location of the dirt bag.
heh, heh, heard this today, and thought i'd share it with the folks here as GS
Man thats so so so so ..............................................old :icon_razz:
Tho it is old, I still smiled
My grandfather was telling that one before my father was born. :icon_razz: :laugh:
oh gawd that is old...but hey i am always up for a harley dumping joke.
well, since i'm 56yrs old, you might say some of my "material" is a little dated-BUT, suffice it to say if you meet me
coming down the road, i WON'T be wearing a "doo-wop" rag, sporting an earring, riding a harley that looks just like everybody else's harley, and as i call most of the "posers" that gather down at the local harley shop to sip a latte with their "ol ladies" and browse the leather goods while somebody else changes their oil and filter for $75.00,
"osteoporosis"- you know...."bad to the bone"
Quote from: grayghost on October 05, 2008, 12:02:44 PM
wearing a "doo-wop" rag,
Hey,,,,,,I make the du-rag look good. :laugh: :thumb:
it cracks me up to hear people bash on harleys. how many of you harley bashers have owned/ridden a harley????? if harley was so terrible they wouldn't have stayed in business for over 105 years. ;) another thing, why do you think all the foreign bikes are often refered to as "harley clones"...because that's what they are. harley make em first and everyone one else had to mimick them. :thumb:
Meh no one knows anyt better :laugh:
When was the hoover invented? That's about how old this joke is.
Whats the difference between a porcupine and a corvette?
With a porcupine the pricks are on the outside.
On to Harley, harley is in business because they have succesfully revamped their image and their marketing department. During the 80's the big 4, especially honda about drove them out of business, the US instituted a protectionist import tarrif policy on Japanes big bore bikes,(any thing 600cc or over) that increased their price by 30% thus making them almost as expensive as a base model harley. The Japanes retaliated by not offering the US as many models or colors as the rest of the world. This tarriff has since decreased as Japanes manufactured bikes production costs have increased and Harley's marketing and PR managed to revamp the image of the company. Buying a Harley is buying an image, nothing more.
You still get more bike and better technology for the money with a Jap bike.
In a free market economy HD would have been dead and buried.
Quote from: jserio on October 05, 2008, 10:07:04 PM
it cracks me up to hear people bash on harleys. how many of you harley bashers have owned/ridden a harley????? if harley was so terrible they wouldn't have stayed in business for over 105 years. ;) another thing, why do you think all the foreign bikes are often refered to as "harley clones"...because that's what they are. harley make em first and everyone one else had to mimick them. :thumb:
I'll answer a couple of yours;
Not everyone owns a harley that bashes them. If everyone that owned a harley bashed them, you'd REALLY have to wonder WHY THEY OWNED ONE, past or present, ya know ? The majority of people that I've personally known have ridden one, and were annoyed at the lack of power, noise, and lack of handling. Adding chrome does not make a more fun bike to ride.
They've stayed in business because of good marketing, buyouts, and management that was smart enough to market machismo instead of motorcycles.
As far as 'harley clones', are you serious ? Since when was HD the only maker of motorcycles 100 years ago ? Plenty has been learned by watching what the Japanese machines acquired.
Take a look through history and you'll see HD almost died several times because of quality issues, poor marketing, and just plain crappy bikes. HD actually lobbied congress to PASS LAWS to protect their niche.
REmember when the importers were TAXED HEAVILY on anything >750 cc's ?
Remember when a certain racing forum handed HD (ok, BUELL) a license to ride non-production bikes in production race circuits ?
Remember how police municipalities were forced to buy HD bikes instead of something superior like BMW's and others ?
Lets just say the current gov't bailout of big business mirrors what HD, Ford, Chevy, and other manufacturers have enjoyed in the US for 100's of years:
Gov't contracts that sponser antiquitated machinery, inefficient design, and piss poor engineering. Would the Crown Victoria (Ford) STILL be being made if it weren't for Police and Gov't contracts ? Hell no, that's 25 year old tech !
The HD = dirty bag is a poor joke, but the reasoning behind your comment was poorer.
2 cents
Just an FYI the current tarrff is only 10% on Imported motorcycles it was the period between 1984 and 1989 when a 50% Tarrif was slapped on imported motorcycles.
