Honda Vs. Harley

[jimnfor]

Originally Posted by brewman

Some people enjoy doing yard work.
Some people can't afford a lawn service and cut their own grass, but hate doing it.
Some people can afford a lawn service, but are too frugal to do so.

There's no honor or dishonor in any of these choices and wrenching your own bikes is no different.

Thats a good way of looking at it.

[ButchA]

My God... This debate/thread is still going?

If you ride a Honda... It's cool.
If you ride a Kawasaki... It's cool.
If you ride a Suzuki... It's cool.
If you ride a Harley... It's cool.
If you ride a BMW... It's cool.
If you ride {insert whatever flavor}... It's cool.

Each brand has a loyal following. But, nobody has a stronger following than Harley. HD's marketing dept are geniuses at what they do. You gotta give them credit for that.

I like the Heritage Softail Classic. There is just something about that beautiful cruiser that makes me want to get one. But would I be willing to pay serious $$$$ for it, when I can get something somewhat similar for a whole lot less, and get more "bang for the buck"? Uh, I don't think so...

[kacealraid]

Part of me wonders if it was Harley's advertising that did it, or if it was the sudden economic view point of "If it wasn't made in America, you shouldn't buy it" that got the ball rolling...

[ShadowChromeMan]

Originally Posted by brewman

Some people enjoy doing yard work.
Some people can't afford a lawn service and cut their own grass, but hate doing it.
Some people can afford a lawn service, but are too frugal to do so.

There's no honor or dishonor in any of these choices and wrenching your own bikes is no different.

Haha Love that analogy. Right on the money too

[Amos Iron Wolf]

I have the extended warranty because I wanted just one vehicle that was under warranty and new. The bike is now my daily ride. Our cages are a Toyota 4Runner (213K miles) and a Jeep Cherokee Sport (153K), both 97s. One reason I went with the Honda was to ride, not wrench (beyond adding the goodies to make it mine). I did enough of that with my old 1965 Sears Allstate 106cc "Puchinelli Special" back in the mid 70s. At 55 I have enough aches and pains that bending around while working on anything comes at a price of pain be it back spasms, or whatever. So for first services, the bike goes back to the dealer, or another service outlet that will satisfy warranty requirements.

As for the Harley guys. I noted in another thread that around here what I've been getting from the Harley guys at work are comments like, "Nice bike." and "It don't matter what you ride as long as you put it in the wind." Some of the "vintage" fellows around here may recall that there was a time when if you didn't build your Harley instead of buy it ready to ride, you didn't get a lot of respect from the serious Harley guys.

The stock room manager at the hangar is building his first bike instead of buying one ready to go and is just learning how to ride one. He's building a Harley and getting advice from another Harley riding wrencher. So you can't really stereotype. Not all Honda guys are serious wrenchers and bought their Honda to not wrench a bike, like me. Not all Harley guys have all their work done, but enough of them want to spend more time riding than wrenching. Can't blame em for that.

I wouldn't mind a Heritage Softail Classic my own self or a 1200 Sportster bagged and windscreened. In new bikes the Shadow just happened to hit the right spot in terms of budget and ride for me, for now. We'll see in a few years.

Now excuse me, I have to go install my new Mustang Vintage seat with backrest.

[86vt500c]

just my opinion guys i know riders in all the bike communitys and im sorry harley riders seem to b snobish at times thats younger crowd but the old school harley heads think a bike is a bike as long as ur riding, me personally i wanted a 1200c for a long time then i got my vt500c and smoked a built 883 and couple of my buddies have harleys always havin probs when its to hot or bolts breakin so forth, and now kawi an sizus all are comin out with crazy creations for half the price, so if u ask me i would go honda, suzuki, yamaha before harley nemore but thats my opinion

[duhdonutman]

from my research it seems that once upon a time the reason for going with Harley's was to buy American which I get, but I hear that's a thing of the past because of where parts are made. also doesn't make sense when a i've seen harleys on trailers pulled by Tundras (which is a heck of a pick up btw).

i'll ride anything that doesn't make me look like a teenager riding on a tricycle.

[CrazyDave]

Originally Posted by 86vt500c

just my opinion guys i know riders in all the bike communitys and im sorry harley riders seem to b snobish at times thats younger crowd but the old school harley heads think a bike is a bike as long as ur riding, me personally i wanted a 1200c for a long time then i got my vt500c and smoked a built 883 and couple of my buddies have harleys always havin probs when its to hot or bolts breakin so forth, and now kawi an sizus all are comin out with crazy creations for half the price, so if u ask me i would go honda, suzuki, yamaha before harley nemore but thats my opinion

if your VT500 smoked a "built" 883 I guarantee you it was built WRONG

[ChuckDiesel]

Originally Posted by 86vt500c

just my opinion guys i know riders in all the bike communitys and im sorry harley riders seem to b snobish at times thats younger crowd but the old school harley heads think a bike is a bike as long as ur riding, me personally i wanted a 1200c for a long time then i got my vt500c and smoked a built 883 and couple of my buddies have harleys always havin probs when its to hot or bolts breakin so forth, and now kawi an sizus all are comin out with crazy creations for half the price, so if u ask me i would go honda, suzuki, yamaha before harley nemore but thats my opinion

Originally Posted by CrazyDave

if your VT500 smoked a "built" 883 I guarantee you it was built WRONG

Yeah...

My slightly modified 750 can't keep up with a factory Ninja 250, so...

yeah...

[JVince]

Originally Posted by oblivion_twister

every Harley rider I know pays to have their work done, they don't know how to do more than a simple bolt on

Hi, my name is Vince. Nice to meet ya!

There, I'll be the first