You guys think Harley Davidson will last?

https://www.motorcycle.com/mini-fea...es-patent-for-new-v-twin-engine-with-vvt.html

“The drawings show air-cooling fins, though the fins have uneven contours, curving in and out at at different spots around the cylinder. There’s also no oil filter at the front of the engine. It’s difficult to get a sense of proportion in these patent illustrations, but it’s possible we’re looking at the replacement for the ancient Sportster engine.“

But the Sportster works so well. I see less of them on my lift for problems outside of dead batteries that are mostly operator error. I would be sad to see it go away.

The Sportster needs to weigh less, IMO.
The engine is just so physically huge. Unnecessarily so. Yeah, I get it that a V-twin is the focal point of any H-D but time has marched on. There's no reason a 883cc engine needs to be that physically massive and heavy.

Harley sure is hitting YouTube hard with ads. $129 a month will put you on the seat of a Harley.

And they're already carrying a lot of bad debt.

Look at it as an opportunity to improve the XL line. With a counterbalanced engine , they’ll be able to lose 35-40 lbs right out of the gates while also improving frame rigidity. If they keep what has made the Evo so great, like bulletproof reliability, hydraulic lash adjustment and great fuel efficiency, while also introducing a 6th gear then this may be a fantastic package.

I think they need to do something. The Scout has the Sportster beat by a wide margin IMO. I stopped by the local Indian dealer recently. They had several of their Ginormous land yachts and even a couple of FTRs but not a single scout in the showroom.

I've ridden the Scout. Bought another Sportster. It's funny but I got it because it nothing like the modern Scout. I also prefer the Enfield Interceptor over the newest Bonnevilles. Something about a modern retro that is so thoroughly modern that it feels dead inside just doesn't appeal to me.

Hopefully they can improve the Sportster without ruining what makes so darn fun to ride.

I get what you're saying, its why I find Urals so enjoyable, and think the sweetest bike I've ever ridden was a Yamaha SRX 250. Its hard to articulate exactly why, but the more sanitary a bike is the less enjoyable it is to me.

The oddest thing is when a bike is absolutely sterile like an E bike, then they become a unique zen like experience that's highly enjoyable to me.

Looks like another bitch slap to the stock by Wall St.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...as-coronavirus-hammers-earnings-idUSKCN24T1H3

Man sounds like things are getting real bad over there.

It'll all be better once they shutter more stores, lay off more people, reduce models, and reduce production of the remaining models, while keeping prices high. That is the big plan, right?

First Time Riding a REAL Harley Davidson! (Iron 883)


Yammie noob rides a Harley for the first time. Doesn't sound like a great experience for the person not entirely stoked on Harley's.

So a sport bike guy is riding, not only the most budget version of the sportster, but also one that was lowered as a factory styling effort......and he didn’t like it, so Harley’s suck.

In related news after spending years riding Suzuki sport bikes, I did my Texas riding test on a nighthawk 250. That is when I realized all Honda must suck.

So an almost 900cc Harley is the equivalent of a 250cc Honda. Sounds about right.

Sometimes the great content on this forum is overshadowed by ignorance and bias. You're yelling at empty cans here, man.

As an aside, that was one of the dumbest videos I've seen in a while.

And they still haven't turned a profit since 2014...

Yammie Noob is a freaking joke who wrecked his bike by riding too fast on a public road, crossed into oncoming traffic, almost killing the driver of the car then mocks the whole situation with a video and then asks his subs to help him pay for his mistake.(The driver of the Porche suffered severe spinal injuries that have put him in and out of the hospital, and racked up millions of dollars worth of debt. Not only was Yammi riding on a suspended license, he was only holding basic liability insurance,)
And to top it all off the dude has only been riding since 2016 and calls himself a "Street Rossi"

Not true. They have had positive earnings every year since 2005. I'm sure before that too but that's as far back as the chart I found goes.

Of course the Honda 250 made 20 hp (13 ft lbs of torque) and got 67 MPG

The Harley 883 has 50 Hp (59 ft lbs of torque) and gets 60 MPG

Both are fuel efficiency, budget bikes from the respective manufacturers. The Harley isn’t as cheap initial purchase but 20 year old versions still sell for 3500 where you might have to pay someone to take a 15 year old nighthawk off your hands.

Not better or worse. Just different. People get a little too wrapped up in displacement size. Perhaps fuel economy vs hp would be a better way to evaluate. I don’t really like either of those bikes. My point was that, this was a particularly bad version of the bike for him to evaluate. For instance, a XR1200 he likely would have still disliked, but would have been closer to his expectations for riding style. Just my opinion.