Comments on: Are you a Harley Davidson Owner? If you are what makes a Harley so appealing?

By: dmatryxx

dmatryxx — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:43:59 +0000

I LOVE my '48 HD Panhead, 'nuff said.
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By: Aussie H.D. Rider

Aussie H.D. Rider — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:30:59 +0000

Yes – legends are forever.The moment I saw mine I wanted it – 12months later the love story is still strong.These bikes have a soul of their own & are as individual as the people that ride them – no 2 Harley – Davidson bikes are the same once they have been owned for a while.The bashers can get on the bandwagon all they like – the pipes on my H.D. will drown them out anyway!
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By: slim j

slim j — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:22:59 +0000

the fist bike i owed was a honda cb360t. then a 750 Kawasaki 4cylinder.i learned to ride on those bikes.saved my money for ten years to buy what i rely wanted.and that's what i have know a 98 soft tail custom.and yes i love everything about it
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By: john f

john f — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:38:59 +0000

I would rather push a Harley than ride a Honda…. jap bikes simply cannot offer the same kind of ride a Harley does. Does that answer your question? It’s all about the ride….
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By: Sleepy

Sleepy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:06:59 +0000

Yes I am a Harley Davidson owner. The initial and ongoing appeal is looks. Looking at a simple silhouette, It’s what seems to me a motorcycle should look like. For the most part, there are many styles.
I say initially because when I first started riding, no other bike had that profile.
My first bike was an 81 Sportster 1000. As I came to find out, it fell in the AMF years. Had I known, I honestly would have gotten something else. AMF did not care about Harley and cut corners so badly that as you can see by other comments, the company never recovered in some eyes.
I tore the bike down to the frame and axed it to my taste. Rebuilt and machined pieces that should have been there out of the box.
I still have the bike, as a matter of fact, it’s the only bike I’ve ever owned. I’ve worked on and ridden a myriad of other bikes, but now that I need something bigger, the chances of it being a Harley are almost certain. The feel of them is unique. Out of all the cruisers I’ve ridden, a Fatboy I rode for a friend was hands down the most comfortable bike I’ve ever been on.
As far as what our heroes behind the bar and shield are doing for our money? All I can say for certain is long term investment. Example, check with police department motor pools about how many miles their bikes are turned in at, compare the different brands they use. Low revving torquey engines simply last longer.
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By: medik418

medik418 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:16:59 +0000

This never ceases to amaze me. I keep reading the same old drivel about Harleys breaking down all the time and how they’re not worth what people pay. It’s really getting old. First off, the guy with 11 bikes, you’re lying flat out lying. The crap about being afraid to ride an electra glide a thousand miles? Pure unadulterated garbage.
I purchased my first bike at 13, a Hodaka Super Rat for 300 bucks and have had so many bikes over the years, it’s really hard to count. Currently I have in my garage a 2007 Fatboy and a 1982 Suzuki GS750EZ that still runs and my sons park a R1 and a Road Star Warrior there also. I’ve ridden both quite a lot and they both have their good points.
BUT! I’vre ridden the fatboy over 25,000 miles in two and a half years, I ride every day it’s not raining if I can avoind it and I’ve ridden in it snow and a low of 16 degrees. I’ve been riding now for what? 42 years non stop and have owned everything from Husqvarnas to Yamaha 650s (two of these, a 72 and a 78)
the Fatboy is my first harley to own. I rode one for a year or so when a freind left a 74 super glide while he went on missionary work for a while and it was fun to ride but things fell off it a lot. It was indeed a piece of AMF junk.
My longest trip to date is 3300 miles with the first lday’s leg going 740 miles through a driving rain storm that lasted from Amarillo to Gallup New Mexico. There were three of us on Harleys and not one of them broke or sputtered a bit. The remainder of the trip ran through elevations up to 11,000 feet and rain, sleet, finally snow and 20 degree weather and still not one sputter.
I plan to ride mine to Sturgis this year and look forward to it as much as my first ride on a bike.
I’m not into the old school biker thing, but for anyone to call me a poser is something I could care less about. I ride more than most "old school" bikers and can prove it any time one wants to say anything. riding a bike doesn’t make me a tough guy any more than it does anyone else. I have NEVER had anyone riding a rice rocket, japanese wannabe or any other brand of bike come up to me and say anything bad about my bike or my choice in what I ride. I have whoever had a lot of them start talking about bikes and the things theirs would do as oppsosed to mine and then start making exceuse why they bought what they bought and why they didn’t get a Harley. I could care less!
While it’s easy to hide behind a computer on here and talk crap, it apparently isn’t as easy to shoot their mouths off in person.
I simply do not care what you ride, it’s THAT you ride.
As for my choice in bikes? I bought this thing because I’ve always wanted a Fatboy since I saw my first one parked utside the Canyon fire Department at a school way back there. I just liked the looks.
I don’t subscribe to a philosophy of bikerhood and I ride most of my miles alone.
The bike offers me peace of mind. It has never broken ANYTHING in the 25,000 miles I’ve put on it and actually, in all of the the poker runs, rallies and such that I’ve been to over the past 3 years, the only two bikes I saw sitting on the road broke were a honda of some sort, a v-twin that looked good but the kid riding it wouldn’t buy a new battery and had to be push started (by people riding Harleys no less) at every stop on the ride. The other was an old shovelhead that lost a tail light lense at about 85 miles an hour. So where are all the broken Harleys?
Harley Davidson offers more performance and appearance parts than ANY other motorcycle manufacturer hands down and the rest of the aftermarket offers far more pieces parts for Harleys than any other brand and I defy anyone to prove otherwise. SO, there must be a bigger market for these parts among Harley riders, hence more harleys are still on the road.
This old line of bile about jap bikes lasting longer is pure B’S’. I have never seen a Jap bike with 134,000 miles on it and I have several freinds who have more than that on their bikes. One feller I read about last year has over 700,000 miles on his and yes, he’s bought a new engine since he bought it but that was at about 450,000 miles.
As far as performance? It outruns just qabout anything on 4 wheels from a standing start and where in this country can you ride 185 miles ano hour? Mine has a 103 kit with cams and a few other goodies and it runs fine up to 110 miles an hour..Where can I maintain that for any length of time legally? I don’t need your Japanese horsepower or the rediculous insurance rates you pay to have it. It doesn[‘t take any skill to twist a throttle and make a crotch rocket hit triple digit speeds. They can teach a monkey to do that so who cares?
My Fatboy was the bike that fit everything I wanted in a new bike and althought I did wince a bit when writing the check, I was willing to spend the money so if you can’t afford something you want, it just sux to be you. Don’t put me down for buying what I wanted. I didn’t settle! Period!

