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What would it take for you to buy a Harley?

Hmmm, I should have purchased matching Harley Bandannas when I bought HD.

MotoDonkey said:
PICT4634-harley-davidson_jpg.jpg
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Decent looking Dyna Wide Glide however.
 
spdt509 said:
no matter what age group,there's no reason to buy new when the used HD market is so saturated.for the price of 2010 bagger,you could buy 2 used HD's,mix and match..(1 sportster,1 dyna etc..)
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This. There is 3 times the amount of Hardleys for sale in the local trades as all the other bikes combined. The financing machine let any yahoo buy a Hardley, and now most can't make the payments. If you're going to buy a Hardley, buy used and low ball them hard.

And no, I would never buy a Hardley when there are Triumphs available. If I'm going to buy a retro looking bike, I'll go brit.

I've test ridden Hardleys, they suck.
 
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msog said:
Hmmm, I should have purchased matching Harley Bandannas when I bought HD.

Just make sure you fold them exactly correctly or you might be shunned and so embarrassed!
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If I was looking for a cruiser I would look at a Harley. I actually like the Victory better. I don't much care for chrome and I'm a little tired of the Harley look. I really do hate the Harley coulture though. I know a lot of guys that only like Harley and I try to stay away from that though.

I do believe that Harleys are well made and reliable motorcycles, but currently I only want standards or sport touring bikes. Maybe someday I'll get a Harley, but I would rent one for a couple of days first to make sure its for me.
 
an act of god.

but seriously, what everyone else is saying. lose the culture, the pricetag and the sound. gain performance, reliability, hp and a different look and you might have a deal. Oh wait we already have a big handful of other companies who have already accomplished that.
 
MentalPiracy said:
an act of god.

but seriously, what everyone else is saying. lose the culture, the pricetag and the sound. gain performance, reliability, hp and a different look and you might have a deal. Oh wait we already have a big handful of other companies who have already accomplished that.
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Well ok, that too.:laughing
 
After 25 years of riding Suzukis and a Beemer, I bought my first cruiser, a Harley in late '06. Good bike, extremely reliable. Not the fastest, not the best handling, but neither is a truck and I'm sure plenty of you own one of those...
 
extra cash, but id rather get a harley type motor in my cb 750 and cafe it before buying a harley.
 
mnb said:
After 25 years of riding Suzukis and a Beemer, I bought my first cruiser, a Harley in late '06. Good bike, extremely reliable. Not the fastest, not the best handling, but neither is a truck and I'm sure plenty of you own one of those...
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:wtf

Your analogy is horrible. You (okay, I) buy a truck for the specific purpose of hauling things or offroading. You don't buy it because it handles well or goes really fast. That's what sports cars are for.

I own a truck because it does what I need it to do. I don't own a Harley because there's nothing it does that I need it to do.
 
I was a harley hater. Old technology, blah, blah.......

On my sportbikes I always felt like I had to go as fast as I could possibly go. Its kinda lame to have a sportbike that can do 175 and not ride it fast. The speed limit is 65 anyway.

I had a few kids, I was not ready to stop riding but, wanted to just cruise and not end up in jail for doing double the speed limit.

I got a harley and love every minute of it. Its just fun to ride at the speed limit.

guess im getting old.
 
"I do believe that Harleys are well made and reliable motorcycles, but currently I only want standards or sport touring bikes. Maybe someday I'll get a Harley,"

You will know when the time is right. Harleys are an acquired taste. No sense in buying one before you are ready to slow down and just enjoy the ride.
 
I like lithe and quick revving. I have zero interest in cruising or posing.
The Harley image/life style has very little appeal to me.
Very little interest in touring and even if I wanted to it would be on a SM-T type of bike. Not US born and in general the whole patriotism/tribalism thing leaves me cold as well.
That said, I've known people that saw motorcycling the way I do and did get Harleys/cruisers... because of a damn woman that wouldn't ride with them on anything else.
So there ya go. But it would still have to be some fantastical hot piece of ass.
So very unlikely I'll ever own one :laughing
 
A bike with horsepower that's competitive with the rest of the market, good suspension, a reasonable, and pretty much everything else that they don't have.
 
The xr1200 needs to be about 150 lbs lighter and make 30% more power
 
Burning1 said:
Massive brain hemorrhage.
Seriously though... If they were to produce a better product than BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, etc... and if they were to lose some of the image branding, I would go for them.1
I've ridden an ass-load of Harleys and do enjoy them. Just can't see owning one.
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+1. And I will add:

Why would I buy a harley, over ANY other cruiser that Rides Better, Has a larger CC Smoother running engine, Gets better gas mileage, Handles Better, Brakes Better, Higher Reliability (ok, SOME kawi's don't count)...

Oh yeah, that's right.. Harley have that one of a kind sound due to a SINGLE pin crank 90* V-Twin. Where as 98% of the Metric market uses a dual pin 180* firing order 90* V-Twin.
 
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Same can be said about the sport bike culture. The image of young guys in full racing leather trying to put their knee down while taking turns on the street, zipping in out of traffic as if cars are like traffic cones, going down the street in 2nd gear bouncing off of the rev limiter because "Hey, look at me! I'm on a sport bike! I'm an attention whore!! I think I'm Ben Spies!!!"

Some say (paging Fox News!) that is just as douchebaggerty as the "Harley" culture.

There is no rule stating, just because you buy/own a Harley you HAVE to get into the entire image of it. Look at the bike for what it is. If you still don't like it, whether its looks, engine, etc...then don't buy. Get something else. Plenty of options. Or....build your own.

But explain to me why all these metric cruisers try and look like Harley's? Is it because they are trying to cash in on the look & feel that Harley created? I think so.
 
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