From: randy@megatek.com (Randy Davis)
Subject: Re: Harley Fashionable == Deaths
Reply-To: randy@megatek.com
Organization: Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 23:36:08 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.123831.26552@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> mlj8e@mljsg.pharm.Virginia.EDU (Michael Johnson) writes:
|I must point out to you that some of us cannot understand why anyone
|would want a 900RR, or any other sport bike for that matter.

  I *do* understand that.  Nor do I have a problem with it - I'm not sure I
like the riding position of a 900RR that much, myself, but I haven't put any
miles on one to know for sure.  I might, I might not.  I originally thought
sport-bike styles looked stupid when I saw my first Katana back in 1980 or so.
My first bike was a "standard" style, since I also didn't like cruisers.
After riding a number of different bikes, I decided that, no matter *what*
they looked like, I liked the *abilities* of sport-bikes more than any other.
Now, of course, I like the looks of them :-).

  The only reason I have been so vocal lately has been in response to a
number of posts basically spouting the "Harley dogma" - that the only
acceptable bike to have is an "American-made" Harley, or to work yourself
"up" to one.  Some of us would never consider one for OUR purposes, nor do
the arguments of the Harley proponents make any sense to us - it would, in
effect, be a large step *down* to ride a Harley.  That is NOT to say we think
Harley owners or proponents are at all inferior, unless they start bench
racing :-).

  Arguments of the "investment" potential value of Harley's are laughable,
as I have stocks that appreciate better.  Arguments of longevity are also
unfounded in many cases, as most every older Harley I've seen has had major
work on it to keep running, nor do the detractors of foreign bikes have any
evidence that the imports *won't* last that long (since they haven't been
imported THAT long) - which matters not to me *anyway*, since the level of
performance is simply not available anywhere else.  Then, the clincher - the
fact you have to modify a Harley to do what want, I can buy elsewhere, stock.

  None of these are criticisms of the bike or the company.  They are a result
of the simple fact that the bikes that this motorcycle company sells cannot
come close to approaching a market segment that I belong to, that they are
clearly not even wanting to.

|>  I have very open-mindedly tried and rejected ALL cruiser-style
|>motorcycles from being able satisfy my personal criteria for riding.  
|
|Some of us have tried and rejected ALL sport-sysyle motorcycles from
|being able to satisfy our personal criteria for riding.

  Fair enough.  Contrary to the opinion you seem to have about me - I do
*not* want to convince you of anything about sport-bikes in general or my
bike in particular other than the fact that they will offer more objective
performace than any stock Harley I've yet to see, where "performance" is
measured by objective metrics such as acceleration, cornering ability, etc.
Just like a Harley will "out-cruise" a sportbike, perhaps...

  I am not saying that there is not something special about a Harley, in the
rumble of its V-twin, on the amount of chrome that is often used, etc...  I
admire the looks of Harley's as much as many people, yet I think they are
the wrong tool for a motorcyclist such as myself.  Your values, that I actually
*do* respect, are obviously different.  Just respect *mine*, and we'll get
along fine.  Don't respect mine, and I may think you are a total idiot and
ignore you, or I may try to explain why what you are saying is offensive to
me.

|>Then again, you rarely encounter owners of such bikes trying to brag about
|>their bike in the ways that many Harley riders choose to do so - 
|Have you read this newsgroup lately?  It is full of brags about what
|brand X sport bike will do.  

  Bragging, or facts?  Every bit of "bragging" I've done about one bike or
another, I clearly believe to be true, and can prove the references of - I
was referring to the unprovable boasts made by one or two of the more fanatic
Harley proponents, concerning relative longevity, etc of a Harley. As far as
I know (with the exception of the one post with the "stats" I made up just
to bother people), I have made no unproven boasts in my postings.  When it
was a personal opinion, I clearly labeled it as such (and went to some
effort to do so).

|>If Harley would make a bike as capable as
|>the one I ride in the same price range, I would buy it.
|
|If they did they would end up with a lower market share.  Granted,
|Harleys are a nitch bike for those who prefer cruisers. However, that
|nitch is so large that Harley is selling everything that they can
|make with a several month waiting list to get one.

  Cool!!!  More power to them (seriously).  I have nothing against the
bike or the people who buy them.  However, as soon as a proponent compares
it to mine and tries to tell me that I made the wrong decision, when I clearly
didn't, I may decide that it is worth my time to attempt to tell them the
shortcomings of *their* decision in relationship to my requirements, in an
effort to prove to them that *I* didn't make the wrong decision *for* *me*.

  If someone, such as Seth, says that it is simply the bike for them that
satisfies them as no other bike could, I am perfectly happy with that and can
respect them just fine for having made the right choice *for* *them*, as long
as they ALSO admit that their choice is not a choice based on *performance*
of the machine.  But, should they say that my motorcycle is inferior to
theirs for reasons that are clearly laughably incorrect, they will have to
endure hearing the proof of their inaccuracy.

|>  If I SHOULD accept inferior abilities out of a more expensive machine, then
|>perhaps I missed that rule in the rulebook.
|
|Again, it is all a matter of preception. The Harley riders feal that
|a Brand X plastic coated sport bike is inferior for there riding
|needs.

  I didn't say riding needs.  I said abilities.  The only objective ability
in relation to its operation on the road that a Harley exceeds my ride is in
gas mileage.  If you want to speak subjective abilities, then have at it, and
I will agree with you that it DOES satisfy those criterias FOR YOU, (while
thinking that it does not satisfy me at all).

|>Why should I settle for less than what I can have and what would
|>limit me more?  
|
|Strange, but that is the exact feeling that convinced me to 
|purchase a Harley and sell my BMW and my Honda crotch rocket.

  I would be sincerely interested in hearing your perception of how a "Honda
crotch rocket" limited you more, unless it had something to do with being
accepted by the local Harley group.

Randy Davis                            Email: randy@megatek.com
ZX-11 #00072 Pilot                            megatek!randy@uunet.uu.net
DoD #0013                                     ucsd!megatek!randy