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What is so great about Harley Davidson?

RoadKing

Silver Member
Site Supporter
:my2cents:

I bought my first bike in 1969, a brand spankin new HD Electraglide for $2,400.00 Learned to ride on it, always loved that
bike. Since then I've owned Suzuki, Yamaha, 2 Gold Wings and now back to HD 2002 Road King. All were great machines. The suziki GT 550 a 2 cycle 3 cylinder that didn't sell because nobody wanted a 2cycle road bike best handler I ever owned. The Yamaha just a good allaround bike. For over the road touring nothing beats the Gold Wing, comfort, handling and performance. My current ride I can best explain it this way, as far as looks and style it's almost an identical match to my '69 Electraglide ( brings me back) I don't see me ever doing 600 to 800 mile days anymore, don't need the Gold Wing. For the riding I do now plus just the plain fun I like my Road King. I explained it this way to a local Honda dealer last summer " the harley is just more fun, ten Gold Wings drive by, nobody cares. Ten Harleys go by everybody looks." I don't have that many riding years left so I'm just going to enjoy.

Next year I'm planning my last big trip ( my memory trip )
I want to trailer my bike ( I don't enjoy Massachusetts, Connecticut & New York highways ) to Joliet Illinois and ride what's left of Rte 66 to California. Any suggestions for places to see are welcomed.
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
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I wore a tire out in 2 1/2 weeks 3 years ago on my Harley with 94,000 miles on it. Three of us did 7000 miles, 18 states...........PA to the west coast, highway 1, Seattle, Rockies, Sturgis then home. We were in Steamboat Springs Colorado in 2 days........Did Des Moines to PA on the last day...........889miles. Just bragging..............:D
 

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RoadKing

Silver Member
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Big Dog said:
Just bragging..............:D

My turn

1. Boy's trip to Gettysburg July '06 This is my friend tom, I'm behind the lens, It's where I've been told I belong.

I took this trip to see if I could still ride a decent distance in a day.
I hadn't ridden in about ten years ( no money=no bike) so when I mounted up again in '02 I was curious to see if I could still do it.
We did 500 miles on a 95 degree day thru Mass. & Conn. wasn't really an enjoyable day but now I know I still have enough to do the Rte 66 trip.
 

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RoadKing

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2. Sturgis with the wife Sept. '06
 

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Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
OK guys, I'm just curious here.

I do understand that Indian and Victory are NOT up to par with H.D., but then where to do the custom cycles fall in the pecking order of motorcycles? If H.D. in the top production bike, is it still held in higher esteem than the bikes made by Jesse James at West Coast Choppers, Iron Horse or the Orange County Chopper guys or any of the dozen of other premier custom & Semi Customer bike makers?

Or are the custom/semi-custom bikes set aside in a different category, sort of like the custom hot rods are treated as special vehicles but not really taken seriously because they are a small % of the total vehicle world?
 

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RoadKing

Silver Member
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B_Skurka said:
OK guys, I'm just curious here.

I do understand that Indian and Victory are NOT up to par with H.D., but then where to do the custom cycles fall in the pecking order of motorcycles? If H.D. in the top production bike, is it still held in higher esteem than the bikes made by Jesse James at West Coast Choppers, Iron Horse or the Orange County Chopper guys or any of the dozen of other premier custom & Semi Customer bike makers?

Or are the custom/semi-custom bikes set aside in a different category, sort of like the custom hot rods are treated as special vehicles but not really taken seriously because they are a small % of the total vehicle world?


:my2cents:

I don't necessarily agree that HD is better than Victory and Indian. I would put HD here, A high quality bike with a price range of $7000 - $25000 this allows for a lot of buyers add to this the PR, the "Harley Mystique", the name recognition, a worldwide dealer network and a pretty damn good bike. Victory is made by polaris, good company but just breaking into the MC market. Indian is a very unique look which cuts way down on mass appeal. HD offers many models for many tastes.
As far as the custom builders there are many but they are very expensive and offer few ammenities other than cosmetics also very little service, not a good thing if you want to put some serious miles down. The pic you put up from OCC for example is a hardtail ( no rear suspension ) I wouldn't own one unless it was a second bike for showing off on Sunday drives. I've been riding since 1969. I rode with guys in the 70s who rode hardtail choppers, a few that I still see, can't ride any bike at all because their spine is shot. I've ridden choppers on occasion a lot of fun but a fair sized pothole can drop you or at the least rattle you from your butt to the back of your head. The foreign machines are very good, if you read my previous post I stated that the Honda Gold Wing is probably the best engineered, smoothest riding and best handling motorcycle built today. A 50 year old would love it a twenty year old probably not (generally speaking).

