05-01-2008, 02:01 PM
.RJ Wrote:I have to disagree here... and not because I like Harleys. I think Harleys/Choppers are generally pretty lame, as are the people that ride them. That said... for many years now, Harley has been delivering what the customer wants and has the sales record to prove it.
I'm not disagreeing with you, not in the least. On the contrary: The very fact that they HAVE an amazing sales record is proof to me that they're just lazy and/or too conservative. They could build something cool, hell, they DO build something cool (XR1200) they just don't sell it here. Why not?
I think HD and Buell are on to something, but I'm not sure they know it. HD rarely talks horsepower, because they don't have anything on the rising sun bikes when it comes to that game. So all they talk about is torque. Torquetorquetorque. Well what the fuck does that mean? Harley's don't have much more maximum torque than the next guy (torque is a function of stroke, right?) but they've got it all down low, where the average joe uses it. This is good "engineering" but a godawful marketing plan...so HD doesn't use it. But I was reading a really interesting article in some british mag that basically said Motorcycles are about as "everyday fast" as they're going to get. Sure, they've got more ponies, but we don't use full throttle, except on a race track.
I had a point, but I lost it somewhere. Anyway, point is, HD could make a motorcycle that The Industry doesn't hate...they just don't wanna.
1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442