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It’s the new VROD, the objectively best* harley that harley owners hated!! *besides the xr1200
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Jan 31, 2018 20:28
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 11:58 |
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Sagebrush posted:Half the appeal of H-D bikes to their target market is that they sound like a Harley and can be made loud and obnoxious. they made the electric motor on the prototype intentionally loud as gently caress  I wonder how noise on an electric motor affects the range
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Jan 31, 2018 20:37
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Razzled posted:wow that's exceptionally terrible. 50 mile range doesn't even get me to work and back But, does it smell like a pack of cigarettes and dead cow leather when it's parked?
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Jan 31, 2018 22:35
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R-Type posted:But, does it smell like a pack of cigarettes and dead cow leather when it's parked? No, but the owners do/will. They need to put huge speakers on it that blast Traditional Harley Sounds (tm) as you throttle it. Amps and Sub Package are a $3000 add on from the factory.
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Jan 31, 2018 22:44
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I feel like the Lightning is supposed to be a halo bike to attract younger, environmentally conscious buyers, and it's going to be dead on arrival: 1) Most of the 20-somethings I know don't appreciate bikes or cars, have a hard enough time just making rent, and spend what little free cash they have on other things like music and travel. Even if they had the cash to spare, I don't see them looking to the storied HD marque for 10K+ in accessory transportation that only has a 50 mile range. 2) HD's existing market will have little or no interest in this thing other than as an oddity 3) We all saw how well Harley dealers did selling Buells - if it's not covered in chrome and tassels it's going to gather dust on the dealership floor. They'd need to release it under a completely separate brand and sell it through a different channel than their existing dealership network. If HD want to actually start gaining market share and making money again they need to rip off the loving band-aid, stop trying to sell the motorcycle rebel image/lifestyle, and make interesting, affordable bikes that more than a few people under 60 would actually buy - not cheap half-measures like the "see, it still looks like a Harley!" Street 750. This would be a loving massive shift from their current direction and would possibly piss off a lot of their existing customer base. Side note - 50 miles out of a peanut tank could be fine if there's a gas station inside that 50 miles. There aren't a ton of charging stations for electric vehicles out there, and waiting hours for it to charge from a standard wall outlet won't work for most people.
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Jan 31, 2018 23:35
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Sagebrush posted:If they end up making an electric bike that has a 120-mile all-up range, doesn't weigh 600 pounds, and costs under 10k, they'll probably sell very well. Outside that....ehhhhhh Zero and Alta are close, but they're but probably three years off still. If anyone could cross it right now it'd probably be a major manufacturer, but that manufacturer being Harley? lol keep dreaming.
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Feb 1, 2018 00:27
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It would be unbelievably ironic if the historically lowest tech motorcycle manufacturer suddenly puts out the highest tech motorcycle. Or alternately they make the Harley Davidson of electric bikes: A brushed DC motor controlled by a mechanical speed controller that runs off a shitload of series-ed NICad AA cells
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Feb 1, 2018 01:01
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You guys really need to think about not-america, I think you're really underestimating Harley's cleverness and adaptability. HD fans in this country (and I assume others) tend to vary in demographics a lot. Ten years ago it was all midlife crisis chromosexuals but nowadays there are loads of people in their 20's buying them for the cool factor and spraying everything black; I would say most of the harley owners I deal with are under 40 and a good chunk are under 30, although they generally buy sportsters because the larger models are too expensive even used. There's the look-like-a-gang-member scene, the look-like-a-hotrod scene, the flat-track/hipster scene and even a few guys stunting sportsters. IMO despite their apparent inactivity HD are actually making an immense effort to capture new buyers and do interesting stuff. The new softtail range are amazing to look at up close, the materials quality and fit/finish are easily on a par with honda or yamaha and, even more astonishingly, they ride real gud. The milwaukee 8 is an incredible engine, I've ridden the new fat bob back to back with a diavel and I preferred the harley by far. Every segment now has a bike with little to no chrome and normal bars/pegs, they even make a cafe racer. 
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Feb 1, 2018 01:22
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Coydog posted:No, but the owners do/will. Huge sound system? ...range now 40 miles.