Current Tarriff schedule for foreign imported vehicles if you are interested
http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/0810c87.pdf
New york times sorted oldest first see the 1983 articles. Harley was basically dead.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/motorcycles_motor_bikes_and_motorscooters/index.html?s=oldest&
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06EFDA1138F933A15752C0A965948260
my main argument being if they really are such sub-par machines, why do people still buy them? i mean, if they really are that underpowered and all this other horrible crap you say, why do people buy them? it can't all be marketing. :dunno_white:
(as a side note, after a bit of research and side by side comparison, i feel the ninja 500 is actually a better bike than the gs500. 8) )
Quote from: jserio on October 06, 2008, 09:27:49 AMafter a bit of research and side by side comparison, i feel the ninja 500 is actually a better bike than the gs500. 8) )
:o :o :o :o :o :o :nono: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns: :2guns:
Quote from: jserio on October 06, 2008, 09:27:49 AM
my main argument being if they really are such sub-par machines, why do people still buy them? i mean, if they really are that underpowered and all this other horrible crap you say, why do people buy them? it can't all be marketing. :dunno_white:
(as a side note, after a bit of research and side by side comparison, i feel the ninja 500 is actually a better bike than the gs500. 8) )
what saved them was import tarriffs, loans, some smart marketing, and finally deciding to -attempt- to make a quality machine. the japanese machines -forced- them to improve quality, just like the car industry experienced.
The typical conversations about more cubic inches, more chrome, more more more that I've heard at HD gatherings reminds me of small boys drooling over things they cannot afford. Never heard someone say "This tire is really sticky" or "Man, this new fork really improved the turning" or "Wow, my chatter box is a fantastic way to communicate with my buddies when I miss the turn". Ya know ?
yep, the ninja makes more power, is a -little- more modern, but doesn't fair as well with lack of maintenance. it's a very nice machine indeed. the fairings aren't bad either. saw a ton of guys touring california on ninja 500's. :)
Do you know the difference between a Harley rider and a pedestrian?
About 10 minutes.
well you get better wear on an hd versus some "imported bikes" cept the boxer style engine, aka bmw and honda goldwaing ( iwht proper care and attention. but even with that there is still uninformed bias, if it were up to me, id rather be riding my sportster, but economics decided otehrwise :thumb:
Mess with this on your GS500 and this is what you'll see, the tail end.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/ed_in_az/OnTheRocks.jpg)
Any Sportbike from an SV650 up will pull away.
None have given me any attitude yet though.
Nobody around here wants to lose their license running 120mph+ including me.
This thing sounds and pulls like a Buell.
Any "Big Twin" Harley gets the same view as your GS500.
I beat a brand new high dollar chopper 2 out of 2 races.
No, it's not stock. Who needs stock. :laugh:
Ride what you like, but bashing an entire brand due to your ignorance about it is just stupid.
Try getting an education and race a Sportster, VRod, or Buell. :laugh:
To the non-bashers: Bless your open minds. 8)
Quote from: Ed_in_Az on October 06, 2008, 07:42:02 PM
race a Sportster, VRod, or Buell. :laugh:
:thumb:
(http://b0.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00829/06/79/829569760_l.jpg)
I dont care either way...a bike is a bike. Im not into the cruisers, never have been. To each his/her own.
is that a panhead? or..., me likey, and DAMN ed where you been hiding. man i miss my sportie. i had a supercharger ready to go on, and parts to convert from 883 to 1340, and a few otehr things, but hit HARD financial times, so had to let her go :icon_confused: but im gs'in again nowaitaminute, thats an ironhead sportie?
The other picture is custom Ironhead Sportster.
Yama, I've been riding my 2005 883 XL (Sportster) turned into a 1200 with High Comp Wiseco pistons and .497 cams.
I remember you had to sell your Sportster. I'm glad you're back aboard a GS anyway. :)
At my age I appreciate a sit down ride rather than leaning over the tank holding myself up by my wrists(at least until reaching "float"' speed).
Quote from: Ed_in_Az on October 06, 2008, 08:12:53 PM
The other picture is custom Ironhead Sportster.
The blue one is my old 82 Iron head Sportster with a little work done to it. I called it my 82 XLCR. :thumb:
Man I miss that bike. :cry:
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on October 06, 2008, 07:24:21 PM
well you get better wear on an hd versus some "imported bikes" cept the boxer style engine, aka bmw and honda goldwaing ( iwht proper care and attention. but even with that there is still uninformed bias, if it were up to me, id rather be riding my sportster, but economics decided otehrwise :thumb:
What are you yama a crackhead? Seriously?
