Goodness gracious, not the "P" word.

 

1. My bike has "Harley Davidson" plastered all over it, I don't know what else defines the real "Harley Davidson experience".

2. My fiance loves my sporty over the bike I used to have, a Yamaha R6

3. Do they realize that the fury was Honda's response/replication of the chopper/cruiser which all started with Harley's?

...just my 2 cents.

 

I bought my first sportster in 1972, a used '66. Loved that bike, nobody ever accused me of riding a chicks bike, half harley or beginners bike. My second Harley was a '73 1000. The original superbike. That bike was fast, pretty good in the curves, sleek and black like a harley should be. Most of the guys I rode with rode Sporsters, some 45's and a few big twins but they were'nt as fast or agile as our sporsters so nobody ever talked trash about sporties...

It's different these days but if Harley hadn't built the FXR I'd still be riding a sportster and I'm no little guy either. 6'2" and 180#... I fit just fine. There's no other Harley that's as performance oriented as the sportster and the FXR period. Screw those guys anyway, they're riding Hondas, what the hell do they know?

 

Well said!

 

My thoughts exactly!

Sportsters kept HD from going belly up years ago. They are as much an HD (or more) than any dresser out there. The bad part is that they all have foreign parts on them now, every one. No big deal.

Tell them to buy you one, you will ride what they buy. But if it comes from your own pocket, you will ride what the ***** you want to. Let them ride yours, see what they think. But they will probably lie about the enjoyment they get from your HD.

Look, years ago, Harleys puked oil out at every stop. They couldn't stay dry, and did require a lot of do-it-yourself upkeep work, or they stayed in the shop. It appears those days are over with, and have been for a two decades or more. Thank goodness.

Get a good seat, I prefer the Mustang. My late Father put a Fat-Bob type tank on ours, and the center console. It holds between 4 and 5 gallons of juice. Some prefer better shocks, we didn't go that route. And my Dad rode many 8 hour rides, with no sweat.

I am 6'1" now, (I lost an inch of height after my 3 spinal surgeries!), and currently about 230#. No issues , I have had it to 120 several times, no problem. No shaking or vibration. And mine is a '99 883.

Get what makes you happy, and to hell with everyone else.


Then ride the hell out of it.

End of story. Good luck, I hope you find satisfaction with whatever you do buy.

RD

PS: Find new friends!

 

Awesome man!!! What has two thumbs and is extremely jealous?? This guy..

 

It's funny how often the term "jealous" come up in these discussions. I've been on both sides of the fence and I can tell you honestly that I was never "jealous" of a Harley nor did I know anyone who was. You're only fooling yourself if you think the whole world is "jealous" of your Harley.
I think the hatred stems from a couple of different factors:

-lack of understanding: metric riders don't understand what the big deal is about a bike that has 50yr old technology and a premium price tag. The simply don't understand the alure of a Harley. I'd bet most of them have never even ridden one or couldn't put their bias aside long enough to give a Harley an honest evaluation.

-misinformation: They typically see Harley's as unreliable oil leaking junk. For many many years this is EXACTLY what Harley made and that sterotype is very hard to break. I believe the current offerings are about on par w/ the metric offerings as far as quality; no better and no worse. This is a HUGE improvement on Harley's behalf and they are to be commended for it. When a company make oil leakers for decades that sterotype gets imbedded pretty deap. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of persistants on Harley's behalf to break it.

-They are unwilling to accept Harleys shortcommings (don't kid yourself, there are plenty of them). The metrics aren't perfect but they generally are smoother and quieter. A lot of people associate vibration, valvetrain noise and a "clunky" transmission w/ a poor quality and they won't accept them as "normal". The metrics are less "offensive" to them. You guys call it "character" or part of the Harley "soul" and you embrace it, some people don't.

Personally I have a hard time accepting the performance aspects of my Harley. The crummy suspension, mediocre brakes, and total lack of HP aren't things I'm willing to accept in a "premium priced" bike. I'm also not willing to put 1000's into it to make it a good performing bike when I can buy something else outright that's much closer to my wants for less money. So, I'm selling it to someone who will hopefully enjoy it for what it is or is willing to put the money into making it the fantastic bike it could be. The metric cruiser are no better, save for a select few, so it's more of a "cruiser" issue than a Harley issue for me. That being said, every time I ride the Sportster I think "this is a good bike" but at the same time I think "it's too bad they didn't put more effort into it because it could have been a GREAT bike, an incredible "sport cruiser". For a bike that started it's life as a "superbike" I don't think morphing into a "sport cruiser" when it's in it's 50's is all that out of line. We all get soft as we age.

Anyway, I'm just saying; I understand both sides and the "Harley guys" are just as blindly loyal and unwilling to accept "the other guys" as the Honda guys are (maybe worse). If the Honda guys keep giving you a hard time just tell them to pull their heads out of their rears and realize there are a lot of great bikes out there and they don't all have the same badge on the tank- some of them even have the dreaded HD badge.

 

3 spinal surgeries and you haven't gone for the plush ride of a big twin? Actually, now that I think about it, my wife has one and the rigid ride of the sportster doesn't set her back off nearly as bad as it does mine.

 

It's your cash man. Ride what you want, how you want, where you want. Screw the BS, and the other crap. Just be happy that you are on two wheels and riding. It's the journey that counts....Be safe.

 

It is funny you should mention this...

I found some oddities comparing my old Honda to my Wife's Sportster...

First, the sporty shocks were slightly better at higher speeds... Second, even thought the sportster has disc brakes all around the Spirit had better stopping from the Disc / Drum combo... As for the seat, they're all generally uncomfortable but the Sportsters can make it tough to have children if you know what I mean... Another issue that you mentioned, the sound of the Harley, I had to bring it to a mechanic to ask what was wrong with it... If the spirit sounded like that I would be worried...

Anyway, with that said I still appreciate the Harley and I really am surprised because I didn't think I would.