The bike the new VFR1200 should have been?

Cool! When riding in Scotland do they have haggis instead of jo-jo's at gas stations.

 

I don’t know Tink, I battled a Harley rider hard core on a back road once. Dude was moving and cornering hard! I finally out braked him coming into this one turn and got away from him.

I never pedaled my mountain bike so hard in my life!

Although it is not true that all Harley owners are A-holes, it is true that most Harley owners are A-holes.

Spare us you bad postmodern “I’m OK your OK” philosophical ramblings Rocker66. Every time I’ve had a problem with a fellow rider, they have been on a Harley, and it has been unsolicited too.

BZ

 

Speaking of HD riders, I saw the strangest example yet last weekend. I passed a Harley rider who was wearing a full Dainese racing leathers and racing boots & gloves. ...ok, I've seen that before, even kinda' been there myself wearing my usual gear on a borrowed or test bike. ...but then he was wearing one of those little Nazi bucket helmets and goggles!?!?

...who even owns that combo? Racing leathers / boots / gloves / novelty bucket helmet???

Strange!!!

 

That was Badbilly after a bad night of Haggis and Jo-jos.

 

Maybe but only if it came complete with Jennifer Aniston as the pillion passenger

 

BZ and Rocker ...I'm willing to bet there's a bit of a difference in the types of people (in general) who ride Harleys here in the US vs. the other side of the pond. Obviously, I've met all kinds of great people on everything from step-through scooters to Harleys etc.. ...but here in the US, especially in SoCal, there are a LOT of HD dudes that seem to take great pleasure in holding up an entire road just because they can.

OTOH, I've also seen giant groups of asswipes on sport bikes holding up an entire freeway so their buddies could "stunt" up ahead of them with open road; ...I run into the former WAY more than the latter, however.

Most of the riders I've met from the UK and Europe are much, much more about the ride, period. Here in the US I'd guess the majority of "riders" (not people on boards like this) are more or less posers, out to do their thing and little else. ...like the Harley dudes or the squids going up and down the snake on Mulholland over, and over, and over just to get their picture taken with their knee on the pavement (and quite often their elbow, shoulder, fairing, etc.).

As far as I'm concerned, anything with two wheels can be a blast to ride. ...with the possible exception of a Suzuki Katana!!!

 

Good choice. Better than the harleydoods here who would like to have Brad or Rush Limbaugh riding bitch.

Here's what the guys are saying that you might be missing. Many of them have years of experience riding and are not as you might call, bigoted. Maybe in UK there are fewer Harleys and harleydoods. Take for a moment the worst riding behaviour from any lowlife you have encountered and you will get some idea of how far too many of the harleydoods act, ride and interact with others. Some of them are still fighting WWII and weren't even shitting thier nappies ten years after it ended. Enter one of the "company" stores and you will see things "Harley" that you will have to ask it's purpose..

An aguable point to be sure but I hold that politics aside, VFR enthusiasm aside that here in the US the largest group of assholes on bikes are the harleydoods. Many of them are clueless but many do whatever it is they do with forethought and purpose. Why? Fucked if I know..

 

IMO, one can be stylish and delicate all at the same time when mounting a hog.

 

Actually I've only ever seen consistent dissing on this Forum of Harley riders and positive about many other brands, evidence being this is a Kawasaki thread. Admit I've only been riding 37 yrs ( if you include an xr75 and rounding up cattle on an AG bike from 8 ) though having a motorcycle as the ONLY transport was from my late teens to mid '20s.

The difference in our opinions may just stem from a misunderstanding and over generalisation. In the UK most riders who end up on Harleys must aspire to after doing their time on other machines thus gaining competence, courtesy and road craft on the way through. In Oz and by the looks in the US a noticeable amount of HD riders have gone from a lifetime of driving cages straight to a HD as their first BIG bike after a mid life crisis and just getting their motorcycle license. Off the tarmac most are perfectly nice people to have a beer with but out on road with their shiny new HD appear to develop a "NONE SHALL PASS" , I'm "KING OF ROAD" and "don't tell me how to ride I'm on a Harley" mentality. Perhaps I should hand out a psychology assessment questionnaire to them to find out why ?

A mate who went from riding Jap sports bikes and BMW tourers all his life recently went to a brand new HD cruiser he'd always wanted but after 10 months sold it for a Jap Cruiser ( Kawasaki Nomad ) after working out he just didn't fit in with the HD dudes because of the way they rode in groups and their general negative attitude against other riders bikes.

 

Now I really must defend Suzuki Katanas and those that ride them

 

All I know is when sue and I went on the May Day ride to Hastings we ended up sharing a table at the coffee stall with a couple from the local HOG chapter who turned out to be great company and we spent a good 1/2 hour discussing amongst other things the differences in the way we enjoyed our motorcycling

 

I once rode an Electra Glide in the 1970's and I couldn't wait to get back on my Bonneville.

HD still doesn't make a single bike - not one! - I want to ride. I can't say that about any other major manufacturer.

 

I almost jumped in a couple of times and couldn't resist now. My take is that human nature is the main noteworthy element. It doesn't matter whether we are speaking of motorcycle riders, car drivers, truck (lorrie) drivers, or for that matter, model train fans or quilters or photograohers. People are people and my unfortunate conclusion is that people are by nature good until polluted by CULTURE. (And that pollution seems to be more and more common nowadays.) We all come out of the womb as sweet little things but so much of the time our parents or friends or teachers mold us into...not so nice people with bad traits. There are jerks everywhere. There are nice people everywhere. Do I have personal-experience horror stories about Harley riders? Sure! ABout Sport riders? Yes! About my customers? You bet! But I try to focus on the great humans I have encountered and I try to be one myself. I AM a jerk at times too. But I try. And we would all benefit from trying to spread that kindness instead of passing along the rudeness. Each time we saddle up we are an ambassador for our hobby/passion/sport. We can reinforce a sterotype or we can make others feel that we are the nicest people out there.
Your move.

 

Roadking takes pawn.

 

As I get (even) older and my old knee injury plays up more a Road king becomes a more atractive idea. i would love a Wing but at over £23000 in the UK it is out of my reach.

 

Civil debates usually mean higher taxes.

 

EVERTHING! in the UK means higher taxes