I hate Suzukis!

[gsxr750]

thats a big word. quite often hate the car uCnts I come across. but belive that just as we should ride in piece. so should all riders (insert smiliy with halo) enjoy what they've chosen to ride. brand's when you get down to it mean shit.if you've got the machine that gives you the joy (ok more halos) of riding does it matter?
Nick

[Wolf]

The people who own BMW's are generally young executives who think they now have money and are superior to anyone else, they drive likes pricks, ride like pricks and are generally pricks. This also comes from living in South Africa where most people with Beemers are complete wankers. But now I've just had a thought, I actually don't hate Beemers, just the people who ride/drive them.

I'm not an executive and I don't have any money, but I still want a beemer. (Jury's still out on whether I am, or ride like, a prick). As you used the qualifiers "generally" and "most", I see that you're willing to give the benefit of the doubt and not tar all beemer riders with the same brush.

I want a beemer because I like the look of them - I have ever since I was given a 1:24 kitset BMW R75 (WWII model) as a youngling. I don't really give a rat's arse about any image associated with Owning A BMW(tm), I just like the look, sound and feel of a boxer twin (hence my wanting and R model, not a K or any of their single banger trail versions).

For me it's not "Hey look, I can afford a BMW". Hell, the one I want is available second hand for around the $8500 mark, less than a lot of people pay for their new Suzuki's - I'm more likely to get looks that say "What'd he buy that ancient thing for? There're lots of faster, more powerful bikes out there."

I want the R100 as I took one for a test ride and fell in love with it - but an R80 would do just as well...

Did I mention my birthday's coming up in August?

[outlawtorn]

Did I mention my birthday's coming up in August?

we'll have a quick whip round for Wolf's birthday pressie at the next meet, don't reckon we'll get enough for the bike, but at least enough for a nice mounted pic of it.

[Wolf]

we'll have a quick whip round for Wolf's birthday pressie at the next meet, don't reckon we'll get enough for the bike, but at least enough for a nice mounted pic of it.

.................................................. .................

[Timber020]

Im not a harley fan for many reasons, most of all that they generally couldnt make a decent bike to save themselves. There bikes in the 70's and 80's were reknown for being junk, engines were poorly made, lacking power, finish and reliability. Gangs liked them although many famous hells angels have admitted that they would have rather have riden hondas. in the early 90s I think the 1340 was puting out 65hp, not much more than an RGV250 ffs. They show all the technical innovation of chop sticks.

Harley soley sells because of their name recognition. If any other manufacturer put out the kinda machines harley has they would be laughed at. I dont know how harleys became standard issue with poser mid life crisises but its saved them from having to compete head on with other bike makers.

Harleys quality control is now much better, but most of the technical bits are about as american as saddam hussein. I studied the Harley company at Uni, and the only thing that stood out was its ability to take advantage of its name and underproduce their product to keep prices up.

BMW I dont mind, I doubt I would ever own one but at least they are well made.

[White trash]

Im not a harley fan for many reasons, most of all that they generally couldnt make a decent bike to save themselves. There bikes in the 70's and 80's were reknown for being junk, engines were poorly made, lacking power, finish and reliability.

Correct. Untill the directors of the company had a gutsfull of being dictated to by the bean counters at AMF, the owners. The 13 directors of each department, mortgaged themselves to the hilt, borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars and bought the company off AMF. In 1984 they released the Evolution engine which, after previous engines, was regarded extremely well built and reliable. The main focus for the reborn company was a little thing called "quality control"

Harley soley sells because of their name recognition.

No they don't. They sell because of "brand loyalty". Big difference. I've never spoke to anyone who said, "I'm buying a Harley because I've never heard of any other bike"

If any other manufacturer put out the kinda machines harley has they would be laughed at.

Really?! How come every manufacturer now makes or has made a Harley clone?

Harleys quality control is now much better, but most of the technical bits are about as american as saddam hussein. I studied the Harley company at Uni, and the only thing that stood out was its ability to take advantage of its name and underproduce their product to keep prices up.

Quality control is excellent now. The reason they sell so well has nothing to do with "mid life crisis" or any thing other than this. Harley Davidson has probably the third strongest marketing machine in the world, following only MacDonalds and Coke. Everything Harley does, is huge.

As for under producing their bikes? Not sure where you heard that, but in order to keep the quality control at it's exceptional level, there's only so much a factory can produce. To counteract this problem, they've just opened a complete new factory to build specificaly Softails.

[White trash]

HD are taking the bike out of the enthusiasts hand and putting it into the executives hands, because more often than not HD's are fucking expensive, I can buy a brand new kick ass Suzuki cruiser for $24000 which gives me everything a HD can, with a bigger motor, but a similar spec HD will cost $44000. Why?

Not quite.

I can sell you a 1450cc Superglide for $26000 brand new.

In two years time, the HD will still be worth $23-$24K.

And lastly, no Suzuki cruiser kicks arse.

[White trash]

Tell ya the big reason I hate Harleys. I can't afford one! Christ that sucks.

