Colin, I really enjoyed your tale of riding in the snow, I felt as if I had been there with you.... well up to a point..(-: Rode in all weathers to get to work and back home over many years, though only times I rode in snow was in later years when the sun was shining and more in search of a challenge than necessity...Long past that sort of "foolishness" now.. (-:
Howard, no stranger to knee down riding was I, though prior to that riding STYLE fast cornering was known as ear holing round corners when I were a yoof, Quite amazed to see modern racers putting a foot down these days, but then I remember my uncle a former racer would complain that with the knee down style of riding the airflow over the machine was being disturbed, but then he raced in the dustbin faring era, and was greatly impressed by the wind tunnel when he visited the Guzzi factory way back when..
John H, many thanks for providing an insight to the valuation of Harley from a practical perspective of their actual usage in the land of their creation, all of which seems entirely logical to me, and an aspect of the design of the machine which in truth I had never before contemplated.
K, I do hope I did not come across as "slagging" Harleys, for that would be FAR form my thinking. Having for years considered the variation from hype through to the possible reality of ME owning such a machine. I was ever intrigued by the different approach in terms of design compared to the Brit norms from the first time I cane across an article on Harley in the then new to me motorcycle magazine Motorcycle Mechanics in the mid sixties, I even wrote to Fred Warr who was at the time the only person in the UK who dealt in Harley machines and if I remember correctly was converting ex military bikes to make them more suited for road use in the UK..? They were rare beasts back then and the only Harley I ever saw in the metal back then was in the local museum of transport.
With the passage of time of course Harley became popular perhaps as the result of the film Easy Rider which seems to have spawned a whole generation of Harley "faithful" all around the globe with all of the marketing advantage that provided for the company for many a year...? Me..? I bought every issue of HOG magazine and consumed as much knowledge of the brand as I could....BUT John H`s description of the joy of Harley riding just did not fit as well with my m/cycling ideals as did more nimble machines perhaps I never really saw myself as a bad ass biker or a poser as such, more that I just greatly enjoyed and sought out local roads with ever more challenges on which to attempt to improve my skills in mechanical and riding terms..... Yup, I fell off more than once...(-:
In truth my time reading HOG was a form of research prior to the possibility of returning to m/cycling in my 50`s, like so many bad ass lawyers dentists and the likes who had bought into that sort of hype but eventually I was partially put off by the huge degree of hype surrounding BRAND Harley to the extent they were marketing everything and anything they could apply the name HARLEY to, and employing legal teams world wide to stop others using the brand name on sunglasses, aftershave, hats, T shirts and so very much more....Even to the extent they shut down Brit owned and published HOG magazine as the term HOG was reckoned by Harley Davidson to be THEIRS alone...? I guess those interested in legal interpretations will find plenty of info on the www, but it seems perhaps as a result of marketing and protecting the BRAND they lost their way when concentrating on m/cycle design could perhaps have worked out better long term, which after all was the foundation on which the brand was built...?
Me..? Well as I typed as a hype averse baby boomer who had by then learned to appreciate a more upright riding position promoted by an ever stiffening body and being slightly put off by my very limited contact with the overly heavy and under-braked shovel head HD, I then applied my thinking relative to the quality and realities of German engineering as I had come to know it, having owned a Beetle and three air cooled Porsches, thus logically I began to look at BMW.. While I had been impressed with the R100RS on the I.O.M, for a road bike I much preferred to be without any sort of fairings and the R850RS looked to be precisely that which had the potential to suit me right down to the ground, and did so as I was surprised to find out just how wonderfully well it handled the twisty tarmac around these parts, which is where the majority of my m/cycling pleasure has been derived over many years.. When out on the road I would often come across the obviously new to m/cycling baby boomers on their crotch rockets who rode them like they drove their cars but now with real power to weight ratio, would blast along the straits and round corners rather too gingerly so much so that I would regularly pass them on the outside of the bends to have them blow me into the weeds as they once again rocketed by me on the straights.... (-:
Today...? While it seems logical that BM have been sucked into the retro marketing ideology to some degree, were I buying another bike I suspect I would perhaps still be looking for something as close to the R850R as might be out there, but then again, perhaps I would need to engage the reality of the years that have passed since I last rode my R850R and my current level of abilities.... Yup, I guess the reality is that I am perhaps lucky they still allow me out on the road in four wheels, even if I have to re-apply for my driving licence..Which still allows me to ride m/cycles, even though the DVLA thought to ask if I might care to allow them to delete those categories from my licence when I renewed it some years back....
I suspect I would find some level of enjoyment in having an old bike in the garage, and a iron Harley would fit that bill perfectly well, though whether I might be able to kick start it and for how long, would perhaps be another matter, but then again, My Morgan although not fitting my desires for fun transport as well as it once did, still provides a sense of pleasure every time I visit the garage for any reason. I had an acquaintance who suffered illness for many a year and who fitted out his garage with carpet and comfort options to spend time sitting with his Porsches quite regularly, just enjoying the ambiance and memories they provided...
Enjoy your m/cycling while you can would seem to have potential as worthwhile thinking..?
