It started so innocently.....

[Lion_Lady]

Regarding branding issues... how about riding a BMW?

I still get the idiot stare, and "I didn't know BMW made motorcycles." They made motorcycles before they made cars and airplanes before that. My Rockster is totally beyond nearly everyone's comprehension.

P

[Loonette]

I'll take the RIDE & then a Massage! He He....

Oh yeah....then the Drink!

Hmmmmmn.....what else is there....

A fun romp around with your significant other perhaps.

I've shared before my encounters with my good friend's biker crowd up in Michigan. They are a hard-core club of Harley-only riders. I mean really hard core as far as the clubbing thing goes. These are not the kind of people to mess with - ever. I show up with my Meanstreak, and none of these people have ever cut me down. They have even gone so far as to say that they know I could blow them away from a start and that my braking would be a lot more responsive than theirs. We talk "bikes" The only question I've ever heard is why not a Harley? I think it's a fair question (after all, for some of these guys, they just can't imagine riding any other bike). And I give a simple answer without needing to insult their ride. I really don't care what someone else rides. And if anyone wants to insult my ride, then I would just deal with the issue of their lack of respect - don't even need to bring their ride into the conversation. But it hasn't happened yet.

Worse was when I was in my early 20's and Scan and I bought our first foreign car. It was an '83 Nissan Sentra - cute little cheap car that we bought off a mechanic that I worked with at the time. Try driving a little Japanese car in Detroit every day. My gosh, you'd think that we had murdered someone. Big, burly guys in parking lots would make some pretty awful comments and sometimes were even threatening (toward the car). I was always worried about finding all the tires slashed. I worked at a Chevy dealership and wasn't allowed to park the car in the employee lot - not just the main lot, but the employee lot as well. But that was a long time ago, and things have changed - even in Detroit.

I don't like branding that much at all. For instance, I won't buy any clothing that has any type of branding on the outside - i.e., Old Navy, A&F, Nike, whatever. I already paid for the item - I'm not going to be a walking billboard for their free advertising as well.

Gummiente - it would be nice for you to not lump in all the moderators as being Harley bashers. We put on our moderator hats when we need to keep things from getting out of control on a personal level. But we also are members who are allowed to speak freely of our opinions. We certainly aren't ganging up as moderators to incite riotous behavior against Harley riders. There have been many, many discussions (especially in the Soap Box) where members go at each other with extremely differing opinions on some relatively important issues. The great thing about a public forum is that you can feel free to express your opinions. And for the most part, we try to be civil - doesn't always work out, but we are all human, capable of making mistakes in the heat of the moment.

Personally I would be totally happy if I never, ever heard a Harley vs. the World discussion again. But it's bound to happen - we all love our rides, and if made to feel insulted for what we're riding (which is what I believe was happening to Buzz on the radio show), then we sometimes can get defensive. Radio shows are notorious for this type of behavior, which is why I won't even turn on the radio these days. Too much muck that doesn't relate to my real world at all. But for some it's a safe outlet for talking trash to one another.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like I'm making any grand point here. I'm just hoping that we don't take these things too personally. I know how bad it can feel to be on the receiving end of insulting words. But we're all capable of taking a deep breath and walking away too.

Have a peaceful ride folks.

Cheers,
Loonette

[Gummiente]

Gummiente - it would be nice for you to not lump in all the moderators as being Harley bashers.

You're right, that was uncalled for. My apologies and, yes, I need to learn how to take a deep breath and walk away from it all. In fact, I just came back from a nice 110km ride and a brunch with our Southern Cruisers chapter and am in a MUCH better frame of mind... I realise now I should have just ignored the whole thread.

I really am trying not to let cr*p like this get to me, but what you may not realise is that it just isn't this forum alone that my choice of bike is, um, so frequently "discussed", shall we say, and sometimes I just get fed up with it all. Lately, Harleys have been a popular target on pretty much every bike forum I belong to, including a couple of the Ural ones. Talk about people in glass houses!

[Sev]

Gummie, I bash Harley's as much, probably more then the next guy. I've also been bashing Vector's warrior because he's so all fired sure that it's the greatest bike in the whole world. I bash BuzZz's bike because it's purple (he did the same to me), and I bash supersports because they look like they're humping a football.

