don’t get me wrong, I like Harley’s alot. Hate to drop this on ya’ but Harley’s ain’t all American. What about all the factories here in the US that give Americans jobs assembling these foreign cars and bikes? What about all the dealerships that give Americans jobs?
Pretty funny isn’t it. These guys would pee their pants if they found themselves on a bike with triple the horsepower. A loud two wheeled tractor is all they can handle.
and who says we dont really most part is its made in japan type thing you know buy american made things keep food on our tables and our people working one of the many reason so many are home less now days their jobs when to another country ive lost three jobs that moved its not that your is any better or not same goes with buying a ford over a nissan which is a great car but for every one that is sold one American lost their job for it and since most every harley ride believes in their country they buy them as did i ive had other bikes but im proud to ride my harley and i got to go having a fund raiser for kids today have to ride and its for out kids not some other counrties
When you buy a Harley you just pay for the name. Any other bike will out last them hands down.
you obviously dont ride at all
if we had to explain
You wouldnt understand!
I haven’t really seen a blind alligance to Harley Davidson. Harley owners seem to be the ones who are most likely to tell someone to ride their own ride.
What I do see is a LOT of people dumping on Harley Davidson and their riders.
I only see that attitude out of sport bike squids.
For me it’s not "blind allegiance" it’s allegiance to a company that makes the kind of bike I enjoy riding the most. I have no interest in going 0-100 in a fraction of a second. If that’s what you want, then go after it. I enjoy riding, enjoying the sights, sounds and freedom that riding brings. I have no need for the most technically superior bike ever manufactured. Those that do are, in my opinion, missing the essence of riding a bike. I’ll take my Harley which is comfortable, only needs basic maintenance, never breaks down, sounds great, has great resale value, is manufactured by an American company and has a following of the nicest people you’d ever want to know. You see, I don’t worship technology. I appreciate it, but I don’t worship it as some do. I’m more secure than that. I ride what makes me feel best and that’s a Harley. It’s not all about loud pipes and chrome.
Why are these type of questions asked? Are non Harley riders upset that everyone isn’t impressed with their techno-bike? Are they that self-centered? Okay, ooooo, your bike is cool. Happy now.
some can and some can’t and its not just hd riders stupid people ride all types of bikes i ride with weasels they ride most hd and rice cruisers where i ride sport. after a long ride ,400+ miles they are in alot better shape than i am for comfort they dont have to lube their chain every 300 miles . its like this some people like family cars some like sports cars and some like trucks i ride to ride and most of the people i know dont care what you ride just as long as you ride
Amber, I ride Harley and I love my bike. Will it do 0-100 in 6 seconds? No. Will it do front wheel stands or wheelies? No. Does it weigh less that 600 pounds? No. Do I care if it does these things? Again, the answer is no.
I don’t ride Harley because it is a sport bike. I ride Harley because it is not a sport bike. I ride it because it suits me to ride it.
My loyalty isn’t blind, it comes from my own personal experience. I typically ride 10,000 to 15,000 miles per year, in all kinds of weather. My average ride is 200 miles or more per ride. On my harley, that ride is comfortable and enjoyable.
I rarely need to go more than 80 miles per hour, but my harley is perfectly capable of maintaining that speed all day, and at less than 3500rpm. My gas mileage is typically 38-45 mpg, depending on riding speed and traffic. If i need to pass a vehicle at 50 or 60 mph, I don’t have to drop a gear, or two. I only have to twist the throttle, and the torque from the 106 inch V-twin engine pulls me quickly and evenly to 70 or 80, plenty of speed to pass any slower moving vehicle. The same goes if I need to pass an 18 wheeler doing 70, I only need to twist the throttle, and the bike easily speeds up to 80 or 90, with no downshift and no hassle.
The lean angle of my bike is hardly knee dragging, but then again, if you ride a sport bike, the chances are you rarely, if ever lean that far either. If you are obeying the speed limits, or even close to them, then again there is no need for those lean angles.
Maintenance and reliability? I will put my bike up against yours in those categories any day of the week. For the last 7000 miles, my bike has needed only an oil change, has never failed to start, and has done everything I have asked of it, including a climb up a steep muddy hill where mine was the ONLY bike at the top of the hill! (by the way, that 7000 miles was racked up in less than 6 months. How many miles have you ridden lately?)
In closing, I love my ride at least as much as you love yours, the only difference is, I didn’t come on yahoo answers and trash your preffered style of motorcycle just because I was bored and wanted to taunt some harley riders.
My advice? If its a nice day where you are at, why aren’t you out riding your bike, instead of sitting at your computer trashing other peoples choice of lifestyle?
Come to think of it, thats a great idea! maybe I’ll see ya out there! I’ll be sure and wave as you zip by me!
I let you ride whatever you want without giving you a bunch of crap.Why can’t you grow up and allow me the same freedom?I appreciate good technology.I just happen to like old school stuff too.I don’t need a bike that will go 160mph.I get so tired of all you little twits that can’t wait to jump on here and run down someones choice of a bike.You all need to grow up.
amber my sentiments exactly
I’ve ridden them and I HATE THEM
they are uncomfortable lack power ( and i mean real power) and lack handling.
and out of all the cruisers i’ve ridden HD are the worse
Though I do have a soft spot for BUELL they do handle and they do have power, it’s incredible that they come from the same stable
But the blind allegiance thingy is purely an american thing patriotic to the bone thing.
