Honda Fury bike ($13K) stirs up a storm

Fort Wayne News Sentinal ^ | 2/4/09 | Matt Degen

[Hank Kerchief]

He did not buy HD stock (and neither should you). He bought 300 million of their 500 million bank debt--at 15%. Buffet will win either way the company goes, but if they do not make a billion in the next year, they are in really big trouble, I think. Motorcycle market is really depressed at the moment. Do not see any reason for it to improve.

Here's a link:

Harley

Hank

[zeugma]

Scooter trash are good folks.

I don't care what you ride. Just get out there and do it! 

Love my Sportster, but will be handing that one down to the wife in about a year and a half when I trade up to a Road King.

[MarkL]

everyone knows that rice rockets rock!

I prefer Pasta Burners myself!

My dream:

My reality...

Mark

[MarkL]

And every time you pull up by the HD at the light, you secretly admire it and wish you had chosen differnetly. Once you admit it, you’ll feel a lot better.

I can only speak for myself, but I have NEVER wished I had a Harley that I've seen on the street. However, there ARE 3 Harleys that I will admit to lusting after:

#3, the XLCR, "The Excelsior," Harley's first attempt at making a "cafe racer." Not very successful, but I've heard that they've become collectors items, because they didn't sell very well.

#2 The VR1000 Road Racer. Never sold in the US, in fact, it was never really made to be "sold," only raced. In order to meet the AMA requirements, Harley only "sold" these bikes in Poland, and only enough to satisfy the AMA's requirements.

And the #1 Harley I'd like is a streetable XR-750 Flat Tracker. Something like what Mert Lawill's doing. The key is that I want the "real thing," with a pair of carbs that burn your right thigh, and the high exhaust on the left side!

But other than those 3, I can do without a Harley.

Oh, and the bike that I DO lust after? Well, I had loved Ducatis for many years, but when I saw a Mike Hailwood Replica in the early 1980s, it was over for me...

Mark

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Bump for a great episode of top gear. REALLY hillarious!

Part I

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Top-Gear-Vietnam-Special_208329.htm

Part II

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Top-Gear-Vietnam-Special_208399.htm

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Road King is what I had. One of the most comfortable highway bikes out there. Just a dream.

[MarkL]

Imagine the Japanese making an ersatz Ducati. That'd be laughed at on at least two continents rather than just one. Cross cultural design cribbing never really works except upon those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

They tried...

Honday VTR-1000 (US) / RC-51 (rest of the world)

Suzuki TL1000R

Didn't work out so well for them. Both Honda and Suzuki built V-Twins for racing, but neither really did very well against the Ducatis, so they went back to their 4s (inline for Suzuki, and V4 for Honda).

Mark

[Goldsborough]

Ah, I had forgotten the old World Superbike homologation nd production requirements. Yep, they never really beat Ducati with their own V-Twin efforts in that formula.

[dragnet2]

Nice looking bike, but I personally prefer American made products, by American companies.

[A.A. Cunningham]

You’ll notice that HD doesn’t even try to make the jap-crap lok-a-like bike.

Yeah, right.

Not to mention the Buell spinoff.

By the way, is HD still buying their brake components from Honda?

[BnBlFlag]

“In my opinion, there’s nothing in this world
like a ‘52 Vincent and a red headed girl”....Richard Thompson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bXBOfgvJ4&feature=related

[Spktyr]

They’re still buying their suspensions from Shoei, their ignitions from Nippon-Denso, their starters from Hitachi, and I think they’re getting their brakes from Tokico now.

If you take all the Japanese parts off a Harley, what you have is a frame, an engine, and a couple of wheels, maybe a transmission. If you then remove the Canadian parts, you have a frame, part of an engine, part of a transmission and NO wheels.

[Spktyr]

Er, their suspensions from SHOWA, not Shoei. :P

[R. Scott]

My Street Glide is as dependable as any bike out there. The weather man is calling for 12 degrees here tonight, and I have no qualms about riding to "church". I know that she will bring me home, cause she always does.

Yep. I was talked into moving up to Northern Pennsylvania a dozen years ago. I rode my 1984 FXRT(P) all winter. When the snow was deep I’d wait for a snowplow and follow it. Never had a problem.

It has been awhile, my last long ride was in 1985 - San Francisco to Virginia by way of Chicago and Connecticut. I encountered two breakdowns. One a Honda with a short in its ignition system - I found it and fixed it with black tape. The other one was strictly operator error. A young man had recently bought a Kawasaki two stroke. He didn’t know he had to add oil with the gas.
My main reason for posting the comment wasn’t to denigrate Japanese motorcycles but to defend American bikes. I’m tired of hearing how unreliable Harleys are. They are very reliable, over the years the only problem I had was with a 1979 FLH. I replaced the cheap AMF crap with good after market parts and had no further problems. Harley did have a problem with the AMF made bikes - but that was a long, long time ago.
Just to add a comment - I rode a 1975 Honda CB 750F for a few years. It was quick, but not all that comfortable until I chopped it. It was also just a machine, no soul.

[R. Scott]

Good points.
I haven’t been into dirt bikes since the early 70s, and never thought much of cafe racer crotch rockets. I preferred comfortable touring bikes. BMW makes a great touring bike.
When it comes to reliability, I often think of police department motorcycles. A long time ago California Highway Patrol switched to Kawasaki - remember “CHiPs? They had to switch back to Harley because the Kawasakis didn’t hold up. Our local department did the same thing - but again they didn’t old up. They were replaced with Harley and BMW, still running strong. They even have a few old shovelheads still on the rode.

[R. Scott]

Yep - even after swearing the V configuration was obsolete!
Their crotch rockets were good for profiling and riding bar to bar, but try making a long ride on one. When it comes to torque my last Harley would bring its front wheel off the pavement in the first three gears without trying - and it was factory stock.

[wita]

Harley wants $26-30K for a comparable model,

comparable, IMHO is a poor choice of words.

[Badeye]

‘I’ve owned one Kaw, five Hondas, prior to my HD.
Liked the first six, but REALLY like my HD.’

This is all that really matters. Ride safe.

[MarkL]

Ah, I had forgotten the old World Superbike homologation nd production requirements. Yep, they never really beat Ducati with their own V-Twin efforts in that formula.

The thing about the Ducati twins is that they're so well balanced. They don't do anything especially better than the Japanese 4s, with the possible exception of putting their tractable power on the pavement more smoothly, but even that has gone away with the new traction control we're seeing introduced in racing, and soon, on street bikes.

With a few more years of development, Honda or Suzuki might have had real winners on their hands, but they wisely (IMHO) decided to cut their losses, and go back to what they do best.

The simple fact is that the Ducati simply suits some riding styles better, while the Honda and Suzuki suit other styles better.

I remember many years ago when Jason Pridmore, a long time Suzuki Supersport rider (at the time) had a chance to "sub" on the Vance & Hines Ducati Superbike, and he absolutely tore up the track. IIRC, he nearly won the race on an unfamiliar bike.

Mark

[Badeye]

‘In fact the only bikes that ever stranded me were the BMWs. Wonderful bikes, horrible electrical systems.’

(chuckle)

The only thing the Brits do worse than electrical systems is dental care....