I rode a Harley

[redwinger]

...and I finally understand what the craze is about. My brother in law picked up a 2007 Street Bob over the weekend. Let me say, there is something about having all that torque off idle that makes leaving stop signs extremely fun. It's also funny being able to go wide open at any point and not worrying about looping the bike.

I gotta say, I'll never only own a Harley, but I think I will add one to the stable at some point.

[obsolete]

Funny I've ridden a bunch of them and still don't understand why people like them so damn much.

Except the Screaming eagle V-Rod. That was a fun ride.

[Rambunctous]

...and I finally understand what the craze is about. My brother in law picked up a 2007 Street Bob over the weekend. Let me say, there is something about having all that torque off idle that makes leaving stop signs extremely fun. It's also funny being able to go wide open at any point and not worrying about looping the bike.

I gotta say, I'll never only own a Harley, but I think I will add one to the stable at some point.

Street Bob. Is that a male homosexual prositute?

[DucDave]

....

I gotta say, I'll never only own a Harley, but I think I will add one to the stable at some point.

Help me understand this please. If you know a way to add a bike to the stable without actually owning it I'd like a Ducati 848. And maybe a Harley Fat Boy?

[Pigman]

Yea, same here didn't do much for me

[Billy]

I got nothing against them. Maybe later on in life I might have one but I dont feel like coughing up 14-17k for a bone stock one. My coworker has one and he tells/bitches all the time about how expensive parts are for the bike.

[FirstDuc-1098]

HD means hundred dolla everytime you go in
of course Ducati means 100 Euro everytime

[KawiSmurf]

Help me understand this please. If you know a way to add a bike to the stable without actually owning it I'd like a Ducati 848. And maybe a Harley Fat Boy?

I think you're reading too fast, Dave:

I gotta say, I'll never only own a Harley...

I'm pretty sure he's saying he'd never have a Harley as his only bike.


I've ridden a few (Sportster Roadster, V-Rod Street Rod, Nightster, Street Glide), but I wasn't overly impressed...at least not enough to buy one. Don't get me wrong, they're nice bikes, but I can't tell where the extra money goes. As a matter of fact, the only one that was really entertaining to ride was the Nightster. Something about the minimalist, total-absence-of-chrome approach made it kinda fun. It felt pretty lightweight for a 1200 cruiser, and it definitely got up to speed on the on-ramps...the power comes on like a freight train, and 80 mph comes quicker than you think. I'd actually like to take the XR1200R for a spin, but Harley's quality issues are still too much of a real problem for me to want to own one.

[Chippertheripper]

Hat are these quality issues you speak of?

[KawiSmurf]

Hat are these quality issues you speak of?

What I experienced first-hand (or rather, second-hand, since they were on a co-workers bike, but I saw the bike everyday, and helped him work on it):

Oil leaking from the heads within the first 3k miles

Speedometer failure within the first 3k miles (found to be a common issue)

Turn signals stopped working within the first 5k miles

Oil leaking from the lower crankcase at around 10k miles (found to be a common issue)

Fuel pump replaced twice in the first 12k miles (faulty fuel pumps had been reported online, but two was extreme)

And that's just the stuff I remember. The bike was a 2008 Sportster 1200. The first summer he owned it, the bike was in the shop for about 4 weeks total. Not exactly the way I'd want to spend my money (or my riding time).

[katana0215]

...and I finally understand what the craze is about. My brother in law picked up a 2007 Street Bob over the weekend. Let me say, there is something about having all that torque off idle that makes leaving stop signs extremely fun. It's also funny being able to go wide open at any point and not worrying about looping the bike.

I gotta say, I'll never only own a Harley, but I think I will add one to the stable at some point.

you can say the same thing for all the metric cruisers (probably more so than the Harley) and still not overpay for the HD logo.

[Sheppo]

What I experienced first-hand (or rather, second-hand, since they were on a co-workers bike, but I saw the bike everyday, and helped him work on it):

Oil leaking from the heads within the first 3k miles

Speedometer failure within the first 3k miles (found to be a common issue)

Turn signals stopped working within the first 5k miles

Oil leaking from the lower crankcase at around 10k miles (found to be a common issue)

Fuel pump replaced twice in the first 12k miles (faulty fuel pumps had been reported online, but two was extreme)

And that's just the stuff I remember. The bike was a 2008 Sportster 1200. The first summer he owned it, the bike was in the shop for about 4 weeks total. Not exactly the way I'd want to spend my money (or my riding time).

