Harley Davidson Goes Woke! Are Bikers Okay With This???

This will seem like a good investment compared to what's coming.
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Hells Angels.....LOL! Everybody I see riding a Harley is making 7 figures and dresses like it too! They are hitting the correct market with their BS and those people will love it. Same group that spends $20K to go see the Superbowl!

Not in my area. I see lots of patches that say Banditos or Calaveras. And the local VFW gets packed from time to time with all Harleys and they are surely not white collar people.
 
Well me and my ole HD both pre-date this cultural slide into the abyss and no...I would not spend a dime buying a new Harley now. That's been a trend for over a decade now with HD selling 50% fewer bikes. A silent, battery powered Harley shows how little the leadership understands it's customer. For me and my old, highly customized, 1000lb bike...we represent a bygone era and ride with the Patriot Guard whenever we can. FHD.

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We're talking about the same company who.... for the biggest event in their history hired Elton John to perform at the 100th anniversary bash in '03. No surprises here.

The "look at me" Harley crowd is freaking lame. That company and the image they sell is laughable.
 
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Hells Angels.....LOL! Everybody I see riding a Harley is making 7 figures and dresses like it too! They are hitting the correct market with their BS and those people will love it. Same group that spends $20K to go see the Superbowl!

So the average Harley rider will love the woke direction of the company. Got it.

What are the Hells Angles predominantly riding these days? Custom bikes I suppose?
 
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Harley and Jeep are the two biggest fuckoffs. People(most) buy them to wave at other owners, so they can feel like part of something bigger then themselves.

I like ignoring other “waves” like they don’t exist
Wait, I thought you had a Jeep Gladiator? Am I mistaken you for someone else? How's the duck collection going?
 
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Wait, I thought you had a Jeep Gladiator? Am I mistaken you for someone else? How's the duck collection going?
Oh I have a gladiator, doesn’t mean I’m part of the “wave at me” crowd. Most of the other jeeps in town have given up, the perks of a smallish town that learns quick. I’ve had a total of 3 ducks put on my jeep since I ordered it in 2020, only one keeps from the boy up the road who is probably one of the toughest kids I know currently.

I ordered a diesel version as soon as it was available just to see how it handled itself. I’m on the fence as of right now BUT I do get some impressive fuel mileage for driving a cinder block down the road.
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I have loved H-D for so long. Fond of insanely minute trivia. Such as when they first offered all chain drive. 1912. They had been doing leather belt drive. By 1913, all chain drive was standard equipment.

My first ride was on my step-uncle's '69 Shovelhead, last of the original iron horse. Built and painted like Fonda's "Captain America" but with a diamond shaped tank instead of a tear drop tank. 23 degree rake, you name it.

But now, this is a shame. I know that Willie couldn't last forever but this will kill the brand.

The guy in the vid is right. Leave the sexual politics alone and just make motorcycles.

FWIW, H-D never wanted to identify with Hell's Angels or any of the 1 %er groups. When yuppies started buying them, they were ecstatic.

I used to know a guy in Tioga, Texas who rebuilt Honda Goldwings from the 70s era and made a believer out of me in them.

So, this upscale yuppie gets permission to park his Harley at Dan's shop. I am looking at it and notice that while it has a vintage springer front end look, it is actually a hydraulic shock front end. I was asking the rider about it and it was like I was talking greek. I am use to H-D riders being gear heads, even if they are not professional mechanics.

By then, it was a status symbol.

Now, it's about fellatio.
 
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Well this is as American as one can get . For all that make the statement AMF is junk , the black one is AMF at its best , engine and trans never touched and doesn’t leak a drop on the ground under it . The white one is an 84 , one of the last Shovelheads , to roll off the assemble line . I’m not into new Harleys these were built by an American Worker going to work to provide and raise a family . The 32 is all Henry Ford steel and all Ford powered , again all American stuff . Harley is about in as bad a shape as the Motor Company has ever been . They do sell a starter size or value motorcycle , they can no longer be maintained by an owner at home in his own garage . Who in the hell needs a radio and a heated seat on a motorcycle ? Really , they have lost the sale to the working American Male , I’ll ride to the local watering hole from time to time , here’s the weekend urban yuppie dude , Harley boots , Harley button front shirt , labeled Harley jeans , I’m sitting there with my Carhartt overalls , holes torn in them , steel showing in my boot toes , grease marked tee , askin myself WTH has taken place here ? I go to exit , crowd watching as I kick the old dude to like and exit . Me thinkin, just let me get out of here before anyone at my pay grade sees me!
 
The dude who wrote that shit is a clickbait asshole who enriches himself by ripping iconic brands. Half his assertions are BS.

I don’t care who you are or what you ride. If you are on two wheels (or three — in the right configuration)… you are ok.

