Its so heavy !

[cobra23]

Group therapy:

"Ah hello fellow riders, my name is Ted."

"I have ridden since 1977 on the street and the dirt. Survived some bad stuff and kept going. I rode on the track too. Always on very fast sport bikes"

(group in unison) HELLO TED !

Ted replies..... " I just bought a Harley"

................

[GreenMachine]

The obvious question, from the perspective of a fellow sportbike rider, why a HD?  Is that the choice of some riders you want to ride with in your area, perhaps two-up?

HDs scare me.  Hope it works out for you.  And yes, you're welcome to come on our rides if you like.  Not sure you'll enjoy them half as much though. 

[cobra23]

Why the HD?

Good question. I am a Vet and many of my friends are Vets, they all seem to gravitate towards the HD. I have always wanted to try one, so a friend (I served in Iraq with him) sold me this one for a real good price. I am going to try the HD thing. My neighbor has been on them for 20 years, his friends and fellow riders of the HD (Heavy Duty) all seem pretty nice.

Right now I am going through everything mechanical to make sure it is ready to travel. EVERYTHING is heavy. The axle adjusters weigh as much as the whole axle assembly on a sportbike. They are solid chunks of steel. None of that mambee pambee aluminum there. The rear tire is as heavy as my grandsons Honda fiddy.

I still have the Ducati, I sold the Guzzi to buy the HD, not ready to go "all in" on the HD thing yet. You will see me this summer but for SSA rides I will be on the Ducati. I now have the HD a Ducati and a dirt bike. I can (and have) ridden the Duc at the track. I want to try a couple long trips on the Harley. I tried it once on the Duc 1500 mile ride... uh boy that was fun for like the first 6 hours, then it got painful. So now I have a pretty wide range of riding choices for not too much money.

It has plenty of spunk, until you hit about 70, then well...yes well then it makes a lot of "noise" and eventually passes that camper you are trying to get around. I had my wife on the back hit the gas to pass a travel trailer.... lots of noise...plenty of noise.. eventually after enough noise happend I got around the camper. So funny. I am watching the tach run up to the redline waiting for the top end rush.... and well ... lots of noise. I think the redline is like 5000 RPM. The tach should just state "Decibels".

I don't think I will ever get the hang of the throttle blipping at the stoplights though, seems to be like Morse code among the HD crowd. Blap Blap Blap (my bike weighs 800 lbs)...Blap blap blap...ga gung blap (mine is noisier than yours) and so on. Some kind of secret code talking I guess.

We will see.

[GreenMachine]

You should write short stories.  That was hilarious and insightful! 



Hope you get lots of fun miles on the new bike.

[RichVee4]

Always a good read!!!  Congrats on the HD, looking forward to hearing how you like it for touring.  If its more comfortable for you and the Mrs and makes it easier to get out and travel then its a win win.   You still have your monster for canyon carving if you feel the need.

I've recently watched a short series " Harley and the Davidson's" covering the beginning of HD and the development of the US motorcycle industry.  Have more respect for HD after watching the show and learning more about their history.  On the flip side have less respect for Indian, if the show accurately portrayed their business practices, they were borderline unethical. 

I think my biggest adjustment would be getting used  to the low clearance and having to remind myself that you cant enter corners as fast.  Just managing the weight and size I suppose is reminder enough to keep the pace down.   

[cobra23]

I will try to report these things.

So far it reminds me of a TTR 125 dirt bike I had for a year just for fun. It seemed very friendly at low speeds, but then it gets all mixed up at a higher pace.

I thought the forks on the HD were flexing, it turned out to be the squishy rubber handlebar mounts, those need to be replaced with urethane mounts for sure. It is very confusing to push on the bars, while nothing happens. I have not attacked any corners, but I can tell you that it actually turns in very well, and this with a squared off back tire.

My neighbors have all been instructed to refer to me only as "outlaw". They are complying, but giggle every time for some reason.

I'm an Outlaw Dammit !

[Vegasrider]

The only HD I would want to have is the Ultra Classic. I would never pay for one though. 

[RichVee4]

People are very polarized over if they like HD or not.   I rented a sportster with a old coworker years ago and had a blast.  As cobra touched on there is a feeling you get unlike any other bike.    I'd suggest to anyone that if you ever wanted a change of pace, typically slower,  you could rent a HD and see what its like.

I liked the look of the Vrod, more modern muscle, but I guess in HD circles its not cool.  Plus they are a little $$ for my budget.

[PAPASMURF]

HD MEANS    HARDLY ABLESON 
AS YOU HAVE FOUND OUT

[cobra23]

I still have the Ducati !!

I have been watching a series of technical training videos on Netflix. Something called "Sons of Anarchy". Given my new bike and that I am now fully trained after viewing 36 episodes, I would prefer that you all refer to me simply as "Outlaw" from now on.

Thank you!