HD moment revisited

[JETSET]

As I sit idle for for a while experiencing cabin fever and pondering a new stable addition,I've narrowed my HD choices to a Fat Boy or a Night Rod Special I think the Night Rod might be a better fit.I don't think I would be putting a lot of mods with the exception of fuel management.The Fat Boy however would empty my wallet.Still on the fence.

[frayne48]

FWIW, I test rode a couple of V-Rods a year or so ago and although they are damn fast in the straight a-ways, I didn't care for the cornering or the sitting position on the bike as compared to my FJR.  They are damn cool looking machines though.

[scottzilla]

Two different engines, Two different worlds.
The Night Rod is probably the better motorcycle based on the reviews i've read.  The Fat Boy is the real HD experience.  Are you sure you're ready for it?
As a side note, It's pretty neat how many Sport riders are looking at HD lately and jumping right in.  I mean, going from an FJR to a Fat Boy is quite a transition!

[JETSET]

Two different engines, Two different worlds.
The Night Rod is probably the better motorcycle based on the reviews i've read.  The Fat Boy is the real HD experience.  Are you sure you're ready for it?
As a side note, It's pretty neat how many Sport riders are looking at HD lately and jumping right in.  I mean, going from an FJR to a Fat Boy is quite a transition!

I'm keeping the FJR just looking for a new toy.

[Sandbag]

My brother has the night rod special & he is less then impressed.  It is a straight line bar hopper.  It is so long & low it will not corner!  Don't get me wrong it's cool looking bike & if you are looking for a bike to ride to the local hangout & have people drool then it's the bike, but if you like to hit the twisty or sweepers I would look else where. my .06 Inflation

[scottzilla]

I'm keeping the FJR just looking for a new toy.

I didn't think you were getting rid of the FJR.  It's still quite a transition though.
I'd get the Fat Boy.  It's a real Harley.

[thatguy]

Having ridden every new Harley for years,some advice.Ride the Street Rod with the narrower rear tire.The fat tire make a slow turning bike even slower.Also have you even consider the Fat Bob?A real fun bike to ride and the ergos are closer to what you'd like.Not exactly quick steering but solid,secure feeling and fun to ride through the twisties.Decent brakes,adequate power and great fuel economy if you leave it alone.Just my 2 cents do with it what you wish.

[chornbe]

As I sit idle for for a while experiencing cabin fever and pondering a new stable addition,I've narrowed my HD choices to a Fat Boy or a Night Rod Special I think the Night Rod might be a better fit.I don't think I would be putting a lot of mods with the exception of fuel management.The Fat Boy however would empty my wallet.Still on the fence.

Night Rod.

Not a fan of the muscle, but the stock Night Rod works for me... oooh yeah.

[Lon]

I'm keeping the FJR just looking for a new toy.

You will find the Fat Boy horribly slow, given your taste in bikes...

[BigBen]

I've narrowed my HD choices to a Fat Boy or a Night Rod Special I think the Night Rod might be a better fit.

Jetset,

Did you consider the new Yamaha VMax?? It's a pretty nasty looking bike with lots of power.
http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/products/modelvideo/23/652/0/video.aspx


MSRP* $17,990 (Intense Black) Available from November 2008
 
 
Engine
Type 1679cc liquid-cooled 65° V-4, DOHC, 4 valves/cylinder
 
Bore x Stroke 90.0mm x 66.0mm
 
Compression Ratio 11.3:1
 
Fuel Delivery Fuel Injection with YCC-T and YCC-I
 
Ignition TCI
 
Transmission 5-speed, multiplate slipper clutch
 
Final Drive Shaft
 
 
Chassis
Suspension/Front 52mm telescopic cartridge fork w/oxidized titanium coating. Fully adjustable preload, compression and rebound; 4.7 in travel
 
Suspension/Rear Single shock w/remote reservoir and remote adjustable for preload, compression and rebound
 
Brakes/Front Dual 320mm wave-type discs; radial mount 6-piston calipers, Brembo® radial pump master cylinder  
 
Brakes/Rear 298mm wave-type disc, single-piston caliper and Brembo® master cylinder
 
Tires/Front Bridgestone® Radial 120/70-R18 59V
 
Tires/Rear Bridgestone® Radial 200/50-R18 76V
 
 
Dimensions
Length 94.3 in
 
Width 32.3 in
 
Height 46.8 in
 
Seat Height 30.5 in
 
Wheelbase 66.9 in
 
Rake (Caster Angle) 31.0 in
 
Fuel Capacity 4.0 gal
 
Fuel Economy** Spec currently not available
 
Wet Weight 683 lb / 685 lb (CA model)  
 
 
Other
Warranty 2 Year (Limited Factory Warranty) with Priority Delivery Program
 

[FJRski!]