Sirhr

PS was out riding last Night and thought she needed some night air! Nice morning for a ride. After I lay about 50 retaining wall blocks!

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A copy is a copy , just like a copy of a $100.00 bill . Looks nice will pass to most , but it’s a copy .

We seem to be a bit sensitive about somethings . Maybe ride to the local Star Bucks , get a brew and read to help ease your issues .

It took a lot of time , dollars and labor to copy early America , China has done it for years and sold it to fools . Seems to be the new wave , just not for me . Old Dudes rule
 
The dude who wrote that shit is a clickbait asshole who enriches himself by ripping iconic brands. Half his assertions are BS.

I don’t care who you are or what you ride. If you are on two wheels (or three — in the right configuration)… you are ok.

Sirhr

PS was out riding last Night and thought she needed some night air! Nice morning for a ride. After I lay about 50 retaining wall blocks!

View attachment 8467307View attachment 8467308

Love my EVO Heritage. If I find an EVO Heritage Springer for a reasonable price I'll buy it.

That's an awesome ride you have.
 
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real bikes are hard tails.
Damn right!

Me starting the Pewter Run in 2012... time distance for pre-war bikes in New Hampshire. Ran it several times. On my JD and my Knuck. No longer have the JD... But I'll never sell the Knucklehead!



Gotta say that those two AMF's above are spectacular! AMF has a bad reputation... but it is un-deserved. Everything in America sucked then. Under AMF we got the EVO and the company got saved. Without AMF, there would be no HD.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
AMF...

My first Harley.... 1988. Was looking at an XLX at the dealers. It was sort of the 'budget' entry level Harley. Had everything I was looking for and was even affordable on a really low salary.

But over in the corner of Ray Price HD... was this 1976 XLCH Sportster. Looking sort of rode hard and put away wet. But it fired on the first kick. It sounded great. And while there were lots of XLX's running around, noone had a Competition Hot Sportster. And it followed me home. Over the next winter I stripped it down and redid the engine. Got the right air cleaner and little parts to make it original. And I was 'hooked' on restoring things!

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Was an amazingly hot bike!

Cheers.

Sirhr
 
Damn right!

Me starting the Pewter Run in 2012... time distance for pre-war bikes in New Hampshire. Ran it several times. On my JD and my Knuck. No longer have the JD... But I'll never sell the Knucklehead!



Gotta say that those two AMF's above are spectacular! AMF has a bad reputation... but it is un-deserved. Everything in America sucked then. Under AMF we got the EVO and the company got saved. Without AMF, there would be no HD.

Cheers,

Sirhr

To some extent, yes. AMF financially saved H-D but people were having problems with quality control on their shovelheads. And changing from iron to an alloy was not very popular at the time.

But Willie bought it back. Just sad to see that now, it is more important to support sexual grooming of children than it is to make a quality motorcycle.

Again, my friend in Tioga used to rebuild 70's era Honda Goldwings. They were meant to compete with the BMW Boxer. In Europe, people got their beamers built with bags and fairings for a comfortable touring set up. Finally, Honda got a contract for bags and fairings and that was a winner.

Originally 1975 1/2 Goldwing, 0 - 60 mph in 4 seconds. 88 hp at the rear wheel.

Most Harleys were getting half that.

Goldwing shaft drive was nearly bulletproof and easy to maintain. Unscrew the plugs in the tranny, drain, flush. Put the bottom plug back in and fill. Put the top plug in. Drive another good long time.

So, yeah, AMF might have done some design changes but at least H-D conserved forward with the Evo (blockhead.)

At least, that was the history as I knew it.
 
Harley: machine that converts gasoline into an abundance of noise, without the byproduct of horsepower.
There was a company called RevTech and they made an aftermarket performance kit that would double the Big Boy 44 hp to about 82 hp. This took expense and time at a mechanic's shop because they have to cut a slant in the piston heads for the hotter cam and also had some hotter points and a performance exhaust.

Or, get an old Goldwing and have all that performance from the factory.

In fact, most of Honda's racing line would use chain drives but the commercial market was shaft drive. The only drawback of the shaft drive is that if you romped on the throttle to get a burn out, the back end would tend to swing right. On wet grass, for example, this could be dicy.
 
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Damn right!

Me starting the Pewter Run in 2012... time distance for pre-war bikes in New Hampshire. Ran it several times. On my JD and my Knuck. No longer have the JD... But I'll never sell the Knucklehead!



Gotta say that those two AMF's above are spectacular! AMF has a bad reputation... but it is un-deserved. Everything in America sucked then. Under AMF we got the EVO and the company got saved. Without AMF, there would be no HD.

Cheers,

Sirhr

Knuckles rule ! Only one of mine is AMF . 75 is AMF , 84 is HD . Both are not performance bikes . If you want performance , but other brand . It’s not about performance or ride for me , it’s part of America , HD is one of the oldest operating companies in America .
 
