Streetwise: Most American men want a Harley

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Friday, April 23, 2004 | Lauren Rudd

[Willie Green]

What do men want more than anything else? No, not that ... well maybe that also; but that is not the topic of today's column. According to a survey of 1,000 men nationwide, besides wanting more money and keeping their wives happy, six out of 10 men dreamed of owning a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Steve Piehl, Harley-Davidson communication director, said, "When asked why they had not bought one, there were some interesting answers such as, 'My wife won't let me,' 'I don't have the time' and the one that really drives us crazy, 'Don't they cost at least $20,000?' "

The survey revealed that 75 percent of the respondents thought a Harley was too expensive. Not true, says Harley. "What we're finding out is that people know owning a Harley is cool, but they just do not have the facts. If they did, they'd have one in their garage right now," Piehl said.

[Melas]

I'm not a big fan of Harley's reliability, however. Bottom line for me has always been if you like tinkering with your bike as much as you do riding it, Harley's the brand for you, if you can afford it.

Bah, you're 20 years out of date. Not a lot of tinkering to be done on modern HD's. EFI with appropriate sensors, multi-curve electionric ignitions, self-adjusting valves, kevlar belts, etc etc, have all made HD one of the most reliabe bikes around.

The own it to wrench it motto is 25 years out of date.

[-YYZ-]

"Harley's are overpriced til you consider how they are built, compared to Honda's, or Suzuki's, or Yamaha's. "

How they are built? You mean poorly? The ones that I've looked at are full of fasteners that look like they came from the local Home Depot, and as far as reliability or durability go, they can't hold a candle to Japanese bikes. I will concede that they have nice paint and chrome, however.

The only reason Harley's are worth pouring money into to keep running (ie engine rebuilds) is because of their mythical status that keeps their resale value high. Also the slow pace of change and development means that a 10 year old Harley is not significantly different than a new one (yes, I know about the TC-88 and 88B engines that came out a couple of years ago. The Japanese make changes that big on a yearly basis).

[Bikers4Bush]

"I only weigh 110 lbs..."

If you're not a woman you need to go eat a few dozen quarter pounders and throw some damn weight on!

I know what you mean about the Sporty, I have a 1200 Custom and can feel the difference. Was going to make the jump to the FatBoy but decided to go Road King or Heritage Softail for the next one.

Keeping the Sporty for around town.

[sauropod]

I never went for biker chic. Tattoos bleed...

I like machines that can crush things and go where noone else can go...

[Bikers4Bush]

ROTFLMAO!!!!! Blue hairs!

[Melas]

Any company that can sell essentially the same product, with new paint, for more money every year, for 100 years, has to be doing something right I suppose.

Spoken like a man who knows absolutely nothing about modern Harley-Davidsons.

[Duke809]

I'll put my 63,000 mile 1995 Springer up against any jap bike, BMW or whatever you got.

You don't know what your talking about.

[cyborg]

I did have brats on their dirt bikes heckling me... nice they thought I wouldn't try to run them down :D (keeping the fiberglass side up!)

[IamHD]

"If you're not a woman you need to go eat a few dozen quarter pounders and throw some damn weight on!"

LOL! I'm a woman. My best friend has a Heritage, and it's a beautiful bike. I just hated my Sportster...it got away from me once, but that's another story, and I'm glad that I have my Fatboy.

[Bikers4Bush]

"it got away from me once, but that's another story"

A story that now needs to be told!

[Bikers4Bush]

I'm out folks, stay safe and keep the rubber side down.

[MineralMan]

"I'll put my 63,000 mile 1995 Springer up against any jap bike, BMW or whatever you got."

Different bikes for different folks. Harleys are good bikes. But they're not the only good bikes.

As for your challenge, I can think of all sorts of situations where your Springer would be wiped out by any number of other bikes.

Try a nice desert sand road, full of whoop-de-doos and other nice features, and an old 1965 Hodaka 100 would leave you spitting out dust.

Or try a nice twisty mountain road and dozens of little rice-burners would get up the mountain and down the mountain while you were still heading uphill.

All motorcycles are good motorcycles...under the right conditions. It just depends on what you want to do with the bike, and where you want to go.

[sauropod]

Nope.

This one.

[StoneColdGOP]

'My wife won't let me,'

Unless we're talking a husband and wife who have to choose between a Harley and feeding the kids, the above indicates time for a divorce.

But then the guy sounds emasculated already anyways, so there may be no point...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The left turning cage is every biker's worst enemy.

Right after I bought my last motorcycle I started having a recurring nightmare about it.

I took it as an omen and sold it a few months after I bought it.

I loved riding, but for me the risk now outweighs the enjoyment.

[-YYZ-]

"Man, not the reliability myth again. Harley's are more reliable than a lot of metric bikes these days, due to self-adjusting valves that many metrics lack. Harley hasn't had reliability issues for 20 years now, but I see the myth still persists."

I guess that why my co-worker's 2000 Road King sprang a major oil leak around the rocker box covers after a year or so? But I guess that's not a reliability issue, just a messy inconvenience.

Self-adjusting valves are not a reliability issue, either, but a maintenance issue. My bike needs it done every 15,000 miles, which is more than most people put on their bikes in 3 or 5 years. In the meantime it puts out 100 reliable, quiet, smooth, leak-free HP. And you don't have to tighten every bolt on the bike weekly to keep things from falling off.

[FateAmenableToChange]

I'm not a big fan of Harley's reliability, however. Bottom line for me has always been if you like tinkering with your bike as much as you do riding it, Harley's the brand for you, if you can afford it.

That's the way I think about 1911 pistols compared to my glocks or HKs.

[elbucko]

I'd like the '67 Triumph Bonneville to go please.

I had a '65 "B-ville" before I was drafted in '67. Sold it a week before I left for basic training. I rewarded myself with the Sporty when I made it home in '68. The "Bonneville" money was the down payment. The TR was a great bike, handled well (so does my Sportster), but my sporty has something more. Kinda' like some women, some guns, some horses, etc. Some things in this life are worth more than the sum of their parts.

[JoeSixPack1]

I want an "F-4J Phantom Black Bunny"

I got enough harleys for now. <|:-)~~