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Feb 1, 2018 06:09
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Other than the range and the fact that the regenerative function during "engine braking" made it feel like your brake pads were made of gravel. I actually liked the "livewire" Harley:
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Feb 1, 2018 14:53
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Slavvy posted:You guys really need to think about not-america, I think you're really underestimating Harley's cleverness and adaptability. HD fans in this country (and I assume others) tend to vary in demographics a lot. Ten years ago it was all midlife crisis chromosexuals but nowadays there are loads of people in their 20's buying them for the cool factor and spraying everything black; I would say most of the harley owners I deal with are under 40 and a good chunk are under 30, although they generally buy sportsters because the larger models are too expensive even used. There's the look-like-a-gang-member scene, the look-like-a-hotrod scene, the flat-track/hipster scene and even a few guys stunting sportsters. The problem I think in the US is bigger than just HD. Just look at the AMA spending so much energy lobbying against helmet laws, while our death rate is astronomically high compared to Europe. I don't blame anyone who decides that it's just not safe. I'm hesitant to suggest motorcycling to anyone I know because they're not held to any standard for training or protection and I'd probably blame myself if they died being stupid. I bet motorcycle sales would go up if we actually lobbied FOR helmet laws or, God help us, tiered licensing and brought mortality rates down. Hell, just banning cell phone use while driving in more states would probably help. Combo that with HD's racist potato pirate stereotype. Even if it's a small minority, HD's done nothing to avoid it and very few millenials want to touch that. Just because only 1/100 people poo poo in the pool doesn't mean I want to swim in it. I agree they're nice bikes. I'd get a 1200 Sportster in a heartbeat, especially if I could afford one with ABS. They're pretty, and no loving valve adjustments or chain maintenance sounds great to me. People bitch about lean angle and weight and poo poo but really if you're out-riding the bike on the street you're probably being an idiot.
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Feb 1, 2018 17:41
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Dutymode posted:Combo that with HD's racist potato pirate stereotype. Even if it's a small minority, HD's done nothing to avoid it and very few millenials want to touch that.
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Feb 2, 2018 00:24
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:They actually named a bike after the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that's how much HD loves reactionary jingoism. They deserve any bankruptcy they get. Also their bikes are too heavy. I think HD deserves whatever bankruptcy they get, and certainly has embraced and encouraged a number of horrible mindsets. The Fat Boy being named after the bombs is an urban myth, it appears.
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Feb 2, 2018 00:55
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it doesnt have to be named after to still be an awful name it makes about as much sense as "heritage not hate." The public perception matters a lot
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Feb 2, 2018 03:47
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'The public' hasn't got a clue what the bombs dropped on the Japanese were called jfc. There are bigger things to get pissy about even in our little two wheeled corner of the world.
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Feb 2, 2018 03:52
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HD deserves to go bankrupt for being stupid enough to stray from their awesome flat track roots into the retarded 1000 lb dumpster cycles that litter the desolate flatland states of the midwest
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Feb 2, 2018 03:59
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I don't understand why HD just can't make cool/modern bikes and vintage shitbox cruisers at the same time. There are plenty of dudes that ride 'rice rockets' that would fall all over themselves to buy sport bikes / sporty bikes made in America.
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Feb 2, 2018 04:19
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Becuase making something other than a cruiser is admitting defeat and super un-American.
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Feb 2, 2018 04:31
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wasnt that what buell was
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Feb 2, 2018 04:59
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It also seems really easy to build a Japanese style sportbike until you actually try and realise you're trying to shortcut decades of institutional knowledge. Plus they're a shrinking market in general; a sporty naked with a sportster engine is a lot more achievable, and would probably sell well if they made an effort to integrate it into the Harley canon and made it look like a normal bike instead of Uncle Erik's fantabulous contraptionism.
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Feb 2, 2018 05:04
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EX250 Type R posted:wasnt that what buell was And look how many times they admitted defeat.
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Feb 2, 2018 06:03
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Coydog posted:I think HD deserves whatever bankruptcy they get, and certainly has embraced and encouraged a number of horrible mindsets. The Fat Boy being named after the bombs is an urban myth, it appears. The bombs were called "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". The phrase "fat boy" -harley returns 4.98 million google search results. The bike isn't named after the bombs, and I would bet money that the first person to suggest they were already had some real serious problems with the Japanese.
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Feb 2, 2018 06:09
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Anecdotally I've got both my bikes out and about these days and the Hawk GT, despite being the rarer, more refined, more desirable, and all-around better bike, gets almost no attention, while people take loving selfies with my CL350 and offer to buy it off me as I'm putting on my gloves. People love that retro style.
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Feb 2, 2018 06:12
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Marlon, the guy behind the infamous "Honest review of the Triumph Bonneville" video has come out of the ether and released 2 new videos about putting aftermarket mods on a W650. If you haven't seen it, go watch all of these: https://www.youtube.com/user/StrangelyBrownNo1/videos
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Feb 2, 2018 09:47
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Sagebrush posted:Anecdotally I've got both my bikes out and about these days and the Hawk GT, despite being the rarer, more refined, more desirable, and all-around better bike, gets almost no attention, while people take loving selfies with my CL350 and offer to buy it off me as I'm putting on my gloves. Uh... Are ancient cl350's really that common where you live?
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Feb 2, 2018 20:59
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Slavvy posted:Uh... They're way more common than GT650s throughout most of the US I think.
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Feb 2, 2018 22:22
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Yeah I have seen a handful of 350 and 450 CL’s on the road. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hawk GT in real life. The GT didn’t sell well, there are just more CL’s out in the wild.
