Closed mined Harley people

I work w/ a bunch of guys that are all Harley riders & lets start by saying I like Harley's but will probably never own one. I cannot justify the cost just for the nostalgia, when there are plenty of other bikes that ride better, last longer, handle better, go faster & don't cost as much. If I decide to have a big american made V-twin it will be built in my garage w/ aftermarket & custom components. Any way.... Why is it that there are still people out there that feel exhaulted & superior on the throne of their "Willy G" ride. The guys I work with like to saunter up & set there swollen testicles on the table & talk about how much money they spent making there bike faster & shinier. Honestly it makes me laugh when when you here someone say they spent thousands of dollars getting performance mods done to their brand new $20,000 bike to get 105 hp. I laughed even harder when the same people get their bike dyno'd to find out they are only actually getting 92 hp. Then I say my little 700cc Honda is rated @ 98 hp & will alway go faster than they can no matter what they do( then they get mad & go spend more money & no I haven't actually dyno'd mine to see whats @ the rear wheel, no need to its still faster & will get there quicker). And why is it you still run into guys like this out on the road that won't give you the time of day because you don't ride a Harley, you know most of these guys didn't always ride a Harley unless they neglected every other aspect of their lives to get one. Basically what I'm saying is can't we all just get along out there, we all need to stick together to protect our sport/passion. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU RIDE AS LONG AS YOU RIDE!!!!! The time for divisions has past after all Honda probably employs more people world wide directly & indirectly than Harley, GM & Ford( Did not include Dodge because The Daimler Chrysler group is huge & into everything)
If you really want to get into the argument of being "American made" ask a Harley dealer to trace down the suppliers & manufactures of the parts used to build the modern Harley. A very large majority of those parts where not made here in the old U.S. of A.

 

95% er's

I don't have issues w/ the 95%'ers you are very correct they are very cool people & I do enjoy the life style. I enjoy nothing better than spending a day @ a bike rally or abate parties w/ the boys looking shiny bikes & half nek'kid woman & eating chili in 90 deg weather; it is one of the finer things in my life. After all I'm a WI boy land of milk, cheese, the Packers & all things H/D( & yes I know CA is kicking our tail on the milk thing lately). I seem to be running into alot of the 5% seudo bada$$'s lately though( I'm sure there might even be a real B.A. or two in there too). :drum:

 

I couldn't agree more if I tried. I'm sooooooooo sick of Harley boneheads who think they are better than the rest of us simply because they paid extra for an under-powered, over weight, no-handling POS. I rarely see sportbike riders giving cruiser riders crap. Most sportbike guys seem to understand that there are different bike for different people. Most Harley people just see that you're not on a Harley so you're not as cool as they are., BS, plain & simple. I don't dislike Harley bikes. I just think they are an inferior (by a long shot) product. If Harley made a bike that meets my requirements AAANNNDD priced it fairly, I would buy one simply becuase I DO like to purchase American products when I can.

Enough is enough Harley guys. We all ride because riding rules. I couldn't give the slightest piece of a rats ass what type of bike you ride as long as you do ride.

KC-10 FE out...

 

In my few years of street riding, I have found many harley riders that wave at me, either first or after I wave at them. To me, it doesn't matter what they ride, but its the fact that they do ride makes all of us riders part of the minority. Granted there are some who snub their noses at those of us who do not ride harleys, but thats their right. Does it make them better than the rest? No. But I will still wave as they are part of the motorcycling brotherhood.

My $.02

 

I couldn´t agree more.
I´m from Norway, and we have the same discusion here as well.
Would love to have a HD as a second bike, but it cost 2 much 2 have 2 bikes. Both 2 buy & insurance.
I love the twisty roads 2 much (there a lot of them where I´m from) so there4 I stay with my VFR. Not that is a bad choice ;-)
Most of the HDs is waving, but there are those fanatic who don´t.
But then there are those racing fanatic that is just talking crap about HD and say that the HD is stopping every 10 mile and it´s poor quality. After the evo engine came in 1984, the quality became much better. And is getting better & better by the years.
There´s a lot of ignorence among some people.
Yeah, be happy with the ride that U have & wave 2 eachother.
Smile 2 the world, & U get Uer teeth kicked in!
No I´m only joking.
Smile 2 the world, & the world smile back 2 U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wow

I started this thread because
A:I have run across a handful of jerks on Milwaukee Iron this week.
B: I have to work w/ a few people that are just ignorant & couldn't find there a$$ w/ both hands in a dark room, that throw gobs & gobs of cash @ their Harley's to make it better than the other guys & the only reason any of them have one is because somebody else had one & all they do is bar hop on them or maybe go on a hundred mile poker run from bar to bar, drunk any amount of wheels is dumb, drunk on two wheels is just stupid( This is a glass house statement for me, because I am guilty; last time I did it on a bike I put it down hard because I over reacted when a deer ran in front of me. Have not done it since, but I can say Austrailian oil cloth holds up remarkably well while skidding across asphalt; scalp, ribs & fingers not so well) If they go anywhere other than maybe Minnesota they trailer their bikes ( Trailers are for hauling snowmobiles in the summer, watercrafts in the winter & dirt bikes/atv's when the law says you can't ride to the trail & for taking grass clipping to the community mulch pile. Hauling a perfectly good road bike:yuck: WTF is up with that)
C: I wanted to stir up the pot a bit and see if anyone was paying attn. guess what; it seems to have worked.
D: If we don't want what we do for fun to not be over regulated by the Gov't we need to be a cohesive group & make our voices heard.
E: I could have wrote a tyrade about about the clown that did a lane split between myself ( in the truck)& another vehicle on a gixxer, on the back tire, @ well over 120 & then damn near lost it coming down right in front of me. But I didn't I'm saving that for another boring day @ work when I should have been riding.
F: The only excuses for not giving a wave or @ least the alpha male head nod to a fellow rider is if your in the middle of a corner, riding on pea gravel ( god why do that put that crap on the road) or if your arm is broken/missing or your wearing a neck brace( if your out riding in a neck brace people will think your crazy but I say HooRah, get back on the horse. I've done before in a back brace)

