Premium Member builderbob Posted July 31, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted July 31, 2018 In an effort to retain some loyalty from their traditional followers I suppose, it's interesting to see that Harley have cast faux pushrod tubes into the cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member superfist Posted July 31, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted July 31, 2018 I'm really pleasantly surprised to see Harley Davidson finally taking some initiative to change and adapt to market. I can't believe it took them this long. I've always wanted an American made motorcycle, but between cost, design and reliability it was always an easy choice to grab a Japanese made motorcycle. I'm just not a cruiser guy and never have been. I'm split on this new adv bike though. It looks heavy, and looks like they took design cues from landrovers, land cruisers, and offroad light bars. I can see their attempt to make it look tough and strong, but they also managed to make it look heavy, unwieldy and clumsy. KTM does a great job with twins and thumpers, so I think it's possible for HD to do it with a twin. I'd really prefer them go with a new engine, specifically designed for the purpose. A triple would be amazing. I just hope they don't give up on it if the first iteration flops. They will need to take lessons learned and develop the motorcycle over time. Their core customers and repeat buyers are not who they need to sell to. They need to bring new riders to the table and convince existing riders that HD is a viable option for the style of riding they want to enjoy. I really want their new models to work because I'd also like to take pride in something American made. Maybe someday... there will be MotoGP/Moto2/WSBK Harley Davidson teams. Wouldn't that be something? Hell yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fddriver2 Posted July 31, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted July 31, 2018 I find it funny that in this thread Harley is catching flack for doing what almost everyone has said they should do for the last 20+ years. As I said in an earlier post. Ulysses are still a popular choice when the show up for sale. I still see a few around and see one almost every road trip. Technically it's a bastard Harley... It's odd how we get focused on what a bike might be designed for or poorly designed for. Not on what we can or might be able to do with it. I'm on Avdrider. I don't post much, but I read a lot of RRs. People are out there doing all kinds of things. A father-son rode across America on a Trail 70 and a moped. RTWDoug created the "Dirtster" to ride across Siberia IIRC. A guy who rides a Yamaha 250 everywhere. I certainly don't have that kind of patience. A guy who rode a Road King through Central and South America. Up and down rivers. Lol. There are plenty of GS's that have never been anywhere but a Starbucks. FJR's that have never been on a road trip. Go on Cycle Trader. Check out some of the mileages on bikes for sale. Looks like a lot of them never left the garage. Sad. So much focus on if it's the "right" bike. Not that it's the bike I have right now. It's been a good summer. A few of us have taken epic trips on our FJ's to places many people would say it's not the "right" bike for. We don't know anything about these bikes. HP, weight, whatever. They might be junk, they might not. Only time will tell. Meanwhile go on the trip. With the bike you have... "It doesn't matter who walks in, you know the joke is still the same" Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusk Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 I think they got it close: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member superfist Posted August 1, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted August 1, 2018 I find it funny that in this thread Harley is catching flack for doing what almost everyone has said they should do for the last 20+ years. As I said in an earlier post. Ulysses are still a popular choice when the show up for sale. I still see a few around and see one almost every road trip. Technically it's a bastard Harley... It's odd how we get focused on what a bike might be designed for or poorly designed for. Not on what we can or might be able to do with it. I'm on Avdrider. I don't post much, but I read a lot of RRs. People are out there doing all kinds of things. A father-son rode across America on a Trail 70 and a moped. RTWDoug created the "Dirtster" to ride across Siberia IIRC. A guy who rides a Yamaha 250 everywhere. I certainly don't have that kind of patience. A guy who rode a Road King through Central and South America. Up and down rivers. Lol. There are plenty of GS's that have never been anywhere but a Starbucks. FJR's that have never been on a road trip. Go on Cycle Trader. Check out some of the mileages on bikes for sale. Looks like a lot of them never left the garage. Sad. So much focus on if it's the "right" bike. Not that it's the bike I have right now. It's been a good summer. A few of us have taken epic trips on our FJ's to places many people would say it's not the "right" bike for. We don't know anything about these