I should have said "was" rather than "is". They do seem to have figured out which way is up. Back in the late 70's and early 80's HD had nobody to blame but themselves for their problems. They built crappy products that nobody wanted to buy. Their quality has improved a lot since then, though it's still a bit below average based on what I've heard from my HD owning friends. Despite the quality issues, HD products are now very popular and profitable.
Grant Edwards wrote: > Their quality has improved a lot since then, though it's
When you have some first hand experience, rejoin the conversation.
Yes.
No, Mr. Smartass, I'll get on here and blabber whenever I want to, about any topic I want to, whether I know anything or not, just to irritate a person such as yourself.
Let me guess, you are taking lessons on being obnoxious. Right?
Ed Cregger
Won't happen. They don't make anything I'd ride.
Irritate? No, silly boy, you didn't irritate me. But it appears you're quite irritated.
No, but obviously you are.
I know MANY owners of HD's built since the buy out. They ARE VERY RELIABLE...not my cup of meat but they are reliable and durable. I have no idea what lame asshole has been blowing smoke and lies up your skirt.
"Ed Cregger" SNIP
I'll have you know I don't give classes in THAT subject...classes in "Being annoying to even a monk" yes.
Why? Biased? Or just full of misinformation? I'd ride a Buell in a heartbeat...OBTW that IS a Harley Davidson.
Christ. Don't backpedal on this. Marketing and sales is all they succeed at. The bikes are still POS. It's more a comment on the US consumers, who continue to reward HDI despite its lack of engineering, innovation, and build quality.
I really want to know how we went from a perfectly good discussion on battery technology and ended up on motorcycles. You guys really blow my mind sometimes. Jim W
1) I don't really like the sound or feel of V-twins. 2) I don't like the riding position or steering geometry of any of H-D's models. 3) I don't like H-D styling.
I knew the engine was, but I didn't know H-D had bought Buell.
I'd ride one just for grins, but I don't think I'd buy one.
I don't particularly like them, but they do seem to be better (quality-wise) than they were 25 years ago. I think they're still hugely over-priced and a notch below the Japanese brands in quality and several notches below in design and technology.
But, H-D _has_ figured out how to sell them and how to make a profit doing so.
AFAICT, people buy H-D almost entirely for the brand name and image.
What is a Buell? TIA
Ed Cregger
Does anyone remember the Cadillac 4-6-8 V-8 engine? It utilized solenoid driven valves on at least some cylinders. The idea being that you could stop opening and closing valves on certain cylinders under certain load/speed conditions and save fuel. This also provides the engineers with the opportunity to program different cam profiles digitally and to even alter the basic timing of the engine.
Fit such valve solenoids to a Japanese V-Twin and then have the solenoid/timing computer programmed to emulate various engine designs, such as a Harley V-Twin.
At idle is the only time that you would really want it to run/sound like a Harley. It would give you that big and bad sound of a Harley at idle, then run like a normal, well behaved, Japanese V-Twin when cruising down the highway. You would then have all of the macho sound you could want, with all the reliability and power of a Japanese motorcycle.
Ed Cregger
No, I'm not irritated (obnoxious, yes). I was attempting to kid you and things went horribly wrong. My apology.
Ed Cregger
Any chance for the usual suspects to come out and wave their willies and the flag.
It would give you that big and bad sound of a Harley at idle, then
A hog isn't a motorcycle. Its a style statement. Like chest rugs.
Accepted. In the future, liberal use of smiley's :-) might help. With this faceless media, it's too easy for attempted kidding to result in the above.
I would disagree with this statement. I've owned a recent examples of a Harley wannabe, and a Harley. The Harley wannabe was certainly a nice bike, and good quality. However, the Harley was actually several notches above the Honda in many areas. Most important was the quality of the parts. Wherever possible Honda used chrome looking and plastic parts. This gave it a nice shiny look, but not the long term durability of real metal and real chrome. The same goes for many of the parts on the Honda, they were good enough, but did not seem as durable as the same part on the Harley. This actually fits into the earlier discussion that most people treat the Japanese brands as somewhat disposable.
It's because they have a product people want.
I actually thought long and hard before I spent the money on a Harley. I put it off for a long time due to the above issue, I did not want to just buy a brand name and image. I decided to buy one because I could see and feel the difference between a Harley and the Harley wannabes. Now that I have one I don't hang with the Harley groups, and I don't try to dress like an outlaw. Since I wear a full face helmet, even in states where helmets are not required, I guess I'm definitely not the typical Harley rider.
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