It's one bad ass ride. True S&S motor, Baker Six speed, Samson Drags with the baffles pulled, long range Bob tanks, Inferno Grips, Chrome EVERYTHING. Two sets of tins, Classy Orange Cream and then OUTLAW flat black with no rear signals. I used to long haul it all the time. That was the last long haul I will ever take on that bike. I never thought I'd say this but "IM TOO OLD FOR THAT." Missed the radio on the FLH and tired of eating bugs, rocks in the face I actually think about now and " the Sargent Dan " routine when riding through a rain storm does not carry the same weight it once did ( as I look for the nearest bridge now to take cover.) I will always have this scooter though as there is nothing like your face and two fists in the wind. Even if it's to work on the occasional Friday.
Ok, ONE LAST LONG RUN WITH THE BOYS ON MY TANK. Fitted with a garmin and a windshield. Windshield for the first time on this bike. Then it's retired from long haul service. Going to give it to my son, sell the FLH and get a CVO Street glide. Also still looking for the sport tourer. At the anchor bar waiting for my Chicago hell raising pals. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I started riding age 7. Always rode Japanese bikes. But I also loved old stuff like Vincents and charismatic machines in general, hence the BBi. Getting into my late 40s someone said to me the issue with a Japanese bike is if you find yourself at the throttle stop often all that comes next is the accident. Add in winding country lanes, and the practical inability to really ride above 100mph my tastes changed. So I got a harley. Its like buying a morgan or a vintage bike but without the unreliability. The motor once sorted is great, it will outdrag my friends Fj1300 up to any decent rolling speed. The Fj in comparison feels like bland a electric powered bike. The harley brakes are crap, I mean crap compared to what the japanese did in the 80s, the frame is bendy and if you brake really hard you can literaly feel the front forks bendign inwards. It also gets unstable above 100. Ground clearance especialy to the left sucks. However its fast, more than fast enough, has great roll on Tq, is stable and carves a true line. Its a challenge to hustle, so runing down a windy road at 80 is more challenging and entertaining than going a lot faster on a japanese bike. Basicilay its well built, chairsmaitic, fun and an experience to ride. In that sense same as any naked bike, but better. Since I cant see spendign 100k for an egli vincent this works great. A modern classic. If harleys were no longer in production and rare, they would all be 100k bikes. But you can buy one new. So may people lament not being able to buy new classic cars anymore, They lament no new sheby ac cobras, og mustang Gt350s or SWb ferraris, well you can still buy a harley. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Every bad thing you say is true but there is still a very real market for them. They are very well evolved for their market niche. A number of years ago I talked to a friend who is a Brit bike guru to ask advice about buying and bringing up to standard a Bonneville. He knew me well enough to say "Go out and get a new or late model Sportster". I got a 1200S and with a few mods it was quite fast. My riding evolved even more and now I have a Road King. 800 miles a day is no big thing and its a great way to see the country. I also understand why so many city cops like them. They are not a Superbike nor will they ever be but for their intended purpose they're great.
Agreed, thats why I bought one. They are not bad, just different. Bad would be unrelaible, unstable or low power. Really they modern classic.
These new Milwaukee 8 motors are the best motor they have ever made. It is strong and runs along quite nicely. Drove my new bike to West Palm and back to Nashville and it made a good impression on me. Much better than the twin cam.
No F'n way. Has none of the style or charisma of the original but retained the bad riding position and no power. The Japanese with all their lack of understanding of western style and design could have done a better job and at least it would have worked well. For me it was a huge miss at trying to recreate a classic motorcycle. It was as though the design team were millennials and just incapable of seeing or understanding an original Bonneville. An original Bonneville is Steve McQueen. The reproduction is Doogie Howser.
To me it isn't a Bonneville. It might as well be a new Suzuki. It's like saying buy a new FF. Its better than an SWB and has more power and air conditioning. Still cant stand to look at it.
No, I am sure there isn't, I bet its a great motorcycle and is also on a very long list of motorcycles that I have zero reason to be interested in. For the most part, vehicles to me are not transportation devices. If life was a series of just going places for the sake of getting there I'd just end it all today. We have 2 Ferraris, a Lamborghini, a Ford Lightning truck and a Mercedes E55 AMG. I just have no desire to ad a Toyota Tercel to the list.
