Ade B
MB Enthusiast
I both owned and rode my bike. The only things I bolted on were a Ventura luggage rack and the pannier rails. It got cleaned to keep the made-of-cheese allen head bolts servicable rather than anything else. They were eventually replaced for a stainless steel set.
Never really bought into the whole marginalised outlaw biker thing but had a great deal of fun 1 up and 2 up on a variety of bikes.
The thing to do is avoid enthusiast forums and bike magazines at all costs
Ade
Never really bought into the whole marginalised outlaw biker thing but had a great deal of fun 1 up and 2 up on a variety of bikes.
The thing to do is avoid enthusiast forums and bike magazines at all costs
Ade
prprandall51
MB Enthusiast
Fair enough. I wouldn't want to admit to owning that old pile of iron, either.
you should see the duffers have heart attacks when they notice the original HRD footrests and rubbers.
Frank O' Phile
Active Member
Where did the argument comes from about HD rider and owner? I didn't know there was a war about HD because it not invented here.
All I asked for was what your experience, if you have one, it got hijacked with wierd thinking.
I think the argument arose from your request for others experiences. My question to you is 'do you fancy riding a motorbike, or is it the idea of owning a Harley?'
Get a couple of test rides to get the feel of it, and also try to get some rides on other marques, so you can make the comparison. Personally, I've recently acquired my 21st bike and never had a Harley. It's not on the agenda either.
Good luck with your search.
gkerr4
Active Member
delicate point this and I don't mean to offend anyone, but in the UK they are very much a 'gay icon' - nothing wrong with this, but you need to know it and bear it in mind if you are british and not gay.
from a motorcycling point of view - i.e. performance, handling, reliability etc they are utter junk - better compared to farm machinery really. The latest Liquid cooled ones are better - sweet engines with a fair bit of go in them - at least until the first roundabout and then you are carving lovely grooves into the tarmac with the pegs and exhaust.
If you want one to pose on you could consider one I guess as long as you can live with the image - other candidates for this might be a ducati monster.
if you want a bike you can ride, ride hard, put away, forget and make sure it starts the next time then you really need to go japanese. I have zx6r at the minute which, actually really isn;t comfortable if im honest, but it is a very involving high-performance ride even if it is "just a 600".
An in-between would be something like a triumph speed-triple or the smaller capacity street triple - both are cool looking (imo) and still high-performing and reliable.
from a motorcycling point of view - i.e. performance, handling, reliability etc they are utter junk - better compared to farm machinery really. The latest Liquid cooled ones are better - sweet engines with a fair bit of go in them - at least until the first roundabout and then you are carving lovely grooves into the tarmac with the pegs and exhaust.
If you want one to pose on you could consider one I guess as long as you can live with the image - other candidates for this might be a ducati monster.
if you want a bike you can ride, ride hard, put away, forget and make sure it starts the next time then you really need to go japanese. I have zx6r at the minute which, actually really isn;t comfortable if im honest, but it is a very involving high-performance ride even if it is "just a 600".
An in-between would be something like a triumph speed-triple or the smaller capacity street triple - both are cool looking (imo) and still high-performing and reliable.
Spinal
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2004
- Messages
- 4,806
- Location
- between Uxbridge and the Alps
- Car
- x254, G350, Duster, S320, Mach1, 900ss and a few more
Totally disagree if you are implying the monster isn't rideable. I had a monster and now a 750ss, and both can do loops around most japanese bikes in terms of manouverability. They were made for the winding Italian roads after all...
M.
SpikeUK
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2008
- Messages
- 98
- Location
- Hampshire
- Car
- 2003 W203 C270 CDi Elegance SE, 2004 Mini Cooper Convertible, 2007 Harley-Davidson FLHRC
I am not sure I have read so much repeated old cr*p in a long time....