I have almost 20k on my bike right now, a few track days and a little bit of commuting, other than idling at lights my motor usually doesn't see the under side of 6500 k or basicallly anything less than the upper 1/3rd of it's RPM band. Find me a HD that stays pinned that far in the rev band constatntly that doesn't grenade. Yeah yeah yeah different bikes different styles. Hell I know of people with old school 900rr's that have 70 to 125k on the clocks with nothing more than valve service done.
Air cooled pushrod motors are shaZam!, the only thing decent HD has done in the past 40 years was the V-rod. Even Erik Buell was tired of fighting crap motors, thus the switch to the rotax mill. And that only because HD bought rotax in an effort to increase it's inroads in the european market.
I like lots of people but having owned and ridden a bunch of bikes in my lifetime don't try snowballing me.
20k is THAT all? shaZam! 20k on a properly maintained hd is jsut breaking it in. ive got an uncle in peoria az who has an '82 low rider, has 179k on the engine, doesnt smoke AT ALL. and has only started to leak. for those in the area, tends to blow their harleys are crap thory/bash out of the water as you said, comparing apples to oranges, 600rr's wrong compo, try somethign al lil more closer, there are many choices. the rr has a different power band. the pushrod engine does not need to rev that high. whereas the otehrs do. if you want to bash, at least make some sense, mmmkay :thumb: lol comparing 600rr to hd :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
my dad can beat up your dad...... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Quote from: jserio on October 06, 2008, 09:31:42 PM
my dad can beat up your dad...... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I love YOU feeling bette, she was a bit... :nono: :nono: :laugh: :laugh:
:flipoff: :cheers:
:laugh: :laugh: :cheers:
Quote from: bettingpython on October 06, 2008, 09:21:21 PM
What are you yama a crackhead? Seriously?
I have almost 20k on my bike right now, a few track days and a little bit of commuting, other than idling at lights my motor usually doesn't see the under side of 6500 k or basicallly anything less than the upper 1/3rd of it's RPM band. Find me a HD that stays pinned that far in the rev band constatntly that doesn't grenade. Yeah yeah yeah different bikes different styles. Hell I know of people with old school 900rr's that have 70 to 125k on the clocks with nothing more than valve service done.
Air cooled pushrod motors are shaZam!, the only thing decent HD has done in the past 40 years was the V-rod. Even Erik Buell was tired of fighting crap motors, thus the switch to the rotax mill. And that only because HD bought rotax in an effort to increase it's inroads in the european market.
I like lots of people but having owned and ridden a bunch of bikes in my lifetime don't try snowballing me.
I left the rev limiter alone on my HD, at 6,000rpms. The STOCK valve train is good for 7,000rpms so yeah I COULD run @ 5,999rpms all day long and it won't grenade. This thing makes music between 5k and 6k. It's a fat pistoned internal combustion engine, not a sewing machine. If you like a shrill scream then pay some soprano opera singer to scream in your ear. I'll pass.
You may have owned a bunch of bikes, but obviously NOT a Sportster.
see, why build an engine to hit high revs, if there is not need to do so. and show me a police bike with enough balls to pull a car, which AINT an HD
A Suzuki rider is riding down a deserted stretch of highway when he notices a sign out of the comer of his eye..It reads:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION 10 MILES
He thinks it was a figment of his imagination and rides on without a second thought...Soon he sees another sign, which says:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION 5 MILES
GAS STOP 5 MILES
Suddenly, he realizes that these signs are for real...Then he rides past a third sign saying:
SISTERS OF ST.FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION NEXT RIGHT
His instinct gets the best of him and he pulls into the drive....On the far side of the parking lot is a stone building with a small sign next to the door reading:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
He locks his bike, climbs the steps and rings the bell....The door is answered by a nun in a long black habit who asks, "What may we do for you, my son?"....
He answers, "I saw your signs along the highway, and was interested in possibly doing business."....
"Very well, my son. Please follow me," ....
He is led through many winding passages and is soon quite disoriented....The nun stops at a closed door and tells the man, "Please knock on this door"....
He does as he is told and another nun in a long habit, holding a tin cup answers the door.....This nun instructs, "Please place $100 in the cup, then go through the large wooden door at the end of this hallway"....
