Where were all the Airheads....

[Tony Smith]

Would you set out on a "absolutely must be there" 24hr 1500mile dash on a Harley and :-

a: Have the physical endurance to ride one that far in that time, and;
b: Seriously expect a Harley to go that distance in that time without the "laying on of spanners" ceremony?
 
OTOH, would you do the same thing (if you had to) on your BMW?

If your answers are "no, no & yes" then you have answered the question as to which one is a motorcycle and which one the farm implement.


PS
My best friend rides a Harley and I am in awe of both his faith in it and his personal strength in that he can load and unload it onto and off the recovery trailer all by himself.

He bought a trailer and ramps as he worked out that over a five year sample period the trailer would pay for itself when consider against the cost of paying commercial recovery rates.

He has lots of shelving space in his man-cave taken up with offerings to the Harley Gods (broken parts), but apparently they are still wonderful.

[Barry]

My airhead is the smoothest motorcycle I've ever owned although that's not saying much if you consider modern bikes as I've never owned anything newer than 1982. So I consider it smooth compared to it's contemporaries.

Same goes for noise. I understand the tractor connotation but mine doesn't sound like a tractor as it's relatively quiet both in terms of the exhaust note and engine noise.  When I've ridden around the parade ring at a classic bike show without a helmet it surprises me how quiet it is compared to the other old bikes.  When someone has commented on how quiet it is I've tried to explain that absence of rocker arm end float is essential to keep the valve noise down. I distinctly remember saying this to another (very rare) R45 owner at a show and he looked at me as if I was making it up.

The lack of refinement I notice the most is fork noise. Not clonks because I've eliminated that problem. The difference between smooth tarmac and coarser tarmac is very evident in terms of the noise coming from the front end. I wonder if it's just tire noise or something about our forks that readily transmits noise from the road surface.

[wilcom]

I see where we are apart Tony, it's our definition of tractor

Tractors to me are very utilitarian machines with nothing compromised for style and they are stone reliable.

 Harley has come a long way since the days of AMF and their journey isn't over. The two Harley powered bikes(Buells) I have owned suffered madding little issues that would keep me on the R65 if I HAD to get there.

Leaky valve cover gaskets. Sorry little things from the factory that everybody changes as soon as they get one. Foot pegs that snap off while standing on them(twice) and scuffed cylenders causing oil leaks at every seal.

On the bright side, a complete set of pistons, rings and barrels are less than $600 out the door from your local  Stateside dealer.

A second bright side was the MOTOR . Possible the best power band and ride ability of any engine I have ever ridden. Plus 1 on the sound.... very addictive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wy4NVMwLnA ( My son firing off the Buell on a cold morning) almost makes me grab the classifieds and get another one!!!

[clonmore1]

I see airheads pretty much every day, but that's because Motorworks is about three miles away and a lot of the workers ride to work, all are R100's and one with a rig.

I can hear them riding past when I'm in my office, lovely sound!

[Tony Smith]

I see where we are apart Tony, it's our definition of tractor

The two Harley powered bikes(Buells) I have owned suffered madding little issues that would keep me on the R65 if I HAD to get there.

Wilcom, admitting to having owned a Buell is something that should only be done in the privacy of your recovery group, with a mental health professional available. you know, you sit in a circle and commence by "My name is Tony and I owned a buell, I am now 345 days in recovery".

Jokes aside, the buell is visually (and audibly) about the most exciting looking thing ever made. Sadly, as at the last time I rode one (2007) they handled like a bag of shite, and seemed to incorporate ergonomics design by a descendant of the Marguis de sade.

They may have improved since then, but the 100km I rode on a brand new one (with money in pocket and intention to buy) in 2007 remains with me.

[Lucky_Lou]

They may have improved since then, but the 100km I rode on a brand new one (with money in pocket and intention to buy) in 2007 remains with me.

Tony I don't know how much you are paying your therapist but I would ask for a refund.... joking apart Buells are like hens teeth in the UK so I cannot comment on the merits of them.
Lou

[Tony Smith]

Tony I don't know how much you are paying your therapist but I would ask for a refund.... joking apart Buells are like hens teeth in the UK so I cannot comment on the merits of them.
Lou

If you are ever offered a ride on one - run! I (like most here) grew up in the era were there were some truly awful handling motorcycles. somehow or other I managed to own most of the real dogs, H1 & H2 Kawasaki and a TM Suzuki feature highly in my list of badly handling motorcycles.
 
