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Why would anyone want a 150HP 500 pound high-seat dirt-road bike? Well, BMW has pulled it off for decades, so it must be an easy market right? Oh and let's make it reminiscent of a Camel. Gotta keep those independent USA styling cues, right? The PROTOTYPE Livewire, basically a battery powered Sportster, had a ~90 mile range, expressly because the gas powered one did. There's not a single element of those prototypes H-D didn't shitcan out of stupidity. Nobody can argue that the big touring bikes are comfortable and capable. One can argue that they built the best of them 2 engine generations ago. More electronics is not the answer, it is much of the problem.

I won't be surprised at what brand takes pole, I am pretty sure that will be Ducati. But I am way less sure about which rider will be on that pole winning Ducati. There are even more reasons why FP1 was not very meaningful. In addition to the track being dirty and slippery with a distinct lack of grip, FP1 is also held during the day while the sun is up. Where as racing and qualifying will be held after the sun goes down. But FP1 was interesting. One thing was that the top 10 were covered buy 9 thousandths over one second, 1.009 seconds, but the gap between Marc and second fastest was over a half a second (0.513 seconds). Clearly Marc was pushing harder in the slippery conditions then anyone else was willing to push, especially because being fast in those conditions really wasn't going to matter over the course of the weekend. That may bode well for Marc, or it may not. I certainly wouldn't bet against Marc, but I also would not bet on him. It could easily go either way.

I looked into the Pan America 1250 last year with a new motor design with 150HP, on paper it sounded like a solid plan. That was until I Googled "Harley Davidson Pan America 1250 problems". They had major engine failures in 21' and many other recallable issues to sort through the following years, leaving me to sort through low mileage used bikes for sale, some with new engines. Getting a read from the forum, Harley financing pushes warranties heavily on their bikes up charging you before you can leave the dealership. The sad reality is you need the warranty to maintain one on the road. Harley has failed to reinvent itself with new products because of quality and design flaws. For instance the electric HD LiveWire with 70miles of highway range, I would have trouble getting home from the dealership . The new HD Road Glide and Street Glide look teched up with features for 25', I hope history doesn't repeat itself.

...and don't get me started on how they turned the stunningly beautiful VR1000 race bike into the V-Rod. Another thumb in the eye of wannabe H-D riders. Oh and their new 'ADV' bike. A visual POS.

That sounds harsh on the re-read, but I don't find anything to change lol

I agree that the Qatar track is particularly dirty given the lack of activity outside the F1 and MotoGP. But there are still 6 Ducati in the 7 top riders. I am not taking anything for granted, but I will not be surprised by who will make pole position tomorrow.

When we went to Bandera TX to pickup our flags for the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas, there were a few trikes, but the vast majority of riders were on two wheels, and the main brand was HD. Independently of this particular snapshot, which is certainly not representative, there was something common to all the riders, with the exception of a few: mostly "senior" citizens. This is something I have noticed since I do the Texas tour. Very few youngsters. When I was 16, all my friends were into motorcycling. We just have to admit it; the younger generations have different interests.

I remember when hitching was a thing

I would think that Aprilia are the ones driving their participation in MotoGP, not Piaggio. I would put that down to Aprilia doing what it can with the amount of independence it has within the larger Piaggio family. And to be fair, given how much less they spend they certainly are punching above their weight. They are getting better results then either Honda or Yamaha despite spending way less then either of those guys. So, while they do make some mistakes here and there that don't make them look great, I would say more often then not their performance in MotoGP makes them look better then they should given what they spend. As they say, fortune favors the brave. Or, no risk no gain. At this track the entire Friday, both first and second practice, are somewhat meaningless as the track is covered in sand and needs to be cleaned and rubbered in from bikes doing laps. It won't be until tomorrow that we start to see who has what. Friday will favor riders who like low traction situations. But it likely won't stay that way all weekend, the traction should improve. I think Martin is just testing the waters since he was denied the ability to do any private testing to see if he is race fit and ready to race. Also, racers race. He won't be the first racer to push coming back early. Racers do that whether they are top level pros or club racers. He has to start coming back at some point, might as well be now.

