Well, while that's not a good thing, and would certainly impact my buying decision, if I were even in the market for a bike of this type, we really do need to keep this in perspective. The bike WAS just revealed this past weekend, and I'm sure a lot of potential dealers were skeptical of the previous Indian debacles and were waiting to at least see a finished product, and sorta get the feel for customer reactions, before signing on to support the name. I doubt they'll ever have the dealer network of HD since I doubt they'll ever have the market share to support such a vast network, but I would think that the situation will start to improve now that the bike has actually hit the market. And then, when and if they actually start selling in numbers, more people will be wanting a piece of it. But, in the short term at least, the lack of dealers will hurt sales. EDIT: Just checked and the closest to me is 111 miles and there are 4 within 252 miles, Didn't look any further than that, but that's too far for me personally too.
Some just want to buy American without buying a cruiser. Can't buy an American sportsbike/enduro/yada yada yada from any manufacturer with decent support.
That's a valid point. But I guess not enough people want to buy and American bike just because it's American. ATK failed, Cannondale failed, Buell failed (although that may have had a lot to do with HD influence). Cruisers do sell well in the US though. Well enough that we now have three American manufacturers, and all the Japanese, trying to get a piece of the pie. But for something else, now there's Motus... if only for the very well heeled....
Randy, you seem very reasonable so when you take the 48 in for service take a test ride on one of the touring models and give us your impression.
Nah. I'm afraid my impression would be biased. They're just really not my cup of tea at all. At least not at this point in life. I have never been attracted to a cruiser before. In fact, when I first saw a 48 like mine, it was the ONLY bike in the place that even caught my eye. I'm not crazy about the styling on the touring models, and I don't want a bike that big, heavy, and with floorboards just yet. I was never a cruiser guy. And actually, with the exception of just a few Sportsters, I'm still not. I could probably be objective in a test ride, IF I had a point of reference and was comparing it to, say, a new Indian or something similar. But, I really don't want to trouble them, and put miles on a new bike that I know I have no interest in at all. I am hoping they'll have a used frame mount Sporty, however. I've never been to this dealership before so I have no idea what sort of used selection they stock. But, I'm really wanting to do a project Sportster one day and the frame mount has a few advantages for what I want to build. Vibration seems to be rather subjective and I'd like to see for myself how the frame mount compares to my rubber mount. If they have a frame mount 1200 of any type I will ask for a ride on it for that reason alone.
You should just go and ask to take one yourself. Go to each local dealer and ask and ride different versions. I did that about 15 or 20 (honest) times before I bought... and I just realized I didn't get put on a single mailing list over any test rides. Love or hate HD's, I wish car dealers would be so un-annoying with test rides and spamming you with snail mail after getting your DL info as HD dealers are.
Why buy a harley? Because u can take a unique bike, and make it even more unique with a simple seat swap and tank swap. This bike was a great tool for developing my taste for what I want. Panic breaking and lack of ABS made this bike eat pavement, and I feel terrible. However, I broke my shoulder and the bike is almost fixed so I will trade it for my next taste. Why buy a harley? Because I think everyone should own one at least once in their life. Devil's Tower in Wyoming.
Yeah. Just like everyone else's ! I guess we need a definition of "unique", here. My definition of unique does not include something (anything) produced in the hundreds of thousands per year. Yeah, I know it's tens of thousands per year for Sportsters, but there are millions of them on road...
Yeah, I know what you mean! I just hate that everyone builds the same thing over and over. I see bikes like these everywhere! All built on the Sportster, and none, with the possible exception of the last two, beyond the average guy's ability to do in his own garage. The parts are available and the Sporty is very adaptable. The fact that you see everyone doing the same old thing over and over again is due to styling trends, group mentality, and/or lack of imagination. Has nothing to do with the bike. Hell, even though I bucked the trends somewhat with longer suspension instead of slamming it further, a real front brake, and mid mount controls in place of the stock forwards, I'm just as guilty as the next guy. And I like this bike just the way it sits now, even though I do have dreams of building something more like something from above one day, when time and money allows.
Allegedly EBR is coming out with street models for under 20 grand. Still a lot of money, but they'll be very nice all around and American made.
My brother's XR was a blast. Unfortunately his bad knees didn't mix well with the bike. As for Buell- my Ulysses is one of my all time favorite bikes. Too bad more people didn't buy them.
I have an 11 XR. I believe the moco made about 1200 of them that year. That's world wide even less got imported into the US. This gets beat to death. It's a marketing issue in my opinion. Black baggers are dime a dozen. My bike bone stock is unique.
I'm still surprised that Polaris hasn't come out with something...anything...other than a cruiser in the Victory line, or even if it were Polaris branded. Their roots are as a recreational vehicle manufacturer. Snowmoblies, ATV's, side by sides, used to make PWC's, etc. It's not like they wouldn't fit nicely into the dual sport market. I understand that cruisers make up the majority of street bikes in the US, but I've long thought that they're ignoring a market that coincides nicely with many of their other product lines.
So I read somewhere today that the road glide is going to disappear from the 2014 line up and could possibly come back with liquid cooling.... Might there be any truth to that?
