Harley Davidson owners are preoccupied with image and sound, so much so that they've forgotten the basic principle that backs up those two aspects; performance. Image and sound are nothing, they are meaningless, without performance, but you can't convince people of that today. Performance. You can't have image and sound without performance to back it up. You just can't. If you try, you've got a facade, a hollow shell and you're just a wannabe hiding within it.

As Americans, we live in the greatest country, the greatest country in the entire world. We, as Americans, are driven to be the first in everything. It's our nature. We're not slackers. We take second best to no one. It's a national point of pride. No one can beat our military, our pride, our technology, our determinedness, or our ingenuity. There is nothing in the world, no problem, no tragedy, no foe too great that America cannot triumph over them.

So, then, I'm afraid to inform you that, in one very important regard, we ARE willing to settle for second best or even worse, last place. America has become complacent in the world, we are content to sit on our fat butts and watch others whiz past at breakneck speed and yet we do nothing. We're getting left behind because we can't keep up. Why? Because we are stuck in a misunderstood and ill-conceived mental rut. I'm talking about motorcycles, American made and built motorcycles; Harley Davidsons to be exact. You see them everywhere, and you know the kind of rider that is usually aboard one. Leather chaps, leather jacket, combat boots, the very epitome of a bad *** biker.

But, that's just a wishful image. All that stuff came out of a corporate catalog... One Harley rider looks like another, pretty much, yet they all claim that they are 'individuals'. Seeing a group of Harleys go past is like watching a cut scene from the movie "The Stepford Wives". They're all identical, they look alike, and they all ride the same thing; junk.

Very few Harleys are truly fast or powerful. Most are just loud rattletraps, over priced dealer wannabes or pieced together hope it works tomorrow wonders. They are paper tigers, all show and no go. You can get a hundred pounds of chrome on one of those motorcycles straight from the factory. Matching leather everything as well, even down to the little official HD logo which is oh so important to this flock behavior mindset. Studded, braided, polished, painted, chromed, but ... it's all flash. It's all custom parts and paint, all jury rigged and low tech. In anything else but a Harley, the extremes that most Harley owners go to would be considered tacky and tasteless, and probably laughable.

The roar of a Harley is really just the growling of a sheep in wolf's clothing, and the bleating of the image driven lemmings that ride them.

Sure, Harleys can be made to perform, but you have to rebuild them from the ground up and by the time that you get any decent performance out of a Harley, you could have bought two or three Japanese bikes for cash. Harley's fastest motorcycle, the Sportster, isn't anywhere near deserving of its name. There is no "sport" to the Sportster, and with a 883cc engine pushing out a meager forty seven horsepower, you have all the makings for a Black Angus set in motion by a mouse fart. As a comparative example, take the 1995 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R's 599cc in-line four which makes ninety-seven horsepower. How American is it to be big and slow? How American is it to be outdated and obsolete? More than twice as much power with two hundred cee-cees less displacement! That's sad and embarrassing. If the Harley Sportster made anywhere near what it's displacement could be, it would be a much better motorcycle. As it is, there are some imported single cylinders and some 250cc Japanese sport bikes that put out more horsepower than Harley's 883cc rolling excuse for an entry-level purchase into the whole flock mindset.

And what about price and

 

i agree with pretty much everything you just said. ur paying for the name. every harley owner i know has problems and issues with their bikes. they always break down. i used to have an old honda cruiser i drove that bike for 2 years and NEVER had one single problem with it. it always started up and ran for as long as i kept the throttle pinned.

good read. i liked that. peace.

 

ok first you must be exactly like me and pretty much despise all those who buy a harley "cause its a reall motorcycle" lol and damn man that was a long @$$ post but i do agree with everything you said. i work with a die hard harley rider and all he spouts off about tis that harley is the best blah blah blah harley this and harley that and wouldnt you know it that after he went on and on about how great his bike is he blows the motor on a brand new 2006 harley sporster 883 lol i was laughing my *** of cause before all this (when i started working at cycle world) he stated blatently that my bike "had too many mile on it" and "it wasnt going to last much longer" and that his bike was much fatser than mine" i just started laughing my @$$ at him and hgis logic. ok my bike weighs in at 396 claimed dry weight. add me all the fluids and things and your looking at a bike that weighs in at about 650 or so. it outs out probably 150 to the wheels cause it has a bmc race filter, but it also hasl almost 20k on it right now. his bike has about 90 hp to the wheel (or so he says) and weighs in at 550 ( i think i dont rememebr the exact number he said) so he now wants to race me cause i told him that there is no way in the world that he could beat me. ever. well we line up ( and i know im getting that head shaking disappointingly look from all who read this but i had to prove him wrong lol) and go for it. well a big surprise that i beat him by a very good distance (i wanna say like 6-7 bike legnths but im not sure cause it was a while ago) well we go back to the parking lot and he has the nerve to say that he let me win so i didnt look like an idiot in front of all my "loser" friends (i think he said that just cause he was the only harley there.) well anyways i go to work the next day and he told everybody that we raced and that he won lol i just looked at hime and told him that he was an idiot for lying and that that was a typical harley rider to try and make up something when he gets proven wrong... ok im done lol

 

I've read that somewhere before.

