Harley Davidson has not diversified its product line. How many City bikes do they make? How many Off highway bikes? Not everyone wants a big heavy cruiser. The other major problem they have is US trade policy. If Harley ships to many country's they must pay a tariff some double the base price of the bike. But the US allows that same country to import their products without any tariff or a small one. Blame Clinton, Bush, Obama for this trade imbalance.
The anti American Constitutional party (Democrat). Wants to dismantle your rights, limiting every aspect of your constitutional rights. Death by 1000 cuts is the tactic. Each cut bleeds constitutional rights to control you. Control is the goal.
I wish they would make a offroad bike. Dual sports a very popular. But they are dominated by metrics. I think the small tank on ulyses would have been a deal breaker for me.
Though I have seen more young folks on baggers, I think they like the music.
The drop in used bikes, may save Harley. It seems to be getting young people into them. They will probably buy new at some point.
Harley is fine where they are and with what they sell. I might keep a streeted KR 750 or a Buell if someone gave it to me, but otherwise I have no interest.
As for Birdwatcher's comment about the Harley convoys, he nailed it. There's a series of roads to Mount Evans on the Colorado Front range. Most is pretty boring but there's a couple sections that are super fun, knee-dragging stuff, I would ride the boring stuff to get to the good stuff and then make multiple passes.
Anyway, one day I get to the Mt Evans junction and there's this convoy of Hogs turning out toward the good parts about 3 miles of boredom away. So I jump in, blow to the front of the line, ride fast to a nice sweeping uphill curve, jump off and go up the embankment, my "reviewing stand" for what I hoped would be a fine parade. Wow, was it worth it.
Starts quiet, then the rumble, then it's LOUD then the rumble and quiet again. Probably 400 Hogs, with 10 mufflers total. While I don't like riding them, there's almost no sound more wonderful than Harleys echoing in the mountains. Maybe the old Springfield Mile would be better, but not by much.
Up hills slow, Down hills fast Tonnage first and Safety last.
Can't have to many bikes. There are bikes for different rides. Though I have pretty much grown to the size my tank. All 3 of my bikes have trunks and bags. 2 fairings, and one windsheield. While I wouldn't mind riding a little bike. I don't see myself spending money one. For me I have to be able to ride the bike all the time, and not go home to get my truck to get groceries, or if it gets cold.
[quote=Birdwatcher][quote]Funny thing is, I never hear Harley riders bashing other manufacturers' bikes.
But by all means, rap on.
All I can say is, if ya ain't heard Harley riders bash import bikes, ya must have been living on a remote island or someth'n.
Didn't throw a leg over a motorcycle until age 27, having been gone much of that time prior in Africa. For more'n the next ten years pretty much all I owned was my motorcycle, a few guns, and of course binocs. Rode all year round, all weathers, never hardly got off, made it to most of the Lower 48 one year or another. Never owned a car until I was 40. Went to motorcycle events, hung out at motorcycle bars, dated motorcycle women.
In those years a Harley was out of the question because they were stolen so much, mostly by bikers, to be shipped overseas in later years. The worst of it was towards the very end where one MO was to run into the Harley stopped at a light from behind with a truck or van, and then load up the bike into the truck or van. The advice was if ya rode it to work always take a different way home, and have an eyelet set into the slab of the garage to lock it to. As for leaving it outside at the mall or parked at work or in an apartment parking lot day after day/night after night forget it. All of the above weren't very practical if your bike was your only transportation.
I really don't give a rip what you think of this, or me, just plainly stating fact is all.
Birdwatcher
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
"In those years a Harley was out of the question because they were stolen so much, mostly by bikers, to be shipped overseas in later years. The worst of it was towards the very end where one MO was to run into the Harley stopped at a light from behind with a truck or van, and then load up the bike into the truck or van. The advice was if ya rode it to work always take a different way home, and have an eyelet set into the slab of the garage to lock it to. As for leaving it outside at the mall or parked at work or in an apartment parking lot day after day/night after night forget it. All of the above weren't very practical if your bike was your only transportation."
