The God Of Thunder Spews Fury At Central Pling Kao

[submaniac]

Went over to Central Pling Kao, and there looked to be a new Twin Cam (with the castle shaped heads), white, Harley Roadking parked outside of the motorcycle coral. (I do not blame the owner, as I doubt the bike would have fit inside, and even if it had, it would have been a pain to get it out again, and manuever it into the little parking spots).

Anyways, the Bike parking for Central Pling Kao is underground, and it is concrete, and it echos. I saw the owner(s) hop on the bike, and I was watching around because I knew what would happen next. VROOOOOM!!!! (followed by "potato potato potato"), a bunch of car alarms go off and EVERYONE on that level of the parking garage looked up to see what the hel_l the noise was. I miss my Harley.

[ajahnlau]

The anti-HD club will be on you for this.

[mikethevigoman]

The anti-HD club will be on you for this.

I dont consider myself anti-harley, However, why all the noise boys ?

[0Mix1up]

Having a loud bike to identify yourself on the rd...good

Having a way to loud bike to identify yourself as a man... thats funny

[wangsuda]

The anti-HD club will be on you for this.

I dont consider myself anti-harley, However, why all the noise boys ?

If you have to ask, you'll never understand.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

A Harley is loud, 2 cylinder, and only half a meter pipe and 1600cc what do you expect, beside its sound good.

Loud pipes safe lives.....

Come on more anti HD people out there, there never had a harley but knows all about them.

[Jai Dee]

VROOOOOM!!!! (followed by "potato potato potato"), a bunch of car alarms go off and EVERYONE on that level of the parking garage looked up to see what the hel_l the noise was.

Love it...

A perfect description.

[taxexile]

the bikes may be well engineered and designed , but then again so are thousands of other bikes.

the problem many people have with harleys is more to do with those who ride them.

people who are constantly drawing attention to themselves must accept that they will also draw the opprobium of some of those whose attention is drawn.

for many riders of these bikes , its more to do with showing off , compensating for some insecurity , wanting to belong to a group rather than having the confidence to go it alone , some people boulevarde around in pink lamborghinis or chromed up range rovers , some people pour themselves into ridiculous clothing , some males even , believe it or not , wear pony tails , they mostly think that these activities enhance their persona , mostly they are wrong.

some , i'm sure , have a true love of biking and machinery , but a lot probably have more than just a sneaky love for oily chains , greasy grommets , studded wristbands , female domination and sweaty paraphenalia than they would readily admit.

[Jai Dee]

some , i'm sure , have a true love of biking and machinery , but a lot probably have more than just a sneaky love for oily chains , greasy grommets , studded wristbands , female domination and sweaty paraphenalia than they would readily admit.

My nomination for the following award:

[Dave the Dude]

some , i'm sure , have a true love of biking and machinery , but a lot probably have more than just a sneaky love for oily chains , greasy grommets , studded wristbands , female domination and sweaty paraphenalia than they would readily admit.

My nomination for the following award:

SECONDED. Taxexile 'hit the nail on the head' very well. Its not about the bikes, its about the people.

I bet that rider was the toughest guy in the car park!!

Dave

Edited January 31, 2008 by Dave the Dude

[RusticCharm]

The anti-HD club will be on you for this.

What??

[HDRIDER]

Hi

He he you guys is just jealous be course some of you guys can’t handle 300kg of real steel

Just keep it comming.

[basjke]

Hi

A Harley is loud, 2 cylinder, and only half a meter pipe and 1600cc what do you expect, beside its sound good.

Loud pipes safe lives.....

Come on more anti HD people out there, there never had a harley but knows all about them.

My bike,as you see in my avator.2 cylinder,only half a meter pipe and 1900 cc an not loud at all.Also don't understand how loud pipes save lives as the sound comes from behind.

[Richard-BKK]

The time that Harley's was the king of the road is long gone, now-a-days they, even the latest models, have average road handling. Suspension is for some models even under average, still I love to see them.

But the world of big fat cruisers is not standing still and Harley will need to get back to basic and start making good bikes. Like in the early 70's Harley where the best and then you had some Japanese jokers, no-a-days things changed if you want a good bike which you can trust you buy a Honda, if you want to impress your friends you buy a Suzuki M1800R intruder. And if you still living your boyhood dreams you buy a Harley.

Look at the Harley Night Rod Special, it is a freaking dangerous bike to drive. Try hanging in a corner with about 80km/h and you think you going of the tarmac, even my Yamaha Mio has better road handling.

