Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Thoughts on Harley bashing.

Here ya go:

http://www.pugsguns.com/index.action

Has a lot of high-end stuff; collector type firearms etc..

I just wanna go there and have a drool rag handy..


added: check out this little gem:
http://www.pugsguns.com/findItem.action?id=1705

good lord, drool rag indeed! lol!!

wow.

I don't care if you ride.

Say what you want about the fruits and nuts in California but we have the best motorcycle roads and the best riding weather in the world. Check this out <www.pashnit.com>.

If there is enough serious interest I would organize something in Northern California.

I don't even need to click the link to believe you man.

I don't care that you don't care that I ride!

Ya well..well..

Dave,

Thought I'd pass on a little food for thought on the RKC, which is a great bike, BTW. I'd seriously consider holding out on a '09 or newer, and here's why. I rode a 80" Evo powered '92 FLHS(which eventually morphed into the Road King) for many trouble free years, and thought it was a fine machine, and it is/was. However, in 2009, the MoCo completely redesigned the bagger chassis. New frame, steering geometry, isolation mounts....The new chassis, coupled with the 96" Twin Cam motor, is a huge leap forward in the FLH/FLT series of bikes. My '09 Road Glide handles so much better, and has more useable power(thanks to the 6-speed tranny, coupled with new pulley ratios in the primary drive). I could go on and on. After owning/riding both pre and post '09's, there is simply no comparison. Good luck in your quest!

Jeff

Normally people answer by saying I have never done this myself but this is what I think.
All I can say is that when people start bashing an American made product and start glorifying a pile of plastic and aluminum, we are in trouble as a nation!

My Electra Glide just got 50 mpg on the last tankful. Lets see
a crotch rocket do that!
My first three Harley Davidson motorcycles were worth the purchase price when I traded them in on new motorcycles.
Lets see you do that with any Jap bike.
It's to bad they can't just ride the brand they prefer without bashing some other brand.
whelennut

All I can say is: "There are different tools for different jobs." The Cresent wrench is NOT the only tool in the tool box.

While I dearly love my '08 Street Glide , If'n I wanted to "carve up the canyon" I'd not hesitate to unearth my 1982 Ducati Pantah ! But the Duc remains fairly retired. It's not all that much fun in MI. However, If I lived in Tennessee or Colorado or...

For the kind of riding I do now, the Harley is very good at. The 96 C.I. Big Twin has power to spare... And the 6-Speed tranny is very user friendly. But best of all, is the Delphi fuel injection... No muss, No Fuss, and No adjustments... Just push the button and GO... (And BION, no oil spots on the garage floor either...)

'Course I'm getting to the age that I have no craving to go 200 m.p.h. nor harbour any latent desire to have the front wheel in the air... (I'm slightly embarassed to say that at one time, I did!)

While like any machine, I can pick it apart, But overall, it's a great ride and the Big Twin power pulsing up thru the seat is very satisfying. You can bet that this one won't be my last...

Edw

Harleys aren't the best. Harleys aren't the worst. Harleys are, well, just Harleys, and unlike some other brands they don't try to be anything other than Harleys. Love them or hate them they will hold close to their original heritage.

I have a friend who is my main wrench. He used to ride a Harley but has since as he said "evolved" into a BMW. He is an Iron Butt aficionado and I suppose if you are into that insanity a BMW is the way to go.

I once went into a BMW dealership and said, "I ride a Harley what can you say to convince me to buy a BMW?" He said, "I don't have to say a word just take a ride" He tossed me the keys to a new one. I didn't take him up because I knew he was right and didn't want to burst the bubble I still live in.

Thanks Jeff, a friend of mine passed on a sweet trade in deal which would have brought him from his 100 anniversary model year (03?) RKC with 65k to an 09 RKC. He passed because he said the 09 seat height was too tall for him. He's a short dude.

nice to hear some specifics on the changes for 09 other than (it's just taller)

All the above is spot on.. It's the one thing I noted on this '09 UC vs. the '05 I had before - seat height.. It's about an inch higher (I still think it's due to the rear tire size change in that year) and, even though I'm of average height, I have to work at getting both feet flat on the ground...

A minor beef..

HAH.. He had ya bluffed; and YOU BOUGHT IT!!! If he'd have tossed me the keys I would have gone for a ride.. They're great bikes.. But IMVHO the comfort level's just not there when compared to what I have now.. At my age - comfort is everything..

not to "bash" anything but I have 3 friends that drove bikes frome MN up to AK recently & had the bikes shipped home & they flew back home(they planned it that way)

Anyways, that's a big trip. All the bikes were sort of "chuck norris delta forced up" meaning they were dual sport touring types made to run comfortably on the dirt roads as well as the paved stuff.

2 were BMW, Other I think was a yammi.

They worked on the BMW's pretty much every day.

Never touched the less expensive yammi, just gas & go.

Sorry Bub,

Just climbed off of my bike yesterday... about 5,500 -6,000 miles in 18 days (ain't done the math yet, but most of those miles were in just 7 of those days).

Texas - Ohio - New York - North Carolina - Texas.

This was interesting to me since I haven't mingled in motorcycle circles for about 15 years.

Did an OC Chopper poker run in Orange County, and hit the legendary Tail of the Dragon stretch of 129 in the Smokies. So I was around some bikes.

I got nothing against Harleys for what they are. But the "Harley rider stereotypes"? Self-inflicted, 100%.

Walk into any of them cookie-cutter new Harley dealerships. They ain't about motorcycles.

Birdwatcher

The increased seat height is actually a plus for me, at 6'3". Could very well be due to the new tire size. I haven't compared the rolling diameter of the new 180/17 vs. the old 130/16's. I do believe the lean angles are better as well. I made the mistake of lowering my FLHS, and will never do that again. Used to grind the floorboards on a regular basis. Have not thrown a spark yet, with this '09 at stock height.

Jeff

the height thing wouldn't be a prob for me either, it's very good to know about all those possitive changes for 09. I will keep that in mind.

'Nother nice thing about that new tire.. I've got almost 8700 miles on the clock and there's still 45% tread.. I'm pretty sure I won't have to change it this year, even with the Sturgis run..

The '05's tire had to be swapped for a new one at 7,000 miles..

Maybe, depends upon the Beemer and yerself.

Sixteen years back I bought one of these 'the one bike to last me forever', the last of the old airhead Beemers, the R100 GS/PD. Sort of a German equivalent to the ol' eternally-rebuildable Shovelhead Harleys, or so I thought.



Turned out to be the worst dog BMW ever built, I sold it at a loss after 2 years and 45,000 miles. I coulda kept it for what it was but I had NO use for an unreliable motorcycle, not even a classic like the Paris/Dakar airhead.

But during my two Beemer years I did the Nationals both years, and mingled with lots of BMW's.

Truth be told there ain't hardly ANY unreliable motorcycles produced at present. BMW's are no better or worse, the reason everybody doesn't ride them is not everybody likes them. They aren't the quickest, nor the best handling, and they ARE more expensive.

Just this Monday past out at the famous motorcycle mecca at Deal's Gap in the Smokies I was talking to a BMW R1200 GS/PD owner who had rode down from Alberta.

He was admiring my old '92 Kawasaki KLR650, a bike which has quietly built a reputation for stone-axe simplicity and reliability over 23 years of continuous production.



According to him, if he were going to ride around the world, the KLR would be his choice (many have used 'em for that), Beemers having steadily moved in the direction of increasing complexity. If your fuel-injected, computerized BMW breaks in Patagonia you are probably walking home, with a carbureted thumper however, you might have a shot at fixing it.

Birdwatcher

My last bike I bought was a 2007 KLR 650.