[CYCLE_MONKEY]

This should be interesting. Another poster remarked "how are the die-hards gonna feel about Harleys being produced by the Germans?" How indeed. There is a big difference between foreign PARTS on a Harley, vs a foreign ENGINE. Porsche was forced into water cooling in order to extract more power from their engines, in order to be more competitive in the sports car market. Harley is under no such pressure, not being marketed as a performance brand. Is it strictly an emission (noise and exhaust) thing? Hmmm. Personally, I think the faithful will hate a water cooled Harley, for the same reason "New" Coke flopped. Also, I think it would be a big mistake to try and beat Ducati, Aprillia, et al at their own game. Look at how competitive the VR1000 ISN'T. If, by some miracle it is competitive, it will be because Porsche did ALL the engineering. Personally, I think a better choice for an engineering partnership would have been BMW. Unlike Porsche, they HAVE experience with the handling dynamics (engine cg,/placement) unique to motorcycles. We'll see....

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Wow! A REAL tough-guy. Keep up the good work.....

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Well, you know what they say about "oil and water don't mix". Wonder what the puddle underneath will look like? The oil puddle will probably form on one side, refusing to have anything to do with the foriegn "water", but it'll look good doing it, while the water will probably form a puddle much faster on the other side, turning up it's nose the the old-tech "oil", and evaporate outta there swiftly.......

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I don't have a V-Max. And I've never seen a fast enough Dyna-Hydra-Fatboy-xlchfxsrtqrst-glide to beat a V-Max. My buddy has a legitimate 11 second-flat early 70's shovel, (with a 90-lb flyweight aboard), but when we ride together, I leave him for dead on my '86 GSXR-1100. By the way, my post was a JOKE. Get it now? Or do I have to post 3 times?

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Correction - the V-45/65 motor....

Don't know if I believe this here rumor. Honda was racing the V4 RVF1000 in superbike, and world endurance racers in the early '80's. I think it was just a logical step the make a street bike out of the engine. I think it's accepted as fact that Porsche was the one collaborating on the ill-fated Nova program.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Funny how people think HD should develop their own engin

It's different because Ford or GM haven't built their sucess on the "f*ck it if it ain't American" attitudes of most Harley's owners. Also, "those 2 don't develop in cooperation with" as much as OWN the foreign brands you refer to.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: You can wake up now ..

You replied to the wrong guy, but I think he'll figure that out. Enjoy your Sporty.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: You can wake up now ..

Oops, sorry, I goofed. Disregard my last statement. In fact, disregard all my statements, everything I say is a lie.....

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Nova program?

I believe it was in late '70's/early '80's. If I remember correctly it was a water-cooled, fuel-injected 60 degree V4 designed by Porsche. Can't remember all the details. I think the project was scrapped because management didn't believe the faithful would buy into it, but I'm not sure.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: HDs be da coolest

Akchooly, I fink dat wood be his Mutha instead!

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: HDs be da coolest

I's jus' be a po lo-life white-boy hoo be ridin' a Jap bike massa....

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Are you kidding? Chevy does not own Toyota...

Chevy just put their badges on Suzuki's (Tracker and Metro), and Toyota's (Prism), there was no real collaboration. Ford owns a large share of Mazda, and owns Jag, GM owns a large share of Volvo, Opel, and Isuzu also, I believe. I can't think of any real "collaborations" where one of the Big 3 didn't own a large chunk of the "collaborator". Can you?

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: THIS IS THE CAUSE FOR THE FLAMING POSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uhhhh, yeah. (Cough!)VR1000.(Cough!)

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Japs - If You Can

Actually, I believe the Nova engine was a V4.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Then the Harley faithful would feel right at home shifting it! The Harleys I've ridden had lousy shifting. I mentioned BMY mostly because of the VEHICLE dynamics. Suspension, cg, etc. It'll be interesting whatever the case. Actually, Aprillia might have a better choice. Large-displacement V-twin, great chassis.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Here's an interesting thought:



Harley dominates the big cruiser market here in the US, right?



So, if there are more HD's out there than clones, are they REALLY unique? Or are they now the norm? And, thus, by riding one, aren't you now just like most any other guy, instead of being different? Hmmmmm.......

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Water-Cooled Harley

Try going to the Harley events on your FZ1 and see how nice the Harley guys are to you then.

Here's another:

Rise past a guy on a Jap bike while on your HD. Wave. Repeat. See what percent of them wave back. Ride past a guy on a Harley while on your FZ1. Wave. Repeat. See what percentage waves back. I've found the "bikers" a lot less tolerant of riding machinery than the "squids". Too bad we're so divided, because I'll wave at ANYBODY, regardless of brand. Well, except for them guys on the mopeds....

Fact is though, I've stopped more times to help guys with Harleys, than I've had to for Jap bikes. One guy dropped his Sporty at the gas station while I was there filling up my GSXR, and after I offered to ride home to my house for tools if needed, he seemed more interested in avoiding being seen getting help from a "Jap Biker". Sad.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I guess my point was that riding the same bike that everyon else rides, but with a set of tassles hanging from the levers doesn't make anyone really different anymore than me putting the obligitory "pissing Calvin" sticker on my pickup truck makes me any different from all the other Dodge truck owners. There are just as many aftermarket parts for Jap bikes, only most are performance oriented. My point is that if the vast majority of big cruisers are, in fact Harleys, how COULD you be very different? Just FYI, I am not a fan of the Jap clones. Ths Japanese seem to have missed the styling boat in most cases. However, I like the new Yamaha big twin. And no, it's NOT a Harley clone. It takes more styling cues from WWI-WWII radial aircraft engines.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Re: Enough flames, let

So, considering that the 2001 dollar is worth maybe 10 cents in '54 dollars, seems you've taken a loss. Lets face it, unless you're buying new Ferrari's or McLarens, vehicles are a poor investment. For the $19,000 I'd pay for a Fatboy, I'll take a GSXR-1000 for $11,000, and invest the other $8,000. With what I'd make investing, and the resale loss on the Gixxer, we'd be about even. Face it, they're overpriced for what you get, THAT drives up the used prices. By the way, my GSXR-1100 I paid about $6k for new in '86, is worth about $3,500 now. Not too bad. People should buy them because they love 'em, not for an investment.

 

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

No, they're not. M/C transmissions are sequential manual transmissions, the tiptronic is a manually-shifted AUTOMATIC, with torque converter, hydraulic pumps, etc. Their push-button shifting will be more like M/C drag racers use, with a pneumatic shift mechanism and an ignition kill. Some Grand Prix 2-stroke bikes have been using this for a few years.