To best answer your specific question is if you get one each of the folowing, Ferrari, Blackwood PU, top line Mercedez sedan & sport model, Hummer 1, Caddilac, Corvette, these are all autos but you could find someone to pick one over the other and think theirs is the best. To each his own, I'm a Chevy man myself.

This is about the best I can do to answer your question. I'll only add one thing, why I ride, when I'm on my bike I have to pay full attention to what I'm doing. I have to drive my MC with my whole body two hands, two feet and full attention. I can only do this by putting everything else out of my mind work, family, things to do, tomorrow, yesterday, etc. By doing this I can truly relax, clear my brain and I guess 'reset the breakers'. The plus is on a bike the scenery changes it's like instead of looking at and enjoying beautiful painting, the artist painted you in it.

There's my 2 cents maybe 3. Also there is something to be said for marketing.
 

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HGM

New member
Good answer RK.. I agree..

As far as craftsmanship I, personally, dont think it gets any better than Jesse James(West Coast Choppers)... I've been to rallies and seen allot of their bikes up close, OCC(for example) isnt even marginal in my opinion.. They are very crude and, well, I dont think they would be in bussiness if their disfunctional reality show didnt exist.. While WCC also got their brake from Jesse James Discovery specials, which gave them world wide recognition, the shows are about the art.. No drama, no BS, just pure workmanship.. There are others, Indian Larry was very talented, Eddie Tratta another, Arlen Ness, the list could surely go on, but its a niche.. They are works of art and some more ridable than others, but in a nutshell, they could never compete with a Harley Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, etc. because its just a "niche" like the Ford GT or any other exotic $150-600,000 car..
 

BoneheadNW

New member
Great post RoadKing! I have one question for you: What is with the tassle-type thingies I see coming off the end of the handlebars on some HD motorcycles? Don't those things whip around and whack you in the arms? Do people have them for the looks?:confused:
Bonehead
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
RoadKing said:
I would put HD here, A high quality bike with a price range of $7000 - $25000 this allows for a lot of buyers add to this the PR, the "Harley Mystique", the name recognition, a worldwide dealer network and a pretty damn good bike....Also there is something to be said for marketing.

I've had several in the past and now have a Super Glide. Having said that, I'll buck the trend and have to rather strongly disagree with saying that they are a "quality" bike or even a "damn good bike". I've probably had 8 or 10 of them and I'd say that the newer bikes are far better than the earlier generations. However, under no circumstances would I ever consider putting "Harley" and "quality" in the same sentence. From the bikes I've owned and those owned by personal friends, the above comments are based on personal knowledge of a couple hundred bikes. When I take into consideration the actuarial statistics on their repairs it looks far worse.

So, with over 30 years experience and professional actuarial statistics, I'd have to say it's completely the "cool" factor and chalk it up to a fantastic marketing job by Harley. Quality build wise, technology wise, and reliability wise, there are not many worse. However, as long as the "cool" factor is still there, they seem to hold a better resale value than most any other brand. You can go to far though. One guy who was at the meeting with me on Grand Cayman has almost $50k in his Harley after all his chrome and other "stuff". I'd assume that he will take a huge hit when he sells it, but he can afford it. Heck, he has his Harley for when he rides around with his friends locally, but when he takes his wife out on longer rides he takes one of those Japanese made bikes that just look like a Harley. :eek:

Oh yeah, I've never seen such a good marketing job on the accessories as well. It seems mandatory that every Harley owner needs to spend a few thousand bucks at their local Harley shop on not only Harley chrome, but on Harley clothing as well. I'm dead serious when I say that the guy who has the bike with all the chrome also gets several temporary tattoos and even wears a long hair wig when he goes to Sturgis. Even though I own one, I just can't get into spending thousands on their clothing nor feel the need to get covered with tattoos, grow long hair and stop shaving. But, to their credit, the hard core Harley riders don't seem to discriminate against those who ride a Harley but don't go for the complete look.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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Dargo said:
One guy who was at the meeting with me on Grand Cayman has almost $50k in his Harley after all his chrome and other "stuff".
My VP is looking at a used fatboy right now, it is listed at $43,000. He's also considering a new HD fatboy Police unit (they sell a special edition only to police officers or retired officers and my sales manger is a police officer so my VP can get the bike via a purchase facilitated by my sales manager).
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
My VP is looking at a used fatboy right now, it is listed at $43,000. He's also considering a new HD fatboy Police unit (they sell a special edition only to police officers or retired officers and my sales manger is a police officer so my VP can get the bike via a purchase facilitated by my sales manager).