Thought I would do some shopping for you; this is what more like what you want.

2009 HR xr1200

Hope the dry spell has ended.

[ERR]

Did you consider the new Yamaha VMax?? It's a pretty nasty looking bike with lots of power.

NMTO but  

The Night Rod is pretty cool looking and it doesn't have an ungodly amount of chrome.

Dave

[JETSET]

Thats sweeeeet but I want a Harley.

Jetset,

Did you consider the new Yamaha VMax?? It's a pretty nasty looking bike with lots of power.
http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/products/modelvideo/23/652/0/video.aspx


MSRP* $17,990 (Intense Black) Available from November 2008
 
 
Engine
Type 1679cc liquid-cooled 65° V-4, DOHC, 4 valves/cylinder
 
Bore x Stroke 90.0mm x 66.0mm
 
Compression Ratio 11.3:1
 
Fuel Delivery Fuel Injection with YCC-T and YCC-I
 
Ignition TCI
 
Transmission 5-speed, multiplate slipper clutch
 
Final Drive Shaft
 
 
Chassis
Suspension/Front 52mm telescopic cartridge fork w/oxidized titanium coating. Fully adjustable preload, compression and rebound; 4.7 in travel
 
Suspension/Rear Single shock w/remote reservoir and remote adjustable for preload, compression and rebound
 
Brakes/Front Dual 320mm wave-type discs; radial mount 6-piston calipers, Brembo® radial pump master cylinder  
 
Brakes/Rear 298mm wave-type disc, single-piston caliper and Brembo® master cylinder
 
Tires/Front Bridgestone® Radial 120/70-R18 59V
 
Tires/Rear Bridgestone® Radial 200/50-R18 76V
 
 
Dimensions
Length 94.3 in
 
Width 32.3 in
 
Height 46.8 in
 
Seat Height 30.5 in
 
Wheelbase 66.9 in
 
Rake (Caster Angle) 31.0 in
 
Fuel Capacity 4.0 gal
 
Fuel Economy** Spec currently not available
 
Wet Weight 683 lb / 685 lb (CA model)  
 
 
Other
Warranty 2 Year (Limited Factory Warranty) with Priority Delivery Program
 

[JETSET]

Nice

Thought I would do some shopping for you; this is what more like what you want.

2009 HR xr1200

Hope the dry spell has ended.

[JETSET]

 It is a straight line bar hopper.  Don't get me wrong it's cool looking bike & if you are looking for a bike to ride to the local hangout & have people drool then it's the bike, but if you like to hit the twisty or sweepers I would look else where. my .06 Inflation

No twisties not bar hopping but looking cool and drooling

The sweepers and twisties I got that covered already.This will be my local bike night unit as well as local bike related gatherings I'm not looking to Harley for performance.Just chilling

[chornbe]

Jet... if I may...?

The question arises, why do you want a Harley, specifically? (I'm not looking for an answer, just prompting you to ask yourself)

When I decided it was time to buy mine, my goals were practical (money aside). I wanted simplicity, something basic and low maintenance (labor and cost), and I wanted something that felt like a *motorcycle*. I wanted something that took me back to my roots, without my having to "tickle the carbs" each time I started it, or pull or break something kick starting a 40-year old temperamental piece of crap. I also wanted something tour-capable, and until you've ridden a fully decked out Electraglide with your pillion sitting casual behind you, sorry... you have not ridden a touring bike. The Goldwing is a better (and more expensive) overall machine, but... personal likes and dislikes vary.

Anyway, I digress...

Let me run down some observations from my experiences with both Harley ownership, and from having test ridden pretty much every model they've made and modded in the last 10 years.

First and foremost, if you want a bike that ooozes sexiness... fact is Harleys turn heads like few other bikes. No matter what model, everywhere you go, there will be *some* amount of attention, beyond just your showing up on a bike.

You will have to go a long, long way to find a bike that is simpler to own and operate over time than a Harley. With the exception of the 'Rods, they all have a basic mill that includes fuel injection (that is widely considered to be the best and smoothest in the business), hydraulic valves, super-easy maintenance, barely-wear belt drive and (with cast wheels) tubeless tires that are a dime-a-dozen from about 8485828 manufacturers.

Doing your own maintenance is a snap. The Sportsters have two drain holes (engine, primary/trans) and the big twins have three holes (engine, primary, gear box). I think the 'Rods work like the Sportsters. What this means is you can use any oil you want for the engine (20/50 synth is recommended due to its better heat dissipation properties) and you won't affect the clutch. In the big twins you can use honest to goodness gear lube and cut down the gear-box change interval to something more reasonable.

