I found it interesting how many guys trailer their bikes to the rally. Main street is lined with bikes, the campgrounds and hotels are jammed full of trucks and trailers.
$60k Harley Davidson?!!
- Thread starter KrisZ
- Start date
You are joking, right? There is NO Harley made that even comes close to comparing to a Gold Wing. How much $$$ is the option to have reverse installed on a HD? Oh that's right, it can't be...pretty paint doesn't justify the price of any HD...
And now......time for something completely impractical
This was Honda's custom that put every Harley ever made to shame in every aspect...build quality, paint quality, chrome quality, basically made Harleys look like they were sold by Dollar General...
For safety, as you go straight from the left-turn only lane like I saw one do last week.
The loud pipes go with their pirate outfits...
I always figured it make the noise needed to echo in that empty canyon between their ears.
about 15 years back I remember bumping into a guy I knew who had to show me his brand new Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle Ultra Bagger and all he kept saying was " I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle, I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle, I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle, I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle,........I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle, I can't believe I paid $38,000 for this motorcycle,"
In my case, for a child-like reason. I am of the age that when I was a kid, it was super-cool to attach playing cards to your Stringray bicycle with clothespins so you got that thwap, thwap, thwap noise from the spokes. Well, I never outgrew that and when I finally got my first Harley after having owned a Honda and then a Kawasaki, I put on some Vance and Hines slip-on mufflers and fired that bad boy up. Immediately, I was 12 again and had the same ear to ear smile on my face. Now, I know that reason alone doesn't make me a "Harley" guy but it was reason enough for me.
I put the VH muffled slip ons on when I got my '01 Road King new. Still on it, has a little more ''tone'' and is not excessive unless one is maxing out the right-hand volume control. They even passed NJ inspection back then when they inspected bikes. Even had an inspector put a rubber hose up the muffler to see if they had baffles LOL.
That said I have no use or tolerance for straight pipes. The only purpose for them is for the rider's imaginary enhancement of a short ''unit''.
Rode Honda's before the HD. Honda's are like appliances, the HD's have their own personality and anything chrome has metal under it.
Would I buy another one, probably not as they are heavy beasts when Father time has a grip on you.
Not sure how is their new model line up, but they had some great bikes in the past with character. I wouldn’t classify my Valkyrie Interstate as an appliance. The engine revs up like a sports bike, very quick and crisp throttle response. Tons of TQ and it pulls hard to the redline, hard to call that an appliance IMO.
Their V-twin RC-51 sports bike was also great and diverged from the normal Japanese sport bike mold of in-line 4 cylinder formula. It’s highly sought after now because of that.
I cringe at super loud ear piercing pipes too. However the cringe is even worse when men or women project the size of someone's "unit" based entirely on their choices not fitting into their own extremely biased opinion.
My biased opinion does have some validity based on decades of personal interactions and observations with said parties though.
Replacement headlight $2672
Replacement radiator $1572
Replacement master cylinder $1350
Replacement engine guard $1010 EACH……. Looks to me like Honda even surpasses Harley in parts prices
Never rode the V twin, but the inline 4's I had and have rode felt that way to me. One exception to me would be the CBX a friend had. It was unique.
I have owned a Harley FXRT, and two Beamers; K Series, and a Boxer. The Harley was a pleasant Boulevard cruiser, but the Boxer was superior on the highways. The new Harley’s are too rich for my blood, and there’s no way in hell I could ride one today. 
I have a family friend who owns several harleys and has ridden them since he was 18 or so (he's 55). Nicest guy you would ever meet. Harleys aren't my cup of tea so I asked what draws him to them, and he said it's the heritage, the sound, the feel of riding it, and the mechanical satisfaction from building them and working on them. I can respect that.
Could this be because these bikes haven't been produced in over 15 years now and parts are getting hard to find? Like discontinued Harley model's parts are cheap...yeah right...
Replacement headlight $2672
Replacement radiator $1572
Replacement master cylinder $1350
Replacement engine guard $1010 EACH……. Looks to me like Honda even surpasses Harley in parts prices
Hard to find? Did you watch the video? Honda didn’t make spare parts. Imagine being the sap who bought one of these
I have the tamer version on the RC-51 (the VTR Superhawk), which is a blast to ride. At half the weight of my Gold Wing with 85% of the GW's power, it definitely gets the adrenaline pumping in a hurry...
Honda made replacement parts for these bikes just like they do for any of their other bikes....the video is wrong...Hard to find? Did you watch the video? Honda didn’t make spare parts. Imagine being the sap who bought one of these
