Harley Harley Harley Harley Harley

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by trip

I'm an Honorary member of the Blue Knights, Texas Chapter 34. I'm not in Law Enforcement. I was invited to join. I know you're going to laugh, but they invited me for the purpose of becoming their Road Captain to take them on trips and show their members how to ride. The brass felt their membership needed more riding experience.

Most of the membership owns and rides a Harley, that's why I get ribbed a lot. I just laugh when they give me a hard time. Nobody else can boast being the founder of a 2,400 member International motorcycle club.

That's funny. I didn't know that. I always assumed you must have had some past tie to law enforcement. They picked the right guy for the job.

[chucks1911]

Originally Posted by smbke

Haha! Brought into a family? More like a cult! Harley has done such a good job of brainwashing people that they'll spend more money riding hundreds of miles to buy cheap pins and Chinese t-shirts than they do on aftermarket parts... at a much higher profit margin, I might add. No offense to anyone here but I didn't really buy my bike to make friends or feel a part of a group. In some cases that's the happy consequence but not the goal. To all the Harley riders out there, family members included, God bless.

I'm a cult member because of the brand of bike I own? What about the wifes Vaquero? Is she in a seperate cult than me? How about my little Kawasaki 454LTD? Am I in two cults? Its all so confusing!

[trip]

Originally Posted by chucks1911

Well, you and Trip are definately in the minority on that. I'm guessing that you both would agree.

I've always been one of these "keep it as stock as possible" kind of guys. Hell, even my Corvette is totally stock.

[chucks1911]

Originally Posted by trip

I've always been one of these "keep it as stock as possible" kind of guys. Hell, even my Corvette is totally stock.

Well, I do know that a certain HD part resides at your house. Thats how us "cult" members do it, don't you know. First its a few parts, then the next thing you know you're at the secret cult meetings drinking the koolaid like the rest of us.

[R_W_B]

Harley's win hands down for add ons and custom performance equipment availability. I assume it's a supply and demand thing. Just not enough demand for the metrics in all facets.

Plus when I asked ThunderMfg why they did not have any big bore kits for the Kawa 1700's (but did for the 1500s and 1600s) they told me it was because Kawa stopped giving them a bike to work with. Guess it's all about sales or lack of it, in this current economy.

In fact if I had the money I would have kept my Harley Bob as a second bike just to toy with. But the cost of good insurance coverage nowdays (the kind that still covers you if an idiot with no insurance hits you) is just too much for my budget on two bikes. And of course the fact that I know I would continually still be buying stuff for both bikes.

[chucks1911]

Originally Posted by R_W_B

Ha, I know you guys are being purposely facetious, I had some Harley friends rib me when I bought my Nomad. It ain't nothin can't be handled. The best one I ever heard was when I asked one them to tell what he disliked about Kawas. He said the first letter was K.



Newer bikes of all brands go up every year. My new Nomad MSRP'd for $15,500 (or was it 15,700?). The same year Road King MSRP'd for somewhere round $18,000 can't remember for sure the MSRP on the RK. But the "go in and sit down best Out the Door offer" from Harley on the RK was $20,200.

I bought my Nomad for $14,000 out the door.

It was just a better deal for me and of course I like the Nomad quite a bit.

chucks1911, I never heard of buying an Ultra Classic for $20,000, but a dealer's inventory will cause things to happen. Now if I had seen an offer like that, I might would have gone the extra 6 grand cause I do love those Ultras. But honestly even as nice looking as they are with their stylish Pizza Boxes on the back etc, I rode an Ultra once and it didn't really ride any more comfortable (to me) than my Nomad.

And Trip, I did not know the Blue Knights were that way on Harleys (nor did I know you used to be (or are) in law enforcement since I'm pretty sure that's a requirement of the Blue Knights.

But I did know the Nam Knights ( a Viet Nam Veterans MC ) requires that you ride a Harley or at least a custom that resembles the Harley style. I think it's tied to a buy American thing.

