What is it with Harley Riders? RANT

[Testarossa]

It's much safer just to look ahead and go rather than riding with traffic and being concerned about being run over in all directions.

:1:

Words to live by: Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

[Kev m]

I had an experience very much like this in Albuquerque, circa 1998. I was invited to make a ride with some friends to Madrid for a green chile cheeseburger at the Mineshaft. They all rode late model (and heavily customized) Harleys; I rode a '60 BMW R60. When I arrived, they all had a big (preplanned) laugh and asked, "will it go 55?" "Sure," said I. We took a route through the Sandia Mountains (the Turquoise Trail) and I dusted them all as soon as we cleared town. Its not that I was going particularly fast, but all those HDs dragged their undercarriage badly and those guys HAD to slow down for curves. But the real insult came at the restaurant...that old Rubber Cow got ALL of the attention...

I rode the Turquoise Trail around that same time, as part of a side trip off Route 66 up to Sante Fe and back, on my 1996 Road King, following a Ducati and a Honda much of the route, and I don't recall having any trouble. The FLH line back then had pretty decent lean angles, some of which became compromised in the later 90s and early 00s, but mostly still are capable of turning. But there have always been Softails and Low Riders/Dynas that were lower and cornered less well.

<shrugs>

[atavar]

yeah, IMHO the safest speed on a motorcycle is 2mph faster than traffic.  I prefer to be closing on them rather than the other way round. 

[rocker59]

Stop worrying, it will not be long until they are gone.  There sales and profits are still plummeting according to yesterdays MPN Dealer magazine.

What is this?  1982?

[Sheepdog]

I rode the Turquoise Trail around that same time, as part of a side trip off Route 66 up to Sante Fe and back, on my 1996 Road King, following a Ducati and a Honda much of the route, and I don't recall having any trouble. The FLH line back then had pretty decent lean angles, some of which became compromised in the later 90s and early 00s, but mostly still are capable of turning. But there have always been Softails and Low Riders/Dynas that were lower and cornered less well.

<shrugs>

I'm certain that you're correct, Kev, but none of these bikes (all Softails except for one FX) were even close to stock. All were lowered, had these gangly forward controls, and scraped incessantly. They had plenty of power in the straights...that road just didn't have many straightaways. The point is that even a strictly average rider like me on an ancient 28 HP motorbike could outrun those $25-30K bikes on a tight road. It made me feel as though those fellows either picked the wrong bikes or the wrong road...

[oldbike54]

What is this?  1982?

 Everything goes in cycles , right Brother Mike ?

 Dusty

[Orange Guzzi]

What is this?  1982?

I don't know where you live, but here in So. Indiana-Louisville, Ky Market, Used H.D.s are going half of what they were a couple of years ago. 

The other brands have 37% of their inventory as pre 2016 or older models on the show room floor.  Higher than this time last year and higher than previous years.  It is a buyers market.  Want to buy a bike?

[Cool Runnings]

Experienced the 'Harley" hate 15 years ago on sport-touring.net , figured wildgoose would be different, guess not.

Carry on. 

[PJPR01]

It's surprising to me that folks dwell on something that may last at best 10-15 minutes of an occasional ride they take, and then you've left the folks behind.  I like to ride and drive in a spirited manner, and if safe, I'll just pass the folks...I'm not even thinking about them 5 seconds after they've been passed...

Pass or don't pass....you can't really change other people's behavior unless you have a chance to talk with them and explain it to them.

So you either stop the single guy who's riding like a jerk at the next possible opportunity, or you tell the entire group of cruisers how they should ride, or you avoid them and ride your ride.

Remember the words of Bruce Lee:  Don't let OTHERS control YOUR emotions!

[atavar]

This is very true.  It boils down to "How good of a rider are *you*?  Were *you* able to overcome the obstacle skillfully and elegantly?"  Forget about *them*.

[Sheepdog]

i get pretty wound up about the herds of riders clogging up a two-lane road, but I wouldn't say that I hate Harley's. Heck, most of my friends who ride motorbikes have them and they're pretty decent bikes within their respective genres. I haven't bought one yet, but there are several that piqued my interest. Kinda like Gold Wings that way...

Funny...I was reminded of the anti-bicycle rant we engaged in a while back. Face it...we're a bunch of old grumps that want it all "our way". So it goes...

