Why a Harley?
Club Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 69,901
Likes: 18,590
From: South Florida
1. I wanted the classical look, feel, and sound.
2. When traveling the USA/Canada I wanted a dealer nearby as much as possible and HD is EVERYWEHRE.
Why not anything else? Bcs nothing else my friends fits the bill of #1 and #2 above.
BC7
2. When traveling the USA/Canada I wanted a dealer nearby as much as possible and HD is EVERYWEHRE.
Why not anything else? Bcs nothing else my friends fits the bill of #1 and #2 above.
BC7
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 10,833
Likes: 6,485
From: Canada Flats
Have to agree 100% with Buzz , I love the classic look my bike has , and the sound is something like no other . I also chose a Harley after 15 years of riding because chances are when traveling you can get to a dealer and fixed up in a day or 2 . It's surprising just how much support there is for Harley riders .
HDF Community Team
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 2,574
Likes: 1,068
From: Ohio
It's winter time, so.... Interested to hear why did you buy your first Harley? What makes you keep coming back for more? Do you ride anything else? Why or why not?
To start it off, I've been riding since I got my legs over a kids dirt bike, and haven't stopped. I'll ride pretty much anything, and have owned anything from a 50cc minibike to you name it. Iv'e always had at least a sportbike, dirtbike, and lately a cruiser. Bought my first cruiser almost 15 years ago now, a V-Rod, then had few dynas, softails, even an RK, and now my Fat Bob 114. Enjoy it greatly and it gets the most use of my bikes, but I couldn't live with it as my only bike, I need my track days/hardcore mountain roads and dirt days. I'm always genuinely fascinated by people that are Harley to the core.
To start it off, I've been riding since I got my legs over a kids dirt bike, and haven't stopped. I'll ride pretty much anything, and have owned anything from a 50cc minibike to you name it. Iv'e always had at least a sportbike, dirtbike, and lately a cruiser. Bought my first cruiser almost 15 years ago now, a V-Rod, then had few dynas, softails, even an RK, and now my Fat Bob 114. Enjoy it greatly and it gets the most use of my bikes, but I couldn't live with it as my only bike, I need my track days/hardcore mountain roads and dirt days. I'm always genuinely fascinated by people that are Harley to the core.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 406
Likes: 181
From: xyzzy
Why indeed? I didn't buy mine. It was given to me by an older cousin who could no longer ride it. Sadly, he didn't have it for more than a few years before that happened. Inner ear related balance issues. He was in the artillery during Korea. I think he was 82 when that happened. He asked that I keep it as long as he was alive and I have done that. He's 87 now and I'm 72 and we're both in good health so I certainly plan to keep my end of the bargain. The bike, a 2013 Dyna, is not that much fun (from my perspective) to ride as I find that it handles poorly and is just too darn slow. After all, it is a Harley. But that's OK, what do you want for nothing?
Other bikes? When I was in my 20's in the mid 1970's I had access to a high end tool and die shop at work so I decided to take advantage of that. I imported a Rickman/Kawasaki frame kit and put a warmed up Z1 engine in it. Nice machine. And at 440 pounds wet it had a lovely power to weight ratio. Burned a lot of 100 octane low lead aviation fuel in that thing. When I retired at the ripe old age of 45 (mom and dad were right, go to school, get a good education, pay cash for everything) I sold the Rickman and was bikeless until I acquired my cousins bike. Having my cousins bike made me decide that I needed to get an old man's sport bike so, having had a positive experience with the Z1 engine in my Rickman, I decided to get a Ninja 14R. It's a lovely machine. No vibration, not much noise, rock solid chassis and, of course, absurd power. Everyone should experience a machine like that once in their life. I ride it in the hills west of town about once a week. And the Dyna? I ride it to free food events at my local H-D Taj Mahal.
Other bikes? When I was in my 20's in the mid 1970's I had access to a high end tool and die shop at work so I decided to take advantage of that. I imported a Rickman/Kawasaki frame kit and put a warmed up Z1 engine in it. Nice machine. And at 440 pounds wet it had a lovely power to weight ratio. Burned a lot of 100 octane low lead aviation fuel in that thing. When I retired at the ripe old age of 45 (mom and dad were right, go to school, get a good education, pay cash for everything) I sold the Rickman and was bikeless until I acquired my cousins bike. Having my cousins bike made me decide that I needed to get an old man's sport bike so, having had a positive experience with the Z1 engine in my Rickman, I decided to get a Ninja 14R. It's a lovely machine. No vibration, not much noise, rock solid chassis and, of course, absurd power. Everyone should experience a machine like that once in their life. I ride it in the hills west of town about once a week. And the Dyna? I ride it to free food events at my local H-D Taj Mahal.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 2,908
Likes: 3,512
From: At home.
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Road Master
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 791
Likes: 386
From: New York
Gotta go with my Father originally on this one too...He started us early... dirtbikes at like 9 or 10 as well. Was clutching gears and popping wheelies on them almost a decade before i'd even get behind the wheel of a cager, so the love of motorcycles was there early. I grew up in 3 family house and we also had someone renting the basement who was a friend of my uncles..he had a Sporty that he parked in the yard and he let me sit on it as a little kid. I guess that was the first Harley spark lol...(I have a pic of me sitting on it somewhere haha) My older brother got a Harley ('85 FXSB) when I was like 15 or 16....ape hangers, drag pipes with a lumpy cam and I thought it was the most badass thing i'd ever seen or heard....it took me a few years but eventually I got my 1st bike (Superglide) and the rest is history....but why a Harley??? The look and sound man, the history, to me there is not a better looking machine out there....I couldn't give a rat's *** how other bikes can out perform or whatever bs...my FXR is way faster than i'll ever need lol.....i'll go with the popular saying..." If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand"
Last edited by Craigny; Dec 13, 2019 at 01:09 PM.
