Slam Harley

[bsnicely]

I don't slam anyone's bike. Then again I have never flipped anyone the bird when they wave at me when passing on the road, but I have had the bird flipped at me, but never by a jap bike rider. Once when visiting a local rally, which is predominantly attended by HD dudes, someone turned my throttle all the way open and locked it that way with my Throttlemeister. Upon starting my bike the engine instanly raced into the red on the tach, scared me silly! Any other bike would have blown an engine I am sure. I don't care what ya ride, just ride. A few years back Old Skool Steve and I were riding and had stopped somewhere, I don't remember where, and a HD rider, nice guy, asked us what our bikes were, we told him and the conversation turned to how much the bikes cost, he told us what his cost and when I told him what I paid for mine, which was about 25% of wat he paid, he turned up his nose and kinda chuckled, I replied with, " would you get on that HD and ride it to Seattle and back? I did that on mine." He got mad and left. Oh well ...............

[Bagger John - #3785]

I don't slam anyone's bike. Then again I have never flipped anyone the bird when they wave at me when passing on the road, but I have had the bird flipped at me, but never by a jap bike rider. Once when visiting a local rally, which is predominantly attended by HD dudes, someone turned my throttle all the way open and locked it that way with my Throttlemeister. Upon starting my bike the engine instanly raced into the red on the tach, scared me silly! Any other bike would have blown an engine I am sure.

Unpossible. According to some here, that type of maliciousness simply doesn't happen.

[3fan4life]

A couple of years ago I decided to rent a harley while we were at Daytona Beach.

I figured that it was time to see if there really was anything to all of this harley hype.

I came to the conclusion that harleys aren't for me and that hype was all that it was.




It was a beautiful bike. But, it isn't even close to being a VALK.

My complaints about its shortfalls were as follows:

It was underpowered.

It felt like a paint shaker when stopped at a redlight.

While riding on A1A I had to downshift everytime the speedlimit changed. I felt like I was "shifting" myself to death.


On our next trip to the beach I brought my VALK with me.....





Cruising A1A was much more enjoyable on the VALK.

There is no doubt in my mind that the VALK is a much superior motorcycle.

Face it..... gabbing a handfull of throttle on a harley will never put the grin on your face that doing so on a VALK will.


I have given and received much good natured "ribbing" from co-workers that ride harleys.

It's like the FORD vs CHEVY thing.

And as long as the jibes are good natured I personally don't see anything wrong with it.


As someone stated earlier.... there is a difference between harley "riders" and harley "owners".

I have been "snubbed" by harley "owners" many times because I ride "jap crap".  Most harley "riders" that I've met respect the Valkyrie.

Harley-Davidson has done a great job of marketing itself. They've sold an "image" even more so than they've sold motorcycles. Their story is one of remarkable success in marketing.

This past weekend we deciced to ride in the Rolling Thunder ride.

There were an estimated 300,000 plus motorcycles there.  I'll bet that 250,000 of them were harleys.

There were probably less than two dozen Valkyries.

I've been on poker runs and memorial rides where there were hundreds of harleys present and my VALK was the only one there.

I like that!

I've always made my own choices about my likes or dislikes.

I've never been one to follow the crowd.

I don't care if someone rides a harley or not.  

I'll ride with almost anyone anytime.

And what they ride doesn't matter to me.

I just expect them to understand that I ride a VALK because that is what I want to ride.

It's funny how many harley owners think that everyone wants a harley and that people who ride something different are only doing so because they couldn't afford a harley.

A very good friend of mine rides a 96 Yamaha Royal Star......



He bought it used in 2000 and rides it everyday like he stole it.

It has never given him a single bit of trouble.

A couple of years after he bought it he bought a 93 Harley Ultra Classic with the intention of selling the Royal Star.

Six months later after a couple of oil leaks and some starting issues he sold the harley and kept the yamaha.

Based on his experience with the Royal Star, if I found myself with the need to replace the VALK for some reason anytime in the near future the bike that I would look the hardest at would be a Royal Star Venture.....




If Harley made a nice V4 liquid cooled tourer I'd look at it also.

I just can't see myself riding anyones V-Twin and being happy about it.
  

[Bagger John - #3785]

I just expect them to understand that I ride a VALK because that is what I want to ride.

It's funny how many harley owners think that everyone wants a harley and that people who ride something different are only doing so because they couldn't afford a harley.

At this stage of my life, I can drop cash on the counter for almost any motorcycle I want (including a CVO Ultra) and ride out the door. Now, the purchase of a Y2K Superbike is going to take a few calls to the bank, but ...  

Point is, I ride five Valkyries. Any one of them has about as much tied up in it as any 'Glide you're likely to encounter on the street. I ride them because I want to, not because I can't afford (insert_whatever_here).

Blondie is always on the hunt for new, unusual and nimbler-handling stuff. I told her that if she ever finds something better suited for her as a touring platform, we'll sell her Valkyries to make space then buy what works better for her.

The only thing from Harley which continually piques her interest is the V-Rod, and they're still not putting that motor in the right chassis for either of us.

