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-Christian LRRS/CCS HasBeen ECK Racing
2011 Pit Bike Race CHAMPION!
-Alex
I can resist everything but Pete's mom.
Good shirt, lol
Once they start selling them I'll ride and make up my mind then. I care about how the machine rides, and ultimately how much it costs. I put a over a thousand miles on a Softail I rented in Vegas. Decent ergonomics, rode well enough for a cruiser, but I didn't like the transmission. My '86 Yamaha shifted nicer. As for brand, I could care less whether it's Harley, Triumph, Kawasaki or Royal Enfield.
All I want out of a cruiser is:
- Virago 1100 geometry
- fuel injection
- cruise control
- modern suspension and brakes
- remote preload adjustment on the rear
- weighs less than 500lbs
AFAIK this doesn't exist and isn't on anyone's horizon, but I would love to be informed otherwise.
-Jared
ZX-4RR, R1200GSW, 701 E/SM, Hyperstrada 821 (FS!)
I just bought a 99 Super Glide. It's a total piece of shit and the suspension is absolutely horrible. The funny part is that's why I like it. The one thing Harley has nailed is character. I have no intentions of riding more than a couple hours at a time. For long rides I'll be finding a sport touring bike in a few years. I have a 3 and 5 year old so right now I just don't have time for that. In the meantime the Super Glide fits the bill nicely because it's fun.
I once met a pilot who flew fighter planes in the air force. He was since retired and owned a P51 Mustang (WWII plane). He said that out of all the aircraft he had flown it was his favorite. He pointed out that he had flown much "nicer" aircraft, but the character of the Mustang is what captured him. The Super Glide is my P51 Mustang.
I'm not saying they don't need to change. I think they should build off of what they have. They need to evolve without losing their identity. That being said, my guess is the adventure and streetfighter approach may not pan out so well.
Full disclosure...I used to rag on Harley's bigtime. After spending some time on one, I started to "get it" and now I own one.
NOT AT ALL!
The cruiser market buyers believe there is no replacement for displacement. Hell, most boomers seem to believe this. And I argue most cruiser/tourer buyers are currently boomers. (That's going to change soon, and I think HD recognizes that.) But in the meantime all the big-boy-bikes are way >1000cc. Because those buyers believe anything under 1k is a "toy". And with that comes >500lbs.
Anything under 500lbs is going to be de-contented and targeted to the "budget" buyer. I don't know about ergonomics. But the Kawi Vulcan S ticks some of your boxes. It's a Ninja 650 twin, recamed and jammed in a cruiser-ish package. My buddys wife just bought one and he claims it is pretty neat. Arguably out performs his Star 1100 (or is it a 1400?). But you'll never find high-end touring options like cruise on a machine like that. No way. They need reasons to push buyers into their higher dollar offerings.
This is true in every segment. ADV-ers are the same. Some reversal of that recently. See the BMW 850GS, now available with cruise (for extra $) and all the fixings. Interested to see what that does to 1200GS sales. Triumph Tiger 800 x models too.
Not to be outdone by LiveWire: Kalashnikov-designed electric motorcycle to join Putin’s motorcade in 2019
The KTM Superduke GT is in the neighborhood of 500lbs. The Diavel has a claimed wet weight of 515lbs. I could be convinced that cruiser geometry is tougher to build light, but those are high-end bikes carrying their manufacturers' heaviest motors. Chuck an 821 in a Diavel-like frame and lose the cartoonishly wide rear tire and you're close enough. Old man yells at cloud, but god damn.
-Jared
ZX-4RR, R1200GSW, 701 E/SM, Hyperstrada 821 (FS!)
saw this posted on Facebook this morning
"Harley Davidson Closing Plant Due to Declining Sales and here is why."
Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles.
Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all.
A recent study was done to find out why.
Here are 25 reasons why Millennials don't ride Harleys:
1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat.
2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on.
3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving.
4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one.
5. Don't have enough strength to hold the bike up when stopped.
6. Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency medical care or extensive psychological counseling.
7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning.
8. They can't afford one because they spent 1 2 years in college working on a degree in Humanities, Art History, or Gender Studies for which no jobs are available.
9. They are allergic to fresh air.
10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes.
11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil.
12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen or voice commands.
13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch.
14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding.
15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did.
16. Harleys don't have power steering or power brakes.
17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield.
18. They would have to use leg muscles to back up.
19. When stopped, a light breeze might blow exhaust fumes in their face and cause nearly instantaneous cancer.
20. It could rain on them and expose them to non-softened water.
21. Harleys burn gasoline and that supports the big oil companies.
22. Can't use both thumbs for texting while riding.
23. Can't use a Harley to earn extra money driving for Uber or Lyft.
24. Harleys don't provide enough sun protection for those spending most of their time playing video games in their Mom's basement.
25. The Harley roar would scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.
RandyO
IBA#9560
A man with a gun is a citizen
A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON
Yawn.
Cliff's Cycles KTM
NETRA enduro B-vet
Close your eyes, look deep in your soul, step outside yourself and let your mind go.
A couple weekends ago I rode with friends to the regional Harley event at Sunday River, Maine More than a few people asked about my FJR1300 “What is that bike”. I had a few laughs telling them it was the new Harley Davidson Sports Tour.
Some observations from the weekend:
- At 57 I was by far one of the youngest riders
- HD wouldn’t allow any vendors to the event so no vendor tents
- HD didn’t bother to bring their own tent
- HD brought DEMO bikes but thought it a great idea to have the DEMO tent miles away from the event
Got my balls busted for suiting up and riding in the rain 2 out of the 4 days. I pushed back that “a HD and the tattoo = melts in the rain”. All in all the people at the event were nice and we had a good time. That said, while it is true that some younger people are still buying their bikes, I don’t see them buying into the lifestyle which is what (IMO) made HD profitable.
2023 KTM 890 Adventure R