Author Topic: 500 cc Harley  (Read 30792 times)

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Gypsyjon

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Reply #75 on: November 14, 2013, 02:28:01 am
I rode Harleys for years and years. Started out with used 45 cu inch, last one was an 88 cu inchtwin cam. Loved them all. Reliable and fun to ride. Heavy? You bet! Nonetheless, good bikes. Not sur why there are so many Harley haters around? My guess most have never owned one.


Arizoni

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Reply #76 on: November 14, 2013, 05:04:06 am
I've heard that more than a few Harley Hog riders are calling the new, smaller Harleys, "Piglets".

Any truth to that? :)
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Craig McClure

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Reply #77 on: November 14, 2013, 05:43:06 am
I have also heard little pigs called CHOATS. Is that accurate?
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Ducati Scotty

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Reply #78 on: November 14, 2013, 06:02:07 am
I rode Harleys for years and years. Started out with used 45 cu inch, last one was an 88 cu inchtwin cam. Loved them all. Reliable and fun to ride. Heavy? You bet! Nonetheless, good bikes. Not sur why there are so many Harley haters around? My guess most have never owned one.

Don't so much hate the bikes as the cult around them grown by the marketing machine.  Like owners who don't consider a Sporty a Harley, or a V-Rod, or 500/750.  C'mon, you can love tradition and embrace progress at the same time.  And the owners who've never owned anything else, have less than 1000 miles on the bike, and swear there's nothing else like it.  How would they know?

The bikes themselves are solid, though not my style.  And the prices are just way too high.

Scott


hillntx

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Reply #79 on: November 14, 2013, 06:21:05 am
Considering the Sportster is the longest running production model for Harley Davidson it's funny the riders don't consider it a REAL Harley.  I really didn't consider the American market when I heard about the new Street line from Harley, but I think the 750 will be very competitive if priced right.  Considering the new engines are based on the V-Rod motor it should be a good bike.

Heard a rumor this weekend that Royal Enfield is working on its own 750 twin that should come to market in the next two years.  Looking at the cradle frame on the Continental GT it has a lot of extra room with the 535 mounted.


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Reply #80 on: November 14, 2013, 01:06:22 pm
Here's my gripe with Harleys.  When the damn thing vibrates so much it starts blurring your vision, well, that's just unacceptable.  Not to mention you still have to hold on to freaking thing.  So, let's go throw some ape hangers on it and see just how uncomfortable and dangerous we can make this bike.  Just not a fan, probably never will be.  Used to be as a kid before I knew better.

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Chuck D

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Reply #81 on: November 14, 2013, 01:15:23 pm
Considering the Sportster is the longest running production model for Harley Davidson it's funny the riders don't consider it a REAL Harley.  I really didn't consider the American market when I heard about the new Street line from Harley, but I think the 750 will be very competitive if priced right.  Considering the new engines are based on the V-Rod motor it should be a good bike.

Heard a rumor this weekend that Royal Enfield is working on its own 750 twin that should come to market in the next two years.  Looking at the cradle frame on the Continental GT it has a lot of extra room with the 535 mounted.
Something like this perhaps?

http://www.google.com/search?q=glynn+kerr+royal+enfield&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PcyEUt_QGa_K4APr1IHADw&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1008&bih=568
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Ducati Scotty

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Reply #82 on: November 14, 2013, 02:42:58 pm
The RE twin has been discussed here before and the factory has hinted at it.  We al figured that's what the stout frame if the continental was really for.  I forget what, but something made the factory put it on the back burner.

Scott


tooseevee

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Reply #83 on: November 14, 2013, 03:48:02 pm
Most likely true. Just look at all the HDs for sale by owners in Craig's List!

       A lot of the flooding of the market with used harleys started back in the early '80s with the shift in sales techniques & the incredible influence that bullshit cable TV network "motorcycle clown shows" had on who & why guys bought harleys or had them built for them at unbelievable cost by both legitimate & bullshit artist "custom chopper builders".

       There were many years when every harley that arrived at a dealer's was already sold & you had to buy $3,000 worth of Chinese accessories before you could even get on the list to buy one.

        Then, after the divorced guy, who had just spent $30,000 to $80,000 on a "factory custom" or a "master builder" custom "chopper" (on a SoftTail frame, of course)  had spent a season or two on it & spent a fortune on Just For Men, Viagra & Officially Approved Chinese Motorclothes, he found out he STILL couldn't get laid by 20 year old girls plus the bike hurt his back & the Oxycodone wasn't working any more & he got caught in the rain once & got wet, poor baby.  So the bike sits for a year & then ends up on Craig's List at a ridiculous price he thinks somebody will pay for a bike HE thinks is "rare" or "one of a kind".

       I've watched this whole thing happen day by day for over thirty years & laughed since the late '70s & just kept on riding on what I built in my own garage never darkening a dealer's door since about '81 or '82 when I got thoroughly disgusted with the Motor Company as a company especially after they started shutting down small bike shops that had supported them for years with ridiculous infringement law suits. I stopped caring much at all after the end of the shovelhead ('84 1/2). I've just sat back & been an observer of the clown show (or Pirate Show as some others have called it).