Imagine that...it's a Fat Boy that the guy I was talking about has. You probably figured that. I could very well be mistaken, but I think a "bling-bling" Fat Boy is about the most expensive.

Dozens and dozens of the dealers I work with used to always order a new Harley every year and would either make money on, or lose very little on, their year old units. That no longer is the case. Go figure; the bikes begin to increase a bit in reliability and their value doesn't hold up as well. WTF?!:confused:
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
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Dargo said:
I've had several in the past and now have a Super Glide. Having said that, I'll buck the trend and have to rather strongly disagree with saying that they are a "quality" bike or even a "damn good bike". I've probably had 8 or 10 of them and I'd say that the newer bikes are far better than the earlier generations. However, under no circumstances would I ever consider putting "Harley" and "quality" in the same sentence. From the bikes I've owned and those owned by personal friends, the above comments are based on personal knowledge of a couple hundred bikes. When I take into consideration the actuarial statistics on their repairs it looks far worse.

So, with over 30 years experience and professional actuarial statistics, I'd have to say it's completely the "cool" factor and chalk it up to a fantastic marketing job by Harley. Quality build wise, technology wise, and reliability wise, there are not many worse. However, as long as the "cool" factor is still there, they seem to hold a better resale value than most any other brand. You can go to far though. One guy who was at the meeting with me on Grand Cayman has almost $50k in his Harley after all his chrome and other "stuff". I'd assume that he will take a huge hit when he sells it, but he can afford it. Heck, he has his Harley for when he rides around with his friends locally, but when he takes his wife out on longer rides he takes one of those Japanese made bikes that just look like a Harley. :eek:

Oh yeah, I've never seen such a good marketing job on the accessories as well. It seems mandatory that every Harley owner needs to spend a few thousand bucks at their local Harley shop on not only Harley chrome, but on Harley clothing as well. I'm dead serious when I say that the guy who has the bike with all the chrome also gets several temporary tattoos and even wears a long hair wig when he goes to Sturgis. Even though I own one, I just can't get into spending thousands on their clothing nor feel the need to get covered with tattoos, grow long hair and stop shaving. But, to their credit, the hard core Harley riders don't seem to discriminate against those who ride a Harley but don't go for the complete look.

I have to disagree with you Brent. What year is your Superglide? I bought my first Harley in 1977, an AMF Lowrider (fancy Superglide) and I will agree it was not a quality product. I had an 84 FLH shovel a little better but not by much. As soon as the management team bought the company they designed the evo engine.....Harley's savior.

We obviously have different views on a quality product........I've owned Harley's for 30 years also and I don't come to the same conclusion! Doesn't mean I approve of the prices though, it would be hard for me to buy a new Harley for the price of a nice pickup or tractor! I will not pay $15,000 for ANYTHING with just two-wheels.............
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
My outsider observation is that HD is peaking from a market perception. I'm not sure if they will tank but they really aren't as "cool" as they once were.

Although since the largest consumer demographic in the US is aging fast they may not be turned off by the perception of HD riders being old, wrinkly, leather clad "odd" people. (I'll reserve my other comments about how I perceive them).

I'll put it this way, when I see a Harley Rider these days, I rarely see a "rebel". I am much more likely to see an overweight middle age person who appears to be going through some mid-life crisis (i.e. a VP for a Food Distributor). Not exactly something that attracts new customers to a brand built on a "rebellious" and "cool" mystique.

Sorry if my analysis offends anyone. Like I said, I'm on the outside looking in.
 

HGM

New member
Big Dog said:
Doesn't mean I approve of the prices though, it would be hard for me to buy a new Harley for the price of a nice pickup or tractor! I will not pay $15,000 for ANYTHING with just two-wheels.............


Good point, have you seen now that the offer 84mo financing for these fools....:yum: I've walked out of dealers and swore against ever giving them any bussiness because of their tendancies to screw the public.. Harley stuff is expensive, but some dealers make it worse..
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm obviously in an odd position since I own one, (hmm, would that make me stupid? :eek: ) but from my experience and having my company handle 4 warranty companies that cover motorcycles and seeing what they report and what they won't cover, I have "in my face" facts that hurt.

