Harley or Honda?

First topic message reminder :

So yesterday I'm cruising on the freeway, minding my own business, 65mph.  Suddenly a Harley shows up, and in a close call, guns it around me all the while producing an excessively loud, annoying, bellow that can only be described as severe flatulence.

So I'm a little pissed because he assumes my bike can go no faster.  Here I find myself on the throttle, on his a** for the next 5 miles.  Of course he decides to slow down because he realizes I am not so slow.

No point really.  I just wanted to point out that this douchebag behavior only further perpetuates the typical Harley rider stereotype.  Why behave that way?  And I really don't understand the allure of an overweight, loud, underpowered shiny hunk of metal that hasn't improved on engine design in decades.  Can someone please explain why people buy these bikes other than a insatiable desire to compensate for some type of serious bling factor deficiency?  I am so confused.

Nope, not Kindergarten but just some riders who haven't gotten old in their own minds.

I am not a flashy kind of guy, I bought used Honda motorcycles when I got my license. I did a lot of reading on riding forums and mostly heeded the advice. I wasn't going to risk it with a new bike.
However, after 6 years of riding ( and three Honda's, I still like variety) I am thinking that the iconic Harley would be nice to have..my riding buddies all swore they would never consider a Harley, until they got one !!!!
I guess you should never say never.
Jay.

I never realized it until I got my swing how much that scoot pisses of Harley guy's.

Lof's of laffs.

I discovered riding late in life, and I am trying to cram as much of it as I can. That's probably why I won't count a Harley out of my stable. I'd have to make room for it though, I am running out of stalls. It has nothing to do with the hype of the brand, just the experience. I don't care to belong to any HOG. I don't care for organised religion, why organised riding?
Jay.

"Like for instance last year we toyed with a guy on 30 who came up on our tail. We gunned it to not let him pass us. He got so mad and flipped us off at 100 mph cause he couldn't pull away."

There's no room for that kind of cr*p on public highways.  You, your friend, and the Harley guy should all be ashamed of yourselves.  And to brag about on the forum, too.  Very sad.

"Lof's of laffs." I suppose, until one of you three or an innocent road user gets hurt or killed.

I totally agree with Bash On. The next guy you piss off maybe carrying a gun. Then what?

It all depends on circumstances and the road. On an empty highway in a rural area a friend of mine and I did something similar with a HD rider who flipped us off when we entered the road. We did chase him down and pass him, left him in the dust for that matter. A Sportster doesn't seem to have much of a top end. Childish, yes. Dangerous to others? No, only to the three of us, there was no traffic on the road. Old children though I'm 73 and my riding buddy on his SW is 89. Know what? It was just as fun as it would have been if we'd both been 19.
As for firearms, probably not in Southern Oregon, very high incidence of concealed carriers. We're a lot more polite and unlikely to start something stupid with a firearm as the ordinary bear. My friend and I believe the 'flip off' was a challenge, not a threat. I guarantee there's at least one HD rider who know knows what a maxi-scooter is and that they do deserve some respect.
So if that offends anyone my advice is to suck it up. I'm not bragging just reporting some facts.

I am guilty of one offence in the Harley race game. Mu buddy on his 650 burger and myself on my SW did play a short game of tag, just to show the HD rider that we were not riding tuk-tuk scooters but Sports-Touring machines. We let him go after 10 miles or so on the highway, not 2-laner.
I know it's not a game: it can be very dangerous and can escalate into an accident very quickly. I realised the fun was short-lived, we did not want to ride at his speed, we were out of fun, nothing more. I've heard of riders who do runs from one province to another for contraband, drugs and what not. I wouldn't want to mess with those guys. But it's over and out of my system.
Jay.

Agreed. Sounds like some ole fuddy duddies are hell bent on making this a nanny state and not allowing some us to have a little fun before we die. I for one grew up with a 80cc aero as a cheap form of fun. You all know the old saying. Riding a scooter is like riding a fat gurl.
They're both fun until some old fuddy duddy bashes on about seeing you on it.
Then of course you get a real life taste of what people in a car and bike are like when they try and run you off the road coming up from behind ya.

My swing is poetic justice.

Lof' of lafs.

Bash On! wrote:

"Like for instance last year we toyed with a guy on 30 who came up on our tail. We gunned it to not let him pass us. He got so mad and flipped us off at 100 mph cause he couldn't pull away."




Lof's of lafs.


There's no room for that kind of cr*p on public highways.  You, your friend, and the Harley guy should all be ashamed of yourselves.  And to brag about on the forum, too.  Very sad.

"Lof's of laffs." I suppose, until one of you three or an innocent road user gets hurt or killed.

My buddy wants me to tell you, if you only knew how much fun these swing's are, the gubermint would make them illegal.

Road rage is not fun. Last year a biker was killed when a woman in an SUV chased him down and ran him over. She dragged his body and bike for over a quarter mile under her vehicle. Her vehicle was found abandoned. She was just sentences to ten years in prison. You never know what the other person may do when angered. Remember to always drive safely.

I'm not proposing anyone should to illegal or dangerous things. And naturally all descriptions of myself doing such are either hypothetical or fictional, yeah, that's it.

Of course it could be a lot of fun, if it were legal. I was surprised at the velocity these big scooters could develop and how quickly. After years of riding six cylinder, 900lb. GWs and some
lighter higher powered bikes it's become obvious to me that the escalation in displacement might not be necessary. I have no problem touring with a 650cc scooter and if I buy another motorcycle it's going to be under a liter. Compared to my '49 Thunderbird 650-750cc bikes are a whole new world now. I wish there were more real touring motorcycles in that displacement range. Baggers with decent weather protection and comfortable seats. But then I've just described a maxi scooter.

Easyrider wrote:

Road rage is not fun. Last year a biker was killed when a woman in an SUV chased him down and ran him over. She dragged his  body and bike for over a quarter mile under her vehicle. Her vehicle was found abandoned. She was just sentences to ten years in prison. You never know what the other person may do when angered. Remember to always drive safely.

She should have gotten life
Wouldn't bring the guy back, but it might deter the next road raging idiot
Still, there's a big difference between, say, cutting someone off from 'their' lane and simply blowing by someone
Dangerous, probably, childish, yes, but not really the sort of thing shootings are made of
I've heard lots of folks gripe about the crotch rocket guys
I've even seen folks cut them off deliberately, or try to
I've yet to see someone chase them down to shoot them or run them over just for passing them

Speaking of Harleys...