What is it with Harley Davidsons ?

[bradjonesbass]

I like the Fender analogy. Nicely done.
I haven't ridden for years, but one other point that I'll add, based on living up in the mountains on roads that see a LOT of bikers of various stripes - there's a different mindset to riding a Harley that is clear as an observer.
Sport bike riders GO FAST. Harley riders seem to just enjoy cruising at a reasonable speed.
I get passed in no-passing zones by sport bike riders (and I drive fast). I almost never get passed by Harley riders.
Every year, several times a summer my drive is delayed because of ambulances and paramedics cleaning up a dead or injured biker who wiped out.
Not one of those crashed bikes has been a Harley.
I find that interesting and significant.

Statistics don't bear that out. The problem is new riders on too big (or powerful) bikes. Middle aged riders, riding a 1000 lb 1500 cc motorcycle that doesn't handle well get in a lot of accidents too. Start small, move up slowly, take the safety courses, ride with your head on a swivel...

 

[Solarmist]

It's not just the loud pipes that appeal; it's also the unmistakable sound of a Harley engine based on its firing order.

 

[Nomadskills]

Further, i've seen people freak out when they hear noises. You know the type, ones that loose control of the car every time they turn their heads. Loud noises, their head goes all over the place trying to locate loud noises and bam, they are no longer in their lane or sometimes no where near the road.

Bam.

Those people shouldn't have a license.

 

[kesslari]

Statistics don't bear that out. The problem is new riders on too big (or powerful) bikes. Middle aged riders, riding a 1000 lb 1500 cc motorcycle that doesn't handle well get in a lot of accidents too. Start small, move up slowly, take the safety courses, ride with your head on a swivel...

Entirely possible that statistics don't bear it out - but my observations do. I don't see dead Harley riders on Highway 9. I do see sportbike casualties, regularly.

 

[Funky Ghost]

Except you can't hear the exhaust from the front of the bike, only from the rear... So you don't really hear that obnoxious exhaust until the bike has gone past you... You're a lot safer wearing a loud jacket, i.e. Hi-Vis yellow. Go ahead, point and laugh, that just means you saw me. As to HD vs Japanese, I'll take my Japanese sport touring rig any day of the week. There's a reason all the iron butt rally riders ride FJRs, Concourses, BMWs and ST 1300s. Faster, better handling, more comfortable, and far more reliable too - well, except for that annoying BMW final drive issue. When I'm ready to move on from my VFR, I'm looking at an FJR, Concours 14, or ST1300. Let the pirates keep their HDs...

I guess your ears work different than mine because I hear them when they are idling behind me just fine. I hear them when they rev it before they get in my blind spot and I hear them as they pass.

It would suck to have hearing that limited. . .

 

[fdeck]

One might as well ask what is it with tube amps?

There are both practical and emotional / aesthetic sides to things that are partly utilitarian and partly recreational.

 

[tastybasslines]

I agree with the "defense mechanism" idea, but it didn't always work. When I was on the freeway with my Shadow 750 (w/custom loud pipes) I'd frequently rev just to notify drivers I was there before passing.

However, I also got my share of jerks who construed that for wanting to race or me showing off and they challenge you, stare at you, pretend to drift into you...(insert angry behavior here).

I honked at someone once for drifting into my lane and forcing me out of it, and they did it again, on purpose, and kept flipping me off!

 

[kserg]

Those people shouldn't have a license.

But they do, so next time they run someone into a ditch, you tell em whats up.

 

[Uncle Snake]

European bikes have no life, cool bikes but built bad and no parts support.

So apparently you've never heard of BMW motorcycles?

 

[hdracer]

So apparently you've never heard of BMW motorcycles?

They are the exception. Great reliable bikes BUT they do suffer from a parts accessibility problem. My neighbor & his brother have them.
He spent most of this summer waiting on one part. They run great but when they have a problem you are screwed.

 

[scootron]

I don't ride, but I seem to wind up in Northwest Arkansas on business every Fall when they have the Bikes, Blues & BBQ Festival which stretches from Bentonville to Fayetteville to Eureka Springs. The estimates are that hundreds of thousands of attendees make it up to that area from all over the country. I can tell you that every bike I have seen is a Harley.

Thousands and thousands of Harleys, everywhere. You can drive down any road, and you'll see an oncoming stream of Harleys that goes for miles and miles. They have a great time. Massive cookouts, loads of live music (I caught the Allman Bros a couple of years ago), show bike contests and parade after parade.

I can tell you that the people seem, on the whole, to be great folks, interested in nothing more than food, fellowship, music and good times. The locals love it, because the bikers spend tons of money and don't cause any trouble.

I've never seen anything similar from owners of other brands of bikes...never seen a massive week-long Suzuki rally. There is clearly a strong connection between the bike owners, no matter where they are from, no matter what they do for a living.

On an unrelated note, I was in Eureka a couple of weeks ago when it was the big Corvette weekend. I've never seen so many Vettes in my life. It was just weird to drive by a parking lot and see that every single car in it was a Corvette. That's another group that appears to have tremendous brand loyalty and a strong sense of kinship with other owners.

 

[bobalu]

.
My view of Harleys is of an old fashioned bike that does not go fast, handle well or brake effectively, especially in comparison with MIJ/European bikes, a bike that requires a lot of maintenance, is heavy and expensive in terms of what you actually get .