There is a huge surcharge for any contract to cover a Harley and 3 of the 4 will not cover leaks on a Harley for any amount of a surcharge. Many other companies will simply not cover a Harley at all regardless of the price. I guess I'm in an odd situation since I like them but also have 30 years experience and reams of data proving that they are not exactly well made or reliable pieces of machinery. Even our local Harley dealership rather bluntly explains that you are not buying a precision built Swiss watch with one of their products.

I guess it's going along with the "in" thing. Harley has been very successful in promoting their products as "cool" thing even when they were without any doubt the worst quality machine on 2 wheels. Yeah, I had a '79 Sportster that never once ran right and Harley never could/would do squat about it. My '99 Super Glide is much improved from that old piece of shit Sportster, but it is not on par with the quality of other machines on the market. I recently rode a new '06 BMW bike that a friend owns and it's finish, fit, quality, feel, and overall ride was just incredible. Even though I raced Honda and Yamaha (was sponsored by Yamaha for a short while), that BMW sure impressed me.

Does that make me a hypocrite to have a Harley when I have so much data and experience telling me that they really are not a very good bike? :eek: I do think they look great, have a distinctive ride and, at times, can sound good. With decent pipes on them they sound good. With a cheap set of open pipes with no muffler of any type they burble, spit, fart, burp and sound like a cheap twin cylinder Briggs powered lawn mower that is on it's last leg and needs a muffler and a rebuild.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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I'm not a rider (other than scooters) and admitedly know little about this topic, but what about some of the other classic bikes from around the world?

Dargo mentioned BMW already. What about Triumph? Or one of my favorites, Moto Guzzi?

Where do these three classic brands fall into the spectrum? Granted none carry the prestige of a HD, but each has their own loyal fan base. The BMW for the technical/precision crowd. Triumph is certainly a very classic name and they still make some models that are virutal clones of their bikes from the 1960s as well as new modern and modern cruisers. Moto Guzzi, with its V Twin mounted sideways always appealed to me because it is so different, but it is a classic machine that has been around for decades with a loyal following too.

So did you hear the joke about the 3 guys who walk into a Harley bar, and one owns a BMW, the other a Triumph, and the 3rd a Moto Guzzi . . .
 

RoadKing

Silver Member
Site Supporter
Dargo said:
I've had several in the past and now have a Super Glide. Having said that, I'll buck the trend and have to rather strongly disagree with saying that they are a "quality" bike or even a "damn good bike". However, under no circumstances would I ever consider putting "Harley" and "quality" in the same sentence. From the bikes I've owned and those owned by personal friends, the above comments are based on personal knowledge of a couple hundred bikes. When I take into consideration the actuarial statistics on their repairs it looks far worse.



Oh yeah, I've never seen such a good marketing job on the accessories as well. It seems mandatory that every Harley owner needs to spend a few thousand bucks at their local Harley shop on not only Harley chrome, but on Harley clothing as well. I'm dead serious when I say that the guy who has the bike with all the chrome also gets several temporary tattoos and even wears a long hair wig when he goes to Sturgis. Even though I own one, I just can't get into spending thousands on their clothing nor feel the need to get covered with tattoos, grow long hair and stop shaving.

Dargo, It's too bad you've such bad luck with HD, I haven't. My current ride is a used police Road King I bought in '02, as you can see by my pics I've put some serious miles on it and have not needed any
repairs. One set of tires and oil changes is about it and I'll probably change the drive belt before my Rte 66 trip this summer. As far as accessories again look at my pics, I did add a backrest for my wife's comfort, different handgrips (not Harley) for my comfort and I did have it pinstriped to match my truck. That's not really a Harley thing I've pinstriped every truck I've ever owned. I do have a leather, but I got it from the Sears fatman catalog. Does that count? I will confess I buy T-Shirts when I travel and they are too expensive most of the time. But I ask you, honestly
I ride a Harley and own an L series Kubota would you have passed on this shirt?
 

