Harley Myth Buster

[LivinLOS]

They are also moving to a rotax are they not ??

Not claiming they are great, but would like to test ride one, they had a kind of solidity that appealed..

Then again I like fighters in look and position..

[Bolo]

I have ridden bikes my whole life. Probably since I was 5 I think. Dirtbikes, road bikes, fast bikes but it's really all about the person. What drives you I think is what it's all about. I purchased a Harley in 2005. 2005 softail Springer Classic. A manly huge bike and had always wanted a Harely after my friend had purchased one. The first time it scared the crap out of me due to the weight of it. But after a few turns I got use to it and fell in love with the feel and sound of it. I couldn't wait to get on it and just go somewhere.

To me it's a culture and how it makes you feel when you strap it on. People pull you over to talk about them. They love the sound and just want to learn more. It doesn't matter to me what everyone else is on, when i pass them everyone gets the low wave as you pass by. Another friend going down the road.

[Bolo]

My 2 satang-

Ride On!

Sadly though, last year in my city there were more dead sportbikers on the road due to immature riding. One guy was even pulled out of the back of a semi-truck after running straight into the back of it. He was hanging from his head with feet dangling. All that speed is nice if you need it but lots of kids in cities never really learn the way to ride a bike. Same with a car, they just give them a license and let them go.The sportbikes are nice and I will say I'm tempted but can't imagine why I need to go that fast anymore. My ego just doesn't need it anymore. I'm under 50 and the Harley is a cruise machine. The sportbike is a death machine. It's not if the accident will happen but when it will happen. On any bike. No need to raise the odds. Best of luck to you.

[BigBikeBKK]

Sadly though, last year in my city there were more dead sportbikers on the road due to immature riding.

I'm guessing you are from the US like me. In the US it's extremely easy to obtain a motorcycle license and there is no restriction whatsoever on what a beginner can buy which leads to a lot of young kids killing themselves on big sportbikes. It's a bit disingenuous to blame the bike though... Kinda like the old saying, "guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people".

We call those young kids on sportbikes "squids" because that's what they look like when they're flying through the air...

(I started out as a squid BTW and consider myself lucky to have made it past that stage with only minor road rash)

Many countries issue bike licenses in stages- requiring the rider to begin on a smaller displacement limited horsepower motorcycles before working their way up to larger bikes. I think this is a very good idea and it must certainly save a lot of lives!

Same with a car, they just give them a license and let them go.The sportbikes are nice and I will say I'm tempted but can't imagine why I need to go that fast anymore. My ego just doesn't need it anymore. I'm under 50 and the Harley is a cruise machine. The sportbike is a death machine.

"The sportbike is a death machine." Absolutely not! Everyone crashes- there are those who have been down, and there are those who are going down. Personally I'm of the opinion that cruisers are far more dangerous than sportbikes due to their heavy weight, weak brakes and poor handling. But an experienced rider on a sportbike will have the brakes, acceleration and handling to AVOID accidents that guys on Harleys and other "cruiser" bikes will be hard pressed to avoid due to the extra weight, weak brakes and poor handling of their bikes.

Another thing- and this varies from country to country- but here in Thailand and back in the US the safety gear that most HD and cruiser guys wear is laughable- usually a toy helmet and a leather vest like this:

Very rarely do I see a Harley rider with a proper full face helmet or armored jacket that most of us sport bike riders wear, so again, tell me who is being safe and who isn't?

It's not if the accident will happen but when it will happen. On any bike. No need to raise the odds (by riding an overweight bike with weak brakes and poor handling???). Best of luck to you.

Best of luck to everyone!

[Bolo]

Sadly though, last year in my city there were more dead sportbikers on the road due to immature riding.

I'm guessing you are from the US like me. In the US it's extremely easy to obtain a motorcycle license and there is no restriction whatsoever on what a beginner can buy which leads to a lot of young kids killing themselves on big sportbikes. It's a bit disingenuous to blame the bike though... Kinda like the old saying, "guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people".

We call those young kids on sportbikes "squids" because that's what they look like when they're flying through the air...

(I started out as a squid BTW and consider myself lucky to have made it past that stage with only minor road rash)

Many countries issue bike licenses in stages- requiring the rider to begin on a smaller displacement limited horsepower motorcycles before working their way up to larger bikes. I think this is a very good idea and it must certainly save a lot of lives!

Same with a car, they just give them a license and let them go.The sportbikes are nice and I will say I'm tempted but can't imagine why I need to go that fast anymore. My ego just doesn't need it anymore. I'm under 50 and the Harley is a cruise machine. The sportbike is a death machine.

"The sportbike is a death machine." Absolutely not! Everyone crashes- there are those who have been down, and there are those who are going down. Personally I'm of the opinion that cruisers are far more dangerous than sportbikes due to their heavy weight, weak brakes and poor handling. But an experienced rider on a sportbike will have the brakes, acceleration and handling to AVOID accidents that guys on Harleys and other "cruiser" bikes will be hard pressed to avoid due to the extra weight, weak brakes and poor handling of their bikes.

