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Leather vests
- Thread starter John the Swede
- Start date
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- 16,493
I like those Keanu Reeves bikes. XD
- Messages
- 15,563
- Location
- East Central Indiana
Never fails..if it's a thread about MCs or MC gear...it quite often must disintegrate into a bash Harley comment or two. Should be obvious just why that is.
Only experience I've ever had of biker groups was one in Hong Kong. On Sundays the domestic workers have their day off and go to Wan Chai en masse for partying and drinking. One woman had obviously had too much and had collapsed on the sidewalk- a friend was trying to get her to her feet but was failing and both seemed distressed, so I walked into a bar and got her some water and managed to get her to her feet. One of the vested, solid-looking bikers at the meeting they were having came out and helped me hire her a cab, spoke in Cantonese to the driver and commended me for helping out. He even paid for her cab ride. Decent guy. Personally, I know nothing about bikes, but I love the noise and the people I've come across have always seemed like members of a distinctive subculture. The Harleys I've seen look like lovely pieces of kit to me.
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- 10,325
Of course. Just gets dull reading how Harley owners are delinquent, dirtbags that can’t hold normal jobs. Those are usually Triumph owners...or whatever you ride lol.
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- 16,493
Lol, neither are. Anyone who can afford either a Harley or a Triumph nowadays can definitely hold a job. A very, very good job, at that.
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- 10,325
No kidding. My bike is 5 years old and I will ride it till the wheels fall off or the engine blows. Then a new engine, for a fraction of the price of a new touring bike.
I do like the Triumph Rocket. A lot actually.
I do like the Triumph Rocket. A lot actually.
I think the outlaw vibe is more of a US thing, over here Harley owners tend to be affluent. Definitely can hold their jobs. I ride a KTM Superduke and that one actually has the reputation of being a hooligan bike, who knows? Who cares? I enjoy riding it
back in 95 I was accompanying my grandma to visit my aunt in HK, from all the movies in those years seems like every youngster ride sportbike and do illegal racing, so during my two weeks I walked through wanchai while shopping gundam modelkit I peeled my eyes looking for one parked or passing me.... nothing, in the bus I waited for even one to pass the bus on the narrow hill side road like in the movies, I forgot the right stop and got off the bus too early, and had to walk precariously next to a valley without any sidewalk, while busses and cars pass centimeters away from me still no racing bike... at night at my aunt's house from the room I sleep in I could watch a good piece of hill side road so I waited for some illegal street racing action... nope, we had a long drive to new territory for "fake indoor plant" shopping, still no racing happening through tunnel and everything not single bike action in sight, total disappointment
itsallgood
One of the Regulars
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- 175
I dunno, maybe, you could be right. It took me a long time to understand what I had. Bought new, I've had it going on 20 years now. It has close to 90,000 miles on it and I'm trying to decide whether or not to put the money in it for a new clutch. The thing is an amazingly capable machine.
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- 10,325
^^^ And this whole time I thought you rode.
A bit more seriously though, BMW do make great bikes. That new retro-styled bike caught my eye.
A bit more seriously though, BMW do make great bikes. That new retro-styled bike caught my eye.
You need to be there when the chapter of bikers is out. I only saw this once in my time there. Much more common to see incredibly expensive cars.
Edward
Bartender
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- London, UK
Interesting how it varies with location. I suspect a lot has to do with climate and locality. Certainly the impression I get is that those who ride more regularly in places that are very hot (either year round, or those who subscribe to a 'riding season') and have less traffic (the biggest danger to a sensible motorcycle rider being car drivers who don't know anything about motorcycles,including when to go looking for them when pulling out of junctions) may feel safer without as much in the way of protective wear, and certainly much more comfortable. Here in the UK while there has been something of a revival in two-wheeled vehicles in recent years, but there's still a lot of the ignorance about them as has set in among drivers since the private car became a financially realistic option for the average working man in the early-mid sixties. LIkely the sameacross much of Europe, which would also in part jive with your experience of foreign bikers being more likely to go for the full protective wear.
A Harley is definitely a very distinctive style and shape of a bike; I wouldn't like to take one out on challenging roads until I was more familar with it - same with a Beemer, a Triumph, a Honda... IMO, it's the varying weight distribution is the thing. If you're used to a smaller bike, or a lighter one, or one which simply has a different weight distribution to it, there will inevitably be a learning curve. Herself's brother in law once pranged a new car in hisown driveway because he'd just switched from a VW camper he'd driven for years, and forgot the car had that big pointy bit on the front with the engine in it which meant he had to stop four feet earlier from the garage wall.... Same difference, really. Soem bikes will be better optmised for different conditions than others by design, but unless you're getting into competition riding where every few seconds shaved off matters, most bikes should be capable on pretty much any road, providing they are well maintained and subject to rider experience.
I'm sure a lot of it lies in clever marketing as well as the "Made in America" appeal within the US, but Harley are very good at maintaining brand loyalty to an extent you don't see as much with many other brands.
IME, Honda seems to be the most hated brand among Harley MC guys, I guess that's back to a hangvoer from the war.
Harley v Honda, Fender v Gibson, Ford v Holden, Morgan v Toyota.... It's human nature to be tribal. Harley's lifestyle marketing outside the US I think gets them much of the criticism they come in for in the UK, that and their expense (partly down to market positioning here as a luxury brand, partly down to the additional cost importing anything from the US racks up at the retail end, especially now with the pound historically low against the dollar). Some folks here will criticise them for lacking the "performance" of a crotch rocket, though to me that seems wildly misplaced. It'd be like comparing a Rolls Royce with an F1 car. Horses for courses. That and whoever is the big dog will always attract a bit of flack.... Apple have it very differnet now they'resuch a big force in the market as compared to twenty years ago when they were the plucky underdog with only 10% of the market....
Money no object, the Harley thatwould tempt me would be if then did something along the lines of what Triumph did with the Thruxton - modern bike, but with much older aesthetics. I tend to find the Harleys that appeal to me visually are the older, pre-1960ish models. The Harley that they used in the fourth Indian Jones film was a 2006 Softail gone over to look like a mid-fifties bike. Sure, soembody woh knew what to look for would quickly spot the front disc brake and such, but to me that's not the point: the combination of earlier style with relaible, modern mechanicals...if I ever had the money for a seriously big purchase bike that would be tempting. That or a 100th Anniversary Edition Indian Scout....
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- East Central Indiana
....Didn't mean foreign bikers..but those here in the USA that ride foreign bikes ( Honda, Kaw, Ducati, etc. ) tend to armor up much more than HD riders. The complete Speed Racer look.
AbbaDatDeHat
I'll Lock Up
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“Always in the way”. Lol Priceless
Wannabe’s always be in the way of everything.
I best be steppin out the way lest i be runded over by the Moped Angels.
B
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...might agree with me on this but I always thought girls look best riding mopeds.
AbbaDatDeHat
I'll Lock Up
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- 8,647
Well...yes!!
And by extension...”girls look best....(fill in the blank)”.
They do change every equation.
Wannabe girls....not so much.
B
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