I have to say something

[solo1]

I've been around the block a few times so I have the right to give my opinion.

My first bike was an old beatup 1935 Harley. It was pretty well shot when i bought it for $75.00 of my hard earned money. I didn't like it but it was a motorcycle.  To be fair I was about the 10th owner of it and as Tennessee Ernie Ford, the ole pea picker himself said "It was ridden hard and put away wet"

I only had it a brief time and went on to own British and Japanese bikes. 

Riding Japanese bikes I became very pissed from some Harley owner comments about Japanese. Things like "Rice burner', Jap Crap, and Iff'n you ain't ridin' a Harley, You ain't sh**"   The last statement didn't make sense to me.  Did that mean that if you rode a Harley you ARE sh**?

Today, by necessity, i ride a Vstrom.  If my knees were better (lots of if's here) i'd still be riding the world's BEST power cruiser.

  As i Look back at my old Harley I find meaningful comparisons to the present day Harleys.  Both yesterday (1935) and today Harleys are vtwins and air cooled.  Yeah, I know that one Porsche designed Harley is liquid cooled.

To me, that says a lot. I personally believe that motorcycle today should be liquid cooled and an aircooled bike is yesterdays' technology.  There are NO advantages to air cooled bikes IMO.

I take that back. Nostalgia is something that Harley sells very well. An aircooled motor with nice cooling fins looks good but I wonder how that works when stuck in heavy traffic (or parades) on hot days.   Of course, from what I can gather, Harley riders like the brand as  it is,  including air cooling (good for them) and straight, LOOK AT ME I RIDE A HARLEY, pipes.

So be it. However, no one on this forum, will sell me on Harleys.   No matter what, after owning a Valk for 14 years and wishing that I had it back,  a Harley would never be my choice in bikes.

As for riding skills, I no longer have the riding skills that I once had.  However, my riding skills were developed before many riders were born.  If I were 30 years younger I'm sure that I could do a credible job of riding the Dragon.

So concludes my thoughts which include as lot of if's   

Solo1

[Pepmyster]

Great read, very goods comments

[Rams]

I've said it many times before, I'll ride with anyone except loud and stupid but, I will admit some HD riders and their attitude's get old.    Most are pretty cool but, some won't shut up until they are embarrassed by their own lack of skill or their bikes.     

I believe I ride one of the best cruiser's ever built though, I do admit that there are new ones built everyday that easily out perform her.    Her age is showing but, she's still a keeper.    She's got style.    I've got no problem with being proud of what you ride or what you are but, keep it real.

[Momz]

You're certainly an opinionated old fart.

But then again,....so am I,....and I agree!    

[Willow]

A few years ago I was with a group riding near Tucumcari, New Mexico.  I ended up in line behind a friend of mine on a well tuned Harley Davidson who was riding two up.  I was solo.  A couple of times we had the opportunity to open them up getting up to speed.  He didn't run away from me but I did need to push my Valkyrie about as hard as I could to keep up with him.  I was impressed.  His bike performed very well and it sounded good.

Honestly I've never heard him do any bashing of other brands or that comparison thing that ends with, "the only real motorcycle is a Harley."  I believe the majority of Harley riders are like my friend.  It is a small minority that tend to immerse themselves in the Harley Davidson marketing and feel a need to disrespect other brands.  I won't let that small minority convince me to dislike a much larger and nicer group.

I ride a Valkyrie.  Well, I ride several Valkyries.  They're Hondas. I do believe that for me the Valkyrie is a better motorcycle than another would be.  I don't push that against my friends that ride other brands.  If I felt the need to do so I think that would be exposing a rather large chunk of insecurity in myself.  I have been known to make a point of taking the opportunity to pass someone who seems to be disrespecting my ride.

I don't like the brand bashing in either direction.  Sometimes I've been known to participate at some level.

[Rams]

You're certainly an opinionated old fart.

But then again,....so am I,....and I agree!    

Could you be just a little more specific?   

[indybobm]

I am not one to go with trends. In fact, I usually turn away from the stuff that is 'cool' or 'in'. There are a lot of people that are brand conscious, but I am not one of them. I ride a Valkyrie because I think it is a very good bike. If everyone else in the world turned away from Valkyries, I would still love mine and ride it as much as possible. There are too many people that do not think for themselves, they let other people and advertising companies think for them. Reminds me of the discussion on how many riders think, 'I just had to lay it down'.  These people are not thinking for themselves.

Solo1, I could not agree with you more.

For myself, my philosophy is 'Question Everything, Take Nothing As Absolute Fact, Make Your Own Decisions'.

[solo1]

In retrospect, I know that i came across strong.  However, you'll note that I didn't exactly disrespect Harleys, they just aren't for me.

I have been trying to get past my opinionated attitude from the insults of some in the past.

Last week i had a very nice conversation with a 58 year old gentleman at the local Zesto ice cream place.  He was riding a HD XYX Ultra superglide,  or something (I can't keep the different flavors straight).

Doo rag, loudpipes, no protection, etc.  Never mind.  He was a RIDER.  He showed me pics of riding in Montana, along with his wife who also rode a Harley.  He purposely said that he did not trailer the bike.
I have no problem with riders like that, no matter the brand.  He didn't know what a Vstrom was but that's ok.  Overall, a good impression as i could tell that he rode for the same reason that we all ride.

