An enlightening conversation with a Harley owner

[Galo]

Okay, he works here, so.....at least he had to be somewhat civil to me (joke) but today I had a great time chatting with him, and what I got was new-found respect....

I chatted with him as we crossed paths in a hallway at work...I knew his face because he wears a beanie helmet. Okay, that's stereotypical.

The surprise came when we talked bikes and he told me his bike (a spotless, beautifully-maintained 2000 Softtail) has -gasp- 137,000 miles on it.  In fact, he told me he had just come back from a 12k trip to the East Coast.

Okay, I eat crow about Harleys being garage queens....

I still dont care for his beanie, but he did say he needed a full-face now that the rains are coming, which kinda made it all good for me....
 

[chornbe]

There ya go!  

[atadaskew]

You sure he didn't say 137,000 millimeters?

[2WheelTiger]

Question:
How the hell do you do a 12,000 mile tour to the east coast?

Seattle to Boston to Jacksonville, FL to San Diego to Seattle is under 8k.

[Black Ice]

Galo, he's not a Harley owner.

He's a Harley rider.  

[atadaskew]

Question:
How the hell do you do a 12,000 mile tour to the east coast?

Jeez, do I have to explain everything to you guys?  He did not say 12,000 mile.  He said 12K.  As in $12K trip.  Which coulda been spent on a bunch of chrome baubles and strippers.

[Baz]

One of my old clients puts on 36,000 KM annually on his Harley's. (That's 22,000 miles for you non metric folks) Here is the catch, where he lives, the riding season goes from late April to october at best. (He lives in Peace River, Alberta). The man is 63 years old and has some pretty harsh medical problems, and works full time. I am sure he would double that if time, his pocket book and health would allow.

In my 30+ years of riding, the best I have ever done is 15,000 km and my riding season is at least a month longer than his. The family and job thingy has held me back however. (I just abandoned the job thingy. )

[chornbe]

Question:
How the hell do you do a 12,000 mile tour to the east coast?

Seattle to Boston to Jacksonville, FL to San Diego to Seattle is under 8k.

Not that hard. THere's some pretty awesome mountain twisties at both ends of the coast, just a couple hundred miles inland. Remember, pretty much West to Kentucky is still "the East coast".  

[st ryder]

Question:
How the hell do you do a 12,000 mile tour to the east coast?

Seattle to Boston to Jacksonville, FL to San Diego to Seattle is under 8k.

I just did over 8K going from southern Ontario, to California, (Malibu) and back home by way of BC, (Vancouver) and then Minneapolis.  Many, many twisties and a little doubling back out west, but pretty much there and back on the interstates.    

[st ryder]

Okay, he works here, so.....at least he had to be somewhat civil to me (joke) but today I had a great time chatting with him, and what I got was new-found respect....

I chatted with him as we crossed paths in a hallway at work...I knew his face because he wears a beanie helmet. Okay, that's stereotypical.

The surprise came when we talked bikes and he told me his bike (a spotless, beautifully-maintained 2000 Softtail) has -gasp- 137,000 miles on it.  In fact, he told me he had just come back from a 12k trip to the East Coast.

Okay, I eat crow about Harleys being garage queens....

I still dont care for his beanie, but he did say he needed a full-face now that the rains are coming, which kinda made it all good for me....
 

I did a 8+K tour last month, and from my informal observations about who was riding what on tour, I judged being "on tour" as having a bike capable of touring, ie side/top cases, and or some type of extra "luggage" tied down, and without doubt, the most common bikes on tour were cruisers, and the most common crusiers were Harleys, followed by non-descript metric cruisers. Of the actual "touring bikes", ie side cases and or top case, the most common were Harleys as well; then came BMWs which were tied between touring models and GS models, then Goldwings, then a plethora of mixed mid-size ST's ie FJRs, ST1300s, etc. and lastly "anything goes" bikes. But there was no doubt in my mind that on my last tour, like pretty much all my previous tours, HDs were the most numerous bikes on tour. But, I have another observation to throw into the mix: I encountered many more "groups" of riders on HD than any other brand; then Goldwings. Riders like myself on smallish touring bikes, seem to be "loners" and rarely if ever seen in groups on tour. I think this speaks to the whole "culture/tribe" thing, and it *seems* to me HD riders are the most social riders, "1%ers" or "wannabes" notwithstanding, as they are the fringe upon which HD resenters focus, and erroneously conclude the rest of the family is the same. Even Wllie G. recognises the "black sheep" are not what HD is about.  

