# Question for Harley Owners **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629 "2014-06-12T15:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/81 "2014-06-30T16:37:38Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > I rode a Yamaha 650 V-Star from Maimi to Panama City Panama and every where south of Texas people asked if it was a Harley. The first bike I ever had was a Harley, and I wouldn’t ride one after that. Had to be tuned up daily and shook and shivered like pair of boobs on the dance floor. I used to have a Ford Pinto. Thing had to be worked on nearly daily. I wouldn’t own another Ford. Seriously: What modern Harley requires a tune up daily? What were you tuning? If you are adjusting the valves on a Harley these days, it’s probably you that requires a tune up. 😉 I have a Harley that still possesses a carb but even it is very low maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/82 "2014-07-01T13:08:36Z")
Modern Harley’s are as reliable as anything else. They’re just heavy and expensive. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/83 "2014-07-01T14:08:10Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Modern Harley’s are as reliable as anything else. They’re just heavy and expensive. I bad mouth Fords and the next post is by someone named after a Ford. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/84 "2014-07-01T19:17:54Z")
Other than a brief flirtation with Mazda and a lifelong thing for Jeeps, I’m a Ford person. 🙂 I choose Yamaha for just about everything else though. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/85 "2014-07-01T19:36:58Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > I choose Yamaha for just about everything else though. A man of [Vision.](http://www.polyweb.com/danno/bikes/vision/vision-side.jpg) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/86 "2014-07-05T19:30:50Z")
I’d like to re-activate this thread with a Harley question. * * * If this is inappropriate or if there are objections, I’ll happily create a new thread, but its a new Harley product that was not mentioned in the original thread and the thread really isn’t all that old. That said… > **[Harley-Davidson rolls out the Tesla of motorcycles](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/has-harley-davidson-made-the-tesla-of-motorcyles-151131464.html)** > > Rick Newman takes Harley's new electric motorcycle, Project LiveWire, out for a test drive in Lower Manhattan The range of 55 miles seems very limiting, but if that could be quadrupled, would anyone who rides bikes here ever consider one? ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/87 "2014-07-05T20:20:22Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I’d like to re-activate this thread with a Harley question. > > * * * > > If this is inappropriate or if there are objections, I’ll happily create a new thread, but its a new Harley product that was not mentioned in the original thread and the thread really isn’t all that old. That said… > > [Harley-Davidson rolls out the Tesla of motorcycles](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/has-harley-davidson-made-the-tesla-of-motorcyles-151131464.html) > > The range of 55 miles seems very limiting, but if that could be quadrupled, would anyone who rides bikes here ever consider one? See Post #62. Cycle World has a good online article about this. I’ve been watching the developments in electric bikes for a couple of years now. I briefly considered one of the Brammos until I read the real-world range numbers. This bike by Harley is, by far, the best looking electric bike. I’ve seen one of the Zero bikes in real life. Frankly, it looked a little cheap and plastic. I’m usually a vocal critic of Harley, but I have to applaud them for spending some R&D money on this and I really would like to see it go to production. I would buy the Harley Live Wire in a minute if (a) it gave me a 75-80 mile-per- charge range under worst case conditions and (b) it cost less than $15k. The problem with the current state of electric bikes, at least for me, is that the range is stated as 70 to 90 miles. That’s perfect-condition miles: steady speed, ideal temperature, no head wind, no stop-n-go traffic. Change any of those variables and the range drops to 50-60 miles and that’s not enough safety margin for my 52 mile round-trip commute. I get stuck in gridlock about once or twice a month and I really don’t like the idea of pushing a motorcycle home. There are a lot of things I like about electric bikes in theory: no oil changes, no transmission, flat torque curve, much less noise, much less vibration. They sound like a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/88 "2014-07-05T21:01:52Z")
Sorry about missing post #62. An electric bike seems ideal: quiet, compact, easily stored/garaged (and I could see a standard 220 socket being converted to the charger cable being completed with a screw driver and wire stripper in 15 minutes). The endpoint though would need to be defined & adapted prior and I’m not sure how to calc for power loss in traffic. Still… this looks very promising. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/89 "2014-07-05T21:33:34Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Still… this looks very promising. It really does. But, I gotta remember than Zero and Brammo have been “looking promising” at about the same level of promising for about two years now. I don’t have time to look it up now, but I’ve seen articles about new catagories being created for electric bikes for drag racing and for road racing. The race track has usually incubated new tech for bikes and for cars in the past. Perhaps it will do the same for electric bikes. I certainly hope so. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/90 "2014-07-05T22:28:10Z")
Since I am retired, I could see having one. After they get real cheap. SS does not extend to 15K wheels. ::: grump :::: ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629/91 "2014-07-05T23:29:22Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > The race track has usually incubated new tech for bikes and for cars in the past. Perhaps it will do the same for electric bikes. I certainly hope so. True, but I’d hate it if you had to give up metal for plastic because of weight. That and while inovation for speed is always the door to the future, I still remember seeing mistakes some people made for speed. Back in the day I remember hearing about (granted, cars) the guy who stripped all the extra weight out of his car by cutting off/out infrastructure. When it still wasn’t light enough, he started drilling holes through the frame. Supposedly one day he missed a turn and became a swiss-cheese melt. That Tesla crash video from LA is still fresh in my mind with flaming debris burning like magnesium… ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-harley-owners/690629.md?page=4)