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My '94 Softail Custom was the fastest Evo around in the 90's. But with it's flowed heads and cam solid mounted to the frame, the vibration was so bad it tried to destroy itself whenever I rode it.

Shit was constantly breaking and falling off, including the right foot peg under the brake while going down the highway. I had to constantly re-tighten things like mirrors before I rode or replace broken light filiments. It even backed the screws out of my Ray-Bans.

Whoever thought bolting a rude, hard vibrating V-twin directly to the frame was a good idea, Ive got a jackhammer you can sit on.

Women did love the vibration though. It was foreplay on two wheels.
 
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Personally don't like Harleys. Did my motorcycle course through them since they had a 750 to test on. Utah has a tiered license system. If you test on a smaller bike you can only ride up to that size.
99 cc or less
249 cc or less
649 cc or less
650 or bigger you can ride anything. Community College classes didn't have the bigger bikes.

I also ride a 22 year old Honda Magna v4 750.
 
Not in my area. I see lots of patches that say Banditos or Calaveras. And the local VFW gets packed from time to time with all Harleys and they are surely not white collar people.

H-D makes a bunch of touring bikes that list in the $30-45K range. Whatever their market may have been in the past, it certainly has shifted away from nowadays towards bunch of dentists and lawyers who a lot less sensitive to woke bullshit than your local pipefitter.
 
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Personally don't like Harleys. Did my motorcycle course through them since they had a 750 to test on. Utah has a tiered license system. If you test on a smaller bike you can only ride up to that size.
99 cc or less
249 cc or less
649 cc or less
650 or bigger you can ride anything. Community College classes didn't have the bigger bikes.

I also ride a 22 year old Honda Magna v4 750.
I liked those two.

And Yamaha had a nice 650 ( I think Maxima). Fairing and king and queen seat.
 
Reich Bike is best Bike. HD's all around my retirement-aged town.

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Yup... Love my Dakar for the trips in to places like the Arctic Circle, Labrador and Russia!

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But for riding American Interstates and being 'around town' there's nothing like one of the Harley's!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
AMF...

My first Harley.... 1988. Was looking at an XLX at the dealers. It was sort of the 'budget' entry level Harley. Had everything I was looking for and was even affordable on a really low salary.

But over in the corner of Ray Price HD... was this 1976 XLCH Sportster. Looking sort of rode hard and put away wet. But it fired on the first kick. It sounded great. And while there were lots of XLX's running around, noone had a Competition Hot Sportster. And it followed me home. Over the next winter I stripped it down and redid the engine. Got the right air cleaner and little parts to make it original. And I was 'hooked' on restoring things!

View attachment 8468094

Was an amazingly hot bike!

Cheers.

Sirhr
1977 Sportster
 

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1977 Sportster
By then, the shifter protruded from the left side!

The '76 had this horrible long linkage to switch brake and shifter. to put a left shifter onto a right shift case.. onto the DoT mandated side. By 1977, they redesigned the cases. And a lot more.

I had no issue with my '76. But never did figure out how to do the foot shift that the Brits and the old HD Sporters had to compete with the Brit bikes. Was right shift, left brake until 75 ot 76 when mandatated by DoT that all bikes in USA had o have a left shift, right brake.

I restored (really just cleaned up) a time-warp Triumph in 1995 when I lived in OH... An original Triumph Tiger 600 (or 650). Bought new by a guy who got it after basic and got killed in Vietnam. I bought from his parents with about 200 miles on it. Recommissioned it. And almost died 3 times in the first 10 miles trying to control it. Shift/brake/etc. All on wrong side. Sold it to a Triumph guy who had bugged me to buy it since the minute I got it from the 'barn.' I loved that bike. But I'd have died on it. And he made me a fair offer and was a great home.

I'll try and find a picture.

The '77 was a whole different animal. Not sure if the still even had had the XLCH. But the transmission and case was all redesigned. It was still a great bike. Basically a big engine, a rear wheel and no weight around it! Mine could beat anything from stoplight to stoplight. But after that... out of steam. But the acceleration with my worked over engine and big gearing... was great!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
It's time to expose Harley-Davidson's woke CEO Jochen Zeitz. Here's some of what we found:


  • He admits on video that he "became the Taliban" for sustainability
  • Co-Founded the B-Team with Richard Branson to advance wokeness in corporations
  • Signed statement backing an end to fossil fuels
  • Calls for the total "transformation" of our food and financial systems to adopt wokeness
  • Called for a great "reset" in 2020 to address climate change, misinformation and DEl
  • Signed Harley onto the UN Global Compact
  • Advocates for businesses to "shift norms" using their power to advance DEI
• Helped establish the Business Refugee Action Network to promote migrants in Europe
  • The B Team supported Target allowing men in women's bathrooms



 
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