Owned bikes most of my adult life. Never owned a Harley. Had Yamaha’s; Honda’s and am now riding my second BMW.
Found the Harley to be more of a status symbol. Also live near one of the largest Harley dealers in the Midwest (if not the country) and see all the pseudo “bikers” sitting at the sports bar next door. Harley makes a pretty decent bike for what it is, but for some reason, they just never appealed to me.
Frankly, the best bike I ever owned was my BMW R1100RT. Quick, nimble, and you could travel two-up long distances and not get tired. Sold it and bought a K12, wish I had kept the R1100.
I’ve only had Japanese bikes and a Harley. KLR650, VZ800, RM125, XR650R, CR250R, RC51 and an FXSTC.
Rented a BMW in France once. I was in love with the R1200GS but they only had an F650GS. I didn’t really like the pint size version, but I still would love to ride and maybe own that R1200GS.
That or the only other bike that caught my eye is this new Polaris-Indian FTR1200 coming out next year.
Can’t really justify another bike with four in the garage at the moment, so maybe if I get rid of the XR650R. Technically it’s not street legal despite the S/L kit I put on it. NY State has too many rules. I just swap plates on it when I ride in the street. Only been impounded once, but it took nearly a year to get it back.
Also, I had to look up the difference between the R1100RT and K12. I’ve never had a four cylinder. Just love the sound of thumpers and twins, so right away I’d likely prefer the R1100RT on sound alone. Out of curiosity, what did you like better about it than the K12?
BTW one of the reasons I did not like the F650GS is that my girlfriend would keep sliding forward into me, and that would mash my crotch into the tank. It was a very uncomfortable bike.
As for my Harley, I always hated Harley guys’ attitudes. They gave me a lot of shit for “Hardly-Davidson” metric cruiser. Years later, I rented an XL883 in Arizona. Thought it would be cool to ride out on some desert roads with one. Fell in love with it as soon as I fired it up.
Bought my own FXSTC four months later. I love my Hondas, but the Harley is easily my favorite. It doesn’t sit outside of sports bars. I live in NYC and I’ve ridden it to New Orleans and Las Vegas along with multiple short trips to Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Boston and all over upstate NY.