Harley Superiority?
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 12,653
Likes: 18
From: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
It's a shame that people have to try and justify to themselves what they ride by taking a dump on someone else's bike choice. Most Harley riders don't do that because they know what they have. Most metric riders do it because that's the only way they feel inferior. It has nothing to do with money. Most metrics, especially their top of the line models, are right up there with H-D now days, cost wise. Most usually, when asked why I like H-D so much, I just tell them I like my chrome to be steel instead of plastic.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 4,530
Likes: 607
From: Raleigh NC
You ride a Harley your automatically a misfit, rebel, sh_t disturber, where do i stop? By the law anyway and to a lot of people for that matter. You know are bikes are superior when you make a pit stop, with your buddys on jap bikes for a beer. WHOSE BIKE is every body looking at? Yeah, now you get the picture. The rice rockets all look the same, but yours is unique like your self.
I like to tell the story about the "big dog chopper" guy who pulled his store bought chopper up at the local biker hang out... he walked inside, and when he came out, he saw a crowd gathering where his 'chopper" was... when he walked over to bask in the crowds admiration... he discovered the crowd was gathered around a ratty old Triumph bonnieville... left foot brake, right foot shift..that had parked next to his BD in otherwords the "REAL DEAL" so where the crowd gathers is often a function of what the crowd knows....
Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,622
Likes: 0
From: South of Raleigh, and west of the coast, NC.
I have no problem with the brand of motorcycle a person chooses to ride and haven't experienced a problem with most "jap" bike riders; but on the other hand I have experienced an attitude (resentment, jelously or whatever) from a few different "jap" bike dealers.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,763
Likes: 371
From: North of Hell, South of Heaven
I like to tell the story about the "big dog chopper" guy who pulled his store bought chopper up at the local biker hang out... he walked inside, and when he came out, he saw a crowd gathering where his 'chopper" was... when he walked over to bask in the crowds admiration... he discovered the crowd was gathered around a ratty old Triumph bonnieville... left foot brake, right foot shift..that had parked next to his BD in otherwords the "REAL DEAL" so where the crowd gathers is often a function of what the crowd knows....
Club Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,481
Likes: 4
From: Georgia
The H-D has got the years and has stayed in bidness longer than any of its rivals. The technology is quite rudimentary but they have honed it with all the skill they can muster. I enjoy the air cooled V-Twin with the uneven firing cycle and can't think of any other motorcycle I'd want. Most guys riding other stuff start to explain their choices to me, not realizing that I'd never asked. In short, I don't GAS. 
Last edited by BigGdawg; Jan 20, 2009 at 11:56 AM.
Tourer
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 349
Likes: 1
From: Orange Co. So Cal
Interesting thread - more than a few times someone has said "Nice bike. I'd like a Harley, but I ride a metric cause I can't afford a Harley." Metrics are the technically superior bike, but no one copies a metric "look" or "sound", it's always the other way. Harley is the most imitated machine in the history of the wheel. I ride with a couple of local bike meet-up groups, and Harleys are always in the minority. We all speak motorcycle.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 13,389
Likes: 26
From: Windham,Maine
In all my years on a Harley it has always been that way around certain people.You will eventually learn to live with it.Just keep a good attitude you will be much more content.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 566
Likes: 7
From: Seattle, WA
I don't mean to pick on you specifically, you were just the last person who said this of many in this thread. In all honesty, I don't quite understand why this mentality has persisted the way that it has. When I was looking at my Sporty, I looked around to see what others were offering too.
- Harley has EFI on all their bikes, even the "basic" models. Metric bikes tend to reserve it for only their top-of-the-line models and even mid-level metric bikes tend to still use carbs.
- Harley uses a dry-sump oiling system on all bikes. Metrics again reserve this only for their higher-end models.
- Harley uses hydraulic tappets that require no maintenance. Metrics require periodic valve adjustments to ensure that their solid lifters are properly maintained.
- Harley's carbon-fiber drive belt is at least equal to the shaft drive favored by metrics. Yes, the belt will wear out, but it doesn't suffer from shaft-jacking and there's no need for the periodic changing of fluid as there is with a shaft drive.
Now, some may point to air cooling as inferior. Personally I think it makes the design more robust. There's less chance that a stray rock will leave me stranded somewhere because it punctured a cooling line. It's one less system to maintain and one less source of leaks to worry about.
About the only thing that can be said about a Harley is that the 45-degree vee with both rods sharing a crank pin is not the optimal design for maximum power or smoothness. But hey, neither is the inline 5 used in my car. And neither are the split-crank twins used on metric bikes.
In any case, I think that the idea of the "unsophisticated" Harley is outdated and has been for a while.
- Harley has EFI on all their bikes, even the "basic" models. Metric bikes tend to reserve it for only their top-of-the-line models and even mid-level metric bikes tend to still use carbs.
- Harley uses a dry-sump oiling system on all bikes. Metrics again reserve this only for their higher-end models.
- Harley uses hydraulic tappets that require no maintenance. Metrics require periodic valve adjustments to ensure that their solid lifters are properly maintained.
- Harley's carbon-fiber drive belt is at least equal to the shaft drive favored by metrics. Yes, the belt will wear out, but it doesn't suffer from shaft-jacking and there's no need for the periodic changing of fluid as there is with a shaft drive.
Now, some may point to air cooling as inferior. Personally I think it makes the design more robust. There's less chance that a stray rock will leave me stranded somewhere because it punctured a cooling line. It's one less system to maintain and one less source of leaks to worry about.
About the only thing that can be said about a Harley is that the 45-degree vee with both rods sharing a crank pin is not the optimal design for maximum power or smoothness. But hey, neither is the inline 5 used in my car. And neither are the split-crank twins used on metric bikes.
In any case, I think that the idea of the "unsophisticated" Harley is outdated and has been for a while.
Tourer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 311
Likes: 1
From: Bardstown, Kentucky
When I ride with my friends.Some dont have Harleys.It is almost always them who start the crap.One has a Suzuki M109.To me one of the ugliest bikes out there but fast I will give you that,but does not do well in the twisties.I end it by telling him there are two kinds of bike owners,Those who have Harleys and those who wish they did.