I sometimes have a little envy when that sport bike whizzes by me going 40 mph faster than me. But, I'll bet I get to my destination with much less stress caused by looking for the police and trying to avoid them. I'll bet that I'll have much less body aches as well. 80mph is 80 mph, no matter what you're on or in.
When I was in high school I had a 40 Ford with a 500 inch Cadillac engine in it. It was pretty darn fast. My dad got tired of hearing me brag and challenged me to a race.
The only conditions were that he got a 10 foot head start and he picked the course. Well of course Dad, let's go! He picked the entrance to an alley. it cost me a tank of gas. LOL..
That taught me that being smart is more often better than being fast.

 

Funny story - last year....

I was stopped at a light near the end of the business area here in Cody. Sport bike pulls up in the lane next to me. Figured oh yeah, he's gonna wax the slow *** Harley. Light turns green and I revved up just a bit more than normal and let the clutch out. Well, behind me I hear this hollow wallowing sound, like WOT at low RPM's.

Get to the next light a block down. He pulls up again and is kinda fidgeting, revving the engine. Oh, OK now he's going. Light turns green, I give it a few more RPM's and let the clutch out. Again behind me I hear this hollow wallowing sound. He then comes whipping by me and races down the street.

Well somewhere ahead he pulls a u-turn and comes racing down the opposite side revving up near the limiter as he went past staring at me. I looked over at him, shook my head, and gave him a thumbs down LMAO. I was thinkin', if he wants to act like a speed demon - learn how to play the damn thing..... My LR was no match but he was basically out-classed.......

I like what I have and it's what I always wanted. My 77dream!

 

Living in the Ozarks we build for torque and acceleration just to get around the slow traffic in the hills. Not a lot of passing lanes so you have pass fairly quickly.

 

That the MOCO is only too happy to provide, for a cost. It's actually, the perfect crime. Sell substandard bikes for top dollar, and then have each owner pay an add'l 3 or 6 thousand to make them run. Only to be told you've "voided your warranty!" Or, "they all do that, " when/if problems arise. I know of no other company that can get away with this. Just amazing.

I think the biggest difference in Harley vs. everyone else's engines is how each engine makes it's power. There are other v-twin engine makers that don't seem to offer the "lax" engine performance that Harley does. Harleys power is down low RPM. The only problem with that is when we're riding on the freeway, we're already past the torque curve and it's dwindling fast from there. This is why it takes forever to accelerate from 75mph to the upper speeds if necessary.(Not that it's ever necessary.) I'm talking STOCK engines here folks, so don't get your panties in a wad. With enough money, anyone can make a Hyundai a 7 second car. That isn't the point here.
Now, what Harleys ARE good at~ They can make a motorcyclist grin like a 6 year old on Christmas morning, looking at a shiny new bicycle. They can eat up tremendous mileage with only oil changes and spark plug changes. (As long as the wheel bearings don't come apart...) They offer a relaxed ride that is meant to be enjoyable. They don't offer motorcycles to go as fast as possible. Their frames and suspension settings tell riders they are "happier" at speeds below 65mph. Sure, they'll go faster than that, but the bikes themselves aren't tuned for it. Riders get away with going >65mph every second. I'm one of them. Occasionally, we hear about a rider that is going fast enough to cause instability. Then, they come back here and ask, "What went wrong?" Well, the answer is speed, my friend. Just plain, simple speed.
Sure more mods can "fix" the Harley's frame/suspension, but you're putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a bike that likes to CRUISE, not race other vehicles in the twistys.
Now, about putting Harleys on a diet. There's zero reason that Harleys need to weigh 200 pounds more than they should. Price point? They're already the most expensive mass produced motorcycle on the market.

 

I have the fastest couch on the road.

GM

 

My RoadKing & my Sportster are the fastest bikes in my garage.

 

 

 

When I would ride my Hayabusa on my friends charity toy runs I would always be asked "when are you getting a real bike?" I would always ask them "do you mean real slow or real undependable?".

 

my 85 is bone stock except the S&S carb i installed last year. if i had to guess it added 3 HP, it reduced the MPG by about 10%. it starts and runs better and i'm happy with that. i'm happy going down the wisconsin interstates at 65 mph, faster isn't necessary for me. could it be faster? sure, do i care? no.