Back in the day I was one of them "bike gals" .... then came marriage & kids! Hubby is thinking about that Harley again though ... and I about getting out the black leather again Kids are growing up and the opposite is happening to us ... not entirely a bad thing!
Most motorcycle incidents happen as a result of other motorists not watching what they're doing. I get loads of dirty looks when I excelerat and move forward to get people off my flanks, especially if I see them yapping on a phone, eating, dealing with kids, READING! KC - You go girl!!!
I had a Harley in the 1980's, they leaked oil, broke down constantly, and were a pain in the patoot to repair. I switched to Honda's. Cheaper, faster, cost less, better mileage, I can work on them myself, and they look just as good as the Harleys w/o the noise.
Kwaj, HD fixed the bad bikes with leaks when they booted AMC and got thier act together. They are rated as one of the best and safest companies in the US now. The load pipes serve a purpose, keeps cars away. I tend to like that. However you have to buy those pipes and install them they don't come standard anymore. As for working on them any bike can be worked on, just like the muscle cars of old.
Honda actually engineered engine noise and vibrations into their HD competitive models. In the same vain Triumph had to fit excessively hard rear shocks on their Thunderbird model a few years ago for the American market only. This destroyed the handling, but made them more accepted by the American market that liked, and were used to the solid rear ends of some Harley’s.
No problems Nordic. I like the guys/gals who drive them. I just find the HD attitude a little bit much. You don't dare ride around Harleys with anything else. There were some "incidents" during the last anniversary here in Milwaukee.
Oh "Those Kind" of HD drivers. I know what you mean there, I avoid them myself. I'm not into the Harley Mystique thing. I just love to ride and like an American made bike.
My sons keep telling me I should get a sportster or something. The smaller bikes can be had pretty inexpensively up here. Theres so many of them around. I think the last time I even drove one was about 97'.
You have all kinds riding HD’s. If your around 1%’rs, a lot of them are not tolerant of non members they don’t know, even if they ride a HD and less so in a lot of cases if they ride metric. Most of the people who ride HD’s don’t care what you ride as long as you ride.
In Australia we have a couple of types of HD riders. The first and the traditional HD rider, at least since the 1980’s anyway are those that are often classed as Outlaw Bikers. The second are middle class Baby Boomers having a midlife crisis. Which brings me to a question. Whenever I have seen my local HD riders club go on a ride, they always bring a breakdown van; surly they’re not still that unreliable? Not even my old 1978 Ducati needs one of these.
Gas prices. Date = 1/13/1997 Belgium ~ 4.03 France ~ 3.97 Germany ~ 3.82 Italy ~ 4.17 Netherlands ~ 4.25 U.K. ~ 3.70 U.S. ~ 1.42 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/gas1.html The good ole days. :cry:
Really, thats why I'm on my scooter or motorcycle whenever possible. A HD rider told me one way to see who has an attitude about Harleys is to see who gives you the "Harley Wave" and who doesn't. FYI, the "wave" is where you take your hand off the bars, reach down beside you at about a 45' angle away from you, and cruuuuuiiiiiiiiissse on by. We non-harley riders of course just do the head nod or a quick wave with the hand.
In this case the follow wagon could be for just carrying the gear on the trip so you don’t have to pack it on the bike. In some cases it could also be a war-wagon. My HD's have been reliable but I know some guys that ride a 1970 and older bike. With a bike that old you are going to have a problem every now and then.
It could be, but why have very nice sign writing telling passers but that it is the Brisbane HD Club breakdown vehicle?
That's curious??? If your emmisions standards are anything like Cali, and you get those Cali special bikes, then those bikes will be prone to break down.