Honda vs Harley

I used to ride with an old Harley guy. He had 3 Harleys. He got so sick of his factory HD bikes breaking down all the time, that he decided to build his own bike. He bought a frame, S&S short block, and all the pieces he couldn't fabricate himself. Took him over a year to build but it ended up looking something like a fatboy.

He used to bitch about the guys he called Kmart bikers. The types that tried to buy their image. Doctors, lawyers, executives, etc that would go out and spend tens of thousands on a new Harley, chrome accessories, and trunk loads of Harley apparel so that they could play Mr. Badass Biker on the weekends. He said most old school Harley guys could care less what you rode, as long as you rode. It was this new generation of Kmart bikers that where assholes about not riding HD.

 

Ya...not everybody who rides a Harley is like that, hell, I wave at people on scooters, it's all 2 wheels, it's all good.

 

For the record, my "nicest people on a Honda" quip was referring to a 60 year old marketing campaign. Wasn't slamming non Honda riders as assholes or maniacs.

http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1959establishingamericanhonda/page08.html

Assholes and maniacs is a George Carlin reference, also to be clear

 

Last I heard , Honda was trying to purchase harley ..Not sure what exactly happened but there is some news of it here .
http://bikerlawblog.com/2007/06/25/is-honda-motor-corporation-about-to-buy/

http://motorcycle-intelligence.com/harley-davidson-licenses-sound-honda/684/



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Honda. Everytime you see a bike broke down on the side of the road it will most likely be a Harley. Love the sound of a Harley and the look. But you will spend another 5-10K on it getting it to run right to compete with a similar bike by any other make who will perform better off the showroom floor with no mods, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki etc. Buy anything but a Harley if you want reliability. Buy a Harley if you just want the image and the repair costs.

 

If you're putting ape bars on the bike it doesn't matter what brand you get, it's not meant for long rides anyway. Have fun either way you go!

 

quote from above
(He said most old school Harley guys could care less what you rode, as long as you rode)

Harley for me, always has been. Its more a lifestyle for me. I have ridden other bikes and nothing compares to a Harley, especially on a long ride. I know it sounds crazy but people respect harley riders more from what I have seen in the past. People always talk about this bike out performs that one; its not about the performance for me. If I wanted a fast bike I would get a gixxer. Like I said its about the lifestyle.

 

Please expand more on this Harley lifestyle. I thought if you rode a bike at all your cool?

 

This is the exact mentality that, IMO, is retarded.

 

I believe all of this is rumor, Honda(as well as others)seems to actually just trying to build bikes that try to look and sound like Harleys. Harley definately have there nitch in the market. Still nice that we have a large American made motorcycle company.

 

Fixed that for you.

 

I have owned many bikes from dual to sport-tour to cruisers, I now have a Honda VTX 1800N with some mods and love it.

 

Harleys are a niche mortorcycle, has more to do with a weird self image problem, marketed to Grubers.

 

Harleys are way over priced, you dont need to drop that much coin to have a good time on two wheels

 

No you don't, but if you can and you want, at least we have that option. I think my Harley was the 27th motorcycle I'd purchased, took a long time to get there!

 

trust me, nobody respects you because of the harley, unless they are douche new school harley riders. old school guys will not care about you, and non-riders will not know the difference.

 

I've had a mix of experiences. I've had guys on their brand new stock harleys tell me I'll get a real bike someday while on my '75 honda cb750, and I've had guys on panhead choppers be way more into my cb than the other harley choppers present. I've also had harley guys have no idea what my ironhead was. it's not the bike, it's the idiot on it I guess.

 

Resale value is also great on Honda's. Example, I bought my '02 Shadow Sabre for $3500 in 2008. I just sold it 2 months ago for $3300.

 

I have owned many motorcycles. Currently still have my 2006 Harley Street Glide. It looks awesome, just want I always wanted. 117" engine, chrome front end, chrome wheels and rotors, bunch of clean chrome details such as levers, shifting rod, new stereo and speakers. I have put over $40K into this bike. It is set up exactly like I always wanted. And if I could do it all over again, I would have kept my Honda 1800 or would buy a new Honda or Yamaha. The Harleys are nice. But that Honda had engine work and never ever had to be on a battery charger and started in 0 degree weather every time. My Harley is great but losing value every day. Harley shop offered me $10K. It only has 17,000 miles.