I guess not everyone wants the louder, street legal, mufflers so why should everyone else have pay for them? Then they would bitch about having to buy quieter mufflers for their stock bikes.

 

i don't have and don't need Stage 1 for what i do.

 

alot of this stage 1 and stage 2 and other stuff is monkey see, monkey do.

Gotta have what the other guys has [8D]

If you need it or want it, get it, but don't just get it cause your bro has it!

 

Some of those choices are available for an American bike, including paint, wheels, engine color, etc...

 

I posted this on the "what you hate about your bagger" post:

At some point people begin to question what they get for their money. For each person it's a different amount. Most of us are not going to pay $50,000 for a badly made H-D that's slow regardless of how much being a member of the family means.

Each time they provide just a little less and charge a little more, a few riders buy a BMW, a Ducati, a Victory, a Custom, a Triumph or (worst case) a Metric. There are options out there.

When a company tries to live on reputation, not product, tries to milk every $ it can in accessories, some riders will buy a 2nd bike that's not an H-D. Or their 3rd.

You are right - it's supply and demand. And every time it costs more to get the kind of Harley you want, it lessens the demand and makes the Victory, which may not say Harley on the side, but has similar looks and perhaps better performance, be just a little bit more of a better deal in some buyers eyes...

 

Saying a little prayer for Indian's second attempt and Victory to stay on their game. I'm hoping for Victory and Indian to succeed.. It can't be a bad thing.. HD gets some well-deserved competition, and consumers get to stand proud and choose between three factory bikes from the USA.. Well, not counting all the $30,000 and up big inch customs like big dog, titan, ironhorse, bourget, exile, billy bob, bubba and the other 50000 chopper builder companies, etc.

But all in all, I do think HD does do a few things ok, for now.. If you want an Evo engine you can buy a brand hammer new one from the factory.. That's a very cool thing. Polaris won't do that because they don't want to help start up custom Vic shops. boo! [:'(] But from HD you can pick up a complete factory drivetrain for your old Evo or Twin Cam or I suppose a custom build if you can't shell out for a huge S&S. I think that's a very very cool thing, and I hope they always do that. So the company has it's strong points in being consumer friendly.. but you can't blame any company for asking more for their product if the demand is there.. That's just plain the American way.. God bless 'em!

They could very feasibly pull every bit of their fabrication off-shore if they wanted to and only the final mis-assembly (sorry.. joke) could be completed in York or wherever US, then they'd still call themselves an American bike company. Granted most the crap we buy now in the cute brown and black boxes do indeed have "Made in China" stamped all over the labels. It's just business.

I bought the thing because it's a hog and it's fun to ride and there are tons of crap on the market to stick on or cover up something on the thing and the sound it makes when I flick that throttle and the classic lines and build.. As far as brand recognition goes.. yeah it happens to also be a Harley which is cool.. I'm getting to the point where I really couldn't care less as long as it's got the sound and it's got it "under the hood".. I still want to test ride that 125 cube Kawa just for sh*&s and giggles. [8D] The Vulcan tree-stump puller.

 

That is a good idea, i would love it

 

Hmmm, hamburger, fries & drink. What the hell, for 50 cents more I can super size it, Then why arn't all meals supersized to begin with?[:-]

 

HID headlight, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, and saddlebags are also perfectly legal.

"Because you will pay extra for it."

You're dealing with a very large, very well run company.

 

If they built a model with the 21" front wheel and a bobbed fender I would be there in a heartbeat..... OK maybe come riding season.
Slap on some V&H pipes and set of willie&max saddlebags....... awww yeah....