You earn respect, you don't automatically get it. So quit trying to demand respect for your bike and let it earn it's own. it won't get it that way and neither will you. I sadi nothing bad about rice bikes and watched you guys post after post try and bash the Harleys. Somehow through this method you think you will get respect? c'mon be serious.
Rice bikes do not produce the same kind of readily available power that the big vtwins do. They don't have the same pull. Yes they are fast but I will still smoke them on a strip and have done it on a regular basis. I pointed out the good points of Japanese bikes because I am fair and as opposed to you understand their different purposes.
Buell is gaining popularity quickley in Europe. Isn't that the place with all the superfast bikes and such? Oh yea so are the older Japanese bikes without all the plastic and garbage on them. They are updating the brakes, chaning them over to monoshock systems and learning they are better than all this new plastic covered bikes are. The racer plastic covered bike is on it's way out just like the superfat tire on the Vtwin is on it's way out. Naked bikes are whats becoming popular and for good reason.
Vance & Hines.
Again, you're making assumptions.
The respect I was talking about was for owners of non-H-D machines in general, and I see little enough of it from many H-D owners.
My last bike and my current bike would both pull any stock Harley, with the possible exception of the V-Rod, in a top-gear roll-on, despite the insanely tall gearing of 6th on my current bike. And then keep on going until they reached speeds unattainable to the Harleys, but as you say that is not important to many people (including myself, really, as I'd like to keep my license).
Yes, Buell is gaining popularity in Europe, but they still have a teeny-tiny portion of the market. I've yet to read a review of the new Buells with anything good to say about their handling characteristics, btw.
BTW, my last bike was a Kawasaki ZRX1100, just the type of non-plastic covered bike you refer to. My current bike is a Suzuki DL1000 (V-Strom). It does have some plastic, but not full coverage. It's definitely not by any means a race-replica. The engine is hung out on full display. It has a centrestand and hard bags and a windshield I can just look over the top off.