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elsmitro

floppy member
Marketing

If I ever spend this kind of $ on a bike I would like to get a Bourget. I have liked those ever since I saw the build off on the discovery channel. I will probably stick with ridding in the dirt though. I have tried the streets and there are just to many people that don’t look out for bike riders. Maybe thats why the HD riders are so loud; they want you to know they are there so you don't run into them. I too think the HD riders are all about the camaraderie and style points.

http://www.bourgetmotorcycles.com/pages/bike-image-pages/usedbikes-pages/2001lowblow.htm
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
RoadKing said:
...I did add a backrest for my wife's comfort, different handgrips (not Harley) for my comfort...

Holy cow man, I'm not wearing my glasses and you got me on that one!!:eek: I thought for sure you'd said that you'd gotten your wife a backrest for her comfort and then handcuffs for your comfort. :eek: I had this really wild mental picture going on until I re-read what you'd posted. :yum:
 

RoadKing

Silver Member
Site Supporter
Dargo said:
Holy cow man, I'm not wearing my glasses and you got me on that one!!:eek: I thought for sure you'd said that you'd gotten your wife a backrest for her comfort and then handcuffs for your comfort. :eek: I had this really wild mental picture going on until I re-read what you'd posted. :yum:

The Handcuffs are OK but I can't use them on the bike.
:bling: :bling: :bling:
 

HGM

New member
Dargo said:
I'm obviously in an odd position since I own one, (hmm, would that make me stupid? :eek: ) but from my experience and having my company handle 4 warranty companies that cover motorcycles and seeing what they report and what they won't cover, I have "in my face" facts that hurt..


Hope that wasnt directed at my 84mo financing comment:confused2: , its the financing thats stupid in my opinion, not the bike.... I've owned a couple and will certainly buy another, I feel Harley is a great bike.. Sounds like you've had bad luck with the '99 though... I'd be interested to see/or hear of some of the failures on the Evo and 88" bikes.. They have been virtually trouble free from what I have seen and heard, obviously anything can and will break at some point.. I just dont see the poor quality you claim..:confused2:.. I will agree that they may not be as technologicaly advanced as some other brands, but simple can be good too... Hell, thats the way I like my women too:whistle: ..
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
HGM said:
Hope that wasnt directed at my 84mo financing comment:confused2:

Don't take it wrong, but I don't do financing on anything. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy it. I know, a bit old fashioned, and it sometimes takes longer to get what I want, but that's just me. :tiphat:
 

RoadKing

Silver Member
Site Supporter
Here are a couple of interesting things I found.


1.Product Description - The Retriever
Why should a towing company's most valuable asset, the tow truck, be stuck in traffic?

The superior manoeuvrability of the Retriever is due to a towing device folded on to the back of the motorcycle - making the vehicle only 95 cm wide.


The towing device is not unfolded until you reach the disabled vehicle. This innovative design allows the Retriever to reach cars swiftly and tow them safely.

The Retriever gets your towing company on the road and allows it to grow your business - because you will be faster than your competitors at reaching customers.



2.JRL Cycles is currently building what is probably the first radial motor chopper. One of the largest air-cooled motors ever to power a motorcycle the 7-cylinder radial is the same type used to power aircraft during World War II and is believed to be the basis for the V-twin motorcycle motor. This motorcycle is all new and is available in a chopper exclusively through JRL CYCLES LLC.
 

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HGM

New member
Dargo said:
Don't take it wrong, but I don't do financing on anything. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy it. I know, a bit old fashioned, and it sometimes takes longer to get what I want, but that's just me. :tiphat:


That was my point, I'm finally getting there myself... I may do a short term finance, but it will be payed off much sooner than the term...

BTW, guys, is it just me, or are all of Road Kings posts "super sized"?
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
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HGM said:
BTW, guys, is it just me, or are all of Road Kings posts "super sized"?

Nope, not at all.
His sig is BIGGER font but everything else is the same small font as yours & other posters.

(I'm using Firefox in case that makes a difference)
 

HGM

New member
hmmm, well I'm on my laptop now and its good.... I was on the desktop earlier and I had to scroll over on each of his posts, maybe a setting on that PC??:confused2: .. I'm using Explorer on everything and never noticed it before... Thanks anyhow..:cool2:
 

RoadKing

Silver Member
Site Supporter
HGM said:
BTW, guys, is it just me, or are all of Road Kings posts "super sized"?

Sorry if my pics aren't ok. I'm a mac guy but I do my internet roaming with a sony laptop and don't know the machine well.
I couldn't post a pic at all for a long time then I found a freeware program called resize that is simple enough for my PC/peabrain to grasp let me try my last photo on medium & small and tell me what is best for those viewing
 

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