I dunno, I have a 750cc engine that makes <>85 hp and I just SMOKED my friends' HD 1200cc Sportster. Had a fight with the 750 Nighthawk though. I put it down as his ride was new and mine is 23 years old. But my mileage is better than his!

I measured it at 42 mpg on the way down, I haven't yet done the calculation for the return trip but I expect it will be similar. Perhaps a tad better due to the cooler (and denser) air and less traffic, thus fewer stops.

Brian

Harleys are piles of crap, a ducati 999R can turn out 139 HP @ 9750 rpm, that's peformance. Hell, the Ducati MonsterDark620 I'm picking up soon is about 60 HP @ 9500 rpm and that's bottom of the range. Sure that'll get smoked by some of the jap bikes but they don't look as cool =) When I'm ready I'll step up to a 749 and enjoy some serious peformance.

No Jag, Harleys aren't a pile of crap. Actually they have their quality control issues pretty well under control, especially with Jap electrics/electronics. Overpriced? Very.
You have to keep in mind that not everyone measures the worth of a motorcycle by how fast it will accelerate. Harleys are about going slow, looking cool (profiling), and waving to the girls. You see, Harley riders don't have to go fast because there's nothing that scares them into running away......except maybe soap & water.
The difference between a Hoover and a Harley? The position of the dirt bag. :haha:

Meh, I'll stick to my guns :P ;)
I'm sure they're someone's idea of style and maybe these days they have resolved some of the quality issues that plagued them for so long but christ, every time I see one it's some poor sod going though a severe midlife crisis, my first urge is to laugh, they look so silly sitting on these huge, slow inefficient machines trying to look the part with open-face helmets and harley leathers.

yeah, nothing at all like the weeinies in full leather racing gear on their ducatis and zusuckis, right?

I don't wear full leathers and it's a pretty good idea when it's easy to hit 200 on the highway, it's part of basic protection (that plus back/elbow/knee armour). Oh and I think a zusuckis is a vegetable.

suzuki.

the point was that a poser is a poser is a poser.

Think about why people ride harleys, think about why people ride peformance bikes. I ride the the enjoyment of it and most of the guys I know do as well, hell, none of the serios bikes even have pillions, there's a good reason for that. Sure there are plenty that side bikes other than harleys for the looks but I've never met anyone that rides a harley for the peformance. For me, ducatis are damn stylish but fundamnetally they have kickass peformance and excellent engineering.

I hear what you're saying, jag, but to some people, fun is tooling along back roads at 30mph enjoying the wind in their hair, and looking at the scenery. It was always my favorite thing to do when I had my bike. I am uncomfortable on a crotch rocket. Too much leaning forward. I prefer the reclined seating position, and i just LOVE the sound the hog makes wehn you goose the throttle at low rpm....in a tunnel BLAAAT!

I'll concede there are some I think you'd have to admit, harleys (or the far more common almost identical ripoffs) are most often ridden by serious bikies or the more chronic mid-life-crisis set.

As for leathers, i buy good stuff and good armour 'coz sooner or later I'm going to have an accident and it probably won't be very pretty, at least if I'm wearing a fair amount of protective gear I might be able to avoid spending the left of my life in a wheelchair or a year in traction.

I could have taken it home last night, but it didn't have the legs to go that far on one tank of gas.

And I go through the Lehigh Tunnel too. I hate that at night. The lights are too bright and wipe out my night vision. Grrr

Brian

You seem to exclude anyone that isn't trying to get from point A to point B at max speed/min altitude, as a serious biker. I'd say a guy that rides almost every day, in all kinds of weather, even in winter, is a serious biker. I had a roommate in college that bought a BMW R69US, and rode it every day year 'round, in Massachusetts, except during snow storms. He'd be back at it as soon as the roads were plowed, he never broke the speed limit and put a lot of time on the road. I'd call him a serious biker. I know some(few) Harley riders that are the same way. Granted there are many more that only go out on nice Sundays, 6 times a year. They are not serious.
What's a pillion?

pillion is the sucker that gets to sit behind you. On racing bikes they usually don't exist and if they do, it's going to be an uncomfortable ride.

You're right bruce, this became a very narrow debate very quickly, lets face it - the majority of riders would be in the category, I don't think many use harleys for that though.

Absolutely.:beer:

this one is kind of neat