A lot of the same could be said about your BMW and any other motorcycle, really... fuel injection specifically. Yes, Harley added it so as to keep the air cooled 45 degree V-Twin for a few more years, but they managed to do so without needing catalytic converters to meet the emissions regs. The 2010 Ural comes with catalytic converters, drum brakes out back and Mikuni carbs, how come there aren't hundreds of threads devoted to bashing them?HYPERR wrote:Hydraulic valves are hardly a high tech item. Also it can only be used in low performance low revving motorcycle engines. As you know, it will pump up at high rpms so it cannot be used to most of today's high rpm high performance motorcycles.
Brembo is just a company. It does not mean it is high tech. They can make cr@p just as easily as great stuff like the monobloc. I am generally not a fan of Brembos and feel they are one of the most overrated manufacturers out there. Their mystique comes from their ties to Porsches. Actually the Brembos on my BMW are cr@p, as most of my experience with them has been. I do admit the ones on my Hypermotard are very nice.
As for fuel injection, really the main reason why manufacturer use them is to meet EPA standards. In fairness to Harley, a large air cooled twin is much harder to meet these standards than with a liquid cooled inline four. This is probably the only reason, why HD went FI across the line before others.
I know we had this discussion before but the fact of the matter is, Harley engines are outdated old technology. There really is no way to deny this. Even Harley would admit that. That being said, all this is intentional and by design. They do this by choice. Not because they don't have the technology to do otherwise. Despite its limitation they stick with the 45 degree angle because they(and their customers) feel it is the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye. It is also tradition and what everyone identifies HD with. They stick with the huge pistons that rise up and down together instead of being offset because it produces that distinctive sound, vibration, and feel. They still use pushrods because those two tubes in front of the jugs look so cool. This is what their current customers want and that is what they give them. The relative sales failure of the VRod proves that.
As for hydraulic valves and pushrods, they are still in use today on motors other than Harley's. Like the Yamaha Road Star, for example. Point being is that the valves do not require adjusting with this system and I'll take the pocketbook savings over the cost and hassle of a shim and bucket adjustment on a multi valved, multi cylindered motor any day.
As for Brembo, even you would have to admit it is a major improvement over the brakes that Harley used to have.
I understand your points and do in fact agree with most of them, however, when someone mouths off about how inferior the brand is, they usually do not have anyhere near the depth of knowledge and facts that you do. And most people seem to forget one very basic but important factor when talking about Harleys - they were never designed to be performance bikes and, with the exception of the V-Rod and Buell, never will be. What's the point of loading it up with all the latest gee-whiz technology if there's no reason to?
Mike 