i’m British I like triumph but wouldn’t say they were the best bikes in the world ; but they do have a good range. and i would have one in my garage but along side my other bikes NOT in place of
According to Tuscan Bob people don’t ride Harley’s they own Harley’s. As far as blind allegiance I ride a Triumph. I have a Triumph belt buckle several t-shirts, and I’ve got Triumph stickers on my car, laptop, closet door, and the front head of my kick drum. Try approaching someone who drives a Corvette and you’ll be met with the same pride and arrogance as you will with some Harley owners or an owner of any other machine. Why do we paint ourselves in our favorite sports teams colors and brave all kinds of weather to scream and act crazy. It’s because we are Fans( which is short for fanatic). And yeah "grouse if you don’t know you wouldn’t understand is getting pretty lame. When asked why I ride a Triumph I answer with "my bike doesn’t look or sound like any other bike, I wanted something different and more to my size, at 6ft2 150# my dinky Bonneville with its tiny 865cc motor is just the right size and has enough power to get me to where I want to go. It’s not what you ride it’s how you ride. I have several friends that own Harley’s, and met one guy at the bowling ally who has a 1200 sportster we talk about rain, riding, racing, and general BS, you have to give respect to gain respect.
Hey; what planet do you come from. The planet, same as everyone else. Or this is what I like, so everyone else MUST like it to. News flash for you, your not queen of the earth. Get over it. If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t understand.
I ride a Harley, because that’s the bike I like. Harley makes the bikes, Harley riders want them to make. Harley technology, has all way been up to date. Buy Harley riders for the most part, don’t want to have the latest whizzbang, forced on them by the manufacture. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t understand.
Like Biker Bob said. It seems most Harley riders, don’t feel the juvenile need. To go from, 0 to 60 in 0.1 nanoseconds. Or race down a twisty road, faster than the speed of sound. I like a low loud rumble, much more than a just as loud scream. By the way, I like chrome, but not to much. If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.
My Harley, handles just fine thank you. If you ran a NASCAR race car, on the same track as a F1 race car. The stock car, is very poor handling indeed. But if you ran the stock car, up against a regular street car. The stock car handles great. Let me let you in on a secret, Handling is completely subjective. What you don’t like, I do. But if I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.
I don’t have, the juvenile need to stand out in a crowd at a stop light. However I do know, that my Harley. Stands out, anywhere more than most. Because it’s a Harley.
American made, history, and I can go to the weekly bike swap meet and get a starter for 5 dollars , a seat for 5 dollars , a fender for 5 dollars’. and so on. Parts are alot cheaper and there are alot out there. A starter for my yamaha warrior sells for 600 dollars and you can’t find one rebuilt or used anywhere.
Bart S finally got his surgery done.
But on a serious note, why do you care what I ride.
Just go out and ride what you like, and I will ride what I like. And when I pass you going down the road I will drop a hand, and I would hope you would do the same.
And for you club guys out there, I understand and I know that you are wishing me well in your mind.
isn’t it stupid they spend $17K just because it has a HD decal on the tank?
they are just posers that they can only find their manhood if they owned a HD
they just want to think they are better because they own a HD
they worry more about what someone else thinks about them more than a passion to ride
I’ve owned everything from Hondas to Harleys and I’ve seen a lot more import riders with an anti Harley attitude over the years then I’ve seen Harley riders with the "blind alligance to Harley Davidson and everyother bike it crap thing". And to be honest I used to be one of those anti Harley guys myself but then I grew up and learned that each bike has it’s own pro’s and con’s and that the point of being on two wheels is to enjoy the ride and not worry about what other people want to ride.
While I still consider myself a Honda fan (I love the XL/XR series dual sports bikes) what I hate the most is how Honda (along with every other import motorcycle company out there) has does nothing but to help add to the Harley image. I started off with Hondas in the late 70’s with a used 1975 MT250 that I worked all summer mowing yards to save up enough money to buy it. Then I got my hands on a 1974 XL350 that I got from my dad (he bought it brand new from the local Honda dealer). Back then a Honda was a Honda and a Harley was a Harley and they were easy to tell apart just by looking at them. And when Honda came out with the V45/V65 Magna series I was in love. It had a touch of the cruiser look but it was still clearly an import bike. But that lasted only a few years. Around 1985 Honda redesigned them to look a lot more like an air cooled Harley and they have gone down hill ever since. Over the years Honda has even gone as far as adding fake air cooling fins on water cooled engines along with changing the cranks on their Shadow series engines to a common crank pin for the connecting rods to try and imitate that "Harley sound". That was when I started to change my opinion on Hondas (and other import bikes for that matter). They were going out of their way to imitate that Harley image while at the same time saying that their bikes were better then Harleys. I liked Hondas because they had their own look but now it’s getting harder and harder to tell a Honda from a Harley. If Harleys are so bad why do import motorcycle companies continue to do everything they can to mimic them? All they have done is give a lot of import riders a goal to reach for. What it did was to tell them that If Harleys are great enough to warrant copying them then they must be worth owning. Why have a copy when you can own the real thing, right? Thanks for nothing Honda. I want a Honda that is a Honda, not a Harley look alike.
Also, as I mentioned I used to have an attitude against Harleys but that changed when I got the chance to work on them. Having worked on Hondas and Yamahas for years I was used to having to have a lot of special tools to do much of the work on these engines. But when I started working on Harleys I found that they were so easy to work on and did not need that much as far as special tools. And almost all the major work to be done on a Harley engine could be done with the engine in the frame. That’s something you can’t say about almost all of the import bike engines. Yes, the engine design has roots that go back to the stone age but that is part of what makes them so easy to work on. If it works why change it?
While Harleys might not be able to take a corner as fast as a sport bike without dragging an exhaust pipe or primary cover on the ground the point is not everyone is out to play John Q. Racer. And if you’ve ever tried to ride 400 to 600 miles in a day on either you would easily see the pro’s of one over the other.
When the day is done it all comes down to personal choice and what you like. So why keep bashing one bike over another when we could be out riding instead?