Another thing- and this varies from country to country- but here in Thailand and back in the US the safety gear that most HD and cruiser guys wear is laughable- usually a toy helmet and a leather vest like this:

Very rarely do I see a Harley rider with a proper full face helmet or armored jacket that most of us sport bike riders wear, so again, tell me who is being safe and who isn't?

It's not if the accident will happen but when it will happen. On any bike. No need to raise the odds (by riding an overweight bike with weak brakes and poor handling???). Best of luck to you.

Best of luck to everyone!

I agree with what you say. I think the contributor is the speed and the urge to test the cornering on those. Cruise bikes or at least mine was for just that. Cruising and enjoying being outside. If you're hitting 120 which is what a lot of them do breaks won't help much when you come up on a car doing 50. I saw a couple of kids fly down one of our main roads and darting in and out and I was just waiting for a car to pull into a lane. They would have had no chance. It's really like you say but it's the riders not the bikes. The bikes are fine. Just really bad riding.

I think if you're going to ride fast then you only increase the odds of bad reaction timing. Like any vehicle it's the other guy you have to watch out for and at those speeds you can't control it. Guys riding wheelies down the turnpike. :0 Seems a few die that way too.

I never wore a helmet with my Harley but I did when I rode dirt bikes and such. I crashed all the time too on my dirtbike. Rode it like I had no tomorrow. I did wear leathers and if I buy another I'll get a helmet this time. Again, when it happens and it will. Just not for me yet. That's why I've taken a break from it. Just wanting to get back to Thailand then I'll die there on my bike which seems to be popular from what I read. A guy died below my hotel when I was there on a bike. High odds.

The weight is heavy on those. Mine weighed 750lbs. It was a beast.

Oh, being an overweight bike and so called bad breaks which I never experienced I don't really see how you compare sportbike speeds to Harley cruise speeds. It's not an apples to apple comparison.

I think my point is high speed is the problem. Not the bike. Helmet or no helmet

[Bard]

This begs for me to put in my 2 cents.

I've had Harley before they became popular, they were sold cheaper than Jap bikes and at my limited income at the time I bought one, it made me understand how to repair a bike all the time. It made me pain riding over distance with the vibrations, it made me hate it in twisty roads. That was the old type, the EFI is NOT state of the art as Barry is claiming on the new one, it works and that is good enough, they finally fitted 6 speed gearbox on the EVO engine but the "Sportster" still has 5 only other bikes with 5 speed now is scooters and dirtbikes, the Engines are made in China and hence very reliable now compared to the old really <deleted> ones made in USA.

Let's face it, Harley lives on a myth which is fine as some people like that, the bikes are cruisers made for long straight stretches of road, they are not nimble, they have crap performance, very poor brakes, utterly heavy and that anyone can say they are comfy and can eat up hundreds of miles cannot possibly have tried it, nor tried a real mile eater. Look at most HD riders (not hardcore HA or similar) they ship there bikes to bike weeks, if they were super comfy mile eaters they would ride them with a smile.

BUT they do have a special attraction to the people who buy them. That is fine, if you like HD and think it's the bees knees enjoy it there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you enjoy the bike you ride you have a good thing. Lot of people like them, lot of people find them antique and silly. The cruiser of the Year in 2009 in USA was not HD but Triumph, but Triumph also makes the Tiger, Street Triple, Speed Triple, Daytona and more modern bikes. If HD developed the Sportster to be 50 kg lighter and 20 HP more it would be a pretty nice machine, but unfortunately it's 1/4 of a ton with 90 odd HP and a 5 speed gear box, it is however one of the very few HD with good brakes and handling, if they just did a bit more to satisfy a bigger market they would not be seen as a joke by many. Buell is now equipped with Rotax engines, so the one who made them look good left the arena...

Of course you can wheelie with a HD, that is easy as taking a p i s s, lot of torque make easy wheelie. You can wheelie any bike with manual gear, in Europe you see youngsters wheelie with 50cc 2.5 HP mopeds. Wheelie only proves that the rider has the balls to do it on his bike.

That someone really likes HD is more than good enough for me, I ride a lot with HD riders I have ridden numerous of them as well. Sometimes I fancy them for a moment, but for what I do with bikes I would not be happy having one. So I rather enjoy riding with HD riders every now and again, have a beer with them and talk bikes, because that is a shared passion. I also enjoy looking at the custom bikes at bike weeks, a lot of them are HD and the dedication and craft put into a lot of these bikes are absolutely impressive. Some people like HD and some don't so what, big deal.

I love bikes, and then some hate bikes which for me is impossible to comprehend that someone like a different bike is completely understandable, thank God this world is round and people are different. Makes it an interesting place to be...

[Dave the Dude]

Good post Bard

Respect

Dave

[Bolo]

Honestly, I don't think you know much about Harleys so I'll not even dwell on your comparisons. Wheelies on Harleys, people that don't ride to ralleys. Especially if you're comparing a Sportster to a larger Harley. Not even in the same league. That's a moped in my opinion. Balls or brains. Don't mix.

[Bard]

Donno who you refer to Bolo, but in case it was my post you cannot have read the content or understood it from your post.