** We don't get to old to ride, We get old because we quit riding **

And steal a tried & true Harley Culture credo " Live to Ride/Ride to Live"eace:

 

You're doing it too

You're doing some of what you criticize the Harley riders for doing. You're criticizing them. I ride a VFR, a Harley (for sale) and another make. I've always found Harley riders easy to get along with and any other motorcycle rider for that matter.

Life is what you make of it and having a good attitude toward your own species......eace:

 

I hate to break your hearts.

No marque has the patent on assholes.

I've met just as many jerks* on VFRs as eace: Harleys. More on Goldwings and BMWs.

And I have or have had all except Goldwing (and I'm not ready for adult pampers yet either.)


* Piss on them and the white horse that they rode in on.

 

Yes I am critizing some!! Harley riders for the way they choose to treat others out on the road. Definetly not all of them I ride w/ people that ride Harley's, Buell's, Suzuki's, Yamaha's, Honda's, Kawasaki's & BMW's. I Like all the people, have ridden & like most of the bikes. I go to events that are mainly Harley culture events Rallies, club parties & ABATE events. You could say similar things about pure sport bike riders but their rides aren't comfortable enoungh to get more than a couple of hundred miles from wherever they came from. When I put my mind to non commuter riding I'm in it for around 500 miles or better a day; my commute is only 120 miles a day. So I do run into bikers from all over the country & in my business I run into truck drivers from all over the world alot of whom are bikers as well. So I've had enough exposure to all types of bikers. That said it is just as easy to run into a jerk on a moped or scooter or any brand of bike out there. Hatred, dislike or indifference due to brand loyalty alone is just dumb. Honestly if I wouldn't have to refinance my house to buy a Harley I would probably have a blinged road king or fat boy but not as my primary bike. Maybe when the ex-wife payments are over in 8 more years.

 

Harley Guys Even Have A Line In The Sand For There Own Harley Riders . To Some Of The Harley Guys If You Bought Your Harley Within The Current Wave Of New Harley Owners ( In The Last 10 Years ) Your Not Concidered A Real Harley Guy ? Your A Rub ?

 

Waiting

So I drive a VFR as my only vehicle this summer and I also am working part-time as a waiter.

I had some bikers in my row the other night and went up to them trying to make some small talk.

"Hey guys how are ya?"

they just looked at me.

"So whatja riding?"

The guy got the most disgusted look on his face and drawled off,

"we drive haaarleys."

"Oh yeah.. I love bikes, I'm driving a VFR right now." (which was just a stupid thing to say)

"They just shook their heads and didn't even talk to me for the rest of the night. Off a ticket of $160 they tipped me NOTHING. nada.

Not saying all harley riders are like that.. but there definetly are some that need to step the ego down a notch.

 

Harley is just the same image that Europeans see of Americans-Loud, tacky, and overweight!

 

Ah, since I own both...would that make me a half-assed rider?

While riding the Viffer:

Actually, I have to say the most arrogant riders I met lately were on Beemers. Here in sunny Vallejo we have all types, and in all honesty the most friendly are the old HD riders who still smoke cigarettes when they ride, and often speak first when the weather's great about how great it is to be riding that day.

So it all seems to depend upon where you ride.

On the Sporty:

My Sporty is pretty ratted out and the stylin' HD guys probably find it offensive. On the other hand, it looks real old school and a quite a few Jap bike riders dig it, esp. in SF.

'scuse me but the weather's great and I need to go back to the thread on new tires. Just laugh (inwardly) at anyone with an attitude- we all know bikes are like babies, every one of them loveable in it's own way no matter what it is.

 

Not half-assed @ all, but a connisuer( I probably spelled that wrong) of all things motorcycle. You are right about the Beemer riders to, I don't run into that many in my part of the world. The ones I have run into where mostly the affluent, uppety citified types that either had money or liked to make the rest of think they did. Not unpleasant folks just a little snobbish, not because of what they rode I think, but because they where generally just that way. The Beemer like the Harley is a great bike in it very different & unique way; if I had my way I'd own one of everything. Right now I have to ride what I can afford to pay cash for, I ride a cosmetically challenged 86' VFR700F, I just stick a little into every month.
Old Harley guys are the coolest, the ones I know may not like what I ride but that doesn't mean I can't ride with them or hang w/ them. Its the jack asses that have a Harley or a wanna be Harely(Thats for U Legs:smile: ) to bolster there already inflated egos or to compensate for other short comings:wink: that tend get under my skin.