Harleys

[ttakata]

Fix what? Ever ridden with a group of mixed bikes? They all break down out of the blue, something electrical usually. Have ridden a few thousand k in Thailand with small and large groups,very few breakdowns. Especially the HD's.

As far as group rides go I've ridden with 30 MV Agustas just a hundred miles but also with 130 various scooters over a thousand miles (multiple 100+ mile days).

Amazingly the MVs didn't break down although we all know an Italian bike is not bought for reliability (ironically Harley bought MVA in 2008)

Only the modified scooters (engine swaps, turbos, nitrous) broke down.

I expect any bike that is modified to have problems.

Regarding Harley, I'm just going off what the industry and my friends know.

I had two friends drop $25,000+ on new Harleys and they had to go to the shop within a month.

None of my friends with import bikes ever complained, they just rode.

http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/20...01210MWEBMP.htm

http://www.powersportsnetwork.com/enthusia...review_list.asp

I really like choppers but when it comes to my own money, a Harley not being able to beat a $7K Japanese bike in any category of interest just doesn't attract me.

Imagine if you owned every bike you ever wanted and you had to ride 3000 miles as fast as possible or your wife/kid/whomever dies.

How many other bikes would you choose before you got to a Harley?

I feel the lack of dollar value is why Harley has faced more than one bankruptcy concern; selling expensive antiques is a risky business after all.

Now don't get me wrong, I'd take a Harley for free anyday.

If I won the lotto, I'd even buy a V-rod and some old pre-war classics.

It's a shame that America has the most intelligent people and advanced technologies but all the car and bike companies are simply inferior.

NASA, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft need to start selling cars and bikes.

Oh man, would I love a titanium framed motorcycle.

[vision]

I really like choppers but when it comes to my own money, a Harley not being able to beat a $7K Japanese bike in any category of interest just doesn't attract me.

Imagine if you owned every bike you ever wanted and you had to ride 3000 miles as fast as possible or your wife/kid/whomever dies.

How many other bikes would you choose before you got to a Harley?

I have never been into the HOG crowd at all but as a guy who likes home built one off choppers I can tell you why so many chopper guys prefer a Harley power plant to a Japanese one that would provide more bang for the buck no doubt. The reason is that they look, and sound so beautiful compared with the Japanese counterparts that they make riding the bike so much more enjoyable. I am assuming that you do not need to ride 3000 miles to save a family members life or to set a new land speed record on a Thai hiway. I am assuming that you want a bike that you ride just for the sheer pleasure of riding.

[Whitefang]

Noisy Hardly Rideables .

Noisy Autos ridden by thai suicide nutter .

These TWITS give motorcyclist a bad rap.

For those that go on about how these loud motorcycles save lives, perhaps you could provide some supporting DATA? Sorry you can't because its a RUBBISH STATEMENT! If you learnt to ride properly & stayed out of blind spots you would see that SHATTERING peoples eardrums had no bearing on safety, theres much more appropriate ways of being noticed.

I beleive it to be true after riding most of Thailand I have seen many bikes hit cows and dogs yet I have never hit a single animal, I dont care what the rest of you think I know from personal experince that loud pipes in Thailand will help keep the road clear in front of you. I would hardly call it shattering peoples ear drums there are alot of other things on Thai roads that make more noise as mentioned by vision.

Also I think you are barking up the wrong tree as where I live there must be atleast 50 rice burners riding flat out around town with after market pipes to every 1 harley idling past.

Most the twits I see are on sports bikes not on harleys.

I own many bikes and love all motorcycle even my honda wave

[canuckamuck]

I have been riding here for 7 years, always on a reasonably quiet bike. I haven't hit any animals either. I did hit a Mercedes that rolled down a hill without a driver, but I think louder pipes would have had the same result .

I also have a car, when I drive, I have my air-con running, windows up, and stereo playing. Just like nearly everyone else. Usually you don't become aware of the loud bikes until the roar past, so I think the safety argument is weak.

