NSR - Any Harley riders on here?

[Neil955i]

Joke.  Honest.

[rjs987]

How's this...
The very first bike I owned and learned on was a Harley Davidson 125cc dual sport 2 cycle.
And I just HAD to have the whole Harley experience. Needed to take the motorcycle safety course on the Navy base in 1979 before I could ride on base (other than to get to the course). On the very first day of the course, 3 weeks after I bought the bike, I was traveling down the highway going to the base at 45 mph and the piston seized. I pulled off the road onto the gravel shoulder very carefully and since I was keeping it straight up the rear wheel froze as soon as it hit gravel. The friend I bought the bike from was passing by a few minutes later and we threw the bike into the back of his pickup truck and he gave me a ride home after work that day. This was in the late fall. We had rented a house with a one car garage at that time and we WERE looking forward to keeping the car and bike in the garage. Instead that bike took up the floor of the garage as I took the engine out of the frame and tore it down so I could take the block in to the Harley shop to get the cylinder bored out. Ended up with a double bore to smooth out the gouges in the cylinder walls. A new piston and double over sized ring set and also a new oil injection pump and I managed to get it all reassembled without the benefit of any manual. It was an oil problem.

After that it ran more like a 130cc bike and worked great. I highly regretted selling it when I left the Navy and moved back to Iowa from Maine. I should have sold the mobile home we were living in when that happened at the end of 1981 and kept the bike instead since the Navy was covering all the costs of moving. My wife didn't let me get another bike until 1999 when I bought a Vulcan 750 and I've been riding since.

[NorWeWa]

Bought a Harley Sportster 883 about 8 years ago. Heavy, but I was stronger then, nice sound, but the worst suspension ever. About 2 inches of travel at most.  Harley riders call it a "chick bike", and would ask me when I was going to get a real Harley. Meaning one of the big 900 lb models.  Have to say I see a lot of the big machines out, with their costume riding gear. They are popular here. 

Art 

[CROSSBOLT]

Harley is popular in the deep south. You can bet money the next motorcycle  you see down here will be a Harley. Personally, I would not walk across the street for one. I got real tired of fixing my Mother's when it was relatively new in the late 60's. Crummy wiring and coils that cracked and misfired from the vibration. Squirmy frames, heavy, expensive, etc. Hers actually ran for years with a roller cam follower turned sideways because the factory union worker sorta forgot to put a little pin in it.

So many riders trailer their bikes to events so they can chug around posing or acting stupid. A lot of riders have an attitude of one form or another. Then there are the "loud pipes save lives" clan that are not happy unless they can rap the throttle 50 times in two minutes before they actually ease out the clutch.

I truly hope the new Indian eats Harley's lunch. Not to replace them but just enough to let them know the never were "the only store in town."

[Iahawk]

the vast majority of bikes I see around here are Harleys with riders wearing no gear (Iowa does not have a helmet law)..but their Pirate costumes are amusing.

[NorWeWa]

Last year I was stopped for coffee and a whole group of Harleys came roaring in, most with straight through exhaust.  Of course they ignored me on my 150 scooter.  Included in this bunch was a pickup and a big flat bed trailer, to pick up the broken down machines and I guess the injured. 

Art 

[Stig / Major Tom]

His name was troutbum - he sold his 2012 LIKE200i and bought a black HD and is riding it out there on that amazing Pacific Coast Highway! .....the lucky sun-of-a-gun. (the PCH.... not the HD)
He was last active here in 2020.
Hopefully he's still enjoying himself - and hasn't put that baby in the Pacific!
Stig

[Neil955i]

Well gratified by the plethora of responses to this bit of whimsy!

As I’ve mentioned to you before, I have ridden a full dress, Harley Electra glide around the states and also had use of an 883 in Majorca of all places. In both cases, I enjoyed the experience, but couldn’t see myself living with one long-term..  for me, the handling and the shocking brakes be a dealbreaker!

No accounting for taste, I guess. 

[monkeybongos]

Harley rider was telling me last week how the batteries die in a year from the vibrations.
I find nothing about HDs tempting, but they make up about half the ptws I see on the road.
Rarely see a rider under 60.

[Stig / Major Tom]

THEN CAME BRONSON was my favorite TV show at the time.
Loved his bike (when they didn't sub a dirt bike in - like we wouldn't notice!)
The sound of it...as he motored along.

But I'd have a metallic blue tank 🙂

Stig