Time for my summertime Harley rant...

In reply to nicksta43:

If I saw my front tire "shaking".......I would probably be very concerned about if were properly inflated, if my suspension was blown, or if my front wheel bearing was going bad.

Bobzilla wrote: So... what you're saying is you WANT to ride a bike that pains you when sitting still and makes it impossible to see.

Nope. I want, and have, a bike that is incredibly comfortable and easy to ride for hours on end, all day long. The price I pay is it shakes strongly at idle.

yamaha wrote: In reply to nicksta43: If I saw my front tire "shaking".......I would probably be very concerned about if were properly inflated, if my suspension was blown, or if my front wheel bearing was going bad.

maybe he means headshake My tl1000r does a bit of that.

In reply to carbon:

Whatever the term is that bad boy bounces like a basketball.

In reply to carbon:

Still, I'd be very concerned......its not like in his case he can claim its from the power of the engine like yours....

Mine usually does it touching back down after wheeling out of higher speed corners if I'm not completely upright, it'll give me a little wiggle. The TL widowmaker stories are greatly exaggerated, maybe the s version is scarier.

The other thing that the harley guys do that drives me nuts, they just smash it down through the gears as they decelerate with zero revmatching whatsoever. 50-0 sounds like crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch. The thing that bugs me about the loud harley thing is the same thing that bugs me about anything thats loud but has low specific output. Loud inefficient e36m3 sounds ugly to my ear.

In reply to carbon:

Haha,yeah they sound like 2 very poorly running single cylinder engines running out of time with each other.I come from a couple decades of sport bikes,I can see why a throttle blip to rev match would be so ineffective on the hog-they simply don't rev quick enough.

It's certainly not from the power, neither was the shaker on my first T/A with the little 301. I just love to watch em shake.

IRT Bobzilla:

They shake like a motherberker at the ~800rpm idle, but smooth out like butter from ~1000 through 3000rpm. Comfortable for all day riding, without the tingly numbness of a buzzy high-rpm motor.

carbon wrote: The other thing that the harley guys do that drives me nuts, they just smash it down through the gears as they decelerate with zero revmatching whatsoever. 50-0 sounds like crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch.

Well, you don't do it either, since there's no rev matching on any dog box. So let's not pretend, eh?

Anyhow, Harley's have inherently crashy crunchy boxes. Just the way they are. Personally, I kinda like it. I can hear and feel when it's shifted. Hondas especially used to drive me nuts with their soft shifting and the ability to find false neutrals between the gears. Especially as the oil got older. Not a problem I have with my RK. I've not missed a single shift with it. Yippee!

YMMV. Sporties make my butt and hands numb.

In reply to 914Driver:

Have you ridden an 04+ rubber mount? My butt only gets numb after a couple hours. I can't feel any vibration in the handle bars. The solid mounts transfer a lot more of the shake to the rider.

Arguing about the front wheel shake at idle is kind of silly...lots of twin cylinder bikes do that, for example look at just about every classic British vertical twin, such as Nortons or Triumphs (my Kawasaki W650 does the same thing.) It has nothing to do with how they run when moving at higher than idle speeds.

In reply to stuart in mn: Yep mines smooth as can be. I just like to watch it shake at a red light. Some people can't appreciate the simple things in life.

Hahaha! Bikers don't understand our car geekyness just how we might not understand the bikers in-your-face, middle finger attitude.

H-D has paid my bills for almost 18 years. I can say with some confidence that the majority of bikers don't give a rats ass about how you feel about their bikes, pipes, sound level, or appearance.

Yes, many of them would tend to hate imports as a matter of principal. BMWs and Porsches in particular. To them they are a symbol of elitist entitlement.

When I was hillclimbing- I would get some really funny looks when I said 'I hillclimb a Omni GLH'. Hill climbing means something WAY different to bikers.

Its a different world, entirely. Many bikers are very cool and love to exchange motoring stories.

To those with a low idle shake- there are jets kits and reprogramming that can bump up the idle speed almost eliminating the harshness at idle.

Please don't attack others that are different- educate yourself and make an informed decision.

This is about the funniest thing to come from the "lifestyle company".

Based on the HD owners I know (my customers) The average HD owner now has a six-figure income.

So much for the anti-establishment badasses.

Maybe the hardcore bikers should all go buy import motorcycles since those seem to be affordable.

HD makes a few bikes that I like and would consider owning but their marketing department and customers have turned the company into a caricature of itself.

seeker589 wrote: Yes, many of them would tend to hate imports as a matter of principal. BMWs and Porsches in particular. To them they are a symbol of elitist entitlement.

What he said^

Harley Davidson, yesterday's technology, tomorrow's prices.

What I notice is that HD riders seem to wave at each other and not most anyone else. Same with gas station stops or diners, etc; if you wear the same outfit as them, they seem friendly. They don't really talk to me. I wave at most anyone on two wheels, including guys on scooters or bicyclists. Why not?

It all seems like they're rugged individualists that only appreciate other appearance matched rugged individualists. Oh well.

I hate most H.D.'s simply because big handlebars and saddle bags look stupid. Oh, and they're loud. The only ones I kinda like are the smaller, bobber styled ones (883 I think? A coworker has one).

Whatever haters

I can't even think of anything car or bike related I would even feel strongly enough about to declare my hate for.

I love all things that have wheels. Even all those POS Ford products, I mean ya gotta have a way to judge what's good and what's junk.

In reply to sethmeister4:

You know, I think that's kind of silly, too. I mean, I keep a top box on my motorcycle probably 99% of the time, because it's convenient and a great place to put my helmet when I'm off the bike or carry things I might want to carry like groceries or gym clothes or whatever. And I've had people actually tell me that using a motorcycle every day and carrying home the shopping or what have you isn't what motorcycles are for and the top box is just silly. Leave it at home, useful is lame, motorcycles are only about fun! I think that's really strange. So the saddle bags, while seeming kind of funny to me with the leather tassels and whatever, are for the rider's needs or wants. It doesn't get in your way. The ape hangars, well, it seems harder to properly steer and such with those but that's kind of the rider's problem. Loud gets in my way and disturbs my peace, saddlebags seem like not my problem. Right?

sethmeister4 wrote: I hate most H.D.'s simply because big handlebars and saddle bags look stupid. Oh, and they're loud.

Correct me if I'm wrong, the GF does all the time, but it seems to me that the obnoxiously loud Harleys are more of an east coast / midwest thing. I recently did some work in Colorado and also in Washington / Idaho and all the Harleys I saw out there just rumbled in a powerful and subdued way. Not the ear-splitting cackle you hear so often on the east coast. Do they have tougher laws in the west?

I don't know about California. that's its own country anyway

seeker589 wrote: I can say with some confidence that the majority of bikers don't give a rats ass about how you feel about their bikes, pipes, sound level, or appearance.

quite frankly I also couldn't give a rats ass how they feel … all I want is for the bikers … be it sport bikes or Victory/Harley/Indian …etc … to have to live with the same rules … LAWS that I have to, as regards to sound levels …

there's nothing special about them that gives them the right to be shiny happy people

I know what you're trying to say but unfortunately it's going to get done for us if these ass-clowns keep abusing it

nicksta43 wrote: Maybe we should all demand that the government makes it illegal to change any portion of the exhaust of any type of vehicle from stock. That would solve everybody's problems.