But a very large percentage of the parts on a Harley are made in Mexico and overseas. And it's been proven with "any" corporation local or abroad, that what profit is not reinvested to the manufacturing can end up in "any" market investment, local or foreign. That is what happen to the old US Steel mills.

But since Vulcans stopped manufacturing in the US sometime back, I guess they do have a point there. Maybe someday we can make it worth Kawa's effort to bring Vulcan production back to the US and create more US jobs.

The Combat Vets Motorcycle Association is not that way. You just have to own a bike of a certain CC size. There are guys in the CVMA with all kinds of bikes.

Ride free, and ride what you want, it's like J.C. Wentworth said, "It's your money".

CVMA Member 10-3.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by smbke

Haha! Brought into a family? More like a cult! Harley has done such a good job of brainwashing people that they'll spend more money riding hundreds of miles to buy cheap pins and Chinese t-shirts than they do on aftermarket parts... at a much higher profit margin, I might add. No offense to anyone here but I didn't really buy my bike to make friends or feel a part of a group. In some cases that's the happy consequence but not the goal. To all the Harley riders out there, family members included, God bless.

I don't stop at every Harley dealer I pass by. I stop at some when I'm touring to buy cheap Chinese t-shirts to show where I've been. If Kawasaki dealers sold similar shirts, I'd have done the same thing.

I'm not brainwashed into some "cult". I also don't buy into the "Made in the USA" bullsh-t because I know where and how Harleys are made and what parts go into them. I bought my bike because it had the features I wanted on a motorcycle. PERIOD. If some other manufacturer made the bike I wanted, there's a good chance I would have bought it instead. Price was not my primary consideration. I didn't buy another Kawasaki because I just didn't like any of the new models enough to want to buy one, simple as that.

I didn't buy my bike to make friends (most of MY friends are here, in THIS forum). I don't belong to a local HOG chapter or any local HD "club".

Yes, I am aware this is a Kawasaki forum. I don't go on Harley forums and bad mouth Kawasaki or any other bike. I have mentioned I came from a Nomad 1600 on these other forums and nobody has ever made the kind of smartass comments like I see here.

Not everyone loves Harley Davidsons, not everyone dreams of buying one or can afford one, I know that. Not everyone loves Hondas or BMWs or Yamahas, either. But as Greg and Trip have both stated, it serves no purpose to spread misinformation, whether out of spite, fear, or just plain ignorance.

[chucks1911]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I don't stop at every Harley dealer I pass by. I stop at some when I'm touring to buy cheap Chinese t-shirts to show where I've been. If Kawasaki dealers sold similar shirts, I'd have done the same thing.

I'm not brainwashed into some "cult". I also don't buy into the "Made in the USA" bullsh-t because I know where and how Harleys are made and what parts go into them. I bought my bike because it had the features I wanted on a motorcycle. PERIOD. If some other manufacturer made the bike I wanted, there's a good chance I would have bought it instead. Price was not my primary consideration. I didn't buy another Kawasaki because I just didn't like any of the new models enough to want to buy one, simple as that.

I didn't buy my bike to make friends (most of MY friends are here, in THIS forum). I don't belong to a local HOG chapter or any local HD "club".

Yes, I am aware this is a Kawasaki forum. I don't go on Harley forums and bad mouth Kawasaki or any other bike. I have mentioned I came from a Nomad 1600 on these other forums and nobody has ever made the kind of smartass comments like I see here.

Not everyone loves Harley Davidsons, not everyone dreams of buying one or can afford one, I know that. Not everyone loves Hondas or BMWs or Yamahas, either. But as Greg and Trip have both stated, it serves no purpose to spread misinformation, whether out of spite, fear, or just plain ignorance.