If the above was commonplace enough to actually worry about, I'm damn glad I didn't grow up anywhere near you! Just where in the USA was this $hithole location? Never heard of such a thing in my home town.
Harley Davidson has not diversified its product line. How many City bikes do they make?
Quite a few, actually.. Sportster, Dyna, WideGlide, Switchback, etc..
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How many Off highway bikes?
They made one once - not very popular and the engine was weak. Off-road's not their niche..
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Not everyone wants a big heavy cruiser.
True. But not everyone wants to be jackknifed onto the narrow seat of a crotchie either; when, after a few miles, one must get off and hope the knee joint straightens out in time.. I've got a Switchback (FLD) for shorter trips and/or fast errands into town.. But if I'm going from here to Washington D.C., I'm gonna be on the big one..
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69 Pro-Constitution. LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
"In those years a Harley was out of the question because they were stolen so much, mostly by bikers, to be shipped overseas in later years. The worst of it was towards the very end where one MO was to run into the Harley stopped at a light from behind with a truck or van, and then load up the bike into the truck or van. The advice was if ya rode it to work always take a different way home, and have an eyelet set into the slab of the garage to lock it to. As for leaving it outside at the mall or parked at work or in an apartment parking lot day after day/night after night forget it. All of the above weren't very practical if your bike was your only transportation."
If the above was commonplace enough to actually worry about, I'm damn glad I didn't grow up anywhere near you! Just where in the USA was this $hithole location? Never heard of such a thing in my home town.
Jeff
In this case, Birdy's right... Back in the day one was very careful where the bike was parked and/or where you left it for any time.. Always in a locked garage and/or chained to a telephone pole.. But mostly that was in/near the 'big city' and especially out west and south.. But it occurred in the Murderapolis region quite often too..
Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69 Pro-Constitution. LET'S GO BRANDON!!!
I began riding in 1971 with an older twin cylinder Honda. I "graduated" to a Honda 550 and rode that bike as a commuter for many years. Next I owned a Kawasaki 650 LTD and rode this bike all over the west coast when stationed in northern California with USAF. In 1983 I bought a Kawasaki twin cylinder 750 and rode cross country from San Francisco to Dayton, Ohio without a windscreen. The wind beat me up pretty good so my next scooter was a Yamaha 1100 full dresser with Vetter fairing and saddlebags. Great bike that lasted me almost 20 years. Now I ride a 1999 Yamaha Royal Star which is a four cylinder motor with V configuration. Very smooth and will keep it indefinitely. No Harleys for me - can not afford one.
"In those years a Harley was out of the question because they were stolen so much, mostly by bikers, to be shipped overseas in later years. The worst of it was towards the very end where one MO was to run into the Harley stopped at a light from behind with a truck or van, and then load up the bike into the truck or van. The advice was if ya rode it to work always take a different way home, and have an eyelet set into the slab of the garage to lock it to. As for leaving it outside at the mall or parked at work or in an apartment parking lot day after day/night after night forget it. All of the above weren't very practical if your bike was your only transportation."
If the above was commonplace enough to actually worry about, I'm damn glad I didn't grow up anywhere near you! Just where in the USA was this $hithole location? Never heard of such a thing in my home town.
Jeff
In this case, Birdy's right... Back in the day one was very careful where the bike was parked and/or where you left it for any time.. Always in a locked garage and/or chained to a telephone pole.. But mostly that was in/near the 'big city' and especially out west and south.. But it occurred in the Murderapolis region quite often too..
Glad I missed out on that nonsense; we never locked anything. All the more thankful for my country upbringing.
....the whole State ....and if it were different in surrounding States I never heard of it.
"Ahem".... a history of Harley thefts according to Birdwatcher.......
First off, I'm going on the assumption that organized Harley theft has always been a function of the patch-wearing Outlaw clubs, which lower-than-whale-crap activity IMHO tells ya all you really need to know about those particular organizations.
I got into motorcycles right before the Evo motor came in in the early eighties and absolutely turned H-D around. In those years it really was the "Harley faithful", regular blue collar working stiffs who loved their motorcycles and who had scrimped and saved for years, which bikes if they were shovelheads had been rebuilt a few times, the necessity of which could be determined by a quick swipe of a finger inside a straight pipe as an index of soot accumulation.
