Who Hates Harley Davidson?

Wonder how much play the VFR Hating thread's get on the Harley forums? Betcha it's less than 55 pages.

Hate is a strong word. They are an amusing tribe of hominids who occasionally ride motorcycles. Sometimes my heart soars like an eagle when I see them in the wild standing next to their bikes in their identical black leather vests with their identical grey goatees and identical black beanies and I think to myself "You are adding to the sum total of funny things in the universe. Thanks for that."

And I think it's even funnier when they think they are too cool to wave to me even though, obviously, I've forgotten more coolness than they will ever know. So everyone wins all because of Harley.

 

I have no desire to own a Harley, but now I'm wondering if I should get rid of the gray goatee...

 

I think that's spelt "homonids"

 

Coming home a few Sundays ago with both liners and a thermal long sleeve on,10ish around 53 degrees, two fly by me..I'm doin 73-75 with the highest apes Ive seen yet,
t-shirts, black vest...tats ta show off oh and can't forget the chains holding the wallets (now that would be a site , wallet dangling bouncing off the ground), both together louder then a top fuel dragster kind of, you get where I'm going.......
I just LMFAO.....WHY, WHY, WHY? I find it so laughable. ..

 

I saw this and thought I would post it here. It is a really good reasoned response from a professional writer and his honest opinion of Harley products.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/riding-wrong-side-beef-harley-203038975.html

 

Fred Flintstone tech, NASA price tag. ..

 

You too eh ?

 

Nice rational article Big_Jim. Harleys do look cool but they're more in the vein of motorcycle art than anything else. They say good art should make you feel something whether it's love or hate. So from that definition Harley's are an art form. I can appreciate them from that perspective but I have no more desire to ride one than to sit on the Mona Lisa.

 

I once read a comment from a supposed Harley owner that his bike with straight pipes and comp cams was so tuned up he had to blip the throttle at stop lights to keep it from stalling cause of all the raw power it didn't like to idle. or something like that :cower:

 

I must admit to be in the group that don't get it.
In anything I have, weather its my bike, car, computer or my beloved cameras, I expect the best they can be, but they must also have character, (not the computer, it just has to work).
I often borrow my mates Blackbird, It's great, amazing power, and it actaully handles superbly considering the weight, but its nearly sterile, if you want smooth, none smoother, but no chareacter and couldn't own one.
I also borrow my mates Beemer S1000RR, effin awsome, more power than I could ever use, and handles like a knife, but there are a million inline fours, that sound like another million inline forus. (if he ever wants to give it away, I'll take it
I like my girl friends Triumph Street tripple, it is a fun bike that goes like stink, but two hours of it and I get a sore neck from the wind.
I love the way my VFR feels, I love the way it starts to vibrate at 6000rpm and slightly builds, I always know what revs I'm doing without looking at the tacho.
I love the way I can crack open the throttle fully leaned over on anything above second without traction control (I use PP3's, bloody awesome)
I love the way I can take a corner at full tilt, and my chasis will let me know what is happening without ever getting untidy.
Nothing like going out with the boys and their latest toys, and not be left behind.
I'm still amazed that I can load the wife and a weeks worth of gear, and still keep up with the boys (their wifes ride as well)
Did I mention the gear driven cams? Sorry sixth/eigth geners, you missed the point.
I've ridden my friends Hardley, and all I can say is that it's seriously shit. It vibrates like its about to blow up, it doesn't go around corners, it has no brakes (seriously, it has the most shit brakes I've ever used) it is so loud that it causes hearing damage, and it still doesn't pull as hard as my VFR and its like a 1600, WTF?.
No thanks, I'll stick to motorcycles that carry engineering from after 1950.

 

I found the comments at the close of the article quite interesting as well. Most post were Harley owners justifying their purchases. He never said you couldn't love them. He just said that he didn't get it. I am solidly in the "I don't get it" group but I don't ride to be something or someone. I ride to ride and all motorcycles are a means to that end. I think a lot of people are "bikers" like a lot of people are cowboys. Around my part of Texas we have a lot of people that dress the cowboy part. They wear a big hat, boots and a plate size belt buckle rounds out the look. We even have Cowboy Church! It is all wrapped up in "feeling" like a cowboy much like the Harley rider is wrapped up in feeling like a biker. Of course you can't feel like a real biker without a real motorcycle and that's a Harley Davidson.

Harley Davidson the corporation has done a magnificent job of exploiting this preference but in a way they have painted themselves into a corner. I don't know about you but I feel unwelcome at a Harley dealership. The sale staff are not used to and don't know how to respond to someone who has not drunk the Kool-Aid. Harley Davidson can build technically advanced bikes. I just don't think they can sell them to their current customer base.

 

Don't let the looks deceive you. There is an enormous amount of engineering work in Harleys that enable then to pass modern emission tests and keep up with modern traffic without flying apart. That's not your grandfather's Knuckle Head even though it may look like it on the outside.

 

THIS! I truly believe that part of the Buell fiasco and to some extent the Street Rod and VRod poor reception is due to not being a "traditional" Harley. I have never stepped inside of a Harley dealership and most likely never will but I'm sure if I did I would get a giggle out of just eavesdropping on a salesman's pitch, let alone them trying to sell me on an HD!

Personally I don't like their flavor of Koolaid!

 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

 

I'm not sure I agree with the "Harley Davidson can build technically advanced bikes", don't forget that the engines for the VRod and Street Rod were designed by a European firm, not in house. They may be able to "build technically advanced bikes" but have yet to do so.

However I do agree that HD has to walk a fine line because their market buys bikes based on traditional looks and sounds, not on much besides that.

 

You misunderstood, I'm not saying that HD can actually build an advanced motorcycle, I'm saying that their clients seem to refuse to buy one they have on their showroom floor, whether it be a Buell or the European designed machines, HD fanatics don't consider them a true Harley. So on that we agree.

 

Sure they could, and did. The VRod is an example. The harleydoods didn't like them because ___________". Fill in the blank after getting over that they didn't look like Harleys or sound like Harleys. A must for harleydoods who spend bunches of pesos on their bikes.

Some harleydoods even went so far as to diss the Harley golf carts.

 

A neighborhood just came home with a new Harley, think it said 702 on the air cleaner cover.
ARE YOU READY?????
$33,000+..................
What a joke, and he financed it..DOH

 

But Duc, he's part of the "family" now. Way worth it.

 

If I came home with a $33k Harley and actually financed it, the wife would take me out back and shoot me in the head! She might only ask for a divorce or insist I seek some form of therapy if the bike was a Honda.