Why I dislike Harleys...

[county]

"A Sportster ain't a real Harley!"    
 
That's what the guy with an HD sticker on his pickup at the convenience store told me.   I just thought I'd pass it along.  

 
 
 
 
 

Its good to post your source.  Give you much credibility.

[Scratch33]

"lifestyle?"

God just killed a hamster.

[CosmicHD]

"A Sportster ain't a real Harley!"    
 
That's what the guy with an HD sticker on his pickup at the convenience store told me.   I just thought I'd pass it along.  

 
 
 
 

Yeah, some HD owners seemed to have it stuck in their head. I think they are just mad they paid twice as much but did not get twice the bike.

Funny, the XL line is the best selling motorcycle across all brands. 50+ years and running.

yeah, it is not a real Harley or a real bike. Uh, huh.

[FJRski!]

I'll give you credit, you sure know how to get a discussion started.
Must be nice to have a lot of free-time.  

As I recall, we ran into several friendly groups of decent folks on HDs coming back from ESTN-07.  And they didn't give us any grief when we parked the FJRs in the Hog Pen, especially after Eric gave up $40+ for a t-shirt. Yeah, they were all riding nearly identical fugly bikes.  But they were hard-core riders to the soul, especially those 2 dudes from Canada.  It's all a choice about RIDING style.

If the KLR (or a KTM) was the best bike for me, I'd ride one, and I wouldn't care how many other people were riding one or not.  I wouldn't let the type of bike I ride, or any other possession for that matter, define my personality or validate my self-image (now that's fugly).   Personally, I didn't think I could stand another thumper, and the KTM dealer wouldn't even order an Adventure without a hefty non-refundable deposit (made me concerned about getting parts), so I ordered a Wee-Strom.  

One of the reasons I ordered the Wee is because they seem to be popular on STN.

So call me a conformist, see if I care.

[olderigetfasteriam]

My sister has an Sportster and she loves it. Seriously.

[atypical1]

I thought we only posted this crap in the winter when riding "season" was over  

We all conform to something even if is simply our desire to stand out or be different. I can't believe you wasted all the time it took to write this when you could have been riding and taking pictures. Why don't you write a ride report instead Scott?

james

[Liquidsilver]

Its good to post your source.  Give you much credibility.

 
Heck yeah!   The guy SOUNDED like an expert, so...    
 
 
 
 

[chornbe]

Oh for fuck's sakes... Enough with the fucking Harleys already. They're just another brand of motorcycle. There's no mystique. There's no magic. There's no "x-factor". It's just different. Quit picking on the easy target. They're successful, they charge a premium (that PEOPLE PAY, mind you!) and they have a dealer and service network, and name recognition that all other brands would KILL for.

Skipper, change the name of the forum to Sport-touring.harley-haters.net already and be done with it. Jeezuz.

[R.Markus]

If the KLR (or a KTM) was the best bike for me, I'd ride one, and I wouldn't care how many other people were riding one or not.

Hey don't be putting KLR and KTM in the same sentence as suggesting there's some sort of similarity. The KLR is a pussy want-to-be KTM.

[CosmicHD]

Oh for fuck's sakes... Enough with the fucking Harleys already. They're just another brand of motorcycle. There's no mystique. There's no magic. There's no "x-factor". It's just different. Quit picking on the easy target. They're successful, they charge a premium (that PEOPLE PAY, mind you!) and they have a dealer and service network, and name recognition that all other brands would KILL for.

+1

[Scratch33]

The KLR is a pussy want-to-be KTM.

 

[chornbe]

It's a matter of personal taste. I don't like the bikes for the following reasons:

1) fugly

Subjective. Several of their models are drop-dead gorgeous in some eyes. And regardless of model, they have a fit-n-finish and a lasting curb appeal that other brands would, again, kill for.

2) expensive

Not compared to several other brands in the SAME MARKET SPACE. Price compare, feature for feature, cc for cc, against Star, Honda VTX1800s and the bigger Kawis.