To steal a bike from a guy like that was like ripping his heart out, I'm still recalling an old biker "Independent" I was talking to one time at Luckenbach, like Mr Bojangles speaking of a beloved bike he had ripped off one time years ago when he left it parked outside a bar. He blamed himself for letting it out of his sight. To the best of my knowledge, stolen Harleys were parted out in those years, such that at big rallies like Sturgis I was told that the Cops would set up checkpoints on the highways to check VIN numbers.
Somewhere since then for a period of time, well into the Evo years (and subsequent permutations) they story was that stolen Harleys were being crated up whole and shipped overseas, a lucrative market. The advice was don't leave your bike parked outside, don't ride the same way to work every day, bolt it down in your own garage and, at the end, there was a spate of running into bikes at stoplights and loading them into vehicles while leaving the rider at the scene. At least two of these happened right here in San Antonio.
Back in my motorcycle years my social calendar was pretty much written by the TMRA, and I would attend several poker runs, rallies, meets etc every year. One of 'em went on until after dark, the typical open venue with live music, the crowd of parked bikes spilling out of the parking lot and along the dark country road. In those couple of hours friggin' three Harleys were brazenly stolen from the road out front. That was in East Texas.
Years back here in downtown San Antonio and acquaintance left his Fat Boy parked out front of a restaurant. Walks out later to find a crew of guys loading his bike into a truck, and it weren't even dark yet. Maybe worse, he shouts out, they look at him, drop the bike, pile into the truck and leave the scene. When they dropped it they cracked the cases.
I say "before the end" because since then at some undefined time, certainly in response to market forces whatever they might be, the rate of Harley theft seems to have quite suddenly subsided. I live in a higher-crime area, and at an apartment I pass by quite often some guy has been leaving his 1200 Sportster just parked out in the full sun (which oughtta be a crime) for at least a couple of years now, and it ain't tied down. It does apparently run because sometimes it ain't there, but as of this writing it ain't been taken.
So ya, back when I was living off of a motorcycle (there I was into my thirties, no furniture of any description in my apartment, and my lighting was provided by mechanic's drop lights ) owning a Harley was pretty much out of the question. They weren't fast enough anyway. A Harley faithful buddy who turned wrenches for a living had a worked over Sporty, we rode in company many times, and his bike topped out at about 110, tops. Says a lot about my riding habits back then that 110 weren't fast enough.
IME,
Birdwatcher
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
That changing your route to/from home sounds like the Third World for cripes sake! Amazing the polar opposites of how things are from place to place in the US(or anywhere for that matter, I suppose).
There are a number of reasons why Harley's aren't stolen as much as they use to. The #1 reason is that states have toughened the laws about titleing a vehicle and the security. In the 90 systoms's and early 00's one could steal a late model Harley, buy a set of S&S crankcases, a Delkron transmission case and a aftermarket frame and put it all together. Ditch the stock frame and cases. Go to the DMV with the bike and the MSO's for the frame and cases and they would hand you a title. About $3500 and you had a new clone with a custom paint job. Now days you need to show a receipt for everything. The new Harleys have numbers on everything. The ECM can not be swapped around. The custom bike market is for the most part dead. It just isn't worth stealing a bike anymore.
Music washes away the dust of everyday life Some people wait a lifetime to meet their favorite hunting and shooting buddy. Mine calls me dad
I had a three cylinder Kawasaki 500 in 1969. It was the fastest street bike on the market at the time. 0 to 60 in so many seconds (cant remember how many) It was like being strapped to a rocket. It's a wonder I lived through that period.
When my parents met my girlfriend, now my wife, 41 years ago, the second sentence was, "Keep him away from motorcycles."
But there was no problem with 3 cylinder Kaws, they terrified me.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -Ernest Hemingway The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.-- Edward John Phelps
I've got a Switchback (FLD) for shorter trips and/or fast errands into town.. But if I'm going from here to Washington D.C., I'm gonna be on the big one..
![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/ZCL8Ws2r/JohnGult.jpg)
It's a wonder I lived through that period. 