bikes. HP, weight, whatever. They might be junk, they might not. Only time will tell. Meanwhile go on the trip. With the bike you have... Absolutely this, and you're so right. It's easy to forget when you get lost in the spec sheets. You can argue all day over which model is cuter, but get either one beneath the sheets and who's going to be complaining? One of my favorite threads over there was the girl in South America who accidentally started an around the world trip on a motorcycle when she decided to buy a motorcycle. Little/No planning, never rode a motorcycle and takes off on an adventure. She has a talent for writing so I'll just quote one of my favorite bits: [em]"At the time, I was staying in Nazca where I met a fellow traveler, Ryan from California. He was riding Peru on his 250cc bike, and he agreed to teach me how to ride. We went to a washing machine shop (the proper bike shop was closed that day) where they had a few bikes for sale; Ryan advised me to get a 250cc one, but because CC’s were a complete mystery to me back then, I got the blue one instead. The blue one was 150cc."[/em] Edit: Damnit... now I'm reading adventure reports and thinking of my 200+ unused vacation hours. I really should start actually taking more than 1 day off every 4 or 5 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Absolutely this, and you're so right. It's easy to forget when you get lost in the spec sheets. You can argue all day over which model is cuter, but get either one beneath the sheets and who's going to be complaining? One of my favorite threads over there was the girl in South America who accidentally started an around the world trip on a motorcycle when she decided to buy a motorcycle. Little/No planning, never rode a motorcycle and takes off on an adventure. She has a talent for writing so I'll just quote one of my favorite bits: [em]"At the time, I was staying in Nazca where I met a fellow traveler, Ryan from California. He was riding Peru on his 250cc bike, and he agreed to teach me how to ride. We went to a washing machine shop (the proper bike shop was closed that day) where they had a few bikes for sale; Ryan advised me to get a 250cc one, but because CC’s were a complete mystery to me back then, I got the blue one instead. The blue one was 150cc."[/em] Edit: Damnit... now I'm reading adventure reports and thinking of my 200+ unused vacation hours. I really should start actually taking more than 1 day off every 4 or 5 months. While you're reading adventure reports, my friends did this a while back. What a story it was. https://advrider.com/index.php?threads/sacarctica-ride-good.1157097/ '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sareis Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 They already had one. The Ulysses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madeuce216 Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 On my yearly trip to the mountains I see at least one Buell Ulysses at Deals gap. Owners tend to love them and stick with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 1moreroad Posted August 7, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted August 7, 2018 now I'm reading adventure reports and thinking of my 200+ unused vacation hours. I really should start actually taking more than 1 day off every 4 or 5 months. 200 hours?! Wow... just, wow. Do me a favor and take a week off for yourself. (new company cut our vacation time in half last year. At 45 years old and after 5 years at the same location, I now get less than 2 weeks a year) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member superfist Posted August 7, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted August 7, 2018 now I'm reading adventure reports and thinking of my 200+ unused vacation hours. I really should start actually taking more than 1 day off every 4 or 5 months. 200 hours?! Wow... just, wow. Do me a favor and take a week off for yourself. (new company cut our vacation time in half last year. At 45 years old and after 5 years at the same location, I now get less than 2 weeks a year) I've actually just hit the 6 year mark this month and we accrue 80 hours per year. The nice thing is that it rolls over to the next year up to a maximum of 300. The trade-off is that we get no allowances for sick days, etc. One day out for a doctors appointment or a couple days for the flu is drawn from vacation time. I used to sell back 40-60 hours when they open up vacation sell-back in November for a little extra Christmas money. So... there's only one logical solution to all of this: Hey @Harley Davidson: Toss me a Pan America and I'll ride the Trans America trail east to west and then pick up the Pan American highway north to Prudhoe Bay and back. Bring a camera crew and let's roll! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fddriver2 Posted September 28, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted September 28, 2018 They're all adventure bikes. https://advrider.com/f/threads/tat-2018-honda-grom-edition.1324638/ "It doesn't matter who walks in, you know the joke is still the same" Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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