Why I like Motorcycles

You are not special, the world does not revolve around you, get over yourself.

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Heaven forbid people try to show respect to a fallen brother. This guy is insane.

 

I think it's the trunk that throws it over the top... the one without with a trunk looks pretty slick.

 

Really Choice words.Which makes my entire point about Harley Riders.
They literally Ride and act and behave as if in Some big tent exclusive club.
It's one huge Clique.Thank you for making my point for me.
That obviously Harley Riders cannot simply get over themselves.
Or more directly their half arse bikes.They act like Sonny Barger did at
Altamont speedway in - Gimme Shelter -.

 

To my knowledge all Harley dealers accept other brands as trade-ins. They just don't resell the as they have a mutual trade agreement with the dealers of other motorcycle brands in the region. I know for a fact based upon conversations with my local Harley sales manager and I've been there when metrics were traded in for Harley's.

 

I think you have a mental defect if you feel i just proved your point.

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My local dealership has plenty of non harleys in it. I think they are also a CanAm dealership or somthing

 

Just call on the phone Bluegrass Harley in Louisville and ask them about
Metric trades.Like go to the source,for cryin' out loud.
{502} 244-8095

 

We so rarely converge. When we do, it is epic. Spot on brother.

Ness loves women, and he loves motorcycles. In truth, they are the same to him. That is why they are curved undulating lines. They carry that eloquence. If you want to ride a throbbing (*)(*)(*)(*), well you go on and do that. I appreciate the ergonomics, and my bikes all have girls names.

Try putting a girl on the back, instead of focusing on what the guys around you think.

 

Apparently you have the worst Harley dealership in American because all of your complaints appear to be anecdotally related to it. So, of course, I've contacted them by email and we'll see what they have to say. We should know by tomorrow.

 

An interesting take on Ness. While I don't know him personally I have sat around with him talking motorcyles before on different occasions and that aspect never came up. As I mentioned he has his tastes, derived from whatever source, and I can appreciate them but they just don't happen to be mine. I tend to go with the "less is more" and there is nothing ergonomically wrong with a chopper or bobber as both are designed around the rider's comfort. The low seat, the front foot controls, the shoulder level handle bars, and lightweight nimbleness of the motorcycle are all about rider ergonomics. They're not focused on the "passenger" and many don't even have provisions for a passenger.

I ride alone and I could count the number of (women) passengers I've had on my Harley in the last ten years on my fingers. Other riders may take their wife or girlfriends for rides all of the time but I don't. Different strokes for different folks.

 

I don't suppose you're familiar with how one bad apple can
spoil the whole bunch.

 

I've heard that saying but I've also heard a wise person state that people who stereotype based upon anecdotal information are idiots.

 

Granted a Bobber is a minimalist approach { as in No front fender and small
bobbed rear fender }.Some models may even forgo a front brake.
Bobbers generally don't wear any saddlebags or windscreen.The tanks
are usually smallish,compact and styled more for coolness.Today they are more
used for around town jaunts or boulevard hopping.That is why some are
homemade and use kick starts.Especially the ones with Triumph or BSA
engines.Basically a Bobber is more novelty than anything else.They aren't
even good tracker bikes.because a bobbers suspension by definition is
either non-existent or very minimalist.

 

I heard back from Bluegrass Harley.

Apparently you've been misinformed which leads to the possibility that you might be misinformed alot about this local Harley dealership that I believe you've made many disparaging remarks about. I'm not going to check out all of the claims you make of course but this obviously brings them into question.

 

I don't know about yer E-mail.But I can guarantee that just last December there
was no place in the huge showroom or in back where there was a single
used metric.In fact,that Harley dealer is very reluctant to even trade older
Harley's. I know for fact after years of going there their hard and fast rule of
not even considering trades with other than Harley.
They may have adopted a new trade-in rule.But frankly I doubt it.
But then there was a time { just 4 years ago } when they refused to even
consider discounting their Harley line.Eventually 4 years ago they were faced
with a surplus of V-Rods from the previous year,unsold.It was the first time
I ever saw that Harley dealership Discount a New Harley.
Previous model Harley's were advertised with a $1,500 sticker discount.
I was there at that dealer last December to buy a few Christmas gifts for my
Harley buddy and his wife.I did notice a room in the back adjacent to the
service dept.It has some { not many } used Harley's.
That room never existed before.I think you were played.
I don't wanna have to make a complete jerk of you.But I can.
I can go there with my Harley buddy on my Rune and ask if I could trade it
for a new Harley model.You wanna go there.
Now in Fairness the other Harley dealer in Louisville on Arthur st. in
downtown does take metrics in trade.

 

You're living proof of THAT!

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Dude...he's not misinformed. HE LIED!

 

Sounds like you have a crap bike, honestly. I have a Yamaha Majesty and I can't tell you how many times it's been driven in bad weather, sat out in the rain, etc and everything on it works perfectly. It just turned over 20,000 miles, every mile I put on it. Everything is very well sealed. If you have issues like you describe, that bike shouldn't even be ridden in the rain, which is unrealistic if you are a true motorcycle rider eventually you will get caught. What happens if you want to wash the bike? I wash mine all the time, no issues with bulbs or corrosion or anything.

I don't know what you have, but I'd get rid of it.