Harley is living history, and I love Harley's but again they need to do better, just making a bigger more powerful engine hang it under a bit modified frame and call it a new model is not good enough.

[mikethevigoman]

Hi

A Harley is loud, 2 cylinder, and only half a meter pipe and 1600cc what do you expect, beside its sound good.

Loud pipes safe lives.....

Come on more anti HD people out there, there never had a harley but knows all about them.

I have had one, blew it up, dosent suit my riding style, but harleys are NOT noisey from the factory,. i use an open pipe on my dirt bike to ride around cambodia, but thats to scare the animals away,( so that i dont hit one ) and a harley riders reason ?

[mikethevigoman]

Hi

A Harley is loud, 2 cylinder, and only half a meter pipe and 1600cc what do you expect, beside its sound good.

Loud pipes safe lives.....

Come on more anti HD people out there, there never had a harley but knows all about them.

My bike,as you see in my avator.2 cylinder,only half a meter pipe and 1900 cc an not loud at all.Also don't understand how loud pipes save lives as the sound comes from behind.

Its not about noise to make safe its about noise that says HERE I COME !

[mikethevigoman]

Hi

He he you guys is just jealous be course some of you guys can't handle 300kg of real steel

Just keep it comming.

Im not allowed to have one, i cant grow the beard !

[PeaceBlondie]

After taxexile's insult against men with ponytails, what can I saw, except that I like to prove I can still grow one.

Other than Buells, Harleys don't handle well because its factory designers and its owners don't care about cornering fast. If you need heavyweight metal, buy an old hearse, or a Mack truck. But if it makes you happy owning a Harley, go for it.

Extreme noise is another story, which has almost nothing to do with safety. In fact, loud noises cause other riders and drivers to lose control of their vehicles. If you need to warn them, buy a very loud air horn and connect it to the Japanese battery and Japanese electrics. Harleys have Japanese suspensions, too. They had Australian wheels, German pistons (nothing wrong with that, eh, Thanh? ).

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Now imagine a girly boy like me on a Harley But i DID ride one (1200er Sportster no less!) for a weekend in Germany and didn't like it for it's excess vibrations - not that it felt bad but i lost a bunch of parts during the trip (no joke!!) and they were expensive to replace.

Now i for one HATE loud bikes, as long as there is no "sound" accompanying the noise. Regardless if they are Harleys with "just an empty pipe" (no "sound", just plain racket!) or a tuned-up two-stroke with a performance expansion chamber and no silencer (and otherwise i LOVE two-strokes!).

BUT if they are loud and good-sounding, i like that. Like almost any Ducati, or certain harleys. The one i liked most i saw and heard many years ago in Germany. No idea what model it was, definitely an OLD one (panhead i guess, with the flat cylinder heads and round cylinders... but what do i know about Harleys?) and it had these LONG exhaust pipes with the "fish tail" end. And THAT made a sound to die for!

Now at first i heard the rather typical Harley-sound approaching, getting louder and louder. Then the bike itself came round the corner and passed by me, slightly uphill, accelerating. And the moment it passed it felt, no kidding, like an earthquake. It was more a feeling in the belly than an actual sound, extremely deep tone, actually sounding rather nice, and incredibly strong (loud). It didn't hurt the ears, but left a permanent impression.......

Now as i said i don't know much about Harleys, but just judging by the sound i would say 2.000 cc minimum, bored up, very long stroke. No idea how the pipes are made but certainly no silencing element in there....

But then i absolutely can't imagine THAT bike going thru town at night.... i think EVERYONE would call the cops in an instant. yet - it was the first and only really loud bike that i liked, sound-wise.

Most Harley-riders think that just using a couple of feet of empty pipe makes a good sound.... no, guys, it does NOT. But if diameter and length of the pipe are measured and calculated to the engine displacement and your favourite cruising RPM, THEN it might do just that (think bass reflex tubes - only correct diameter and length, matching the diameter and lift of the woofer, makes for deep and full bass sound).

And it is absolutely laughable when i see Phantom's with Harley-style empty pipes (1-inch water pipes actually, just chromed) "roaring" by.... pathetic sound, really!

Loud pipes don't safe lives, they just annoy everyone who's not sitting above them (i.e. a large majority of people) as long as the sound doesn't match the volume. Think about that too, big-twin fans.........

(Hint: Supertrapps sound nice on Harleys - try one!)

Best regards.....

