I was disappointed this morning when I showed up at Americade and learned Harley Davidson had skipped it this year. I have been making it an annual event to test ride each and every model in the HD lineup. While ALL of the other manufacturers required you to get in a conga line and play "follow the leader", Harley Davidson would scan your ID and send you off on their predetermined course on your own. I loved, loved, loved it. Thus my disappointment. Things must be pretty bad in the Ivory Tower right now. I am told they will be at Laconia, NH next week. I guess they felt Americade is a Goldwing event as others on this forum have mentioned before.

As an aside, I did ride some other fun bikes. The most fun BY FAR was the Hayabusa 1300. The brakes are as impressive as the engine.

 

Sorry they were not there. But as mentioned I actually thought is was all Goldwing? My bad.

I've been disappointed at the new route in Daytona or starting point anyway and all the stupid three wheeled cars running with you. It has become so crowded you cannot get a good ride for trying not to get killed.

 

I heard they could no longer afford to go because some guy kept sponging free test rides off them.

 

Thanks for the heads up because I had scheduled a day off tomorrow just for that purpose, to go demo. Guess I'll skip it go and make some money instead...at least I know all the people on welfare will appreciate it.

 

Well it seems to me they missed an opportunity to attract new riders which I thought was part of their business model.

 

kinda what I was thinking...

 

 

I went to McDermotts this afternoon which is 30 minutes away from Americade central. The factory bikes are not there. McDermott staff have a few of their own bikes on the showroom floor and they will take you for a 7 mile guided ride. One person at a time as they do not have many dealer plates. They are VERY GOOD AND DEDICATED PEOPLE who will give you the shirt off their backs if you need help. However, do not go there expecting to ride demos. I never had an issue with crowds at Americade. The factory showed up with plenty of bikes and staff. It is a damn shame.

As an aside, in 2013 i was in the market for a new bike after my Road King was totalled the previous Fall. I rode many bikes from various manufacturers before heading to the Harley test ride area. After trying out many different rides I fell for the Super Glide Custom. I took it out for three test rides. Five days later I bought one. All due to the test ride. Just saying

 

I'm here at Americade for the first time and I too am disappointed with Harley's no-show at the demos. What probably surprises me the most is the high number of Indians on the streets and also interest in them at the demos.

 

The demo bikes were in the shop being fixed for warranty issues....