In his biography - Sonny Barger is quoted as saying he wished the Angels had not been so closely tied to Harley - that the Japanese cruisers in particular were more reliable and much faster. He said that before the rebirth of Harley - post AMF. My Crossbones has the same reliability and overall quality as the competitors but is not as fast. But I cruise for hours at 90 (Mph no Kph) and even my goldwing could not do that as comfortably or as well.
davew On Tue, Sep 25, 2012, at 10:11 AM, Steve Smith wrote: Roger - And I think that is why Doug chooses a sleek German-Engineered machine over one of those big-iron sculptures you used to see on the side of the road being fiddled with... (now that they cost more than a Prius and only Doctors and Lawyers own them, that has changed a little). I have mostly been a Honda man with a few Yamahas and Suzuki's thrown in for spice.... I came within an inch of buying a Ducati Elefant once, but I've never had any of my old, worn out Jap bikes fail me! Of course, it is harder to ignore warning signs of problems on a motorcycle... if you hear a noise or feel a shimmy, you just look down, it is all right there threatening to come apart in your lap... fluid leaks end up ON you... etc. And that paranoia Dave and Doug profess, it goes double for "I wonder if I should repack that wheel bearing?". But your point is well taken. In this discussion of "faith" (still in the subject line!), I'm amazed at how much the most faithless take on "blind faith" about such things. I marvel at the strength of materials and quality of design and workmanship on the simplest things *all the time* and I know I'm missing most of it. That 5000 lb Camp Trailer hung off the back of your truck by a 2" ball (with a 1" neck)? Amazing! Truly Amazing! And we haven't even talked about light planes (recently) yet! - Steve On Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 8:59 AM, Steve Smith <[1][email protected]> wrote: My father bought a wartime surplus Harley when he returned from WWII, had a grand good time stripping the military paintjob and repainting it only to have two scary accidents within a few months (civilian turning left in front of him, mechanical failure in the drive sprocket) which put him off the whole business. I was going to bring up our faith in machines to continue to work as intended, despite our contrary experience. There's nothing quite like a 2 wheeler that becomes a 1-1/2 or 1 wheeler at any velocity worth mentioning. -- rec -- ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at [2]http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at [3]http://www.friam.org References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. http://www.friam.org/ 3. http://www.friam.org/
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