Then in the 80s the Japanese discovered handling in big bikes (some of the small ones like the RD series Yamahas, the Suzi Hustler and the honda twins were already there) the first of course was the Suzi 750, followed closely by the Honda V4s and the water cooled Kawasakis.
 
It was therefore something of a shock to ride a Buell in 2007 that simply did not handle. The suspension rates were entirely mis-matched, the fork trail was such that you had to throw it down into a corner and as soon as you reached the lean angle necessary to negotiate the corner, start levering the thing upright. The fork dive under brakes was epic and the rear brake, which might have otherwise been useful to settle the front end down running into corners had exactly two positions, namely "off" and "locked".

I've already mentioned the ergonomics.

The engine vibration was epic and the engine designer and the person who choose the gearbox ratios are probably still laughing about the joke they perpetrated on the Buell buying public. Quite aside from the fact that it was a crapulous gearbox anyway, I have not ridden a motorcycle with a more poorly selected set of gears - ever!

It was so bad that after a couple of kilometers I took it back and said that there was something wrong with it and did they have another demonstrator? The salesman ripped off around the block on it and came back and said "they are all like that mate".

It was a sad and bitter experience since Buell got the visuals and the auditory stuff so right (they are simply beautiful - I will give them that) but totally fail to make a package that was pleasant (dare I even go so far as "safe") to actually ride on the road.

[nhmaf]

In the spring and summer, I'll usually see 1-2 per week around here.   You also tend to see them now on nice clear, crisp weekend days - but that is about it..

[Barry]

Then in the 80s the Japanese discovered handling in big bikes (some of the small ones like the RD series Yamahas, the Suzi Hustler and the honda twins were already there) the first of course was the Suzi 750

The first good handling Jap bike I remember was that GS750 which came out in 76 or 77 just after Id bought a Z900. My mate bought one of the very first ones to hit the showroom and still has it today. It was a different beast to previous Jap bikes and even had lowish euro style bars rather than the more typical high rise.  A very usable daily rider even today.

[Tony Smith]

Then in the 80s the Japanese discovered handling in big bikes (some of the small ones like the RD series Yamahas, the Suzi Hustler and the honda twins were already there) the first of course was the Suzi 750

The first good handling Jap bike I remember was that GS750 which came out in 76 or 77 just after Id bought a Z900. My mate bought one of the very first ones to hit the showroom and still has it today. It was a different beast to previous Jap bikes and even had lowish euro style bars rather than the more typical high rise.  A very usable daily rider even today.

Well we agreed on the bike - the suzi GS 750, but i was terribly wrong about it's introduction - November 1976.

[Motu]

I'm riding more these days because I've been doing a 40km commute the last  18 months. I tend to use the car for a couple of months in the worst winter weather, but pretty much on the bike for the rest of the time.  I'm not getting out for a fun ride much, for a couple of reasons - first, riding a bike has always been stress relief, or stress release for me. Express some anger, take it out on the bike - deep in the redline, hard braking, tossing it in hard and deep...take that you [BLEEP!]er!  Or just mellowing out, zen or alfa moments.  But I'm riding 80km a day, that's sorted and no reason to get the bike out on the weekend.  The other is fuel, after riding a pushbike to work for the previous 5 years or so, there is an expense in travelling to work - a 4 hour ride on the weekend is a weeks worth of fuel, I can't afford that.

I have a friend who rides the opposite way to me on his VMax, we usually meet halfway, he's often late...but he rides a VMax, he can sort that easily.  Sometimes I see other bikes, but we are the regulars. I see Airheads on the road often, there are several in my small town....and I don't know who they are, and don't really care.

[Ed Miller]

My hundred mile a day commute definitely soured my love of riding.  Or driving.  

Well, mostly of working, except I never had a love of that.

[k_enn]

For me, the R65 has been laid up this year, but I have done more riding on the K1300S this year than have ridden in many years.  Plus, the K1300S is better for long tours.  

On the ironic side -  I rode my K1300S to Graceland.  The lone American on a BMW.   I ran into a group of 10 German motorcyclists riding ------- you guessed it -------Harleys.  Is something wrong there?

k_enn

[balibeemer]

For me, I love my Beemer - I will not ride anything else! And being the only one of its kind on this island, it's good to be unique!