[12er]

Na, na... Longride enjoyed it you know.. the whole FireFighter/Brokeback Mountain thing...it's cool.....

Was that before or after the Mustache rides?

 

[sarnali2]

Yeah. Longride's pole dance was memorable, wasn't it?

He's certainly light on his feet for such a big felleh'

 

[longride]

Yoos guys is askin' fer it!

 

[Chief Waldo]

I sat on one, the low seat height combined with the floor boards doesnt work for me either. Just creates a new rider triangle problem, knee's to the sky.

Yes, it probably depends on what you're used to riding. When I switched from my Yamaha to my Indian in 2003, it took me a while to get used to the feet forward seating position. But when I started looking around for the Indian replacement, I realized that I had gotten used to that position, and the feet below position felt cramped and limited my leg movement. On the Vision, the floorboards are so long, you can really vary you foot position a lot. I like that.

 

[28945]

Fly in the Ointment

Nice effort here, but Y in the world would U folks chose to compare a $35K+ bike to 2 bikes in the low/mid $20K range? Couldn't U get a standard Ultra from HD?

 

[Dr_Sprocket]

Objection, your Honor!!

Nice effort here, but Y in the world would U folks chose to compare a $35K+ bike to 2 bikes in the low/mid $20K range? Couldn't U get a standard Ultra from HD?

Objection, your Honor!! Asked and answered.

 

[newagetwotone]

Objection, your Honor!! Asked and answered.

At least twice!

Not to mention. Who cares? it couldn't compete as it sat, you want them to test a LOWER end one so it can be beaten like a whipped mule?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Objection, your Honor!! Asked and answered.

I blame the public school system.

 

[sarnali2]

I blame the public school system.

I blame ourselves..their failure is our failure..we have been tested and found wanting....

I weep for the children

 

[67885]

Guess we have a different opinion on the location of, and what those two large aluminum pods at the top of the frame just below the handlebars are in the attached pics.

This isn't some inherently flawed design; Victory's designers and engineers are highly skilled and experienced. But our impression of the Vision, primarily during slow speed maneuvers, was that of a top-heavy feel. The most obvious contributor to that seems to be the location of the fuel.

Seems I remembered them being lower than that. I suppose coupled with the very low seat height they do seem high. I'm used to sport bikes where the seat is level with the bars so anything below the triple clamps seems low to me.

 

[12er]

Yes, it probably depends on what you're used to riding. When I switched from my Yamaha to my Indian in 2003, it took me a while to get used to the feet forward seating position. But when I started looking around for the Indian replacement, I realized that I had gotten used to that position, and the feet below position felt cramped and limited my leg movement. On the Vision, the floorboards are so long, you can really vary you foot position a lot. I like that.

Nah, I'm 6'6. Foot forward means my knees are steering locks. Low seat height just doesnt work no matter the foot peg config. I can see where average humans would enjoy the 12" or longer floor boards, but with my 15's their still small. Its really a small world in my case.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

I blame the public school system.

Klazy Ken blame pubic system.

 

[newagetwotone]

A school of crabs?

 

[50448]

In the article, regarding the Harley, you say "However, at over 35 grand this bike blows the other two out of the water, but for the wrong reason. The Ultra is over $11,000 more than the second next expensive Gold Wing. Yet clearly it doesn’t offer that much more in terms of engine, handling or anything else for that matter."

What do you mean when you say that it doesn't offer "that much more..."? This implies that it does offer more than the GW, but yet, the evaluation doesn't seem to indicate that it offers anything more, unless you happen to just like Harley's...which I can certainly understand. But your evaluation of the various aspects of the bikes, doesn't seem to indicate any real advantages at all, other than styling which is a matter of taste.

 

[Kevin_Duke]

Well, it does clearly have a cigarette lighter the Wing lacks...

 

[Pete_Brissette]

Poor wording, perhaps?

In the article, regarding the Harley, you say "However, at over 35 grand this bike blows the other two out of the water, but for the wrong reason. The Ultra is over $11,000 more than the second next expensive Gold Wing. Yet clearly it doesn't offer that much more in terms of engine, handling or anything else for that matter."

What do you mean when you say that it doesn't offer "that much more..."? This implies that it does offer more than the GW, but yet, the evaluation doesn't seem to indicate that it offers anything more, unless you happen to just like Harley's...which I can certainly understand. But your evaluation of the various aspects of the bikes, doesn't seem to indicate any real advantages at all, other than styling which is a matter of taste.

I guess if you're confused then I didn't do as good a job with that sentence as I could have. I was attempting to point out that at a premium of $11K more than the next most expensive bike, the GW, it doesn't offer more engine or overall performance than what the other two offer for that extra cost.

Make sense now?

 

[Dr_Sprocket]

Fugedaboudit!

I guess if you're confused then I didn't do as good a job with that sentence as I could have. I was attempting to point out that at a premium of $11K more than the next most expensive bike, the GW, it doesn't offer more engine or overall performance than what the other two offer for that extra cost.

Make sense now?

The art of the comma is lost on most people. It freaks people out. We need user giganto to translate.

 

[Lobo_1]

Speaking of performance...

I guess if you're confused then I didn't do as good a job with that sentence as I could have. I was attempting to point out that at a premium of $11K more than the next most expensive bike, the GW, it doesn't offer more engine or overall performance than what the other two offer for that extra cost.

Make sense now?

Did anyone question the low HP/torque numbers for the HD 110? Harley quotes torque of 113 ft-lbs stock for their CVO and while they may put optimistic numbers up, 88ft-lbs seems outrageously low. I have an 03 with only minor upgrades and I think I did better than that on the dyno...

 

[Kevin_Duke]

We were also surprised by the numbers from the Harley. Bikes typically lose from 10-15% on a rear-wheel dyno compared to a manu's crankshaft-derived readings. So either our test bike was performing sub-par or H-D is a bit optimistic in its ratings. We'd suspect the former.

 

[60802]

Style comments

Harley Davidson: "Say what you will about H-D products, but the Ultra wins my vote for Coolest Bike in this test. From the paint to the chrome to the iconic style, there is something reassuringly familiar with its style." Those wise words come from salty road dog Kevin Duke.
Honda Gold Wing: • Styling is getting dated, or at least is starting to look too much like the past iterations. We'll take that update any time now, Honda!
Why is the H-D iconic yet not dated after over 100 years of the same basic look, yet the Honda is dated after about 10 years in its present design. You people are hypocrites!!!