I'm a non-brand-specific basher. Because on this forum, I feel it's all meant in good fun. Go ahead and take a shot at my Honda, I know that you're joking... at least I hope you are.

You might notice that the second someone came on here and actually started insult your ride, Schoolbusyellow, or whatever his name is. Half the forum jumped up and started slinging garbage his way. Hell, I even insulted the color of his bike... yellow. You'll see the irony in that when you look closely at my avatar.

My point is that, well this is one of the things that friends do. They make fun of each other. It's not malicious, it's not offensive, it's commraderie. A shared bonding experience through mutual pain if you will.

I'll back your Harley up till hell freezes over, if I think that someone is actually trying to be offensive, but otherwise it's open season. And I expect the same response from you.

One of the problems with the net is that you cannot see the smile on my face when I give you a hard time. If you actually found it offensive I'd like to apologize.

[Gummiente]

One of the problems with the net is that you cannot see the smile on my face when I give you a hard time. If you actually found it offensive I'd like to apologize.

I appreciate that, but it's not necessary. I need to learn how to lighten up a bit, is all.

[liablemtl]

Gummi...

I just checked out your web page. Nice lookin' FXDI. I like those FXD[insert initial here]'s... they look like a motorcycle should. Clean lines, not chopped out or trying to be a copy of anything... they just look like a nice bike. I'd love to sink my butt onto an FXDX - the sport model. I could certainly ride that!

That Dnepr looks like a full on mil rig. I'm a member of the Oregon Military Vehicles Collector Club and have been looking for a military motorcycle to make my membership worthwhile. Are they hard to come across?

[High_Side]

Gummie, I bash Harley's as much, probably more then the next guy. I've also been bashing Vector's warrior because he's so all fired sure that it's the greatest bike in the whole world. I bash BuzZz's bike because it's purple (he did the same to me), and I bash supersports because they look like they're humping a football.

Whew....I came thorugh that one unscathed....
SEV! What the he77? Are you falling asleep at the switch? Our Ducati is inexpensive to maintain......(thought that I should throw you a bone as you seem to be asleep at the switch)

[Gummiente]

I just checked out your web page. Nice lookin' FXDI.
<snip>
That Dnepr looks like a full on mil rig.

Thanks! Unfortunately, Harley has chosen to drop the FXDX from the lineup because apparently it wasn't a great seller. Too bad, because that would have been in my garage instead of the FXDI had it been in the lineup when I traded in the FLHT.

As for the Dnepr, they're readily available but there's a lot of shady characters out there dealing in them. They're still built but in very limited numbers and usually only for miltary contracts (Iran reportedly placed a large order with them last year). Unlike the Ural, the Dneprs are not DOT or EPA certified and the KMZ factory in Kiev, Ukraine, has no plans to re-tool the lineup to hit the North American market, so your best bet to score one is to keep an eye out on eBay. I would highly recommend you join the Yahoo! Dneprheads group, as they have all the latest info and can advise you where to (and not to) go looking for one. You should also check with the Oregon DMV to find out what hoops you need to jump through prior to importing a "grey market" Dnepr from the Ukraine or any other former East Bloc country you'll normally find them for sale in.

PM me if you need more info, I'd be more than happy to help.

[Sev]

Gummie, I bash Harley's as much, probably more then the next guy. I've also been bashing Vector's warrior because he's so all fired sure that it's the greatest bike in the whole world. I bash BuzZz's bike because it's purple (he did the same to me), and I bash supersports because they look like they're humping a football.

Whew....I came thorugh that one unscathed....
SEV! What the he77? Are you falling asleep at the switch? Our Ducati is inexpensive to maintain......(thought that I should throw you a bone as you seem to be asleep at the switch)

Ducati's make fun of themselves I don't need to do any extra work there.

Hahaha, how's that?

In all honesty, Duc's are rather rare this side of the pond, so while I don't discount them, I don't go out of my way to make fun of them. They're like Triumphs to me. Under the radar. Then again, a lot of Ducati's are supersportish, so it looks like you're humping a football.

[CNF2002]

Well I get odd looks when I tell people I ride a Buell because its not a well known brand.

As to the Harley discussion, who freaking cares