Well, when I was growing up back in the '60s and early '70s, you couldn't
give away a Harley. Damn things leaked oil worse than the LBC's and no one
I knew wanted one. So we rode Jap bikes as well as Nortons, Triumphs, BSA's
etc. I quit riding for 35 years and about a year ago decided to start
again. I bought a big Yamaha 1100 cruiser cheap. It rode OK, but it
definitely needed a 6th gear. So I went down to the Harley dealer and
looked around. Liked a lot of them but really liked the Soft Tail Cross
Bones. Springer front end, tractor seat, big wide tires, short fenders.
Just enough old school look. And like you say Mike, you just cannot beat
that engine. I drove one and my immediate thought was, 'Holy sh$t, this is
what a cruiser is supposed to feel like'. The difference between it and
that Yamaha cruiser is night and day and I don't just mean power. This is
by far the best handling bike I've ever ridden and actually feels way
lighter than the Yamaha even though it is about 100 lbs more. So I now have
a 2011 model in the garage. What a blast! Even though the color in these
pics is way off, here are a few pics:
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1002.jpg
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1003.jpg
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1004.jpg
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1005.jpg
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1006.jpg
http://24.73.224.142/harley/img_1007.jpg
Looks red in these pics. It is actually Sedona Orange which is a deep rust
color.
From: Michael MacLean [mailto:rrengineer.mike at att.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 3:31 PM
To: Heard Saxon; derf
Cc: spridgets_autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Harleys
I own a Harley and have owned several since 1971. The present day Twin Cam
Harley is about the best one I have ever owned. Since it has the retro
look, it's the best of both worlds, the old days and today's technology.
That said, I enjoy the Harley for the same reason I enjoy my LBCs, it just
fun to play with this old technology. When I start up the Harley from cold,
it's like I just fired up an old biplane. The engine has the recognizable
staccato from the 45 degree V-Twin that oozes old school. I get the same
feeling from my free flow Maniflow exhaust of my Bugeye /1275 engine. I get
thumbs up when I'm riding either of them. As far as I'm concerned a Harley
is a motorcycle and the rest are just 2 wheeled vehicles.
Mike MacLean
60 Sprite
56 BN2
02 Heritage Springer
--- On Thu, 2/24/11, derf <derf247 at gmail.com> wrote:
From: derf <derf247 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Spridgets] Harleys
To: "Heard Saxon" <heard at datatrontech.net>
Cc: "spridgets_autox.team.net" <spridgets at autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 8:08 PM
My dad had Harleys when I was growing up. He also had a Norton and a
few others.
I always wanted one. When I got to a point where I could get one or
two, I realized I no longer wanted one.
Someone took the Harley icon and commercialized the heck out of it.
Of course, much of it was me. There is nothing wrong with HD. It
just isn't what it used to be.
After having ridden many different bikes, I would go with a BMW. The
BMWs regularly last 100,000 plus miles with good maintenance.
But, OTOH, my street bike is a 2001 Honda XR250 Dual Sport so what do I
know?
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Heard Saxon <heard at datatrontech.net> wrote:
> I want to talk about Harleys since I just bought one.
> _______________________________________________
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