 

I'm tired of reading all of the harley bashing....performance is wonderful but we arent being the gentleman by trashing the others and doing illegal things to show how much better our toys perform.....In a nutshell its not about performance, its about enjoying a ride. If being comfy does it for you and you like american heritage then maybe harley does it for you sure there are plenty of harley posers but there are a hell of a lot of squids too

 

As a guy who got his liecense to drive in the '60's that is why I will never have a Harley. In the '60's, to even ride a motorcycle was almost taboo in some areas because of the image of Harley-Davidson riding outlaws. The image of bad to the bone types were Harley riders and now the very company that produces them, promotes that image. Motorcycling can be a very respectful mode of enjoyment, why must it be made to look that it is best to be a thug to ride a Harley? I know some will say that many Harley riders are Dr.s and lawyers, etc. If they chose to ride that bike that is fine with me, but if they feel they need to be a thug also and then be respectful during business hours, my buisness goes elsewhere. These people are injuring my respect and the respect that motorcycle should have. Why on earth do you think Honda created the slogan in the '60's of "you meet the nicest people on a Honda"? It was because they too recognized what Harley was doing to the sport and the right to ride. I could go on and on. There are some very respectful Harley owners, but the image that Harley and the public think of when you think of Harley is "outlaw types".

 

I didnt bother to read that whole cut and paste rant, seems I've read it read it all before.

Here is a few random thoughts for you:

I used to ride an old school harley. '80 sporster I rebuilt it from the ground up as my first major mechanical project.

It's still sitting in my garage as I type.(yes it runs, starts up on the first crank-everytime!)

It used to be something I enjoyed riding for a nice relaxed ride; but seems everytime I ride it, I end up running into the
same guy. His name may be different, but he's the guy that just spent more money on 2 wheels than both my cars are
worth. He's also the same guy that thinks he is hardcore, yet he cant even tell me what kinda spark plugs he's running, or what
oil he uses? "whatever the dealership recommends" he says.

then proceeds to ask me about which NASCAR driver I like, and what heppend on wrestling last weekend....

Or the other a**hole I run into when I'm on it, he's the guy on the sportbike that thinks becuase he can outrace
me, my bike is somehow inferior. F**K you! If I want to go fast today, I'll go home and get my CBR! I am out
for a different kind of ride today.

I cant stand it anymore, so I rarely ride my chop anymore, but I cant stand to sell it either,
just becuase of all the blood, sweat, and beer that went into building my machine.
And thats exactly what it is....MY Machine that I built from the ground up, I have turned
literally ever nut and bolt on that machine. Its not a $20K image someone sold me

Its not always about performance, or image, but personal preference, and attitude

To each their own, I respect everybody on 2 wheels that deserves respect.
Some dentist on a $25K Hog pretending to be billy badass, is just as bad
as some squid with no gear, hitting triple digits in traffic.....they are all endagering my family.

Also, just an observation, but...

You guys that continue to bash and go on and on about how Harley riders all look the same, your f*** hilarious!!!
You guys sound just like them, they say the same thing!!

"they all think they're speed racer- all the bikes look exactly the same, just one is blue, other is red. they
all wear leather, have loud pipes, ride wheelies" on and on...

interesting.......just ride what makes you happy, and be safe

 

I read this for 10 minutes and didn't even get near halfway, so I'll have to agree... right? Is that what I'm supposed to do? Somebody tell me what to do! Haha, jk....

Yeah you are pretty hardcore into hating on the harley group... but how do you feel about choppers?

 

Been reading up on your "BLACK ECHO's AMERICAN ANGST" huh ? "Making fun of flag slatherd retards and trend humping fashion lemmings since 1993". I read his web site, got it on my fav's, he pretty funny he really pisses off alot of people(H.D. riders inperticular). Ride what you will, just don't care for the snobby riders that don't wave.

 

Honestly, its just like the guys that ride goldwings, or any cruiser, its not a performance bike, its for cruising. if they wanted a PERFORMANCE bike, they woulda bought a CBR, or the like, then again, who's to say they dont also have one sitting in their garage next to the HD?