He gets $100 out of his wallet and places it in the second nuns cup...He trots eagerly down the hall and slips through the door, pulling it shut behind him.....As the door locks behind him, he finds himself back in the parking lot, facing another small sign:
GO IN PEACE.
YOU HAVE JUST BEEN SCREWED
BY THE SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS.
SERVES YOU RIGHT, YOU SINNER.
THE NEXT GAS STOP IS 10 MILES
THE OTHER WAY.
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on October 06, 2008, 09:24:42 PM
20k is THAT all? shaZam! 20k on a properly maintained hd is jsut breaking it in. ive got an uncle in peoria az who has an '82 low rider, has 179k on the engine, doesnt smoke AT ALL. and has only started to leak. for those in the area, tends to blow their harleys are crap thory/bash out of the water as you said, comparing apples to oranges, 600rr's wrong compo, try somethign al lil more closer, there are many choices. the rr has a different power band. the pushrod engine does not need to rev that high. whereas the otehrs do. if you want to bash, at least make some sense, mmmkay :thumb: lol comparing 600rr to hd :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
You numnutted liberal I don't have a 600rr, my wife has an f4i I have the 954. And you can't compare anything to HD because no one else is dumb enough to use antiquated technology designed 100 years ago in an air cooled motor. Your buddies harley is obviously the exception not the rule. Whatever person thought putting the rear cyclinder behind the front cylinder and then cooling it with the hot air blast from the front was a true genius. Oh wait yeah they do all sotrtsa shaZam! to avoid that problem now like ducts and fans it only took em 80 years to figure out why the exhaust valve in the rear cylinder kept burning out. Oh I remember when they told the american public they fixed there vibration problems with the evolution motors. The rubber mounted it :icon_lol: :icon_lol: Instead of the fron fender jumping up and down the motor bounced around in the frame.
Yes I had a sporster for a short period of time and I thought it was the biggest piece of crap I ever rode. I promptly got VFR750.
Hell they are so efffin image driven that fuel injection is just now going on them because they can't meet EPA regs with a carb finally. When your sportie can follow me at the track lemme know, I'm not fast but I saw a fast guy on a sportie at a track day and he about killed himself running laps 15 seconds over my time and I am a slow ass old man.
As for you ed this is between yama and i so butt out.
I'll say it again the only thing harley has ever built that was worth a shaZam! is the V-rod, hell if they hadn't paid and gotten the porsche engineers involved that one woulda failed too.
I'll never own another poser POS like that ever again. I don't need affirmation that I am a total prick. Look at your bikes all back of the bus I am good to 7 grand spend all day at 5999rpm. You'd piss yourself in the upper 20% of my power band between 8500 and 115000 rpm where front wheel heads for the moon in you're a hamfisted hack.
Yeah my bike is horribly low mileage I don't get to ride enough anymore.
:flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff:
cabbage
just for the record, i have owned 3 harleys over the years, including 2 FLH's.
and when i did own them, if you didn't wrench, you didn't ride.
my main source of amusement in the current harley "phase" are the folks that ride harleys because of the "life style" or fashion statement- i enjoyed all of my harleys, but understood that there were more practical rides out there then, as now.
as far as the comment that "if they are so sub-par...etc, etc," remember this is America. As a "general public"
we not only elected george w. bush, we RE-elected him. We made britney spears a STAR?!?? We think mcdonald's
makes a fine hamburger, and so on, and so on. Success for mediocrity in america (although not guaranteed) is not that tough to imagine- but "even if the toilet's gold, it is not treaure which it holds."
Quote from: Ed_in_Az on October 06, 2008, 07:42:02 PMRide what you like, but bashing an entire brand due to your ignorance about it is just stupid.