You will not... let me make this global, blanket statement... you will NOT find ANY bike with more, or more diverse, aftermarket support anywhere. Ever. At all. Here's the way it was described to me by a friend, and I have yet to disprove this... "If you buy a [seat, etc] for a Honda or Yamaha, you have maybe 5 or 6 choices all within [a price point]. If you want a seat for a Harley, you have 20 or 30 choices, at EVERY price point." I have found this to be very true.

Harleys are not fast. They are not designed to be. They are designed to be torque box rideable and at this, they do a very good job. If you take the average big twin and ride down the road, then do the same ride with a passenger and two weeks worth of provisions and luggage, you'll be hard pressed to feel a difference in the engine performance. It's real-world power delivery and consistency is very, very predictable and good.

The handling on every Harley ranges from "sloppy" to "it'll do it if you work a little harder". I have taken both my Harleys squid hunting, mountain carving and gone on some seriously sporty rides with my sport(ier) bike riding friends. The point at which they outperform what I can do on these bikes is beyond my own personal "on the street" threshold anyway.

"The Brotherhood" - for me this is nothing but a liability. I get tired of feeling like a princess on parade with all the waving, and the fake camaraderie where ever I stop. Many of these guys wouldn't give a guy on a metric... "especially one of them crotch rockets"... the time of day. so.... whatever.

The soft tails handle like crap (for my liking). The Touring frame and dynas are the cats ass if you want a big, sexy, heavy bike that can also turn... lowered models excepted of course. The Sportsters need work but can take a turn with coaxing. I believe I am currently in possession of the best handling Sportster you can get on a budget, and, weather permitting, I can rail that thing right nice. But it took a bit of work and tweaking to get it there. The weight and geometry is such that I don't feel terribly confident in the rain on the big bike, but then... when I crashed it was in the rain. There still may be some confidence issues with me. I have ridden the FZ1 in deluges since then and don't feel those same confidence issues, so it's probably a little of both.

The "B" engine in the soft tails is sweet. It is smoooooooth. The V-Rod engine, likewise, is smoooooooooth. The big twins are... classic and iconic, and do smooth out quite a bit at speed. The gear boxes are solid, a bit clunky, but mine have been completely predictable and fine. The road feel is exemplary; you KNOW what the road is doing. Damping and vibe isolation is OK at best from the factory. Plan on a race tech and 440-series progressives on any model you buy, at the minimum. Doing the forks completely transformed the Street Glide from a mess to a confident handler for me. Adding the linkage kit doubled that. The frame no longer lives on hinges.

The gearing is ok. You can short shift either bike and get 50-60 MPG on the big twin and sportie respectively, but typically I get 40 and 48 (or so) on them; I run them both kinda hard. After being fully broken in, running the big twin at 3500-4500 RPM in 3rd gear thru' the mountains is actually rather thrilling. People whine about the 6k redline on their twins, but the gearing is such that you rarely run up against the rev limiter in normal or spirited riding. The only people bouncing the twins off the rev limiters don't understand power delivery and have a blind belief that RPM = power... and would do it on a CBR, too.

The heat is considerable on the 'Glide and I have changed out the pipes and added a fueler to it. I kept STOCK mufflers for sound control. The heat is WAY better now. I think most Harleys sound like shit and I wish I could quiet them down even further. The sweetest sounding Harley I ever heard was a 2005 STOCK 88ci Road King with STOCK mufflers. Everything else pales compared to how that machine sounded. There is zero heat issue on the Sportie.

I would recommend you check out the base-model Electraglide Standard. It's at or below the price point of the bikes you mentioned, will out handle every soft tail and will only be beaten by the V-Rod because of the V-Rods better power delivery. And it's built for carrying weight, so if you want to throw your honey on the back with some luggage... non issue.

I have very little truly negative comments on either of my Harleys. They are not nearly as bad as non-owners would have you believe, and they are not the end-all, be-all chick magnets and "real bikes" that many owners would have you believe. The reality is, like all things, somewhere in the middle.

I like them. I *LOVE* my Sportster. If I had to have just ONE Harley to replace both of these, it would be the Superglide, hands down. The Road King is a close second. The XR1200 is a serious contender for my $$$ next time, but it's not 2-up viable (like most Sporties).

$.02 <--- these are my experiences and opinions based on ownership.

If you have any questions, just holler. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what I've learned about Harleys since buying mine last year.

[ray6576]

  to chornbe, I agree with his assessment.

[thatguy]

Softails are in the top five biggest POS ever sold.And paradoxically some of the most popular too.

[BigBen]

Thats sweeeeet but I want a Harley.

Whatever floats your boat, as long as you're on two wheels that's what counts.

On a different note, last year on the TV show Pinks, I saw a VRod race a 1988??? Kawasaki 1000 and lost badly. I hope the made some improve in the Night Rod over the last year or so.

[thatguy]

It was a modded GS1100.