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Feb 3, 2018 14:02
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n8r posted:There are plenty of dudes that ride 'rice rockets' that would fall all over themselves to buy sport bikes / sporty bikes made in America. Actually this doesn't appear to be the case at all. "Why would I buy a $15000 EBR when I could get a $15000 GSXR without all that pesky engineering"
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Feb 3, 2018 17:39
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There’s also the fact that Suzuki doesn’t disavow the GSXR line’s existence and it actively supports and promotes it and you can trust that Suzuki, the GSXR, and their parts supply are going to be around 10 years from now. That counts for a lot with people.
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Feb 3, 2018 17:55
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Slavvy posted:Uh... Honda built less than 10,000 NT650s across three years of sales (technically four, but there are only about 500 1991 models out there). That's worldwide sales -- I'd guess that about a third to 40% of them are in the USA. On the other hand, Honda sold 250,000 CB350-series bikes, 100,000 of those in the USA, across six years of production. They're still the highest-selling motorcycle model in American history. Even if you just count the CBs and NTs that are still on the road, the Hawk GT (which is thirty years old this year, so it's also a vintage bike by most definitions) is objectively much rarer. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Feb 3, 2018 |
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Feb 3, 2018 18:20
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Sagebrush posted:Honda built less than 10,000 NT650s across three years of sales (technically four, but there are only about 500 1991 models out there). That's worldwide sales -- I'd guess that about a third to 40% of them are in the USA. That is pretty amazing and makes me once again feel fortunate to live in Japan's dumpster cause I've seen countless nt650's (although always badged as BROS) but literally never seen a CL.
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Feb 3, 2018 19:56
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There's a super hosed up grey import NT650 for sale on autotrader right now for £750, and I was briefly tempted before realising it'd be utterly impossible to find parts, most prominently a stock seat to replace the dire looking aftermarket lump someone's put on it.
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Feb 3, 2018 23:01
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I'd buy that. The seat will be the only hard part to find, other stuff on them is very much regular old Honda bits. Might be a problem I'm the US, but you live in the home country of bearded men in sheds, where there's a fan club and website and aftermarket parts supply for the most obscure bikes ever made.
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Feb 4, 2018 01:17
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Sagebrush posted:Half the appeal of H-D bikes to their target market is that they sound like a Harley and can be made loud and obnoxious. quote:If they end up making an electric bike that has a 120-mile all-up range, doesn't weigh 600 pounds, and costs under 10k, they'll probably sell very well. Outside that....ehhhhhh Nope, nope, and nope. So, make a bike that people who normally buy Harleys won't buy, and also make a bike for people who normally DON'T buy Harleys won't buy. Seems to make good sense.
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Feb 4, 2018 03:36
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One of mine turned the big three-oh this year. Renaissance Robot posted:There's a super hosed up grey import NT650 for sale on autotrader right now for £750, and I was briefly tempted before realising it'd be utterly impossible to find parts, most prominently a stock seat to replace the dire looking aftermarket lump someone's put on it. Wemoto in the UK still sells parts for it, most of the US Hawk GT parts fit it, and there is still a good following over there, but that thing is pretty ratty. Mechanically I wouldn't worry about it 50k is nothing. They might be the most reliable bike Honda ever made as they don't have the typical reg/rec issues. One possible hidden issue I see is the chain is too tight. The Honda manual's chain procedure is wrong and if you overtighten it will shred the countershaft.
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Feb 4, 2018 03:36
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 I didn't even know the hawk came fully faired. That's beautiful.
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Feb 4, 2018 06:28
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Coydog posted:
They didn't! With enough time, money, and stubbornness any bike can have fairings, even a Grom (you know what to do!). This one was a former track bike. The Hawk was very popular in twins racing until the SV650 came along as a cheaper and more powerful option. Incidentally, the old adage of "don't buy track bikes and try to put them on the street" is 100% true. It has decorated my garage floor with every fluid possible. I've had to rebuild nearly everything on it and I haven't even got to the motor other than a carb rebuild/rejet and valve check. It's just a fun project with no time frame and I've completely bought into the sunk cost fallacy. I added the CBR600rr front end, Galfer rotors, 98-01 VFR rear wheel, SBK can, and a Mikuni vacuum fuel pump. 
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Feb 4, 2018 15:04
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That is the single best non-oem body kit I have ever seen. It looks completely factory on that bike.
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Feb 4, 2018 15:40
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Seriously, the lines all match up perfectly. It looks better than the factory sv fairing (or any number of fully faired bikes tbh).
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Feb 4, 2018 19:16
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 11:58 |
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Renaissance Robot posted:There's a super hosed up grey import NT650 for sale on autotrader right now for £750, and I was briefly tempted before realising it'd be utterly impossible to find parts, most prominently a stock seat to replace the dire looking aftermarket lump someone's put on it. Funnily enough it's actually pretty easy to find bits for them, certainly easier than most grey imports (and didn't you used to have a 400?), because they were (and still are) popular with the Brazilian couriers in London, so there's still a pretty thriving scrap market.
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Feb 4, 2018 22:27
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