[redrider]

Seems to me that it's not about hate but rather a dislike of the HD Mindset- HD is better than ....
I definitely do not like being referred to as a "biker" because of the image that conjures in most folks, especially the non-riding public at large. Quite simply, HD ain't all that. It is only a man made mechanical conveyance with idiosyncrasies and some suspect engineering. Guzzi appeals to me but I don't make a religion out of it.

[Cam3512]

Allrighty, I'll get sucked in.  It's not the bikes, there are some really nice models.  It's the majority (not all) of clowns that "ride" them.  That's why I sold my Harley police bike years ago.  Just didn't want to be associated.  You really want a good laugh, head down to Wildwood, NJ, this weekend for the "Roar to the Shore".

[Lannis]

Allrighty, I'll get sucked in.  It's not the bikes, there are some really nice models.  It's the majority (not all) of clowns that "ride" them.  That's why I sold my Harley police bike years ago.  Just didn't want to be associated.  You really want a good laugh, head down to Wildwood, NJ, this weekend for the "Roar to the Shore".

I like Harley Davidsons.   I'd have one now if it weren't for the associations I found that people were making.   People ARE a big part of riding, but when their prejudices start making it difficult to have a meaningful conversation on the road or in a camp, it's time to move.   

And any meet with "Roar", "Rumble", or "Thunder" in it is one for me to avoid!

Lannis

[kidsmoke]

Lack of consideration for others.

seems to me that all we're really saying is, folks aren't very considerate of one another.  In motorcycling, in the US,  that's gonna manifest itself most egregiously in the cruiser culture simply because there's a 10:1 ratio of "them" to"us".

[Hymes Inc.]

My experience with Harley group riders was not of them riding slow but fast. I used to pick up puppies in southwest Wisconsin up to highway 29 every Saturday. Sure seemed like every weekend there would be a poker run somewhere in southwest Wis. I drove roughly 2-3 MPH over the speed limit in a van. The group would come up behind me, sit there for a few miles, then the whole group would try to pass me, lemming train style. Spent most of my time on highways 27 and 12. There are few and far between long passing zones on these roads. More then once I had to pull over to keep these morons from getting killed by oncoming traffic. Never have come up on a group ride that was slower then me.

[LowRyter]

yeah, IMHO the safest speed on a motorcycle is 2 20 mph faster than traffic.  I prefer to be closing on them rather than the other way round.

fixed it 

[flip]

What the heck, I'll join in. I very much dislike the herd mentality and their rolling road blocks. Around my area, a large pack of bikes holding up traffic is usually made up of harleys.

As to it's the riders and not the bikes, I think part of it comes from the way the bikes are marketed and the image of being a harley owner that has developed.

As for harley bikes, there is not a one(new or used) that I would trade my Guzzi or Aprilia straight up for if I had to keep and ride it. I don't like the look or the sound.

So there. Flame me, I probably deserve it.

[Tom]

I still like my Buell Thunderbolt.

[canuck750]

Allrighty, I'll get sucked in.  It's not the bikes, there are some really nice models.  It's the majority (not all) of clowns that "ride" them.  That's why I sold my Harley police bike years ago.  Just didn't want to be associated.  You really want a good laugh, head down to Wildwood, NJ, this weekend for the "Roar to the Shore".

Yep, agree 100%, I find some of the HD bikes nice to look at but the typical attitude of many so called riders I have met leaves me cold. I rented a couple back in 2012 in Houston over a couple weekends, Road king and another one with hard bags and a low windshield, I was shocked by how slow they were, seemed to have nothing left above 85 mph and the feel in corners was in my opinion very poor.

Not claiming my 40+ year old Guzzi's are much better but then again they are all early 70's bikes.

[rocker59]

It's surprising to me that folks dwell on something that may last at best 10-15 minutes of an occasional ride

Pass or don't pass....you can't really change other people's behavior unless you have a chance to talk with them and explain it to them.
 
Remember the words of Bruce Lee:  Don't let OTHERS control YOUR emotions!

 

[Kev m]

I don't get the avoiding a bike you might like because you don't want to be "associated" with some perception or image. Face it, the vast majority of people don't ride and can't tell a Harley from a Honda. We're all basically "associated" with the same image in most people's minds.

