Harley Merchandising and the Idiots that Buy It

Short whine ....

Just got back from a weekend trip to Denver, Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park ... Absolutely beautiful as you would expect ...

Although I was in a rental car, and quite comfortable with that fact, I was at least initially envious of the hundreds of Harley riders that I encountered, cruising through the mountains, tracking the twisties, etc.

But after a while, the sight of these Willie Nelson/Willie G. wannabes, on their $30K store-bought bikes, with their HD bandanas, HD gloves, HD boots, HD jackets, HD jeans, belts, chaps, and God knows what else, started to make me more than a little ill ... Everywhere I turned ... men, women, children, all decked out in every trinket that HD could dream up ... They might as well have all been wearing uniforms !!!

And they travel in packs, 10, 20, up to 50 at a time ... and as far as I can tell, all they do is travel from rest stop to rest stop, where they pull over and do nothing but stare at each other's matching bikes and gear ... It was absolutedly frigging mindnumbing ... So much for bikes and individuality ...

Had been thinking about about a newer bike for dependable cruising, and naturally had considered an HD ... but you know what? I really don't want to be associated with these mid-life crisis experiencing, middle-aged assholes!! Probably gonna have to look at BMWs or even new Triumphs, just so that I can hold up my head in traffic.

Mark

What no Starbuck's for them to stop at?

OK I do like their coffee but I go in on the Knuckle or Flattie when I'm good and greasy. That way the rubs wont talk to me because they are afraid the grease just might be catchy. I grab my bag O beans and leave.

Jim

JIm, friends don't let friends drink Starbucks ,you live in Boston isn't there somewhere you can get some decent fresh beans???...as far as all the HD junk goes, Mark, I bought a new SuperGlide in 2006, and so far NO CHROME,no jacket,no crapolla, so you see , you can have a new Harley and eat it too... but I am impressed with Triumph they have a Black Bonny that is reasonably priced and 66 horsepower and only 451 lbs...and is only 865 cc's,man the SuperGlide is 1455cc's,66 horsepower and 645lbs...like the caveman on TV says: "Whaaaaat?" peace, Paul

I've got to admit, it's kinda' fun riding my '60 panhead down to the local dealer wearing bib overalls and work boots, parking right out front and watching slow drips of oil leave their mark on the prestine pavement. The poor guys that work at the dealership just give me dirty looks.
I don't get many stares, but I do get the occasional "Is that a shovelhead?" from the guy trying to impress his friends. I just grin and walk off.

Short whine ....

Had been thinking about about a newer bike for dependable cruising, and naturally had considered an HD Mark

I do not understand this comment....it has been made to me by several riding buddies that have the "newer" machines..they seem to think the old Panhead will not make a 200, 300 or 400 mile trip....I may not keep up, but I always arrive....my Panhead seems to be dependable enough to ride anywhere...at 47, I need to stop more often anyway to keep the kinks out....it's an if I knew I would live this long thing...so unless speed is a factor, whats the problem...decided to go to the local dealership this weekend as they were celebrating new ownership...new people, same attitude....but while there, their "factory trained" mechanic was standing next to my Panhead as I approached he was telling several well emdowed young ladies that it was a late 70's model AMF HD...as soon as I was done schooling him on the finer points of customer relations, I decided that was the first and last time........ Skip

I rode my Shovel to work the other day; not exactly extended cruising....but always a fun & hair-raising experience in traffic ...
I did pass, get chased and followed by a fellow on a later model RK...
he had all the trimmings...doo rag, vested with flags, music, too,
but he had really nice looking bike, touring rig....very quiet next to my drag-piped FL...except for the music
It was fun threading out from the Bottom, down Monument Ave and Three Chpt Rd., late in the evening.

Lately, I have been thinking an XLR would be a nice compromise...still a shovel, though a little later-model.
But nice a frame that could be set-up like a 'Glide or even a bit differently. Lot of options.

More than half the fun is keeping my cantankerous machine roadworthy.
I admit to travelling light (few tools, no bagger), it's a challenge. The fellow's Road King looked pretty nice.

Paul,

I don't have any friends, so I guess I am stuck with Buckies. Plus it's right down the street from me. I hate Dunkin Donuts and the rest. There is one guy that roasts them in the building I work in, but hard to get a hold of him. If it doesn't melt my spoon, I don't want it. Guess I'll have to go in disguise from now on.

I like going to different bike nights on any of the bikes I have. Knuck, Flattie and Shovel. Then standing back a bit from it and just listening to the comments. The Flattie / Flatboy really confuses them. One place I have been to, there are a few people that show up in cars wearing leather jackets, chaps, bandannas and all the rest of the right biker attire even if it's 95 degrees out. Of course they don't have a motorcycle. There are some that go so far as to put on fake tattoos. One of them actually argued with me that the Badboy springer I have on the Flattie is an extended original springer. He also stated that all you had to do to extend an original was to heat the lower legs bellow the lower fork brace with a propane torch and they would slide off. Then get a set of 56 Ford radius rods (HUH? wrong year buddy) and weld them on to what ever length you wanted. I could go on and on but I'm sure we have all heard our share of crap.

Jim

Those "Harley authorized uniforms" are even embarassing to look at IMHO. Ten years later they still look like new.
Jeans, T-shirt, heavy insulated jacket for cold weather, and a pair of Army issue GI boots from the surplus store (most comfortable boots I've ever had) work just fine for me.

It seems to me that someone is going to go through a time-intensive operation if they're going to search for a set of 56 Ford radius rods and then remove the old legs with a propane torch.


How did you keep a straight face over that one!