DAMN Riders - No rules, Just ride!

I have owned many Sportsters over the years, a modern Road King with 107 engine, a 70's low rider and a custom Chopper I built when I lived in Kauai. For what they were, they were okay, but I always come back to something Euro/Japanese. HD in Annapolis shut down, too much overhead for those big Mega HD dealers now days. There fan base is dwindling and it will take more than some military paint schemes and a electric bike to revive them. Smaller, lighter and more reliable machines are a dime a dozen now. Last time I was in PCB for bike week (when I still had a house there), I left my RoadKing in MD and took the Ducati 800. More people would come over and talk to me at the HD shop about my bike than those around me with all of the piles of chrome and custom parts. It was funny, I leave there and continued to get "thumbs up" from people in cars. I finally sold the RK, too heavy and just didn't fit my needs like the Duc does.

I can ride the Duc on DS and do 85 mph down the freeway in comfort. Hell a couple of years ago, I rode the Hero options at the S500 on it, that got alot of attention when I climbed that big rocky hill before lunch-

HD was a very important part of motorcycle development but times change as do desires, and the younger generations (and some of us old geezers too) just don't dig what they are throwing down no mo-

Same here Bill, I’ve had my share.. a 1200 sportster, 3 softails, 2 touring bikes and enjoyed riding slab among close friends with all of them. BUT! I too always had something euro nearby to hop on also





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Yeah its too bad HD didnt diversify 30+ years ago. Jumping on the early ADVbike train that the R80GS built. Would be cool to have some HD dualsport bikes and stuff. Even if they used rotax built singles…

Bucho wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:17 pm

Yeah its too bad HD didnt diversify 30+ years ago. Jumping on the early ADVbike train that the R80GS built. Would be cool to have some HD dualsport bikes and stuff. Even if they used rotax built singles…

they missed their chance with the Ulysses. It wasn't perfect but it was a start.

Bucho wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:17 pm

Yeah its too bad HD didnt diversify 30+ years ago. Jumping on the early ADVbike train that the R80GS built. Would be cool to have some HD dualsport bikes and stuff. Even if they used rotax built singles…

It's not for a lack of trying. Their customers are extremely locked in on "tradition" and especially "being nothing like those Jap PoS bikes." Every single thing that they've tried that wasn't their typical cruiser has died. Hell, even the Sportster, which has been around forever, gets derided as a "girl's bike" and "not a real Harley." It's a shame. But BMW has the same issue with the GS. Any time they try to get rid of the boxer twin, the customers get pissed. But at least their demographic allows technology to grow. And even HD's *paying* customers are letting it happen, as well, as long as the new tech is hidden in such a way you can't tell it's there. Things like hidden ABS sensors, hidden radiators, etc.

But back to what I was originally going to post. I hate to admit it, but since I was already biased toward the olive green Pan America, I find the "G.I." version pretty cool. :) https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/m ... al-gi.html


~Patrick