I don’t k
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By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:03:59 +0000

I was up until last July. My first harley was a 03 vrod, then when i began doing longer rides, i traded it for a 04 fatboy. My first bike was a 07 Honda shadow, and when my girl’s dad let me ride his 08 heritage, i was sold on Harley’s. I think they are beautiful bikes with an amazing sound. The reason I got rid of the fatboy in favor of a Victory (the other american motorcycle manufacturer) is I require a bike that isn’t a shop whore. I spent 10 grand on the bike and 3500 in repairs in the 8 months I owned it. During that time I put about 12k miles on it. That was unacceptable for this college student. Maybe someday Harley will make a reliable bike and earn back my business (when I can afford it), but I have not ridden a better motorcycle than my Victory. The Motor Company delivers value to their customer in the form of community and lifestyle. It should be no surprise that overall the company makes 60% of its profits from merchandising, 20% from bike sales, and 20% from service. I still wear my Harley shirts and Jacket even on my non HD bike. The HOG, Harley Owners Group, provides a local community, taking advantage of an extensive dealer network, that provides the local members with group rides and events, and a way to get involved and meet more riders. The value of Harley Davidson motorcycles comes from the notoriety of the name of the company. Their bikes cannot compete with other companies in price, reliability, or technology, so they work diligently to maintain their current and extremely loyal owners. One thing that helps is they have been the #1 selling motorcycle company in the US for a looooooong time, and as such have several after market parts companies that make literally millions of harley specific parts. They seem to really rely on the loyalty of their customers, most of them are die hard and will not even consider another bike. Hell, I was like that until I found out about Victorys.
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25k miles since I started riding in july 08

By: Patt

Patt — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:44:59 +0000

Unlike jap bike makers Harley delivers bikes that hold their value,made by Americans that value their job,and bought by people who value keeping jobs in the USA.
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By: exracer2002

exracer2002 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:39:59 +0000

Harley owner, the appeal for me is the after market parts world seems to cater to Harley riders, there is 10 times more parts available for these bikes than any other brand. Haters say it's because they break more, but I believe it's because the bikes have been slowly changed over the years and date back many more years than jap bikes.
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By: jrrysimmons

jrrysimmons — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:32:59 +0000

I'm with Adam 100% I'm another old school biker who has been on two wheel for many years. I also ride a pan chopper. What is harley doing? They are taking the biker way of life, sanitizing it, and selling it at an inflated price to a bunch of yuppies and over the hill wannabees who never had the nads to live the life for real. 20 grand and 20 miles does NOT make you a biker.
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