To Nicki, even the 110" CVO Road Glide was down on power compared to her Valks. Yet, if that's the bike she wants, the others are going bye-bye.

So far, they stay.

The Valkyrie may not be the fastest machine...nor the biggest in terms of displacement...nor is it totally touring-focused like the 'Wing...but IMHO it is the best all-around motorcycle that has been built to date. This is a view which hasn't changed in 9 years of Valkyrie ownership, and unless someone does something really surprising in the future I seriously doubt that either of us will be lured away from the F6.

[Bagger John - #3785]

Keep up the good work, folks. Myself, Blondie and 6pak are going Harley hunting on our Valks today ...  

ETA - just spoke w/ 6pak. Instead of riding, he's going hunting for a Burgman 650 in his truck ... 

[fudgie]

Keep up the good work, folks. Myself, Blondie and 6pak are going Harley hunting on our Valks today ...  

Let us know how it goes! 

[Serk]

*Sigh* In relation to the topic at hand... Thursday night I was out for a dinner ride with my daughter on the bike... Came upon THREE separate packs of HOG riders. (And related to my earlier diatribe about  Harley OWNERS vs. Harley RIDERS, I think the name Harley OWNERS Group says it all).

Each one of them I respectfully pulled into the lane next to them, and would get stopped at a light. Each time my six year old daughter would wave and smile, I'd wave and smile, and all three times we'd be ignored at best, one time the rider next to me literally stuck his nose in the air and looked away... It was amazing!

I have a theory though... I think they resent us so much because, while they're wearing their costumes and trying to pretend that they're all tough and stuff, here comes a guy doing the same thing that they're pretending you hafta be tough doing, and that guy has floppy dog ears on his helmet, with a 6 year old girl sitting right behind him doing the same thing. It's hard to be a billy bad ass doing something that a six year old girl can do too...

They resent us because we destroy the illusion of toughness and manliness they're trying so hard to buy...

(As always, my rant is against the posers, not the riders. If you have a bike to RIDE, you have my utmost respect, I don't care if it's a Valkyrie, a Harley, a Ural or a Cushman... If you have a bike because having it is a required accessory for the "lifestyle" you bought, then, well, this whole thread applies to you... )

[3fan4life]

Each time my six year old daughter would wave and smile, I'd wave and smile, and all three times we'd be ignored at best, one time the rider next to me literally stuck his nose in the air and looked away... It was amazing!

IMHO...... anyone that would ignore a six year old that is waving at them is an absolute..... A$$hole!

[dreamaker]

Each time my six year old daughter would wave and smile, I'd wave and smile, and all three times we'd be ignored at best, one time the rider next to me literally stuck his nose in the air and looked away... It was amazing!

IMHO...... anyone that would ignore a six year old that is waving at them is an absolute..... A$$hole!

Not really if I was going into a turn or going through my gears I won't wave to anyone. Driving takes priority I would just node.

Dan

[MNBill]

Always rib my Harley friends and they rib me. Let one of them ride my Valk when I first got it (with instructions to run it from 3500-6500 as it was not a Harley). He came back with huge eyes and said he was doing 90 when he reached for fifth BUT he only knew it from glancing at the speedo. My other Harley friend told me he does not "need" all that power BUT did tell me he would like a Wing but wife says no (sold on image). On a ride this spring one of the guys that has numerous bikes (including Hondas) showed up on his Harley. He looked at my bike, my friends 1800 Wing and said he was going to have trouble keeping up today.

I would not trade them but that is how I feel, just wish the Valk was easier on rear tires (only 9000 miles). Told the dealer that it was hard on tires (as he was mounting a tire) and he said problem was with the driver,,,,must be a common thing with people on this site.

[Serk]

Each time my six year old daughter would wave and smile, I'd wave and smile, and all three times we'd be ignored at best, one time the rider next to me literally stuck his nose in the air and looked away... It was amazing!

IMHO...... anyone that would ignore a six year old that is waving at them is an absolute..... A$$hole!

Not really if I was going into a turn or going through my gears I won't wave to anyone. Driving takes priority I would just node.

Dan

Dan, I agree with you that paying attention to your ride comes first, but all three times in this instance, we were completely stopped at stop lights, with me and my daughter in the left lane and the HOG guys in the right lane of a 2 lane surface street.

It's not that big of a deal, I just thought that attitude exemplified why some of us rib on Harley owners...

[Bagger John - #3785]

Keep up the good work, folks. Myself, Blondie and 6pak are going Harley hunting on our Valks today ...  

Let us know how it goes!  

Passed every one of them we came upon. As indicated, 6pak went hunting Burgmans and found one - a 650.

He's bringing it over later so we can test-ride the thing.

I got a dealer promo from Harley in the mail yesterday...any new, 'in stock' bike can be test-ridden. I'm going to see who has a Night Rod (not the 'Custom' model) on the floor and check it out. We've ridden every other 'Rod incarnation and if both of us like the mid-mount control arrangement, one or more of them may be following us home.