3) heavy

Not compared to several other brands in the SAME MARKET SPACE.

4) slow

heh. Ok, fine, they don't have top-end speed. But for purpose built machines, they do just fine, and I can tear up the twisties with the best of them on my little girl's bike, so...

5) handle like poo

Out of the crate, yes, most of their models are built for a purpose and for a common riding style and rider size/weight. With WAY LESS $$$ I got my sportster handling better than a lot of other out-of-the-crate sport-standards.

6) low tech compared to their European and Asian competitors

How so? FI that is the smoothest in the biznizz, ABS available, communications systems available, ... ... ...

7) HDs hypocritical marketing of "Be unique, be free" yet every owner looks like a Xerox'd copy of the next, and every owner looks down their nose at those of us who DO exercise our "freedom" to buy what we like and enjoy.  Yeah, this isn't related to the bike but it puts a massively negative bias towards my view.

They cater to their market segment just like any other successful company. It's not THEIR fault that they dimwits who buy into the whole culture do so with such dedication. I've said for a long, long time that if Harley could break tradition and heritage, they could build a truly exceptional machine. The V-Rod goes a long way to proving that. And the herders bought 3 or maybe 4 V-Rods. It's the people. The customers, not the company.

7) fugly

Again, Subjective. Again.

100) fugly

I dislike a lot of things for many of the same reasons, but I don't spend my life obsessing about it on the intardnets.  I suggest others stop obsessing as well.

Ok, ok... we get it. You don't like them. Outselling other bikes by a WHOLE LOT suggests that a majority of buyers DO like them. It's subjective.

[R.Markus]

[garry]

It's a nice day Scott. Get out for a ride. Sounds like you need a break from navel introspection.

[1KPerDay]

There's a lot of harley bashing going on around here... and I'm just not getting enough attention. So I think I'll start a thread about it. Next up: why your choice of oil sucks.

[Galo]

... I'm just not getting enough attention. So I think I'll start a thread about it. Next up: why your choice of oil sucks.

How about a 'my weenie is longer than you weenie' thread?

[SWriverstone]

Good responses!   But I need to set the record straight: I'm a professional copywriter and a pretty fast typist. It took me all of about 10 minutes to write that post. (So I hate to disappoint everyone who thinks I actually care enough about the whole thing to spend a half-an-hour or hour composing a post like that.)

I write posts like this for a variety of reasons:
- in the hopes of having intelligent discussions (rarely happens, but there are occasionally intelligent responses)
- for fun
- to kill 10 minutes (not 30 or 60 minutes)
...and yes, to stir the pot...because I'm always amused by all the people who invariably take the bait.   And because it's good to stir the pot. Otherwise what do we have? A big mutual love-fest? LOLOL

As for comments like "Everything you say applies to you too, you hypocrite," well, I guess we all better pull the plug on our Internet connections or go to read-only mode...because there's nothing anyone writes---that's worth reading---that couldn't also be applied to the author.  

BTW, after a couple more hours of work, I'm heading out on the James River to spend a beautiful evening flyfishing for smallies. Believe me...Harley bashing is something I think about maybe once or twice a year, if that.  

I simply tried to explain why I dislike Harleys, period. Anyone who thinks I'm bashing them is so irrevocably jaded and negative from their online experience it's pitiable...

Scott

[UFO]

Oh for fuck's sakes... Enough with the fucking Harleys already. They're just another brand of motorcycle. There's no mystique. There's no magic. There's no "x-factor". It's just different. Quit picking on the easy target.

Yeah, can we please get back to the VFR bashing?

[1KPerDay]

...and yes, to stir the pot...because I'm always amused by all the people who invariably take the bait.

That says all that needs to be said about you.

[UFO]

It's subjective.

Maybe you missed the first line of my post that said:  It's a matter of personal taste.

Buy hey, more power to you for spending time mashing on a keyboard to make my point.