I moved from Ducatis to Harleys 6 years ago in order to ride a bike with a bit character - I don't need to prove anything by riding a fast/techno/japanese sports bike. I have now owned 3 Harleys and they have all been great fun and all were reliable. My latest tourer has a 1600 fuel injected engine and plenty of toys. The OP should just try a few different bikes, then get out and enjoy himself safely.
I moved from Ducatis to Harleys 6 years ago in order to ride a bike with a bit character - I don't need to prove anything by riding a fast/techno/japanese sports bike. I have now owned 3 Harleys and they have all been great fun and all were reliable. My latest tourer has a 1600 fuel injected engine and plenty of toys. The OP should just try a few different bikes, then get out and enjoy himself safely.
- Joined
- May 28, 2004
- Messages
- 1,792
- Location
- Essex
- Car
- 1984 500SL, 2007 E320 CDI Sport Estate, 1995 SL320 R129
It makes me laugh when people say Harleys are unreliable. After 30 years of riding bikes, mainly supersports or sports tourers, I bought a Ducati Monster. I had never been into Harleys, but at the 2001 bike show at the NEC I saw a 883R and really liked it. So I bought one in 2002 but kept the Monster. At first the performance was disapointing, so I had it rebored to 1200cc, wisco pistons, supertrapp pipe, kand n air filter and dynojet kit, screamin eagle coil, leads and ignition module.
883R has twin discs upfront so brakes okay, uprated progressive front fork springs, and a few carbon bits added gave me the bike I wanted. I still have it and use it most days. It has been 100% reliable, except for a new drive belt caused by a stone has cost nothing apart from servicing (myself). It has really good build quality and I would not sell it now, sold the Ducati about a year after buying the Sportster. I have never wanted a big twin, but can see the appeal to people. Recently bought a brand new Buell for a more sporty ride and enjoy that too.
Harley's always get attention, are not that fast as standard, but with little work they are very enjoyable bikes to own.
Take the plunge and go for it.
883R has twin discs upfront so brakes okay, uprated progressive front fork springs, and a few carbon bits added gave me the bike I wanted. I still have it and use it most days. It has been 100% reliable, except for a new drive belt caused by a stone has cost nothing apart from servicing (myself). It has really good build quality and I would not sell it now, sold the Ducati about a year after buying the Sportster. I have never wanted a big twin, but can see the appeal to people. Recently bought a brand new Buell for a more sporty ride and enjoy that too.
Harley's always get attention, are not that fast as standard, but with little work they are very enjoyable bikes to own.
Take the plunge and go for it.
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One of the few enjoying the HD and ignorant about the gay stuff.
If some of you guys go for Japanese bikes because of reliability, should go for Lexus too instead of a Merc, a boring toyota.
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Bellow
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
The whole hog....
the old shovel
FXE Super Glide, 21" front, 4 speed, kicker, 44t rear, SU carb, averaged 70 mpg on runs, never missed a beat, never leaked oil, never shook anything loose, etc.
as you can see from the photo, handled well enough to put the pipes down on a regular basis.
with the 4.5 gallon tank (3 gall fitted in pic), comfortable riding position, and 70 mpg, that meant 300 miles between refuel, and I could ride 4 tankfuls a day in comfort, that's 1,200 miles, that's not on a good day or a hard day, that's per day.
1,200 miles in 16 hours of riding and 30 minutes of stop time works out at 72 mph AVERAGE, and anyone who thinks that that is easy to beat on a japanese superbike is dreaming.
I used to do long distance dispatch riding, 2 to 2.5 k miles per week. A long day was 600 miles.
The chosen tool for that job was a kwack four shaftie, it averaged around 30 mpg, and I can tell you after a day on the zed I was tired. Frankly the kwack didn't handle the mileage as well as the shovels, maintenance was fairly intensive and fairly expensive, lots of consumables.