Try getting an education and race a Sportster, VRod, or Buell. :laugh:
What makes you think a: I'm ignorant of the marque, b: haven't ridden any, and c: haven't shared a track with any? O0
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Quote from: bettingpython on October 07, 2008, 06:03:51 AM
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on October 06, 2008, 09:24:42 PM
20k is THAT all? shaZam! 20k on a properly maintained hd is jsut breaking it in. ive got an uncle in peoria az who has an '82 low rider, has 179k on the engine, doesnt smoke AT ALL. and has only started to leak. for those in the area, tends to blow their harleys are crap thory/bash out of the water as you said, comparing apples to oranges, 600rr's wrong compo, try somethign al lil more closer, there are many choices. the rr has a different power band. the pushrod engine does not need to rev that high. whereas the otehrs do. if you want to bash, at least make some sense, mmmkay :thumb: lol comparing 600rr to hd :icon_rolleyes: :icon_rolleyes: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
You numnutted liberal I don't have a 600rr, my wife has an f4i I have the 954. And you can't compare anything to HD because no one else is dumb enough to use antiquated technology designed 100 years ago in an air cooled motor. Your buddies harley is obviously the exception not the rule. Whatever person thought putting the rear cyclinder behind the front cylinder and then cooling it with the hot air blast from the front was a true genius. Oh wait yeah they do all sotrtsa shaZam! to avoid that problem now like ducts and fans it only took em 80 years to figure out why the exhaust valve in the rear cylinder kept burning out. Oh I remember when they told the american public they fixed there vibration problems with the evolution motors. The rubber mounted it :icon_lol: :icon_lol: Instead of the fron fender jumping up and down the motor bounced around in the frame.
Yes I had a sporster for a short period of time and I thought it was the biggest piece of crap I ever rode. I promptly got VFR750.
Hell they are so efffin image driven that fuel injection is just now going on them because they can't meet EPA regs with a carb finally. When your sportie can follow me at the track lemme know, I'm not fast but I saw a fast guy on a sportie at a track day and he about killed himself running laps 15 seconds over my time and I am a slow ass old man.
As for you ed this is between yama and i so butt out.
I'll say it again the only thing harley has ever built that was worth a shaZam! is the V-rod, hell if they hadn't paid and gotten the porsche engineers involved that one woulda failed too.
I'll never own another poser POS like that ever again. I don't need affirmation that I am a total prick. Look at your bikes all back of the bus I am good to 7 grand spend all day at 5999rpm. You'd piss yourself in the upper 20% of my power band between 8500 and 115000 rpm where front wheel heads for the moon in you're a hamfisted hack.
Yeah my bike is horribly low mileage I don't get to ride enough anymore.
:flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff: :flipoff:
< i am not a liberal so i wont resort to name calling,. lets see some evidence that this is the case. lets see some proof that harleys are crap,.. ill await your reply
Yama have you figured out I am just bashing to get your goat?
I could actually care less about Harley Riders choice of bikes. At least they're riding.
My dislike of Harley is driven by the fact's stated by me originally, for 95% of their customers it's all about badass image. The company would have died in the mid-80's if they hadn't whined and cried till they got a 10 fold tarrif increase slapped on imported bikes for 5 years. It's kinda like the wall street bail out, bad business is bad business, government shouldn't prop up failing businesses.
And I really do like the V-rod, that's the HD I would own.
Quote from: bettingpython on October 08, 2008, 04:09:34 AM
Yama have you figured out I am just bashing to get your goat?
I could actually care less about Harley Riders choice of bikes. At least they're riding.
My dislike of Harley is driven by the fact's stated by me originally, for 95% of their customers it's all about badass image. The company would have died in the mid-80's if they hadn't whined and cried till they got a 10 fold tarrif increase slapped on imported bikes for 5 years. It's kinda like the wall street bail out, bad business is bad business, government shouldn't prop up failing businesses.
And I really do like the V-rod, that's the HD I would own.
i know i gotta quit takin this shaZam! literally. in the 80's it was AMF which almost killed HD, that was a rough time. last of shovel, first of evo, and shady unions not giving a f%$k. nowits better., but bias (* from both sides of fence still remain. id ride anyhtring :thumb: including Jserios mom :icon_twisted:
that's what you rmom said too.
Quote from: jserio on October 09, 2008, 01:46:35 PM
that's what you rmom said too.
I know laughing only makes him do it more, but f%$k its so classic and well timed :laugh:
Quote from: frankieG on October 07, 2008, 06:19:21 AM
cabbage
take your pic (http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4305/holyshit9qd.jpg) :thumb:
that was a nasty crack yamahonkawazuki.
Holeee cow, that looks like the harley rider's GF pyramid.
Having said that ... newer sport bikes are junk, especially the 929/954 - sorry python.
They will not last 20k UNLESS YOU KILL YOURSELF MAINTAINING THEM.