And having spent at least as much time on and around Harleys as BMWs and Guzzis and other brands I definitely disagree that most objections in this thread apply to the "majority" of Harley owners/riders. Sure their are some anti-social delinquents on Harleys, but by and large I meet genuinely nice folks that are a cross-section of our population.

Hell Sunday I was out on the Sporty scrubbing in a new tire and stopped to get some photos along some abandoned railroad tracks that cross the road I was on.

I was immediately met by a dual-sport rider coming off a trail who wanted to know if everything was alright. In the ten minutes or so I was there every single group of bikes (mostly Harleys) slowed or stopped to see if I was ok. One of them was a 65 y/o gentlemen, former lifetime classic Triumph rider and MSF instructor, who just recently bought his first Sportster.

I realize most Guzzi riders are probably predisposed to reject too much socialisation, never mind any perception of herd mentality. But not everyone who likes a given brand or even socializing with a few other riding friends is engaging in nothing more than group think. Hell even Guzzi breakfast runs can result in a dozen riders, maybe even taking a ride together.

If it's just the "rolling roadblocks" that are objectionable it's quite obvious to me they are a minority subset of those who ride Harleys and Harley "styled" bikes.

[Texas Turnip]

Some of y'all need to get off the KERA and get in the real world. Wasn't Harley #1 in the IronButt last year?  Check out the Four Corners Tour and the Three Flags Classic and Harley is on the top of the list.

A Harley rider from Vancouver, WA stopped by the Oleo Ranch while he was doing the Four Corners Tour for the second time on his Harley.

OTOH One Sat morning I'm riding down one of the many tree lined East Texas road following a stock trailer prolly going to the sale. As expected he wasn't going to fast with the load of bulls in the trailer.  You know what was holding him up? A motorcycle.

Bitch about Harley and enjoy the KERA.

Tex

[redrider]

A couple of days ago riding the V11, I had a man ask me "is that a Harley?" "No and thank god it's not" He laughed with gusto.

Personally, I would not get out of the electric chair to ride one of them.

[Rotten Ralph]

Just the other day I got behind a group of Zundapp riders going to a brat fest. Talk about Harley riders being bad in a group......

[charlie b]

OK, so I have to admit...I would not mind owning a Roadster.  I'd love to own a 40's or 50's era HD as well.  Indian Scout and old 4cyl Indian is on the list as well.

But, I would NOT ride around in chaps and leather vest with my feet splayed out in front of me :)  And I'd probably find a way to raise the bike up and remove stuff that dragged in corners.

[Lannis]

I don't get the avoiding a bike you might like because you don't want to be "associated" with some perception or image. Face it, the vast majority of people don't ride and can't tell a Harley from a Honda. We're all basically "associated" with the same image in most people's minds.

And having spent at least as much time on and around Harleys as BMWs and Guzzis and other brands I definitely disagree that most objections in this thread apply to the "majority" of Harley owners/riders. Sure their are some anti-social delinquents on Harleys, but by and large I meet genuinely nice folks that are a cross-section of our population.

Hell Sunday I was out on the Sporty scrubbing in a new tire and stopped to get some photos along some abandoned railroad tracks that cross the road I was on.

Just goes to show how different we can be in how we "perceive" things.

1) I like the way Harleys are styled and perform and last on the highway, and how easy to work on, and get parts for, the old ones are.

2) I've had 33 bikes in 45 years.  Three have been Harley-Davidsons, ridden a total of about 90,000 miles.

3) Socializing with people, at rallies and on the road (and as a KERA member) is a big part of riding, to me.

And here's the kicker.

4) Because of the interactions and conversations that I have had on the highways and at gatherings while riding my Harleys, I have chosen to not ride Harleys any more, and ride Guzzis, Triumphs, and BSAs.

I don't think you can blame any of that on "Harley Hating", "not enough riding", "unsociability", or any other easy explanation other than "Some reasonable, riding people see things differently than you do."   That bothers the HELL out of some people and they fight to the death about it, or reject the other person as some sort of idiot.    I tend to think better of most around here.

Although I've seen signs .... 

Lannis

[atavar]

That's like a t-shirt I have seen recently..  "I used to be a people person, then people ruined it.."

[charlie b]

I like that one.

A shirt I am wearing today:

"Read my my T-shirt...that's enough personal interaction for one day"

[giusto]

Opinions are like opinions
Everybodies got one

Darn the little popcorn dude isnt available on my phone