Well Graham, here's my (friendly )two cents for you as the owner of a 2010 Road Glide Classic. I've been riding 25 years, started with sport bikes (FZ's and RZ's), then retired to a cruiser (Kawasaki Vulcan Classsic), then got the Harley. The Kawasaki was nothing but trouble with 2 recalls and a spent stator after only 16,000 km, not covered under warranty.

As to your view about Harley's:

old fashioned bike - ? mine has fuel injection, fly by wire throttle and electronic cruise control. So not sure what you're talking about.

that does not go fast,- well, not sport bike fast (why would it?), but touring/cruiser fast, so again, I'm not sure what you mean here.

not handle well - again, not "sport bike" handle well, but certainly handles well for a touring bike. Check out You Tube for the CHP rodeo riders, amazing what they can steer a Harley Road King through!

or brake effectively especially in comparison with MIJ/European bikes - simply not true. My bike has dual disc Brembo's up front, rear disc, and anti-lock brakes are standard on the 2011's.

a bike that requires a lot of maintenance - Um, fluids and plugs as regular maintenance. And I don't haveto pull the tank to change the plugs like I did on the Kawasaki.

heavy - absolutely! The thing is a pig. Weighs a ton.

and expensive in terms of what you actually get - Agreed. Harley's, IMO, are way over priced for what you get. But that wasn't a criteria for me at this point in my life.

I can't speak for older Harley's because this is the first one that I've owned. But I will say that I pretty much held your same views up until a couple of years ago. HD has really advanced and does respond to owner/rider input and complaints. I'll give them that. Otherwise, I never would have bought one.

 

[CDweller]

I've owned a few bikes through the years, and actively raced motocross until two years ago. At this point, I'm ready for a Harley. Why?

I like the sound, for one. Same design as the engines on a DC-3. The loping is a very comforting sound, and it just works, in the sense that it relaxes you.

I'm not interested in any sort of fast riding on the street, anymore. Did so when I was younger, but am more interested in cruising.

Loud pipes? Used to be against them, now see they serve to announce your presence- this enhances your safety. Sorry; bikes are hard to see. The loudness helps drivers become aware of your presence.

Harley builds a great engine these days. They've really ramped up their game in the past two decades. Reliability is not really an issue, anymore.

They also hold their value.

Don't see the point of a Harley? That's cool in my book. Get what you want, bro.

 

[David Jayne]

They are easy to ride.
I kind of like how the muffled ones sound; a nice rumble. But the straight pipe ones sound like @$$. Like a very loud, well executed, wet fart.

 

[theduke1]

I learned how to ride on a 1952 650 right shift Triumph Thunderbird. Harly's couldn't beat them then and they can't now
pretty,good looking no doubt American for sure
But just because I don't care for them doesn't make them bad, just not for me.
I just wish all of us who ride would respect each other just as riders and not what we ride I have a 1985 GL1200 be safe out there !

 

[Waterpilot]

I own both a sports bike and a Harley. They're two completely different bikes. Both are old, 2002 R1 and an 1988 FLT. Lately I've been having some starting issues with the Harley but I've also put a lot more miles on it. Honestly, having both, to me, is the best of both worlds.

Notice how 99.9% of Harley Riders own their bike's worth in stupid merch.

It's all about the image.

That's highly exaggerated but the fact that there is so much merch to be had vs. other makes and models says something about brand loyally. I'm sure if BMW or Honda customers would buy the same stuff as the Harley guys, BMW and Honda would sell it.

 

[chuck norriss]

Harleys are nice but I'd never buy one with my income. My next bike will be a 70's honda cafe or bobber, or Yamaha FZ1 street fighter. Speed Triples are pretty sick too. You see a lot of Bonnie-bobbers in CA. Rat bikes were popular here too. If you have those in the UK--basically Mad Max/Road Warrior style (invented out of necessity, affordability). My YZF-R6 was stolen three years ago. Have to work my way back & get something for myself. And I like vintage cafe racers.
In my socio econo sub level harleys are a fantasy, not a reality. I'm not in the Allevo Coppola club either.

 

[sandmangeck]

They seem to be the ricks, and fenders of bikes. I've got a 48' harley on the way for inheritence to me next. I am excited because it was my grandfathers.

 

[Pilgrim]

The noise is a defense mechanism. It's actually a good way to keep from being merged on top of ( well, it HELPS.. but dumb people still drive our roads... ) I've no problem with loud motorcycles. Not to be a big downer but my brother was killed by a motorist who "didn't see him". If the noise helps save a life. It's all good in my book.

Given the limited speed of sound, if you're traveling at road speed this is imaginary. I have no problem with a healthy sounding bike, but I've followed Harleys that I could hear when I was nearly 1/2 mile behind them. Idiots with pipes that loud probably have everyone who live near them wishing they would find that drunk changing lanes.

Harleys have their own mystique, but they're mostly (not all) toys for lawyer type poseurs. Last time I drove through Jackson's Hole in the summer, I saw numerous Harley riders - with their own chase vehicles, sometimes including a trailer with spares.

There was a lineup in front of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson...like 25 of them. I walked down the line and found ONE with some scratches and signs of actual use. I told my daughters: OK, here's one that's a real motorcycle - someone actually uses it. The rest were poseurs as far as I'm concerned.

I have a couple of friends who own Harleys, and they're really nice guys who get in a morning's ride every now and then. I'm pleased that some real people own them and enjoy them.

 

[anonymous122511]

Harleys are comfortable and tons of fun to ride if you don't need frame geometry that will corner hard.