[RainMaker]

The first people to stop and help Lyn-Del when her trailer broke down in South Carolina, before Early Bird, MarcusS or I could get back to her, were a Harley Rider and his passenger.  The guy actually changed her tire and helped in other ways, making sure that she was OK and that we would stay with her before he and his lady got back on the road on a long trip (they were also towing a trailer).  They were fellow motorcyclists helping others, just as I hope any of us would do if we saw anyone on the side of the road.

There are snobs riding every brand of motorcycle.  It is our goal not to be one.

[Jess Tolbirt]

ok my turn,,
i ride a harley,,
i rode valkyries for many years, owned 3 of them,,i said at one time i would never ride a harley again but times have changed.
you said "To me, that says a lot. I personally believe that motorcycle today should be liquid cooled and an aircooled bike is yesterdays' technology.  There are NO advantages to air cooled bikes IMO."

you do realize that honda makes air cooled bikes right? also harley makes water cooled bikes too...

next you said "An aircooled motor with nice cooling fins looks good but I wonder how that works when stuck in heavy traffic (or parades) on hot days."

mine works out pretty well, no problems yet..

next you said "However, no one on this forum, will sell me on Harleys"

no one is trying to sell you on harleys as after all this is a valkyrie forum..its just that i made a lot of friends here when i owned my valks and i dont want to leave my friends behind,,but neither I nor Al bash your Valks so why bash our harleys? and besides the harley forums suck anyway...

next "Nostalgia is something that Harley sells very well"

wouldnt you love to have a 1957 resto mod chevy nomad? or a 63 vette?

now as far as loud pipes goes,, some of those 6 into 6's straight pipes  on some of these valks are so loud that you could hear them a 1/2 mile away so dont pout the loud pipes just on harleys.. some like em loud some dont,, i dont..on our rides if you have loud pipes you ride in the back, applies to all brands,,

ok back to our regularly scheduled program,,
o yea, this forum is a 10 fold better forum than any other i have been on including the GWRRA forum when i was the rally coordinator for GWRRA, yep i rode the wings too.. i was also one of the guys that didnt want the valkyrie owners to become full members of GWRRA because the valk was not a wing...then in 98 i rode a valk,, the rest is history...

[solo1]

Jess, please note that I DID say that HD makes watercoolled bikes.

I didn't mean to bash Harleys and I stick by everything else that i said.  I'm presently riding a watercooled Vstrom .  The only air cooled bike that i really wanted, a Bonnevile,  wouldn't have worked for me. I don't want a HD now or in the future and that is just my personal opinion. 

So, you ride your Harley and i'll ride my Vstrom and we'll both be content.  What i expressed was my opinion, right or wrong, take it however you like. HD's reputation, I'm sure, won't suffer because of my opinion.

wayne. solo1

[saddlesore]

True riders don't care what you ride.   Seems to me that we don't have a problem with Harleys, just the Harley riders with attitudes.

[Big Al of Tennessee]

True riders don't care what you ride.   Seems to me that we don't have a problem with Harleys, just the Harley riders with attitudes.

The Thing you hear on the street and here(PLURAL ON THE BOARD) is MY BIKE WILL OUT PERFORM

A HARLEY.

So if they and a lot of others set their standards, by what a Harley will do or won't do.

You are including the Harley here.

Inadvertantly or however you spell that word.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Wayne , I imagine you can still outride many of us . And I didn't think your post came across hard. I've ridden Harley's but never wanted to own one. But I have friends that do and they are good people.

[signart]

Ride anything you want... I'll just ride the best.

[Otus]

I've been asked why I chose a Valkyrie over one of the bigger Harleys.  Price is mentioned. But in the end I tell them that I do like Harleys just as much as I like mustangs but everybody has one.

[Willow]

.... ,but neither I nor Al bash your Valks so why bash our harleys? and besides the harley forums suck anyway...

Jess, 'twould be best if you'd only speak for yourself.  Adding others often leads one into misstatements.   

[fudgie]

Good read. 

There are bad bunches no matter what. There are sucky medics who are to arrogent. Same for HD riders. I dont have a prob with them and sure I hear it once in awhile but it dont bother me. Still take my valk over a HD any day. I frequent a biker bar that is all HD and a few 1%ers. I never had a prob. Same for another bar for bike/wing night. Im not afraid to park with them and even park at the front doors of the HD shops. Even in Sturgis I have never heard the rice burner comment. Biggest beef there is if you rode or trailered. Huh GiG? 

Last week me and my VTX friend was asked to take our leathers off because we were to intimidating. WTF? He took his off but I refused. Manager sat outside and smoked and never said a word to us. He went in and sent the dj out to do his bidding. I said 'so we are so intimidateding he wouldnt say anything to us but sent the black guy out to do his work?' He laughed and said 'yes since I know you.' I never take my vest off, I usually leave but we had a full pitcher so I did.  'So if I take my vest and head band off I wont be intimidating?' 'Correct'. So I did and sat there with my firearm exposed.  I did go in and talk with the manager about it. Told him we're medics and good people. Attire dont make us mean. (altho we did look bad ass in a selfie we took!) Told him i been coming here for yrs and helped take care of the girls backstage and even taken them to the hospital on my own time. He was understanding, as was I.

[czuch]

"You meet the nicest people, on a Honda".