[magnum]

dont hate any bikes although im not fussed on cruisers.i dont like those cunts who buy a harley and think theyre tough,man makes amotorcycle not the other way around.nough said.

[Coyote]

I can't really give you a good reason why, I just do. BMWs are right up there too.

BMWs piss me off. It's not so much the bike as it's the licenced BMW riders gear I hate. Those helmets are so ugly

[Timber020]

No they don't. They sell because of "brand loyalty". Big difference. I've never spoke to anyone who said, "I'm buying a Harley because I've never heard of any other bike"

Very true, got my marketing terms mixed up!


Really?! How come every manufacturer now makes or has made a Harley clone?

The jap manufacturers are more picking up buyers that dont have the money for Harleys, not competeing against them, its not that harley make a superior product but as you said there marketing/brand thing is huge. Harley owns the cruiser market, heck Harley really IS the cruiser market, but more due to its branding, not its product. (face it unless it makes utter dogboxes they will still sell) The laughed at comment didnt come out exactly right, I meant that if you tried to sell a harley against all other manufacturers machines without the brand and with the same price the harleys are now, the salesman would be laughed at.

As for under producing their bikes? Not sure where you heard that, but in order to keep the quality control at it's exceptional level, there's only so much a factory can produce. To counteract this problem, they've just opened a complete new factory to build specificaly Softails.[/QUOTE]

For harley to keep demand up and therefore percieved value of their product they have to underproduce their bikes. This is a big part of the reason that they resell so well as well as the fact that the models dont change greatly by tech spec year to year. Harley keeps a very close eye on how many buyers they have for their machines and is extremely careful not to make quite as many as the market demands. But they are cutting it shorter after loosing sales to the japanese due to impatient buyers.

The mid life crisis thing is something harley recognises in its marketing strategies. the average harley buyer, at least in the US demographically is in his late 40's, earns $78,000 a year, has 3 kids who are of college age and has a white collar management job. Sounds like a midlife crisis market to me.
Harley themselves have said that the generation xers are more interested in sport bikes so sometime in the FUTURE they will have to meet the japanese competition head on. At the moment they can rely on their brand to keep sales up.

[Skyryder]

Actually I don't. Nor do I hate Yams, Kwakas, Dukes or Harleys - or any other bike brand for that matter. Although I do have a problem with some of the people that tend to ride big Yank Tanks and some cruisers in general. But I refuse to generalise (too often), as there's at least one Hardley rider on here who appears to be a nice guy, and there’s also plenty of cruiser types here that appear to be top blokes.

But hey, we like to take the pi$$ anyway eh!

I like taking the piss out of Ducatis, Moto Guzzis and Harleys. Not because I don't like them, but because they are easy targets because they are somewhat 'exotic', a bit 'special'. Besides, every one else takes the piss so why shouldn’t I (form my own opinion, bah!)?

I like all bike brands, albeit some more than others (I love Benelli’s), and for various reasons. I'd like to own some brands more than others, and some models more than others (I want a TNT). My views are formed based upon personal experience, the experience of friends and to a lesser degree bike mag reviews (too subjective?). But even this information base can tarnish an opinion of an otherwise great piece of machinery.

I sense that there are some people on here that may go as far as saying they 'hate' a certain bike brand. Or at minimum dislike them.

Do you? What brand do you hate? Why?

Go on, be brave, don’t worry about upsetting anyone, and if I could be so bold as to ask anyone that may get a little ‘miffed’ because their brand has been targeted to remain calm. Retort constructively by all means. Unless you’re a Harley owner, in which case you can just go in the garage, kick the dog and wish you’d bought a proper bike.

Just brilliant.

Skyryder

[Riff Raff]

I really dislike BMWs - they're ugly bikes, and most owners are up themselves(note I'm not implying that all are dicks - there are some genuinely nice BMW riders, but they are few and far between).

[inlinefour]

I like all bikes, just prefer the Hondas more than anything else hence will only purchase Honda. Why? Don't ask me. :spudwhat:

[scumdog]

Im not a harley fan for many reasons, most of all that they generally couldnt make a decent bike to save themselves. There bikes in the 70's and 80's were reknown for being junk, engines were poorly made, lacking power, finish and reliability. Gangs liked them although many famous hells angels have admitted that they would have rather have riden hondas. in the early 90s I think the 1340 was puting out 65hp, not much more than an RGV250 ffs. They show all the technical innovation of chop sticks.

Harley soley sells because of their name recognition. If any other manufacturer put out the kinda machines harley has they would be laughed at. I dont know how harleys became standard issue with poser mid life crisises but its saved them from having to compete head on with other bike makers.

Harleys quality control is now much better, but most of the technical bits are about as american as saddam hussein. I studied the Harley company at Uni, and the only thing that stood out was its ability to take advantage of its name and underproduce their product to keep prices up.

BMW I dont mind, I doubt I would ever own one but at least they are well made.

I don't care, I still bought one for ME.

And if that gets up peoples nose that's even better.

Why can't the 'other' brands do similar marketing? Just a thought.