I dont know what you got over there now,but here its f**ked up,damn "Weekend riders",dick executives than deliver there bikes to the HD rally while they fly over by plane insted of cruisin there,if a "real" rider hit them,there f**king heart would stop,they pretend to be what there not,it pisses me off.Damn posers,they got the bike and a jacket but dont have the gas in there veins...you can see there bike aint seen a rough rainy ride in its life,its got fresh tire tread/chains and its been in the garage for 11 months of the year and is now at the Demon-stration just for show,saying "Lookie here,I got a Harley and Im riding it,quick take a photo so I can show it to Paul and Annie at the office,I want to go home now,my butt hurts".B*tches,gimme it,Ill ride it those 11 months that you dont.I aint American,but dang I love Harleys.

 

Harley Davidsons are nice and all but I don't understand why they are so expensive(except the 883 Sportster). The engines are low-tech and cheap to manufacture and the chassis on them is pretty simple. You see bikes like the Yamaha Road Star Warrior, Honda VTX 1800 and that new Kawasaki 2000cc monster and they cost a lot less. If I had the money to buy a Harley, I'd rather buy one of the faster/more comfortable/better handeling bikes like the ones I mentioned above and also get a new quad with the money I save on the bike.

I understand that the HD bikes retain their value very well, but that is probably because the people that buy them hardly ever ride them. And the name also inflates the resale value. Maybe now that every well-to-do wanna be biker has one they will flood the market in the coming years and push the value down on them? Maybe then Harley will sell them for a reasonable price.

I'm not bashing HD but damn the pricing on them is like a Mustang costing $80k and a BMW M5 costing $25k. Both are nice cars but let's be realistic here.

Again, I'm not bashing HD because I think they make very nice motorcycles, just way to over-priced compared to the more high-tech Jap machines.

 

You really get an understanding of WHY they are so expensive if you were to take a tour of their factory. They arent built in as high as quantity as the Jap bikes are. Each bike is hand assembled by the workers. And I will be honest with you. I talked to some of the guys on the factory floor. I dont think I have ever met some people that loved their jobs so much as these guys that are building the Harleys. You wonder WHY they are so expensive. Well, there is usually about a years waiting list to get a new bike. They are VERY high in demand, and Harley cant make them as fast as they are selling

 

It always makes me nervous when someone says that. It's like everything they said up to that point might have been a lie.

 

Ive been there and seen it for myself. You dont have to believe me. I really dont care. I am just giveing you my honest interpretation of what I saw

 

BigBadScrambler you could be correct, though I'm taking your word for it since I've never been to a HD factory. The reason I say you may be correct is because in that factory in Ohio, Honda builds the Goldwing by hand and it costs just as much as a Harley. The process of building by hand would raise the price considerably as I've seen with the Honda factory.

I don't expect that hands on approach of HD will continue due to their inability to meet demand. I bet they'll start mass producing them on a robotic assembly line to meet demand while still charging the same ammount do to the Harley name being so coveted.

 

Don't count on it. H-D has been in business a long time and has learned just what it takes to be on top. And don't kid yourself, there have been rocky times (!) in the motor companies past but they are certainly on top of the game right now.
Mass producing shabbily and hurriedly assembled machines to feed the market is what just about killed the marque when AMF had the reins and tried that approach. Trust me, they won't be doing that again. Why would they crank out enough Harleys so that everyone who wants one has it? What do you think keeps the value so high?

And kids, the old enduring myth that keeps being repeated over and over that the Harley is a primitive unsophisticated leaky antiquated dinosaur breaking down all the time is just not true, sorry. I have bad news about Santa too, but that's not for here.
When was the last time you saw a Harley less than thirty-five years old, on the side of the road? Think about it.
Not that they are superior, mind you, but they are carefully assembled of a proven design and run a long long time. Mine's twenty this year. Doesn't leak a drop, doesn't miss a beat.
But if you enjoy the myth, by all means don't let anyone spoil the story for you.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
1 Corinthians 13:11

 

So you're saying you use the middle finger on peiople who wave to you, but aren't on a Harley? That seems to be your response from the first line. I indicated that I wave, and recieve a finger in reply from the Harley riders out here more often than not.

Passed one day before yesterday on I25 in Denver. Fatboy, full dress, guy wearing shorts, a T shirt, no helmet, and talking on his cell phone, doing 15 under in the fast lane. Hells yuppie.

The only time the attitude changes is around Sturgis time, as this is a major thouroughfare to that destination. I haven't tried waving at the people with a trailer behind their camper.... Just those that ride.
Good for you if you ain't a snob about it. Enjoy your ride, and I appreciate the wave back. My 25 year old Suzuki and I appreciate the sentiment. See ya at the gas pumps someday as you pass through Colorado on the way to Sturgis.

 

The only time I use the middle finger is to the grannies or dumb punk kids, or middle age soccer moms who cut me off and/or try to run me off the road. Every rider that goes past me, not matter what they are riding, gets a wave or a head nod (depending on if I am holding the clutch or not). I appologize for my fellow riders that do give you the finger. Thats wrong and there is no sense in it. But don't look at all Harley riders that way. Not all of us are lawyers, or doctors with a new dresser. Or hells yuppies as you call them. MY old man was actually a member of the Hells Angles when he lived in Arizone and became a member of the Devils Deciples when he moved to Michigan. He got out of it when he met my mom though. And I do know a lot of the former members of those clubs. So trust me, I can tell a yuppie wannabe from a true biker.

 

for many years, and its possible they still do.
Harley owned the flat dirt track.and flat ice track races. I dont recall what size of hi reving long lasting motor they used.
This is motorcycle's of course.