My old mate Dave had both legs blown off by a landmine yonks ago, he's ridden a shovel around the world several times in every direction possible, including crossing siberia in spring, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, etc etc, and had remarkably few breakdowns... his main problems were dropping it and not being able to pick it up (no legs)
FXE Super Glide, 21" front, 4 speed, kicker, 44t rear, SU carb, averaged 70 mpg on runs, never missed a beat, never leaked oil, never shook anything loose, etc.
as you can see from the photo, handled well enough to put the pipes down on a regular basis.
with the 4.5 gallon tank (3 gall fitted in pic), comfortable riding position, and 70 mpg, that meant 300 miles between refuel, and I could ride 4 tankfuls a day in comfort, that's 1,200 miles, that's not on a good day or a hard day, that's per day.
1,200 miles in 16 hours of riding and 30 minutes of stop time works out at 72 mph AVERAGE, and anyone who thinks that that is easy to beat on a japanese superbike is dreaming.
I used to do long distance dispatch riding, 2 to 2.5 k miles per week. A long day was 600 miles.
The chosen tool for that job was a kwack four shaftie, it averaged around 30 mpg, and I can tell you after a day on the zed I was tired. Frankly the kwack didn't handle the mileage as well as the shovels, maintenance was fairly intensive and fairly expensive, lots of consumables.
My old mate Dave had both legs blown off by a landmine yonks ago, he's ridden a shovel around the world several times in every direction possible, including crossing siberia in spring, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, etc etc, and had remarkably few breakdowns... his main problems were dropping it and not being able to pick it up (no legs)
Attachments
not a HD, but..
Guzzi 1100 Sport, full raceco / termignoni, carb job, not injection, throttle and clutch made for men, that and a tall first gear meant not the ideal bike in stop / start traffic.. but...
but... on the open road... put it this way, I sold it, thankfully, before I got any points, if I had gotten any it wouldn't have been 3, think Exeter to Brum in an hour and a quarter, during the day... fun (as discussed before) doesn't even begin to describe this bike, and thanks to the tech / design, a low maintenance and affordable to run bike that would return 60 mpg, but it was a hooligans bike, it posessed you, endorsomobile.
edit, the bikers amongst you will notice the wear marks on the tyres, this thing was ridden pegs down, no little nobbles left sticking out... >;^)
Guzzi 1100 Sport, full raceco / termignoni, carb job, not injection, throttle and clutch made for men, that and a tall first gear meant not the ideal bike in stop / start traffic.. but...
but... on the open road... put it this way, I sold it, thankfully, before I got any points, if I had gotten any it wouldn't have been 3, think Exeter to Brum in an hour and a quarter, during the day... fun (as discussed before) doesn't even begin to describe this bike, and thanks to the tech / design, a low maintenance and affordable to run bike that would return 60 mpg, but it was a hooligans bike, it posessed you, endorsomobile.
edit, the bikers amongst you will notice the wear marks on the tyres, this thing was ridden pegs down, no little nobbles left sticking out... >;^)
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MOCAŠ
MB Enthusiast
That works out at an average speed of over 130mph over the entire journey. What was your maximum?
don't know, looking down at the speedo is a good way to die.
stock they'd do 140, raced up on track they'd do 170, it was pegged in places, somerset levels, past gloucester etc, blew the breather pipe after hitting the M42. (which limited me to 70 mph or so till I fitted a new one)
but the SOUND, especially on the over-run.... sheer heaven.
gkerr4
Active Member
Oh no - sorry - i've not explained very well - the monster is a great bike - love em! - excellent handling, rode an S2 a while back and thought it was great - bit of a strange riding position, the bars are much closer than you think they are going to be - but soooo cool and obvioulsy also suitable for posing!
gkerr4
Active Member
Thats gorgeous that Guzzi - perhaps still a bit "agri" but gorgeous all the same - reminds me of that special who's name I forget now - MGS01 or something?? I can't remember - it'll come back to me.
(quick google).. Yes - the MGS
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2009models/2009-MotoGuzzi-MGS-01CORSAa.jpg