[Whitefang]

I have been riding here for over 10 years and if you have never seen a motorcycle hit a animal then you dont get out much. As I ride sport bikes/Dirt bikes and choppers harley and jap and have lived south/cental/North Thailand and can tell you it does make a difference with kids on bikes and animals.

What type of bike do you ride.

I do agree that its not going to make much difference to a car driver with air and a stero going but it does make a difference to kids on the street and animals which are all over the roads in north Thailand. Or do they have head phones on as well

[Whitefang]

I guess people are seeing sense

San Francisco Ca

Oakland Police Department's Harleys have a new roar

Oakland has spent $15,000 on mufflers to make their police department's Harleys safer -- and noisier than federal standards. Chronicle photo by Kat Wade

Over in Oakland they like it loud - so loud that all 45 of the Police Department's Harley-Davidson motorcycles have been equipped with shiny new tailpipes, at a cost of $500 apiece, to rev up their roar.

It seems the cops just didn't feel safe on toned-down bikes.

"There's an old motorcycle adage that you are heard before you are seen," said Deputy Chief Dave Kozicki, explaining the department's decision to toss the bikes' muted factory-issued mufflers in favor of the more high-volume pipes.

Kozicki cited an accident three months ago in which an Oakland officer riding a toned-down cycle was struck by a motorist who said he hadn't heard the officer approaching.

But some City Hall insiders, as well as motorcycle cops elsewhere, said the safety argument is a stretch.

Even the folks at the national Motorcycle Industry Council, which represents all the big bike manufacturers, were unaware of any safety benefits from louder mufflers.

"We encourage all motorcycle riders to keep the original low sound levels that meet the ... federal sound limit of 80 decibels," said industry spokesman Mike Mount. "It would seem counterintuitive that a law enforcement agency would go against federal standards."

Ironically, it was just a short time back that Oakland police were called upon to crack down on noisy motorists who had modified their auto mufflers to make a whistling screech. The "whistle tip" pipes were eventually outlawed under state law.

Oakland's cops had a long tradition of riding their Harley-Davidsons with the modified, louder tail pipes, earning them the nickname "Rolling Thunder." But after an officer complained about a loss of hearing and others around town questioned whether the police force was violating the very noise standards it was supposed to enforce, the department brass ordered a switch to the quieter stock mufflers.

According to Kozicki, the decibel drop sparked a chorus of complaints from other officers, who said they felt less safe.

So last year the department launched a $1,200 study in conjunction with the city's risk management division to determine whether A) the louder motorcycles contributed to officers' safety, were detrimental to their hearing, and C) complied with noise standards.

Kozicki acknowledged that whatever safety-related findings the study produced were largely anecdotal. Still, after everything was taken into consideration, the department concluded "it was in the best interest of the officers to put more-audible pipes back on," Kozicki said.

Hence, all 30 of the department's Harleys were sent down to the central maintenance yard for a muffler makeover, at a cost of about $15,000, according to City Hall insiders. Another 15 newly purchased motorcycles were ordered with the louder pipes, though at no extra charge.

Oakland officials acknowledge that the noisy pipes, when tested, averaged 93 decibels - well above the federal legal noise limit, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

But city Finance Director Bill Nolan, who oversees the risk management division, isn't alarmed.

"If they were riding eight straight hours, it would be a problem," he said. "But they aren't."

__________________

[canuckamuck]

I have had friends that hit dogs with bikes, never said I hadn't seen it.

I haven't seen many cruiser style bikes in crashes at all, but I think that has more to do with the ratio of cruisers/choppers to step through bikes on the road. But a friend of mine did crash his Harley last year because someone ran a light, his bike was one of the annoyingly loud ones. A week in the hospital and two months recovery.

I will accept that for the pedestrians and dogs, loud pipes are definitely noticed, and therefore if you drive down the street, bothering everyone on your way, I am sure you won't hit many of those people.

[pop3]

A brand new standard "Hardley able to" is in fact a quiet bike, they have baffles same as real bikes.

The reason they are all so noisy is that noise is all they have.... baffles are removed on most while still in the showroom.