I got an 06 Softail Standard with the big V-Twin. NEVER had an issue. I change the oil and beat it like a redheaded step child. Sorry your buddy got a bad one. I can show you Other brands that have similiar issues. Hard to rank a brand together by one bad bike. You have to take the internet with a grain of salt. How many ppl actually post, I love my bike and I have no problems VS I bought a XXXXX and XXXXX this happened? Seriously... think about it.

[FirstDuc-1098]

I've got an 03 FatBoy with 24K miles, no problems, just normal service, oil, tires, battery

[scottieducati]

If you like all that power and torque off idle, and want a bike that's all-day comfy + actually handles... try a ZRX on for size

[markbvt]

Let me say, there is something about having all that torque off idle that makes leaving stop signs extremely fun. It's also funny being able to go wide open at any point and not worrying about looping the bike.

Out of curiosity... have you ever ridden any other non-inline-4 bike? Maybe you need to try a Ducati, or a Triumph Speed Triple, or even an SV650... Any of these will give you excellent drive right off the line without revving to the limiter.

--mark

[schleppy]

I rode a Nightster 1200 and hated it. I know it's not considered a "real Harley" but still. It was bad.

[scottieducati]

LOL I remember SV's and Buell 1200's racing in the same class. Farhking hilarious.

Out of curiosity... have you ever ridden any other non-inline-4 bike? Maybe you need to try a Ducati, or a Triumph Speed Triple, or even an SV650... Any of these will give you excellent drive right off the line without revving to the limiter.

--mark

[rbrais]

I like Harleys. Their riders sometimes leave a bad taste in my mouth. Went out on Saturday for the first time this year and passed by the Vanilla Bean Cafe. I saw a bunch of bikes on the way, more Harleys than anything. Only got a few to wave. One did flip me off, however. I'd say that counts for at least two waves.

I ended up following a Harley for a bit. Two more came from the opposite direction. They both waved to the Harley in front of me. Neither waved to me. Bikes are like women, they can't help if their riders are assholes.

[redwinger]

Out of curiosity... have you ever ridden any other non-inline-4 bike? Maybe you need to try a Ducati, or a Triumph Speed Triple, or even an SV650... Any of these will give you excellent drive right off the line without revving to the limiter.

--mark

I put 8k on my first bike (SV650). I've ridden a 1098. They are great, and I love twins, but there was something about this thing that was different. I think its the idea that you can go WOT and not get up on 1 wheel that makes it just easier to mash the throttle.

[scottieducati]

Fixed for ya

Bikes are like women, if they're big, heavy, and slow... all they have left is to be the loudest, most annoying one of the group.

[caddydaddy]

Let me say, there is something about having all that torque off idle that makes leaving stop signs extremely fun.

Wow, don't ever ride a Triumph Rocket III if you think a Harley has impressive torque!

[obsolete]

But the fat ones give good head... Cause they have to.

[JettaJayGLS]

Hop on a suzuki m109 if you want some low end grunt....one of my friends has one, hes a hefty one, so when he punches it the front end starts to hover. When a lighter person punches it, it leaves a 275mm wide strip.

Hold on tight.

Oh, and this bike has a 109ci motor and was purchased as you see for 10k from plaistow powersports with around 5k on the odometer. I'd be on this all day over a harley. Nothing against them, 2 of my friends have brand new streetglides and roadglides, and they sure are comfortable as hell...for 20 grand.

[DucDave]

I think you're reading too fast, Dave:

I'm pretty sure he's saying he'd never have a Harley as his only bike.

By George, I think you're right.

Damn....

(and damn evelynn wood!)

[stoinkythepig]

I rode a bone-stock twin cam/counter-balanced road king last year. It was a very nice bike, pleasant to operate, and quite comfortable.

I was expecting gobs of torque and strong pull from just off idle combined with very little need to shift, once up to speed. The friend who owns the road king was riding my ZX9R and he was expecting a bike that required constant shifting and lots of revs. We were both completely wrong.

I had to shift the harley constantly to keep it happy and he thought there was something wrong with my bike's transmission because he had not counted how many upshifts he'd made and thought he was in something less than top gear and could not upshift (he was riding it in 6th gear).

I dragged both floorboards within the first few miles and that was enough to keep me from ever buying a road king. It's just too easy to drag hard parts. I rode a dyna glide a few years ago that would lean adequately, but was not comforatble or pleasant to ride; and never felt even remotely composed when "pushed" even just a little.