Originally Posted by Luddite
Apologies to the OP for the thread drift..but at least there is some BM chat contained therein..

Colin, I had bought into the idea and hype around Harley, until I had a go on a neighbours Iron barrel shovel-head "Sportster," At the time I had an old BSA B40, and could not believe how HEAVY the Harley felt, it`s twin disks could not match the stopping power of the B40 front drum brake... On the same day jumped on a 70`s 650 oil in frame Triumph, no wonder the our American cousins loved the Trumpets given the superior handling and brakes, but if you needed to pull a tree stump outa the ground I suspect a Harley would have been a better tool.... I never bought a Harley and bought the Beemer instead. My pal was a Honda dealer, I had contemplated the VFR750, but feared it would be a licence shredder, and the upright seating of the Beemer made all round vision better/safer, than when bent over a tank holding on to clip on`s. Great to have all those old memories is it not...(-:

Your tips for touring Europe without booking ahead were well utilised on our trips Colin, Great times indeed... smile


To really understand Harleys you have to ride them in the States across vast distances on very straight highways often at a maximum speed of 55mph and then you get what they are all about. The hard U shaped tyres can cover vast distances before they need changing, if you had the European soft V section tyres they would square off very quickly. Brakes. well you tend to forget about them once out of town, and you realise why Harley have a throttle manual screw so that you can tighten the throttle open at your chosen speed and have a free hand to do whatever.......Harleys aren't meant for the twisty bits, in the same Brit bikes were not very good for cruising vast distances across the USA. Horses for courses.

The early Harleys pre evolution 1985 engine are really chunks of metal with basic frame, brakes, tyres, carb. even into the late 90's the sportsters made few compromises for the European market often the only visible change of rear sprocket size differentiated the European from US model. Add to that the European spec (that came into the UK) was designed for the Swiss market the most clean and lean spec in Europe....

regards

22 Plus Four KIMI
12 Plus 4 Sport OZZY
08 Roadster FELIX
06 4/4 70th LOKI
77 4/4 SEAMUS
85 4/4 MOLLY