Whats your feeling on the new BMW R9T. Seems like its possible to have the charisma of old, with great brakes and chassis. Its also why I like my BBi and elise so much. On another note I cant for the life of me figure out why Harley didnt do a modern rendition of a minimalist tracker bike. they own that style, and not everyone wants a lardass bagger. Harley could also have done a bike in the egli vincent vein(my fav bike). Seems to me like Harley stuck in warp, their sales have flattened, yet they could own this great catalog of machines all fitting in with the harley mechanical ethos which woudl have a wider appeal. In my case got sportster 48, moved the pegs to mid controls in harley speak(how can you ride safetky if you cant stand on the pegs). A bycicle style seat. Simple power comander tune and decent properly tuned(still baffled) not loud pipes and its awoke. Kinda like my modern vincent ideal. As to japanese bikes, some of them have their charms. The in europe only xjr 13000 a classic naked that handles. A Vmax is always a special beast. Some of the v 4 hondas with gear driven cams. Compared to a car, practicaly any motorcycle is a raw viceral machine. Speaking of modern cars. Whats with the fakey doo computer driven fart rev on startup. In fact so many moderns mistake noise for tune, its all like a loud baffled fart even at speed. Dont even get me started on paddles. Ferrari imo lost the plot, and became a branded handbag for men company. I get the economics, but surely they could still make an excellent car(out of existing parts) for the rest of us here and there. Lets not forget Ferrari didnt think the 288 would sell, too raw and uncompromising they thought. they had a smash hit, followed up by the F40 and since then have been on bender to make all their cars easy to drive like a tercel, which rather misses the point I think. Imagine if harley had done the same thing. At least they know what gives their machines eternal appeal.
BMW looks cool but have not seen in person. I like Ducati a lot but thought their retro bikes were a miss. Harley has all the right parts but never puts them in the right combination. If the made a true copy of the XR750 with a hot rodded up production motor it would be cool but they always chicken out. The XR 1000 of many years ago was the closest but had a terrible chassis (Sportster with a facelift), was overweight and still had bad brakes. I don't get it, they already had the prototype sitting in the race dept. As far as their state of tune they are fighting noise and EPA regs with a modernized Victorian era engine so it is what it is. Besides their dealers and parts division is doing really well turning it into what it really should be so why sell it that way? Agree about Ferrari but can't really go there.
Agreed all around. the mtoors with a little freer breathing are great. tehe xhausta nd tuning is called the Harley tax. Was in a dealership yesterday. the new rodster is like a 50% cafe racer. Some of the bits are there but the stylig off and the skipped much of the details and line. Suspension looked pretty reasonable though. Its like harley can only design one style, and they are missing a whole catalog of bikes they could be making. Used to love the moto guzzu griso too, but hen saw one and it had sort of 70s build. Like the new norton, but the stylign seemed slightly off. Triumph rocket has something to it. Kinda liek factory boss hoss. R9T I thought looked a little less appealing in the flesh, but then rode it, a bike with simply fantastic balance, starting with the boxer twin mass down low. Still I wouldnt loose the sportster to get a R9t, sure would like both though. The harley just has that something about it, a modern build reliable waco biplane. I guess a lot depends on where you ride and the riding you do. Some of the great things about bikes is they are a machine hard to bland down too much. Also unlike cars each bike or bike buikduig country makes machines with distinct characteristics and mechanical makeup. Cars used to be like that. The bike brands have also figured out that bikes are not just bought for transport. By the same token bikes long ago passed the point where mtoals could extract their performance expecialy on street. So now we have bikes that are more than fast enough, great ont rack, just comfortable enough to ride yet still charismatic viceral and alive. Wish ferrari would figure that out. A faster blander heavier car where does that end, besides sameness.
Amen and every country has something cool to offer depending on your needs, new or old. I have seen some very cool street trackers made with early Honda 4 motors. Some Moto Guzzi's have really appealed to me aesthetically but a few of my riding buddies have said the chassis are not very good. Never been on one. Should try it sometime. As for modern offerings and my current needs I just cannot imagine one of the HD's, Duc's or BMW's covering it very well.
Would you mind if I use this quote ? It so well captures my sentiment on just about all modern exotic and many high end automobiles. ;-)
