Harleys. Love them or hate them.

[Molly]

you wave?

Only when on the Guzzi. On the Harley I'm too 'righteous'...

[ducatilover]

Only when on the Guzzi. On the Harley I'm too 'righteous'...

Fair enough......I think. I wouldn't know, I'm just one of the guys passing

[naphazoline]

........... A Triumph triple, Ducati L-twin, Harley or Guzzi V-twin. Much more interesting and involving. Well, I think so.

Can't really say that i don't like one particular engine configuration,but i will concede,that as an inline 4 rider,they are at the lower end of the scale in the "sound good" factor.(bar the 2009 R1.my favourite sound of all.)

It's the 675 daytona that really catches my eye.Or even the street triple.

Hats off to triumph for catering for so many different styles of bike.And doing it as good as anyone else.

And this leads me to why HD's are not overly exciting for me.

I think that they do a marvelous job catering for the cruiser crowd,that love their american muscle.

And by all means,should keep on doing so.

But what would be so wrong with letting their R&D department produce some real sports bikes,naked/street fighters,hell even motorx/dirtbikes???.....E.T.C.

The cruiser crowd could still keep buying their much loved styles,but they might pick up a lot more fans through a bit of diversity.
Not everyone is in to the laid back riding scene.

Doesn't mean to say that they would have sold out,or anything so dramatic.Makes sense to me.

Just a thought.

[Big Dave]

But what would be so wrong with letting their R&D department produce some real sports bikes,naked/street fighters,hell even motorx/dirtbikes???.....E.T.C.

http://www.buell.com

[Omega1]

Yeah your onto it Big Dave,

Buells Mate, take a look

[naphazoline]

I think you're missing my point.

I suppose you could call it a naked/streetfighter,but it aint no sportsbike in my books.

When have you seen a Buell racing,and beating the big four manufacturers on lets say the WSB scene?

Never seen them in motox against the big 4.

I'd like to see them,competing/beating some of the current top knobs,in a variety of categories.

Plus,buell is Mostly V twins.

I'm talking about making triples,IL4s,parallel twins, more singles....blah blah blah.....

.....Diversity.....

[Big Dave]

I think you're missing my point.
When have you seen a Buell racing,

Pretty much every meeting I go to there will be one or two in thunderclass.
1125R is winning races at Daytona too.

You also need bigger books.
1125CR is a great sportsbike.
So are some of the XBs for road use.

[naphazoline]

And this leads me to why HD's are not overly exciting for me.

.........

I didn't state buell,that be you.

But the 1125 models,(as i understand it.) are no HD parts at all.

Oh...BTW,i'm not saying buells don't race,i'm saying they aren't beating competition in the world scene.

..They might be world beaters in the U.S.A. LOL.

[Molly]

I think HD are well aware that their customer base is getting older and in the long term that's not good news. However, they did buy MV Augusta last year and, as has been said, Buell does cater for the sports-minded rider. As for their own range, I guess they'd be cautious about doing anything too radical with 'the recipie'.

I went for a quick run with a mate yesterday (he on his Guzzi and me on my HD Fat Bob - new one with 96" motor). OK, it's not a sports bike but it handles bloody well for such a heavy bike and it's got gobs and gobs of torque / midrange. I'm sure if more bikers gave the new Harleys a shot they'd actually be pleasantly surprised.

[naphazoline]

I think HD are well aware that their customer base is getting older and in the long term that's not good news. However, they did buy MV Augusta last year ........

Man....That's good news.That's a excellent step towards branching out a bit further.Saves on extra R&D,considering that MV Augusta are already a very reputable brand.

I do understand that anyone with a loyal following such as HD,would not want to do anthing too radical,but done in gradual steps,might see their customer base snowball radically.

[peasea]

....and the new touring range has had some mods done to it to further improve ride quality and handling. The changes have been met with a positive response from the riding press and there'll always be folk who want to tour/cruise more than pull wheelies and stoppies all day.

[scumdog]

I do understand that anyone with a loyal following such as HD,would not want to do anthing too radical,but done in gradual steps,might see their customer base snowball radically.

That's just how I went from Honda to Harley.

[naphazoline]

I talked to a mate today,and he was telling me how he rode a 08 heritage (i think it was) recently,and couldn't say enough good things about it.

This is a guy who has owned a heap of jap bikes and still loves them,but says it was that impressive,that his next bike is going to be a harley.

He said that the comfort,and torque were a big factor,but mentioned that it seem to handle surprisingly well.

They certainly seem to be gaining momentum.

[Big Dave]

They certainly seem to be gaining momentum.

They have been in business since 1903.

[Madmax]

The amount of them i've seen lately,i would have thought that they were on a winning thing.

This was a 1980s Xr-1000 engine in a 1970s XLCR frame
XR-750 dirt track derived engine bored to 1000 (standard)
then worked to the max
The XLCR frame was redone from scratch the forkes/shocks
were changed! looked like a JAP engined featherbed.
No relation to the new street rod
Would be the only HD id buy