Air Cooled, Belt Driven
Twins are for Mowing Lawns
Not Conquering Ashphalt!
I'm a Biker! I can give you 100 reasons why I'm a Biker. One is life time miles on 2 wheels and none of those reasons have the words Badass or Harley in them! I've had motorcycles since 1971, and in the beginning I thought that the ONLY motorcycle worth having was a Harley Davidson. As I became more educated in engineering and in life I realized that this was a mistake.
In 1975 while serving in the US Navy I purchased my 3rd motorcycle, a used Honda CB 450. During the following 4 years I used and abused this bike. I only replaced tires, chains, spark plugs and sprockets and it never let me down. When I sold this bike in 79 it had 61k miles on it, (would have had more but the Navy kept sending me out to sea!) it used a little oil and ran like a champ. It was the dependability of this bike, the numerous broken down Harleys I've seen on the highway and common sense that made me realize Honda made a superior machine. Since those days I've owned many bikes, I've ridden many Harleys but was never impressed enough to buy one.
Currently I ride with a group of 20+ guys which, all but myself and 3 others, have Harleys. I have 2 bikes now, a 94 Goldwing and a 99 Valkyrie, but I usually take the Valk when I ride with these guys. These guys don't pussy foot around when they ride, they like to Hot Dog and so do I and that's why I eat up rear tires. But they also have a rule "Don't Pass the guy ahead of you", and that's why I eat up brakes. Now my Valk ain't no Lamont's but it does have the trigger wheel, carb kit and my best investment yet; COBRA 6 into 6 Drag Pipes (no baffles) which makes the Valk ROAR. Add the Custom paint, V-Stacks, Mucho Chrome Accessories, it's awesome size and it's a real head turner. I love the attention my bike gets from people even when it's in a group of Harleys that cost twice as much. I also enjoy catching the Die Hard Harley guys sneaking peeks at it, and when they see me looking they'll put on their "Piece of Junk" face!
There aren't too many performance enhancements on her, but when you ride with HDs, who needs them. Two years ago when I first started riding with these guys about 7 of us had non Harleys but they are gradually selling their dependable rides for Harleys. This I don't understand except that it must be similar to the "Herd Instinct". You know the reason a group of cattle will follow the lead cows off a cliff.
Now I gotta tell ya, these are a great bunch of guys and we tend to bust each other about our rides a bit. But I get the sense that they get a little more irritated than I. When one of the guys asked when I was going to get a Harley I replied very seriously "I've already got one. It's in the garage right now." He looked baffled, and I continued with; "It's an American made, Air Cooled, Belt Driven twin cylinder, and I get it out every time the grass needs cutting! I'm talking about my 18HP Briggs & Stratton Lawn Tractor. And if I engage the mower deck and get in heavy grass it vibrates like a Harley!"
Biker Hog Not
Born to RIDE, Engineer by trade &
Proud to be an American! GO TROOPS!