       Don't get me wrong. I still love harleys & still ride a kick only I built myself (the last of three). I also kind of laugh at how much pure nasty hatred there seems to be from some of the RE people here at both the bikes & the riders. Why? There is something I like about every single motorcycle on the planet if I look at it long enough. There are many that I can just sit and stare at & marvel at for hours, but not necessarily ever want to own one. Why the hatred of harleys. Is there some "If it's American it can't be any good" thing going on here? Have they been beat up by pirates?  :) Harley's still selling bikes. Lots of them. 110 years? They're doing something right (I guess) even though I think they're WAY overpriced & I don't like their advertising or their overbearing attitude. Or the huge % of the bike that's Chinese. Or the fact that ALL the accessories are Chinese.       
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Reply #84 on: November 14, 2013, 04:00:51 pm
Tooseevee:  Here, Here, and well stated.
Can't figure out the hatred either.  It's like hating Suzuki because of the kids zipping in and out of traffic on the highway on their go fasters or hating BMW because they cost too much.
I don't like the marketing, I don't like what pop culture has made them, I don't like many of the owners, but I don't hate the bikes or the company for what has been a successful marketing strategy until now.  I just don't find them to be what I want to ride or pay for.
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Craig McClure

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Reply #85 on: November 14, 2013, 04:33:16 pm
I don't hate Harleys, I have owned a couple that I modified to my taste. When they became to heavy for me to pick up, I gave up on them. It is easy to make fun of lots of Harley riders (& I am guilty).I just found I preferred the traditional European bikes.
   Everything changes, the British industry collapsed, over the years BMW became more & more arrogant, Harleys are on a completely different planet. Now I find now the only thing that interests me in the Motorcycle press are articles on older bikes. I'm personally bored, disappointed, & not very interested in what Motorcycling has become. Prices today are well beyond my reach, & many of the machines turned out, are beyond the abilities of most owners to maintain personally. I would never want to own something tying me to the extortion of a mercenary dealer network.
  Although I notice, & look over all the new offerings, I haven't yet found anything new as personally satisfying as the Royal Enfield line.  Perhaps this is just because I'm older, & cherish the bond between owner & machine that isn't as impersonal as a relationship with an Appliance.
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GreenMachine

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Reply #86 on: November 14, 2013, 04:39:32 pm
Then, after the divorced guy, who had just spent $30,000 to $80,000 on a "factory custom" or a "master builder" custom "chopper" (on a SoftTail frame, of course)  had spent a season or two on it & spent a fortune on Just For Men, Viagra & Officially Approved Chinese Motorclothes, he found out he STILL couldn't get laid by 20 year old girls plus the bike hurt his back & the Oxycodone wasn't working any more & he got caught in the rain once & got wet, poor baby.  So the bike sits for a year & then ends up on Craig's List at a ridiculous price he thinks somebody will pay for a bike HE thinks is "rare" or "one of a kind".


Haaaaaaaaaaa,,, That 's funny as hell...I don't know enough about Harleys to even get into it...Most of their riders here wave at me (Could be they're not sure what I'm riding "enfield" or my debadged 1100)   I've only been to their dealerships once or twice..They sell just about anything and everything associated with their brand ...Like most things these days, it's all marked up out of the box stuff from The Peoples Republic of China...I still think they may do well with the younger customer base and maybe even a few older guys who don't want a heavy bike...I'm assuming both of these bikes are lighter than a 883..For what it worth/ My wife Korean Hyosung 250 cc is known as a piglet in that circle of ownership..
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mattsz

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Reply #87 on: November 14, 2013, 05:29:22 pm
       A lot of the flooding of the market with used harleys started back in the early '80s with the shift in sales techniques & the incredible influence that bullshit cable TV network "motorcycle clown shows" had on who & why guys bought harleys or had them built for them at unbelievable cost by both legitimate & bullshit artist "custom chopper builders".

       There were many years when every harley that arrived at a dealer's was already sold & you had to buy $3,000 worth of Chinese accessories before you could even get on the list to buy one.

        Then, after the divorced guy, who had just spent $30,000 to $80,000 on a "factory custom" or a "master builder" custom "chopper" (on a SoftTail frame, of course)  had spent a season or two on it & spent a fortune on Just For Men, Viagra & Officially Approved Chinese Motorclothes, he found out he STILL couldn't get laid by 20 year old girls plus the bike hurt his back & the Oxycodone wasn't working any more & he got caught in the rain once & got wet, poor baby.  So the bike sits for a year & then ends up on Craig's List at a ridiculous price he thinks somebody will pay for a bike HE thinks is "rare" or "one of a kind".

       I've watched this whole thing happen day by day for over thirty years & laughed since the late '70s & just kept on riding on what I built in my own garage never darkening a dealer's door since about '81 or '82 when I got thoroughly disgusted with the Motor Company as a company especially after they started shutting down small bike shops that had supported them for years with ridiculous infringement law suits. I stopped caring much at all after the end of the shovelhead ('84 1/2). I've just sat back & been an observer of the clown show (or Pirate Show as some others have called it).

       Don't get me wrong. I still love harleys & still ride a kick only I built myself (the last of three). I also kind of laugh at how much pure nasty hatred there seems to be from some of the RE people here at both the bikes & the riders. Why? There is something I like about every single motorcycle on the planet if I look at it long enough. There are many that I can just sit and stare at & marvel at for hours, but not necessarily ever want to own one. Why the hatred of harleys. Is there some "If it's American it can't be any good" thing going on here? Have they been beat up by pirates?  :) Harley's still selling bikes. Lots of them. 110 years? They're doing something right (I guess) even though I think they're WAY overpriced & I don't like their advertising or their overbearing attitude. Or the huge % of the bike that's Chinese. Or the fact that ALL the accessories are Chinese.     

You mean, like the first four paragraphs of your post?    ;D ;)


Ducati Scotty

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Reply #88 on: November 14, 2013, 05:34:24 pm
I do remember the days, not long ago, when a two or three year old HD would sell for more than MSRP of a new one because the new was selling for way more than MSRP because of the waiting list.

Scott


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Reply #89 on: November 14, 2013, 05:41:32 pm
When I recently looked at HDs and ended up with the Yamaha, the two HD dealers wanted more than MSRP.  As one said; "Someone is going to buy that bike at that price."  Whereas, the Yamaha dealer said he'd knock $1k of if I wanted to take it with me.
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