The HD of the 80's and 90's much like japaneese bikes of that genre are built to last. To compare an 85 HD to a new 600RR is facetious. Compare the HD to a virago, a Maxim, GS650 type suzi, etc etc ... even a GSXR from the 80's ... for how much you can hammer them and not work on them ... I think all 4 jap bikes will leave HD in the dust/rust. Oh yea, try parking a HD outside all the time. See how fast it rusts.
Today's Twn cam is similar to today's new genre, Vstar, road star etc etc ... and I think HD has held on to more of the longevity than the jap's have. So HD has closed the gap a good bit, Jap's have slipped a bit.
In the 80's through the mid 90's Jap bikes worked very very well for very very long. HD was building a brand and an image, japan was building good solid bikes. After that HD started building better bikes and japan started building bikes that need to be replaced every few years.
Cool.
Buddha.
That's OK Buddah, I will be sure to tell all my buddies with newer bikes that have 50 to 70k on them that we are all wrong, that we're really riding junk. :thumb:
No dont worry I already did. And I have the scars to prove it.
BTW I call it junk not due to motor, but due to the fact that its got swingatm pivot in the engine cases. Do you know the kinda load that runs through those ... and how they insisted that it was superior to having the frame there ... then how they quietly ran race bikes with a full frame ... like the CBR 1000 RR, RC51 etc etc etc ...
You need to glance a curb ... heck climb a curb and you'll know. The VTR1000 ... famous for cracking the engine cases there especially if stunted etc ... and it was drowned out by the TL1000's rotary damper lawsuit snafu in england.
Anyway, I was in canada at the time these were launched and when VTR's were raced they often ended up with leaking cases ... usually cos race bikes used to be street bikes that were crashed ... and many many of them developed this problem due to hairline cracks in the swingarm pivot area.
Lots of ford pinto's were sold too ... that doesn't make them great ... 929/954 will run a long time, its an evolution on the 900RR. Its junk due to the incomplete frame.
BTW I have said this when you posted about buying the bike too.
Cool.
Buddha.
I probably ignored your inane ramblings. I usually do :thumb: O0
But they are getting a little more intelligible, so thats cool.
I'll let you know when I have swingarm pivot cracking issues. Then you can say see I told you so.
Until that time I have a friend who has wadded his bike up on the street once and 3 times at the track and his hasn't developed a problem.
The 929/954 really needs to glance off a curb/sidewalk - I have done it twice on my 89 GS ...
929/954 is a little resistant because its engine cases are wider than the VTR. The VTR will break with less than 1/2 the impact ... its engine cases are much narrower.
Many more bikes have that design, Buell Blast, some of the old duc's 851 I think, VFR800 and more. However 929/954 is the only high performance bike that did. Duc 851's at one time had this happen in the early 90's, ducati took a bath replacing engine cases. Somehow they got away without having a recall ... dunno how. The 916 design put a larger frame section in that area and did design changes too, and it reduced it drastically.
Honda makes great stuff, but if they make a mistake, they never freaking admit it, and they divert the issue and quietly fix it when and where it counts. The example I have seen was the cam chain tensioners in nighthawks. Tensioner is ideally put in the slack side of the cam chain. If its on the tension side, it has to be a real big beefy beefy rod type. The nighthawk has this chinzy parallelogram with a piddly spring in tension in the middle. Total BS. Of course ... 1 year in, they replaced it with serious springs and a beefy parallelogram ... wihtout ever admitting a problem or recalling.
Cool.
Buddha.
Also a savage cam chain tensioner and the damn chain itself ... another POS ... why they didnt slap the GS type chain I dont know, I also dont know why ther could not fit a real CCT in it on the cylinder wall. Some funky sheite on the inside of the lower engine half and its got a gear and chain not sprokets and chain. Worthless.
I think some of this is designed so it will blow up and they can blame us and not warrantee it.
Cool.
Buddha.
OK Buddha........let it all out.............are you saying that when I retire and want to "putt around town or make a little 150 mile jaunt" that I should NOT consider the Savage 650? Is it really a piece of trash? I am NOT a mechanic and don't want a bike that I have to constantly work on. I have read that it is a little on the "short side" and "might" make 100 mph downhill. I will take your word on it.
Alas, the HD Sportsters until very recently had engines that near on popped right on out the frame whilst riding at a (whopping) 50mph due to the mountings or lack off ..... solution - rubber engine mounts :icon_mrgreen:
Easy Rider was years ago...