 

Just talking shop man, and I don't like going two up... kills it for me. Though I have to admit that I've seen more than one gal walking down the street, and found myself wishing they'd flag me down for a ride. If I were single anyways...

 

My guess is that the previous owner changed out the bulb but didn't get the rubber washers and seals properly installed when reassembling everything.

Mind you, this is after leaving it out in the elements all summer and winter. I literally had 10" of snow sitting on it at one point. In general, its probably a bad idea to treat any bike like that, let alone one that's 11 years old.

 

Then you haven't been 2 up with the right girl. There is... at a very basist level... something nice about controlling the amount of squeeze a girl gives you with your wrist... and boobs are squishy. That was fun when I was young, and single... but when you find a girl who either rides (well), or is submissive enough to do precisely what you do, even predict exactly how you will enter a corner of that pitch at that speed... but even more to tell by the way you move what the pitch and timbre is of the approaching corner is without looking, at whatever speed... well... that is a little piece of magic. That is two highly trained dance partners. You can't buy that.

 

That's something I'll probably never experience, my sweety just isn't in to it. Fine by me though, I like being able to ride aggressively when I feel like it... and simply not having to worry about another person while I'm two wheeling it.

 

I never ride two up, my wife would be game, but honestly, the thought of my kids being orphans bothers me greatly. I cant risk both of their parents.

 

I don't ride 2-up...Liz has her own bike!

And honestly...at 5'8" with long legs, I don't think she'd be comfortable on most bikes.

 

I can now see where your misunderstanding originated. Harley dealerships don't sell other brands of motorcycles so you won't see a "metric" or any other brand for sale at a typically Harley dealership. They have agreements with other motorcycle dealers where, for example, if they take in a Honda Goldwing as a trade that motorcycle goes to the local Honda dealer. The reverse is also true because the Honda dealer will accept a Harley in trade and that motorcycle goes to the Harley dealer for resale.

This is actually beneficial to the customer because the trade-in value they receive is based upon how much their motorcycle will sell for at the "brand name" dealership which is higher than what it's worth where they're trading it in. A Honda dealer can sell a used Goldwing for more than the Harley dealer so it pays more for it used and the Harley dealer provides a "trade-in" value based upon what the Honda dealer will pay.

Retailers don't typically discount a product when they have a shortage which has been a problem for Harley Davidson as they can sell more motorcycles than they've been able to produce. At my local Harley dealer over half of the motorcycles are used Harley's because they can't get enough new Harley's to fill the showroom. They all but beg people to sell them their used Harleys so that they have something to put on the showroom floor to sell.

A current "crisis" right now for my local dealer is the introduction of the Street 500 and Street 750 Harleys. The dealer has been promised two of each with the two Street 500's delivery due this coming Wednesday and the two Street 750's to follow soon. The problem for the sales manager is that he already has three Street 750's sold (I'm buying one of them for my chopper project) and one of the Street 500's sold. In short he's only going to have one Street 500 and no Street 750's to sell on the showroom floor. If he sells the one Street 500 left he won't have any Street Harleys for sale and can't even show a potential customer one. He's obviously not interested in reducing the price of the one Street 500 to sell it because it will leave him with nothing on the showroom floor and ultimately less money in the bank for the business.

 

In my neck-of-the-woods we take people out and shoot them if they are this disrespectful of their motorcycle. LOL

 

Partially true based upon anecdotal evidence but I would make broader statement. The first post WW II bobbers were to a large degree based upon this motorcycle.



The US government ordered a "cubic buttload" of this model Harley Davidson during WW II and they were sold as Army surplus by the tens of thousands after the war at absurdly low cost. The WLA was a 45 cid (740cc) flathead with a rigid frame and springer front fork. Yes it was also kickstarted and the rigid frame didn't matter all that much because the seat was spring mounted. It was a very dependable and rideable motorcycle both on roads and dirt and it set the "style" for the later bobbers.

It is true that for racing applications having rear suspension is better but for street riding it doesn't really matter very much except when it comes to a "kidney-busting" ride if the seat is mounted to the frame. So the "rigid" frame and with either springer or girder forks, both of which are excellent front suspension (and far superior to a glide fork if the fork is extended) was adopted as the "style" for street bobbers. In the 1960's we often saw swingarms replaced with rigid rear ends because of the style.

The key to all of this was the fact that there were a lot of cheap WLA's and that set the post WW II style that was used on all brands of bobbers and choppers that followed. It is still the foundation of "style" for bobbers and choppers today.

Nothing about this design makes them unsuitable for long distance riding although admittedly most riding is local for any motorcycle generally so the perception that they're only used locally is based upon the fact that most riding is done locally.

Of course along with this a minor evolution in "style" with frame mounted seats for looks and "two-up" riding. With a frame mounted seal on a rigid frame that does make for a tougher ride on roads that have bumps. A long distance ride on "rough" roads with a rigid frame and a frame mounted seat will beat the crap out of any rider. It takes one tough rider to do that so the number of owners of these motorcycles that are willing to ride as opposed to trailer the bike to cross-country events like Sturgis or Daytona Bike Week goes way down.

Basically, from my perspective, the seat on a rigid frame bobber or chopper is the key difference. With a spring mounted seat the motorcycle remains cross-country capable in comfort but with a frame mounted seat it's just a much rougher ride. The motorcycle really doesn't care but the riders do.