Before I say 'one of the best Fortnine breakdowns ever' and 'He's on point everywhere' I have to point out that probably due to youth and a dab of apathy, he's missed a couple relevant points that add to, but don't dispute, his analysis. H-D sold over 100,000 motorcycles in 1936, before WWII. They never achieved that number again until 1988. They bought half of Aermacchi in 1960, because they wanted a World Championship in a Euro theater, and brought the Sprint to the US- where it was a monumental failure. Before that, they had the Whizzer and the Topper; neither brought a significant number of new riders to the brand *in and of themselves*. So there was a basis for ignoring entry-level bikes. The real problem was the ability of the Company to manipulate politics; famously and obviously in flat-track racing, where only Honda was able to overcome H-D rulemaking via sanctioning body with fabulous engineering specifically targeted to the project. Pity Honda turned that into the PC800 instead of a decades-early Ducati Monster. So the Company became stereotypically ossified in executive mentality, a la IBM. Then Ford and GM, then all the auto companies, stood up internal Corporate financing, which put product and customer both to second consideration. Coupled with the death of Corporate legacy interest, and the coming of CEOs and executives who gave no shit for the legacy it's easy to see how they got here. And there's no indication it's changing. All the electric bicycles and hand-waving are nothing but a drowning man's flailing and grasping at straws. So Phil's correct, Fortnine spelled it out, and the only people who adhere to history and legacy are riding trikes or wheelchairs, or mouth-breathing gym-rat trust fund babies of the former.

I got a 2019 ultra classic last year did a few simple mods and rode it 6000 miles. Had 3200 when I bought it. The bike is nice with a lot of features for the long haul. Easy on the back and sciatica. I to am not good with the Harley culture still only wear full helmet and gear so the machine is fine, start the turn early and end a little late. Still have my MG but the Harley was a pleasant surprise.

It makes me wonder why Piaggio is even keeping Aprilia in MotoGP, if they are not "All in!"? The kind of errors they have committed make them look like a "B" stock team, and defeats the purpose of racing to win the championship. Besides, they probably have invested a lot of money on Jorge Martin, so what is the point to have a capable pilot if you are going to cut his legs with miscellaneous issues? Anyway; Guess who is at the top of FP1 this morning? and we are not going to take it as an indication for the next practice, because as we know, FP1 means nothing...

Indian seems to have at least a few models which are accessible. The Indian Scout is not cheap, but it is affordable. They have one model shown at 10k, but all their bikes are water cooled since 2025...

Demographics. Their customer base is graying out. They'll soon need an Electra Glide hearse.

I also remember seeing somewhere fairly recently that Harleys primary money maker isn't the actual products but the finance arm of the company. They are basically making bikes to feed the finance business. Phil

helluva setup there Tom! Just arrived in Minnesota tonight, tomorrow making the drive to Houston, Minnesota, to see where the norwegian ancestors came over to establish the "bridgehead to america" around 1850. Probably be more fun to be in norway in your garage.

My favorite too. The beautiful Miura is proportioned so well, you can't appreciate how low and ground hugging it is until you are standing next to it, towering over it. Although they weren't crazy expensive when new, they sure are now. Well above my budget, so I enjoy driving my Toyota MR2 Spyder instead.

Oh, no. Not me. I never even heard of (The) Mississippi Queen . . .

Tell me you've never watched 'Two Lane Blacktop'. Seriously Next you'll say you don't have 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' or 'Vanishing Point' on DVD

Alright. Ya made me look . . .

You have to ride one old enough to have iron cylinders to understand. But those of us who have, as stated, are a dying generation. And many of us found ... less problematic units to fill the same spaces.

David Bowie?

There was interest. They came with the Livewire, and it was a stellar hit *in testing*. Then they took 2 years to release it, ruined the look, made it $5k too expensive. Then all the Indian/Japanese/whatever the smaller stuff was, which was ugly slow and still expensive. There was nothing wrong with Sportsters as first bikes, except They want scarcity, they'll get it. Until they can source American parts, of which there are very few.

Earlier on this evening I had a look at the Hardly Rideable website, I think for the first time ever. Would I own one? Definately not. Never interested me, most likely never will. It amazes me that they, with such a limited customer base, have managed to survive for so long.

and given that, there has to be this.