If my dog looked like a Dweebel I would shave his *** and teach him to walk backwards.

 

Maybe I'm demonstrating some kind of ignorance here but the FXDR looks kinda like the same sort of bike as the FTR1200. And if I was in the market for that kind of bike, at 2/3 the price and 1.5 times the horsepower it's kind of a no brainer which is the better choice. The FTR has enough horsepower that they actually publish the number!

 

Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, but who gives a crap how fast a motorcycle is? You can only go so fast before the police get involved.

 

This. No matter what you ride, the speed limit is still 65 here. And no matter how fast your bike is, it’s not faster than a Motorola.

 

I am eagerly awaiting to see what Harley introduces with the new water cooled V-Twin motors they showed off awhile back. I believe they stated we would see them in the 2020 model line up so here is to hoping the dealer show has them this summer.

Ducati and even BMW just do magic with weight and power, both have mastered twins in completely different forms. The Diavel really only looks good to me from one side. I did own a R9T from BMW for awhile but needed something with bags and wind protection. Might consider getting another Harley or wait to see what comes from BMW with the R18

Speaking of twins, the R18 Concept was introduced by BMW, if only they could slip something so simple as the concept out. There have been photos of a R18 touring bike out on the roads in Germany so it may come in more than form.

BMW R18 Concept with video

 

Why is everyone so against Harley making a performance bike? yeah, there are old riders who like to put around on their chrome queens going the speed limit in their pirate costumes..and yeah, there's dudes who like a little more performance out of their bike, but don't want a plastic sports bike. So, if Harley wants to compete in the performance bike area, they need to be a little more competitive in their engineering. A bike that barely pushes 100HP out of the box can hardly be called a performance bike.

I like that Harley is trying to dabble in other styles of bikes. They need to or they will become irrelevant. But they need to be serious about performance if they're going to be asking for the prices they are asking. The Pan America needs to be on the level of the Africa Twin or Tenere..The Streetfighter definitely will not be able to compete with any of the Japanese naked bikes. So..they need to step it up

 

The FXDR needs mid controls.

 

Yup, this is why i gave up sport bikes, they're great on a track but wasted on the road. I'll always take torque over horsepower on a road bike.

 

BMW R18, Wow; I mean, though I've had them - I'm just not a BMW guy but - WOW!
Why can't Harley make a motorcycle like that?

As for torque over horsepower - love me my Suzuki 1250 Bandit; it's not a sport bike by sport bike standards - but it certainly sporty enough for me.

FXDR? Meh! Forwards? Meh. Price? I'll pass.

Diavel? Really cool, not my thing but really cool but even if I wanted one, I would not own a bike with that name.

All of this reminds me of the children's little story that, IIRC, goes something like this:

Harry the Hippo thought he was a bird, but he could not fly - so he was sad.
Harry the Hippo thought he was a fish, but he could not swim - so he was sad.
Harry the Hippo thought he was a gazelle, but he could not run - so he was sad.
Then Harry realized he was a Hippo, and he was happy ... happy as a Hippo!

Harley lost their roots, pretty much abandoned the faithful in search of new profits - no more mom and pop dealers, no more customer care, quite the opposite in fact. Price gouging and anti-consumer practices pissed off the loyalists. Not doing the right thing when things went wrong certainly didn't help. Now they're chasing beginners but don't make decent, affordable beginner bikes. They're chasing the hip set but they don't make bikes that hipsters want or can afford. They're chasing the performance crowd but don't make bikes that can perform in comparison to bikes at a fraction of their price point.

Maybe they should have been like Harry, realizing who and what he was and being happy in that space. Poor corporate decisions, industry contraction in the marketplace, along with a really solid base of faithful who are dying, retiring from motorcycles, giving up on Harley or just keeping what they got result in H-D showrooms that are selling everything (and anything) but motorcycles.

 

If I were to get a bike in that HP range stock it would be the Triumph Rocket.