Ssshhhhh Scott. We'll discuss it at the secret cult meeting next weekend.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by R_W_B

Ha, I know you guys are being purposely facetious, I had some Harley friends rib me when I bought my Nomad. It ain't nothin can't be handled. The best one I ever heard was when I asked one them to tell what he disliked about Kawas. He said the first letter was K.



Newer bikes of all brands go up every year. My new Nomad MSRP'd for $15,500 (or was it 15,700?). The same year Road King MSRP'd for somewhere round $18,000 can't remember for sure the MSRP on the RK. But the "go in and sit down best Out the Door offer" from Harley on the RK was $20,200.

I bought my Nomad for $14,000 out the door.

It was just a better deal for me and of course I like the Nomad quite a bit.

The 2013 Nomad lists for over 16K now and Kawasaki dealers can't advertise for anything other than list. So, without talking to anyone at a dealer, that is what I have to go by. The other thing to consider is value versus cost. Sometimes it's worth paying more for something that offers a better value. I am saying that as a general statement.

[Loafer]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

With all due respect, I wasn't asking you, Gerry.

I'm sure Spoon059 is a big boy and can explain himself. I just want to hear what he has to say.

That's cool.

[caribou]

My 03 Nomad was my first big bike. After shopping around i felt that was in my price range. There were others in that range ,but the Nomad really caught my eye and i never regreted that choice. When i bought my HD classic it was between that and a 2012 Voyager. There were things i liked about both. I guess it boiled down to the fact that i wanted an HD since i was kid. We ride with people who ride all kinds. To me its about the ride and the people your with. I think i catch more crap from my metric riding freinds than i did from HD riders before,but its all fun. I can dish it out to. However, if i ever buy another bike another Vulcan will be in the factor.

[elvis]

I acquired a 2012 Electra Glide Classic in mid September and am totally satisfied with my new bike so far. I'm looking forward to the 2013 riding season and putting some serious miles on the Electra.

There are a couple of comments I'd like to make:

Price of a bike: Based on my personal observation, I see that many members put add-ons to their Vulcans on here and it seems to me that their bikes resemble touring H-Ds and I wonder about the price differential between a stock touring Harley and an upgraded stock Vulcan.

Customer service: We bought 2 Suzuki C50s, a Kawasaki Nomad and a H-D Electra in a relatively short period of time. My overall experience with the H-D dealership has been superior comparing to the other dealers.

After-sales customer service: I've been impressed with my (H-D) shop supervisor's attention to all of my requests so far. I must also mention that I was often pi$$ed off by Suzuki and Kawasaki shops and I ended up using a no-name bike shop in the end for tires and other Periodic Maintenance (I do basic maintenance on my own after the warranty period is over).

My H-D ownership and riding experience is very limited but I have a hunch I'll have a great time on this Electra of mine.

[glwilson]

Originally Posted by chucks1911

Ssshhhhh Scott. We'll discuss it at the secret cult meeting next weekend.

If you keep subtly mentioning the "secret cult", our bylaws are going to require "us" to kick you out.

The only reason we aren't kicking you out just yet is because then we'll have to have a new secret handshake, password, meeting locations, and a few new rituals to ward-off any bad-vibe you might caused!

[glwilson]

There are some great studies done on "owner biases". Maybe some should look these up and read them. Quite interesting, to say the least.

Owner bias is easy to see in almost anything one owns (at least for the initial period after buying something). And most everyone is guilty of it -- whether they believe they are or not.

I used to have some biases for the Nomad and biases against HD's.

Funny how that all changes when you buy something... you simply justify it and in some cases refuse to look at any other evidence to the contrary (if there is any).

Hey... just ride what you like. Ride as often as possible. And ride as alert and safe as possible.

And lastly... let's try to keep VBA a site where posts involve truths and experiences... not hearsay, rumor, and tall-tales. It will keep the site viable for all.

[Top Cat]

I ride a pretty stock 07 Nomad.
Does anyone care but me, I doubt it.
Ride what you want.
I'm lookin forward to meeting and riding with all members at the National.