Its not badass to ride an HD...
If looking cool is whats needed, best get a slick 50's hair cut, black leather jacket, white t-shirt and click your fingers ala the Fonze... :icon_lol:
If riding a good, working, solid bike is the requirement, then best avoid MOST HD's...
They are overpriced offering poor value for money and all about IMAGE rather than performance...I even had an HD salesman tell me that "if you want performance...go buy a Suzuki" (I did :icon_mrgreen:) ... if you want looks and image, this is the bike for YOU..........an 883 Sportster...shity miles to the gallon, wont last the pace through the worst weather, for some reason its inherently stealable and finally, doesnt REALLY go that fast or get there that quickly. Great purchase :cookoo:
HD's of the past, and their image worked at the time. They were the uber-bike for the badass....Easy Rider, Fonda and rebel images.....all now lost - those rebels now replaced with the affluent in society; lawyers, doctors, dentists and weekend "bad boys" have taken over because its all about the LOOK........
Ye know, the biggest (the single BIGGEST) irony is those ex-badass HD riders have become so complacent they dont realise the latest breed of rebel, the younger and more abnoxious out there, those who typified the original HD "movement" are now embracing high powered, high speed Japanese sportsbikes...the hooligan of today isnt interested a shaZam! in chrome and slow, underpowered engines....he/she wants a race tuned, performance bike that goes like shaZam! of a stick, more horses than a day at the races and with looks that now, are cool...
Mere observations...
The "new" "Rebel Riders"? Hahahahahahahhahahahaha. You tickle me. They are children buying a machine made for a racetrack. But most don't even go to a racetrack. "The road" is their racetrack. You have an guy that is visualizing from stop light to stop light, straightaway to stop, that all the townspeople have turned out to cheer him on to the finish line. All the young girls want to be impaled upon his blatant 18 inch phallus, all the little boys want to grow up to be like him and all the men want to BE him. It is an exercise in fantasy. In a lot of cases, it's a death wish that is fulfilled.
What you type of the posers on HDs is true insofar as the Drs., Lawyers, and old men wanting to "be somebody" types. But there are others that you didn't mention. It's the men that have loved Harley-Davidson since childhood and wanted one but could never afford one. There's something about that rumble that gets you down deep if you'll confess it. Mom, John Wayne, Apple Pie, and Harley-Davidson is the epitomy of Americanism. If you could actually find a Hayabusa type with a smidgeon of truth left in him, he'd tell you that upon pulling alongside a Harley-Davidson at a stop light, he feels eaten to the core. He KNOWS he has him beaten hands DOWN.......
but waaaaaaaay down inside...........he wishes he had a Harley-Davidson. He is just in a "mid-period". He is caught betwixt and between that little boy who first heard that thunder and the older man that can afford one.
edit: just an observation from 54 years of experience
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
Mom, John Wayne, Apple Pie, and Harley-Davidson is the epitomy of Americanism. If you could actually find a Hayabusa type with a smidgeon of truth left in him, he'd tell you that upon pulling alongside a Harley-Davidson at a stop light, he feels eaten to the core. He KNOWS he has him beaten hands DOWN.......
but waaaaaaaay down inside...........he wishes he had a Harley-Davidson. He is just in a "mid-period". He is caught betwixt and between that little boy who first heard that thunder and the older man that can afford one.
edit: just an observation from 54 years of experience
+1 I have had HD's and I do LOVE the sound when going down the road. Not the jacka$$ trying to rev it like a sport bike but just cruising.
:cheers:
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
The "new" "Rebel Riders"? Hahahahahahahhahahahaha. You tickle me. They are children buying a machine made for a racetrack. But most don't even go to a racetrack. "The road" is their racetrack. You have an guy that is visualizing from stop light to stop light, straightaway to stop, that all the townspeople have turned out to cheer him on to the finish line. All the young girls want to be impaled upon his blatant 18 inch phallus, all the little boys want to grow up to be like him and all the men want to BE him. It is an exercise in fantasy. In a lot of cases, it's a death wish that is fulfilled.
Isnt that what the "youth of today" is all about though?? And what yesterdays rebels with loud rock music, ripped jeans, shaZam! loads of leather, big beards and bad attitude thought?? It's always BEEN fantasty.
