favorite Harley

[Van]

The topic was "smoked a V-Rod" and got me thinking

1) didn't think a V 11 would dust off a V-Rod in a straight off run, a twisty road yes, but on a straight?

2) while on the subject of The Motor Company, the only H.D.'s l ever liked were the sportsters, although the cafe racerish bike they built in the seventies was pretty cool

Cheers

van

[Skeeve]

The topic was "smoked a V-Rod" and got me thinking

1) didn't think a V 11 would dust off a V-Rod in a straight off run, a twisty road yes, but on a straight?

2) while on the subject of The Motor Company, the only H.D.'s l ever liked were the sportsters, although the cafe racerish bike they built in the seventies was pretty cool

Cheers

van

 

1) It wouldn't, straight up. But the Harley guy didn't understand? know? that in drag races, power/weight ratio = everything, so by loading his bike down w/ himself AND his gf, he was severely affecting the power/wt ratio of his (already bloated) V-Rod to the point where a competently ridden V11 could beat him. He also is very likely to have been short-shifting his V-Rod (as many H-D riders are wont to do), instead of revving the thing 'til it bounces off the rev limiter. The V-Rod makes 120 ponies, sure, but it makes them up high, much higher than the old school Harley Big Twins.

 

2) The cafe racer you're thinking of was Sportster too. So you can just say "The only H.D's I ever liked were the Sportsters" and be correct.

 

Ride on!

[BRENTTODD]

The best harley you could ever want is the one leaking oil and pitting all the chrome in somebody elses garage. I just cant ride the same bike as my make belive week end biker lawer. But if I had to have one the street bob is nice or that lowerd sporster i forget the bad ass name for that one

QUICK JOKE

WHAT IS THE DIFFRENCE BETWEEN A HARELY AND A HOOVER VACUUME . THE DIRTBAG IS ON THE INSIDE OF A HOOVER HA HA HA HA

[BRENTTODD]

I forgot a also like all those dirty storys in the back of the easy rider mag. When the chicks talk about how much the love the feel of a harley all that power they knew that was the ride of them. I forget what the called that section something hunt. If you won you could be the naked chick in up comming issue. Oh those old childhood memories makes me want to grow my hair long grab a bandana put my feet out front get gaint set of ape hangers and hit the open road stoping at all the strip joints and dirty bar rooms. Just being that bad ass biker dude maybe even get some sew on pathes cool right?

[Admin Jaap]

'44 Liberator

 

For sentimental reasons... I have a picture somewhere of my father on the back of a Canadian bike messenger's HD during the liberation in March '45

[DeBenGuzzi]

I REALLY REALLY like the new HD crossbones, IN fact I think I'll be buying one as soon as I get my RSVR paid off, the crossbones is everything I've wanted in a harley except it doesn't have the blacked out pipes I like, but thats an easy fix, at least heat wrapped as I really like that old school look and chrome is too hard to keep polished

[Guzzirider]

The Road King is a pretty good ride as Harleys go- reasonable ground clearance and brakes. Trouble is that whenever I've ridden a Harley I've tried to ride it like a normal bike and it just doesn't work that way. I had some mental times on the Fat Boy I used to own, but I knew it was going to end in a crash so I sold it while we were both in one piece.

 

Won't buy another until I'm old enough to draw my pension and fancy getting myself an 18 year old girlfriend!

 

Guy

[Admin Jaap]

I've recently seen that new Dirt track thingy. It looked nice. But I'd never, and I mean never, consider it.

[Ralph Werner]

Here's my favorite.

 

[DeBenGuzzi]

THE GREATEST news out there is harley finally admitted(maybe not openly) that their brakes SUCK, I mean they were complete shite compared to almost everything out there, all their new bikes come with brembo's

[Garsdad]

Rode a Fat Bob. Liked it OK. Hate forward controls, but with mids I could cruise on that one. It does slow you down to see the sights.

[mason]

My Favorite Harley was the one my Dad built for me when I was in the 4th grade in 1969. It was a 50CC Aeremacchi Harley basketcase rebuild. He completed mine a year after my older brothers, his was a 65cc. Three speed, shifter on the clutch........it took me forever to get used to a foot shift after that. These things were really cool, other neighborhood kids were sporting shideshaft Brigs motors. We had I-talian Harley's, we were the envy! Here is a pic of me and my brother, I am on the right.

[roberto tenni]

When I was a child, I thought Harlys were the best thing ever - especially the Electra Glide.

I've grown-up now.

[Ryland3210]

I bought an ex Newark police bike with sidecar back around 1975. It was a 1964 Duo-Glide. We had a lot of fun with it, and it never broke down on me. That's probably because the first thing I did was to strip it down and rebuild it. Stopping and handling-fugeddaboudit!

 

It was brutally simple, with idle mixture and main jet needles on the carburettor you reach down and adjust by hand while riding. The left hand grip controlled the spark advance. If you forgot to retard it to kick start it (no electric start), it could launch you into the air when it lit off. There was no spring return on the throttle. Instead it had a cable operated by a complex cam and roller mechanism built into the right grip and cable within the handlebars. It worked like a cruise control, since it would stay wherever you put it.

 

There were no counter rotating anti vibration balancing weights, so the vibration was unbelievable at high RPM's. I changed every sprocket I could to increase the mph/rpm to the point where at 55 mph, you could practically count the exhaust pulses. Then it was a joy to ride all day.

 

It had so much low end torque it could pull the sidecar, the wife, and a load of camping gear along with no problems.

 

It also had a special feature whereby the policeman could push a button to lock the position of the speedometer. That was the evidence they used to prove you were speeding. You can imagine the opportunities for deliberate false readings. Back then, there was no such thing as presumption of innocence in traffic court. It's still true today, that most judges will take the officers word against the drivers, unless he has a lawyer to enforce the presumption of innocence.

 

Back in my long hair days, I tore the bike apart, chopped it, then years later, restored it and sold it for 3 times what I paid. Lots of fond memories.

[JoeV11]

My favorite is the one I built in my garage - stretched, chopped and raked. It's apart now for final paint. It's the building that I enjoyed, it is a bear to ride - and it scrapes around corners. In the summer I'll sell it to fund another project, probably an old Kawi triple with modern suspension, and more upgrades to the Guzzi. Nice thing about Harleys is they hold their value - I'll get everything back plus a token for my labor! LOL. Joe