For the life of me I can’t see what’s so cool about having the cheeks of your arse nearly dragging along the road
If its the genuine thing then fair enough - I'm meaning the actual "wannabes" who wear all the gear but without the commitment and expect the kudos - no different to your "twat suited GS" riders popping out for a pint of milk as opposed to the real cross continent riders. All the gear - no idea?
Fair point Jez, its just I find the name amusing as the Test Valley could not be less savage if it tried. The river Test is one of the worlds finest chalk streams for fly fishing and the area is populated by the very wealthy, aristocratic hunting shooting and fishing brigade - a far cry from Redwood California!
My only experiences with cruisers has been with a HOG that I rode, two up, from San Francisco to Mendocino up highway 101 and down through the Nappa Valley and three occasions with loaners:- Bonneville America and Speedmasters. The Hog was horribly heavy, a Barsteward to park and ride slowly (don't try to say it must've been an old crock it was brand new with only delivery mileage) and not particularly comfortable. The Triumphs were better in most respects but still uncomfortable to ride decent mileages on. My Mk1 T100 is fine for 120 miles between coffee stops and up to 300 miles per day. I appreciate custom bikes as works of art, but I have no desire to ride on ever again.
Love Cruiser bikes Love Sports Bikes Love Naked bikes Love Adventure bikes..in fact I love all types of bikes
Noted my friend..... In the UK there are groups that do fit the profile, but there are many bikers that ride cruisers that don't; me included. Wessa
Mines a 2015 model 1690cc twin cam motors about 2006 was the cam chain tensioner that gave problems the plastic shoe broke up
Thirteen years ago I had a road king custom screaming eagles, fully chromed front end and solid luggage in one of my many (how many are there) mid life crisis, it lasted a month I hated it slow and uncomfortable.
@Dozers Dad if I were you I'd ask your mate if you can get a test ride first? i don't know what like your roads are down your way,maybe they are more suited to the bonny?.. up here in Scotland where you have fast open roads the Harley is ideal..I've never found them lacking in speed it will happily cruise along 80mph all day with plenty more poke for overtaking if need be..as long as you don't expect sports bike performance you won't be disappointed, and like any cruiser you have to plan your corners more.i must admit I get way more satisfaction riding my cruiser than any other bike as you are a lot more involved with it..plus if you want to just cruise along at 40/50 it will do that too...wouldn't be much fun doing that on any other bike
The trouble with cruisers, as far as I'm concerned, is that if I hit a bump - and who doesn't these days - I have to endure sharp pain shooting up my spine, almost certainly due to two vertebrae (T10/T11 in my neck area) being crushed together in an accident a few years ago. An upright riding position + back injury + hitting bumps in the road = excruciating pain in my spine and a strange yelping noise from my mouth! Not good!
I agree with your mates too many folk jump on a Harley and take it for a short run and decide they don't like it,If you've never ridden one they will take a bit longer than "Normal" bikes to get used to it. if you are only going to be using it for short runs it's maybe not the best bike,but like you say you won't loose much..if anything, if you decide to sell it
My Brother in Law is into Harleys, he runs a club where they are all HD, not a HOG type mob a 'proper' club if ya get my drift. Anyway, a few years back he let me ride his Fat Boy (ha ha yes a fat boy on a Fat Boy DD!), he told me to be careful at roundabouts etc as I was used to sportsbikes. He wasn't fecking kidding! first roundabout I went into at what felt like walking pace, halfway round I ground out the foot boards big shower of sparks (he was following on my bike ... Oooops!). Anyway he repossessed his bike at the first lay-by we came to, he was actually OK about it as he was taking off the foot boards anyway, he ended up heavily customising over the time he had it. I have ridden a few Harleys over the years, the only one that I didn't mind (like is too strong) was the 1200 Sportster, this felt like you could have a bit of fun on without fear of leaving various bits of it scrapped along the ground. None of the bigger Harleys I have ridden did it for me but others rave about them.