I never said I agreed/disagreed/liked or disliked how it all pans out and how it was before but the reality is, things move on and those with the "bad attitude" acting like assholes at times are now more likely to found on a sportsbike than an 883 Sportster, a Shovelhead, a DynaGlide or anything else....its just things moving on.
Im not comparing either "movement" but this is the way things are now ... its all a mindset and that in my opinion, is the big irony. Its just 2 generations disliking each-other....
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
What you type of the posers on HDs is true insofar as the Drs., Lawyers, and old men wanting to "be somebody" types..
Agreed here mate and this is the point I am making ... there's a lot of the above types riding around, giving the big blank looks, the bikers "nod" is ignored as they stare straight ahead, with a leather clad grip in one hand and a handful of pretend bad boy attitude in the other...
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
But there are others that you didn't mention. It's the men that have loved Harley-Davidson since childhood and wanted one but could never afford one. There's something about that rumble that gets you down deep if you'll confess it. Mom, John Wayne, Apple Pie, and Harley-Davidson is the epitomy of Americanism...
Im sure these folks do exist and if Im honest, I've no bug bear with either HD owner. What I cannot be bothered with, is some of the BS that SOME (not all, but some) HD owners spout ... I do appreciate many normal blokes will aspire to an HD (I have some friends and family with HD's - they're the silly ones :icon_mrgreen:).
However, there's a whole generation who couldnt give a ratts ass about HD, the bad image etc and the rumble does nothing...for these folks, a race-rep or performance machine matters way more than a dated image/movement which if we're honest was just that...
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
If you could actually find a Hayabusa type with a smidgeon of truth left in him, he'd tell you that upon pulling alongside a Harley-Davidson at a stop light, he feels eaten to the core. He KNOWS he has him beaten hands DOWN.......
but waaaaaaaay down inside...........he wishes he had a Harley-Davidson. He is just in a "mid-period". He is caught betwixt and between that little boy who first heard that thunder and the older man that can afford one. ...
I used to be like that, as a kid. Then, I grew up :icon_mrgreen:..and honest, the truth in me says I dont give a rats ass about an HD. I dont wish deep down I had/have an HD. If I had the funds to buy both a HD and a Jap bike, I actually trade the credit for the HD and buy TWO Jap bikes :icon_mrgreen:.....the price of a Sportster, I can buy a Gixxer and I will in a couple of years so the cash argument isn't really there. I could also possibly stretch to a good second hand mid-range HD but I would rather spend the 8-9k on a Suzuki, most likely a GSXR.
I dont dislike metric cruisers by the way and if funds allowed, I'd surely look at a big assed Suzi 1800 or such like or maybe even a big fat Yamaha cruiser so its not the cruisers I dont like or care much for, its really the HD's.
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
edit: just an observation from 54 years of experience
Fair play buddy...just my observations from 20 years less experience....its all good though :thumb:
Quote from: cafeboy on October 12, 2008, 03:11:34 PM
Quote from: Revere2 on October 12, 2008, 02:30:07 PM
Mom, John Wayne, Apple Pie, and Harley-Davidson is the epitomy of Americanism. If you could actually find a Hayabusa type with a smidgeon of truth left in him, he'd tell you that upon pulling alongside a Harley-Davidson at a stop light, he feels eaten to the core. He KNOWS he has him beaten hands DOWN.......
but waaaaaaaay down inside...........he wishes he had a Harley-Davidson. He is just in a "mid-period". He is caught betwixt and between that little boy who first heard that thunder and the older man that can afford one.
edit: just an observation from 54 years of experience
+1 I have had HD's and I do LOVE the sound when going down the road. Not the jacka$$ trying to rev it like a sport bike but just cruising.
:cheers:
Indeed, this I respect and I also respect everyone's right to enjoy their chosen bike....
Fair play mate :thumb:
So was I correct? Does the sound of an old English Bonnie 650 or BSA or Matchless or Norton or Brough Superior make you "think back" and proud? Almost makes you stand at attention doesn't it? Tell the truth.
None of them or the old H-D can hold a candle to the new machines but they are down within our souls. They were all made of the iron will that has enabled us to be two of the greatest nations on earth. And don't forget that an American taught the Jappers about quality control. Although I'd like to strangle his ass if he were to be living...........his name was W. Edwards Deming. I've had to suffer that shaZam! in the workplace since the early 90's.