Thanh

[Thanh-BKK]

@PeaceBlondie

I was writing my somewhat long-ish reply while you posted yours, what a coincidence that you asked me something in there I don't know what pistons are in Harleys, but i could well imagine them to be Kolbenschmitt or Mahle... two well-known German piston-makers. Sure Mahle are of very high quality (original supplier to most German car makers including Formula-One such as BMW, McLaren and i think even Ferrari uses Mahle but not sure on that one) so why not Harley-Davidson?

About the parts that make up a Harley, it's probably 50% or more non-American anyway..... i imagine Harley-Davidson only makes the frames, tanks, fenders etc (basically the raw bike) but anything bolt-on (wheels, suspension, electrics etc) is imported. This holds true for almost every vehicle........ even the Japanese use a lot of Taiwan or China-made parts! And then there's the HUGE after-market for Harleys (most of them are customized with parts from that market) and there the Asians surely supply the majority of the products (and the factory in China probably employs one guy who sticks the "made in USA" sticker on them, i've seen that on TV actually so that's not a joke... they leave one screw out, ship it to the States and there one guy puts that screw in and voila - it IS "Made in USA").

Kind regards....

Thanh

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, at one time in the last 15 years, Mahle made some Harley pistons, and some Australian company made the wheels, and some welder of large metal tubes made the exhaust pipes in the alley in Milwaukee. Just kidding, maybe it was Juneau.

[Kerryd]

some , i'm sure , have a true love of biking and machinery , but a lot probably have more than just a sneaky love for oily chains , greasy grommets , studded wristbands , female domination and sweaty paraphenalia than they would readily admit.

OK, I need a cold shower now !

And here I thought he was referring to bikes !

(just noted this is post # 4444. Not that there is anything significant it that)

Edited January 31, 2008 by Kerryd

[Jai Dee]

(just noted this is post # 4444. Not that there is anything significant it that)

Huh?

You mean post #22 in thread #166877?

[submaniac]

(just noted this is post # 4444. Not that there is anything significant it that)

Huh?

You mean post #22 in thread #166877?

Think he means that under his avatar, it says that he has 4,444 posts, so this is his 4,444th post. Of course he can't post to explain that, as then the number of his posts under the avatar will have changed to 4,445. But then he could edit his posts and change 4,444 to 4,445, but that would make no sense as what is significant about 4,445? Any way you look at it Kerryd is screwed and can never post again, because if he should ever post again, why anyone looking at this last post would not get why he put down 4,444 posts in this follow up. Got it?

[Jai Dee]

Any way you look at it Kerryd is screwed and can never post again...

I hope he reads this.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

A Harley is loud, 2 cylinder, and only half a meter pipe and 1600cc what do you expect, beside its sound good.

Loud pipes safe lives.....

Come on more anti HD people out there, there never had a harley but knows all about them.

My bike,as you see in my avator.2 cylinder,only half a meter pipe and 1900 cc an not loud at all.Also don't understand how loud pipes save lives as the sound comes from behind.

HI Basjke

So you cant hear a bike comming your way???

[raro]

why don't these Harley guys get a frickin' muffler.

...and a hair cut.

[mikethevigoman]

why don't these Harley guys get a frickin' muffler.

...and a hair cut.

[yorkman]

Hi

He he you guys is just jealous be course some of you guys can’t handle 300kg of real steel

Just keep it comming.

Hmmm, I had one in an approaching mid life crisis moment.

FXDX Superglide Sport. I even put the loud pipe on (yes thats how sad it is ). And I have had motorbikes before I even qualified for a road licence. I should have known better. The traps you can fall into when you reach the age when you can afford the overpriced articles

I did about 6500 miles on it, and sold it. Apart from having to stop every so often to pick up the bits that vibrated off, it was, under the gloss and bling, the worst engineered and useless piece of transport I have ever owned.

It steered like a barge and went around corners in a way that can only be described as interesting, despite the Sport moniker

Harley Davidson thrive on image, the middle class who want to be weekend outlaws and those who seek attention. And then there are, of course, the factory sponsored "chapters", sigh

300kg of real steel? Strewth

Just kidding, its your choice, and some of them are real works of art. Especially if they are customised outside the add on a 3rd party product industry. But as a choice of motorcycle if you dont buy into the clever marketing, no no no.

[Lickey]

I suppose thai people aint used to hearing a twin cylinder Kubuta starting up, you know, a walking tractor!! , in the 60s/70s in the UK harleys were called Massey Davidson or Harley Ferguson after the local tractors, and if you bought a Harley, you would get a free wheelbarrow to pick up all the pieces that fell off due to ecsess vibes, perhaps they have improved over the years, dont know, personaly, i like the smoothness of a 4 cylinder bike,,,