Harley..Just buying the name?

[Toyuzu]

Gary,

Next time you're in California, give me a holler and I'll wave enthusiastically at ya from my crotch rocket - same as I do to every bike. I truly don't care what you ride, as long as you ride. By the way, that removing emblem thing - must be a Canada fad? I don't recall seeing a single bike round these parts without emblems, except the customs and most of those are Harleys. (Or at least powered by HD drivetrains)

Any bike enthusiast could tell a V-star from an HD at a glance anyway. (No push-rods on a V-Star, shaft drive instead of belt or chain...)

[RideOn]

Well, this is my story and why I bought my BMW R1200CLC over a Harley...

My wife and I went to the International Motorcycle Show in Timonium, MD last year. I was a die-hard Harley fan and when you first go in the building Harley is what you see first. We looked at the bikes they had to offer for the style we wanted which is touring and I needed to find one that would be comfortable for my wife since she has rods in her back from a car accident back in '95. My favorite Harley is the Heritage Softail, I just loved the look and the way it sat low for the ride. I didn't look at the Ultra because her ex had one and she would be hurting after 2 hours, so the next thing I would look at would be the Road King Custom with the tour frame and suspention. I didn't care for the stock seat which made my lower back hurt after 10 minutes sitting on it and I didn't want to have to pay $655 for a fuel-injection add-on which should've that come standard with a bike that size. When it comes to Warranty, Harley just recently went to 2 years, and yes I know, I hear people say that if it is a good product it shouldn't need that kind of warranty, I think that is BS because you never know with paint and chrome on any brand.

While I was talking to the Harley salesman, my wife came up to me and siad I just need to see this bike she had seen. Behind Harley was a BMW dealership that before I probably would have not given a second glance, but there on the floor was the bike I was destined for, an R1200CLC in Capri Blue. WOW, I thought, and I sat on the bike while I talked to the salesman about the bike. Right from the start he mentioned all the ammenities such as servo-assisted ABS, electronic cruise control, heated grips, individual heated seats, am-fm stereo/CD, uni-shock for adjusting 1up or 2up riding and the best of all, a 3 year fender to fender warranty with roadside service.
After sitting on that bike for 45 minutes without my back hurting, we got in to pricing, thinking it would be out of my range...WRONG. When I priced the Road King Custom, it would have been $19,400 just for the basic model with fuel injection...the BMW with everything...$16,500 and they included the engine and rear bag guards as well.
That following Wednesday I went to the BMW dealership and bought that bike that was at the show and have never looked back.

I think for the longest time Harley has rode on the name alone and now that the other brands are getting some of the cake, Harley is becoming more aware of the customer rather than the name they sell, which in the end is good for the customers they tend too.

All I know is, that when my wife and I are riding, she enjoys the ride more since she is comfortable and that is what counts, We spent over 17hrs on the beemer last year riding to Asheville, NC, we left at 4am and arrived at our hotel at 9:30pm that night. The ride was great, neither of us were sore or had backaches.

I don't care what someone rides, I am just relating what my experience was last year.

Thanks for reading,
Dave

[Dennis27]

I started this thread because I saw my friend drop 30K on a brand new Harley and I think he bought it just to be a "Harley Rider"... Brand new bike.. screws falling off, unsteady ride... hummm.. I was thinking that if he had of done some homework sat on a few japanese cruisers or even a BMW or perhaps even an Indian he would have a better quality machine.

[V4underme]

Three houses down from my home there are two HD's in the garage. The couple, in their early 40's, that owns them are terrific folks. The husband has been riding since he was 10 adn has been on almost every kind fo bike you can think of. He's helped me pull the tires off my Magna, offered to assist with maintenance, etc. He just happens to be genuinely attracted to the big, shiny HD cruisers, so that's what he rides.

Across the street from his house is an older couple with their 25 year old son living with them. The son bought a new HD about 3 months ago, a Dyna Superglide something or other. Spent about 14K on it, he told me. He then dropped another 5K into the motor to get the horsepower he wanted, and he was telling me of more plans he has. When I asked him why he didn't buy a bike with the power he wanted already engineered into it, his answer was "'because it's not a Harley".

There are genuine people and then there are the "image followers", you just gotta take the latter with a grin and a grain of salt if it bothers you for some reason.

[bennettoid]

A monkey making love to a football?

MWAHAHAHAHAH!!!

