[StefArmstg]

That's an unnatural act on a Gold Wing.

[Karl Steel]

Wanna bet ?    Tail of the Dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles.  I had my mufflers dragging. Never left 2nd gear. Came out of curve WFO and used decomp to slow down.

You can go fast with almost any bike, there are scooter and bagger races, and these guys ride like hell.
But that doesn't mean it's fun to everybody.

[AzCal Retred]

I commuted in my Scion xA for awhile between Bishop and Needles. I'd take the 168 over from Big Pine to the 266 in Fish Lake Valley, then on past Lida Junction and on to the 95, then south to Lost Wages, Nevada. Westgard Pass above Big Pine is maybe 20 miles of incredibly beautiful, fabulously twisty dry grippy asphalt about 100 miles from the nearest hospital. Have fun but be aware. One trip I spotted an unloaded semi-tractor rig about half a mile ahead around a few curves. Out of boredom I decided to give chase and picked up the pace. About 5 minutes later I'd gotten within maybe 200 yards, a lot harder than I'd imagined; that semi was hustling. We were in a canyon, not possible to pass, so I watched the semi driver's cornering technique. He was drifting both the truck & trailer thru the curves. He'd set up, toss that rig sideways and power thru. Unbelievable. I'm sure he'd probably been thru that canyon a thousand times, likely his Daddy was buying the tires, but it was impressive to see. On a straight stretch he slowed and waved me by, playtime over for now.

The point here is that fun is where you find it. It really doesn't matter if you are grinding chrome off of the undercarriage of your luxo-touring bike or you are picking clean lines with your 350 Meteor, if you are enjoying yourself that's all that matters. That amazing semi driver was having a ball in 80,000 pounds of iron. Quantified speed is part of the race track experience, streets and highways are for traveling. If you can manage to make it entertaining without endangering others, more power to you.

[Brian10x]

All this bantering back and forth about  vibration etc some of you guys are either spoiled, simply soft or maybe like to be Cadillac pampered when riding a motorcycle! It’s too bad RE doesn’t put kickstart on their bikes anymore. That sure would Separate the men from the rosy palmed caleoused thumb types out there that’s for sure! 

Joking

There’s a bike out there for everyone.

Vibration in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, if it results from logical engineering compromises. For example, some of my hot rods with long overlap camshafts and solid motor mounts had somewhat of a lope and vibration at idle. The trade off was much higher performance at the expense of smoothness.

If vibration is due to ancient and obsolete technology that makes little sense in the modern world, then it is not a good thing. If a V-Twin vibrates itself to partial disassembly, there is no trade off in performance. Its just nasty and unpleasant.

 

[Kranis]

You know they devised a balance shaft or some such, made a smooth(ish) Harley, and got endless complaints. They know their market and it isn't you

I think that this reflects what jackthebiker wrote about his Harleys. The Milwaukee-Eight and Revolution are very good engines from an engineering standpoint but those are not the engines that people like to tear down into molecules on Youtube. The older types cannot be used as a stressed member and need rubber mounts for lack of proper balancing. I think they are horrible from an engineering standpoint already when they were produced. But yes, I think that (nowadays) HD know what they are doing with their product range. And I genuinely appreciate the white-bearded guys that come to the biker cafés in the Stockholm area with their newly polished custom Harleys. Engineering principles aside, they are little works of art.

/Kranis

[James.]

True story.
I remember sitting one night in a bar in Zante one of the Greek islands  speaking to a couple of local bikers.With my back to the road I remember hearing and saying Ah the unmistakable sound of Harley Davidson to which they started laughing.Turning around I saw a very old tractor rumbling past.

[jackthebiker]

Vibration in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, if it results from logical engineering compromises. For example, some of my hot rods with long overlap camshafts and solid motor mounts had somewhat of a lope and vibration at idle. The trade off was much higher performance at the expense of smoothness.

If vibration is due to ancient and obsolete technology that makes little sense in the modern world, then it is not a good thing. If a V-Twin vibrates itself to partial disassembly, there is no trade off in performance. Its just nasty and unpleasant.



 

So whats your take on the 2014 Indian Vintage I owned? Another piece of junk?

[jackthebiker]

Or my 2015 Indian Chieftain?

[jackthebiker]

Or my 2012 Victory Cross Roads LE? All obsolete V twins I guess.

[Brian10x]

That is a beautiful bike, one of the best I have ever seen. I'm sure its running as good or better than it did new. I would be proud to own such a nice machine.

But if it has an uneven firing, vibration prone engine, its still using ancient, obsolete technology.   

[Brian10x]

All beautiful, well cared for machines, likely run far better than new. It doesn't change an inherently flawed engine design.

[lucky phil]

Vibration in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, if it results from logical engineering compromises. For example, some of my hot rods with long overlap camshafts and solid motor mounts had somewhat of a lope and vibration at idle. The trade off was much higher performance at the expense of smoothness.

If vibration is due to ancient and obsolete technology that makes little sense in the modern world, then it is not a good thing. If a V-Twin vibrates itself to partial disassembly, there is no trade off in performance. Its just nasty and unpleasant.

 

You are confusing vibration inherent in a particular engine design or configuration with a camshaft timing derived engine idle condition. The lovely lope from a cammy V8 has nothing to do with design configuration derived primary, secondary and rocking couple vibration. These things are fixed by the design. You don't need to re balance engines every time you swap out a cam. What you feel as "vibration" at idle from a camed V8 is in fact engine movement transmitted to the chassis due to the uneven torque impulses from a rotating assembly accelerating and deceleration due to poor idle performance caused by long overlap cams that produce poor compression at idle and cranking speeds. It's not "engine vibration" per say in the context of the discussion here. 

Phil

[Brian10x]

Dang, Phil, you are pretty damned smart. And I mean that sincerely.

[lucky phil]

Or my 2012 Victory Cross Roads LE? All obsolete V twins I guess.

Indian and Victory, the "thinking mans" Harley Davidson?

Phil

[Brian10x]

Indian and Victory, the "Intelligent mans" Harley Davidson?

Phil

I wonder, Phil, do the Indian and Victory utilize that same weird firing thing?  Where the pistons fire right after each other and all the fasteners loosen up and fall out.