Re: that "riceburner" slam: You do understand that if I'm on my Kawasaki GPz and you're on any Harley you'll only ever see my tailights while there's no chance that I'll see yours until I turn the engine off.
In my experience, Harley riders are far far more polite and safe out there on the road ways when you compare them to those that ride riceburners. For that reason alone, I would rather buy a Harley and strive to live up to their responsible behavior. The tone and topic of your comment only highlights the dangerous mentality of the rice burner crowd.
My experience has been quite the opposite. It's the Harley crowd that always seems to have a chip on it's shoulder. Only seldom does a Harley rider wave when passing me; other riders always do. It's the Harley crowd that seems to insist on a dichotomy bewteen they and all other riders. This has alwas struck me as a defensive reaction. True, the recent Japanese bikes are so well designed that you can pretty much dial in the amount of risk you want to take, and this does lead some to ride beyond their ability. And it's true again that the bent over cafe' racer position is uncomfortable for long rides, and Japanese designers (cars and motorcycles) do tend to grossly overstyle their product. But since I bought my Kaw used I can always sell it for what I paid for it, and if I just want to enjoy the view I've got a classic Honda CB 750 for that.
It's a matter of life imitating art. I don't imagine that I have a bad bike. I have a beautiful machine that I can control precisely from my toes and the tips of my fingers.
Not all of us on "riceburners" are riding crotch rockets, VA!
A lot of us with Asian bikes are on tourers with guts, like the Yamaha Ventures from 83 to 93 or so...and their reincarnation with the Royal Star Ventures.
Smoothness of four cylinders and mechanical comforts of a V-design give you more foot and legroom, too.
Best bike I ever had was an 83 Venture, I swear, your mother could do circus tricks on it like an athlete.