[old-n-slow]

Gary,

Any bike enthusiast could tell a V-star from an HD at a glance anyway. (No push-rods on a V-Star, shaft drive instead of belt or chain...)

Toyuzu. Not with my eyes and at a combined speed of 200kph I ain't looking hard enough at any bike to tell if it has shaft drive or belt thank you very much. You have what? 2 seconds tops. uh uh I keep my eyes on the road. Perephral vision will do for seeing other bikes to wave at. BTW you will get a wave from me unless I happen not to see you, and that does happen from time to time as I do like to observe the scenery.
And of course, being a male, my brain can only do one task at at time, unlike the female brain which supposedly is capable of multitasking. To me, multitasking is chewing gum and doing anything else at the same time.

I started this thread because I saw my friend drop 30K on a brand new Harley and I think he bought it just to be a "Harley Rider"... Brand new bike.. screws falling off, unsteady ride... hummm.. I was thinking that if he had of done some homework sat on a few japanese cruisers or even a BMW or perhaps even an Indian he would have a better quality machine.

Never had any screws or the like fall off mine. Handles bars are rubber mounted, footpegs have good rubber cushioning. I been wondering about the so-called vibration that everyone talks about till I asked the wife and she tells me she gets it through the footpegs. So I looked at the pegs and sure enough, the passenger pegs are solid.

When I asked him why he didn't buy a bike with the power he wanted already engineered into it, his answer was "'because it's not a Harley".

There are genuine people and then there are the "image followers", you just gotta take the latter with a grin and a grain of salt if it bothers you for some reason.

So "Image followers" aren't genuine people? At my guess that would put about 75% of the world pop at not being genuine. Ever notice the number of people that wear gap teeshirts, use nike runners and so on. LOL I wear a teeshirt from time to time that has Sherwin Williams emblasoned across the front. I like it, not because of what it says but it fits properly and IT WAS FREE. Does that make me an "image follower"? I don't really care, just curious.

[Dennis27]

So "Image followers" aren't genuine people? At my guess that would put about 75% of the world pop at not being genuine. Ever notice the number of people that wear gap teeshirts, use nike runners and so on. LOL I wear a teeshirt from time to time that has Sherwin Williams emblasoned across the front. I like it, not because of what it says but it fits properly and IT WAS FREE. Does that make me an "image follower"? I don't really care, just curious. [/quote]

Damn wanna be painter!

[wb]

my problem with h/d has never been the riders ....i find them to be some of the nicest people on the road .......my problem is the dealerships .....their arrogant attitude and penchant for dishonesty makes me think that they feel all of their customers are stupid ...

case in point....

i have a 2000 indian chief with that comes with the S & S 1442 superstock v twin

i was trying to troubleshoot for a long trip ahead ....ie. what can i expect from this motor at 10k?....20k? .....30k? .....etc

they pointed me towards their "expert"

ME: i am fixing to take this road trip on my 2000 indian ch ....

JERK: we don't work on indians, they're all krap

ME: mine is not broken ..i am just attempting to troubleshoot the engine....

JERK: those engines are krap ...we dont' work on them

ME: i am not asking you to work on it (as i point to a similar engine on his floor) is that engine krap?

JERK: (as he walks away) come back when you want a real motorcycle ..

ME: i will when i feel i am cool enough ....

and this is the story all over the country .... i pay in dollars not dignity .....dollars i have ....dignity i am running a little short of this week .....wb/lt/ca

[isnowbrd]

I love anything that has two wheels and a motor. And I always wave to anyone riding one. However, I rarely get a wave back from Harley riders . When one of them finally does wave back, I almost fall off my bike in surprise! On the other hand, whenever I've had the chance to actually talk to a Harley owner, they have always been great people.

I always thought that if I had some extra money I would like to own a Harley. But after reading more about BMWs recently, and hearing RideOn's post, I can't see myself buying a Harley over a bike that offers so much more.

Maybe if I had a lot of extra money I could get both!

[HypeDOG]

This is horribly sad... all of it. Very sad.

I own the other American vehicle, the Corvette. I'm Canadian, on this side of the border it's not quite as nuts. But I've seen my share of "If it ain't a vette it sucks" stupidity. I've met quite a few decent Harley guys, just like vette guys... but it's the guys that buy into the name, the hype, that ruin it for the rest. That's the saddest part.