[rauchman]

I can believe it.  The people I know w/ the most miles on their bikes are HD owners.

[veefer800canuck]

One of my old clients puts on 36,000 KM annually on his Harley's. (That's 22,000 miles for you non metric folks) Here is the catch, where he lives, the riding season goes from late April to october at best. (He lives in Peace River, Alberta). The man is 63 years old and has some pretty harsh medical problems, and works full time. I am sure he would double that if time, his pocket book and health would allow.

In my 30+ years of riding, the best I have ever done is 15,000 km and my riding season is at least a month longer than his. The family and job thingy has held me back however. (I just abandoned the job thingy. )

Dude, I think I've see that guy in Whitecourt at the gas station. Doesn't he have custom tags with his last name on it? French-Canadian sounding? Metis?

And I think he's got a Smartcar with the same tags and a little trailer for hauling the bike too?

[Ralf]

Strange the antagonism towards Harley riders in the US. Actually, in Germany if you wave to them, 99% of the time they wave back. It's actually the BMW riders here who have a chip on their shoulder and I would estimate at least 50% don't wave back. This coming from a Japanese sportbike/SM rider.

[Galo]

Strange the antagonism towards Harley riders in the US. Actually, in Germany if you wave to them, 99% of the time they wave back. It's actually the BMW riders here who have a chip on their shoulder and I would estimate at least 50% don't wave back. This coming from a Japanese sportbike/SM rider.

Ralf.....here in the US, it's almost always the opposite....it's the Harley riders who tend to look down at other bikets, ignore greetings, and occassionally ask us ST riders 'when are you gonna get a real bike?' -as happened to me about 2 years ago...
 

[Ralf]

Ralf.....here in the US, it's almost always the opposite....it's the Harley riders who tend to look down at other bikets, ignore greetings, and occassionally ask us ST riders 'when are you gonna get a real bike?' -as happened to me about 2 years ago...
 

99% of HD riders here have owned other bikes, so they have no delusions about what their bikes can or cannot do. They just want to take a different approach and enjoy the ride.

[TheGoose]

You sure he didn't say 137,000 millimeters?

Of course not, they don't do metric.

[Galo]

Galo, he's not a Harley owner.

He's a Harley rider.  

Best post here!
 

[bomber]

when I'm out in truely silly weather, almost all the other bikes I see are HDs --

when I bother to look at license plates, most of the far riders I see are on HDs --

while they don't make anything (with the possible excpetion of the new XR Sporty) that calls to me, and, while many HD riders are cartoons (ever check out the BMW riders at the local sunday morning meeting place?), the fact remains that there are a large number of HD riders out there that i respect

innit nice to have someone to demonize?

;-}

[UFO]

Based on what I see at work the stereotype that most Harleys are garage queens is still safe.

Only bikes I see parked outside when the weather is shit are:  Beat up Triumph Tiger (you know, the green striped ones ), ST1100, R1200GSA, FJR1300...and sometimes a scooter of some type.

Never Harleys...or supersports.  Ever.  YMMV.  

[chornbe]

Mine is the only motorcycle consistently at work. Either Harley. Paulie's Strat is in second place. The others are excessively fair weather for the most part, including the $35k custom chopper that shows up a couple of times a year. The V-Rod and Soft Tail are occasional-only shows. The one guy has a Low Rider and a Road King and he'll ride all the time if he could (each bike has gone coast to coast more than once), but he's in sales and is often out schmoozing clients.