[Novalug] OT: Harley

Ken Kauffman kkauffman@headfog.com
Fri Oct 16 16:56:47 EDT 2009


1983-1993?   That's about 25-15 years ago!   Imagine comparing Linux
of 15 years ago to today.

Also - BMW is historically one of the most expensive and more
difficult bikes to fix.

In the 80s, Harley developed a reputation as a noisy oil leaking
status symbol machine.  Especially when you compared it to the
emerging more reliable metric bikes being released by Honda and the
like at the time.  Harley then later re-engineered the motor (EVO) and
how it mounts in order to address the reliability, leaking and
vibration issues that were plaguing it.   So reliability, oil leaking
and the like is no longer an issue.

The engine design is patented by Harley.  That specific engine design
and firing sequence is exactly what gives Harley its sound.  So they
can not patent the sound ... but they can and did patent the method
for how they achieve it.

Harley is not specifically engineered to get noticed, it is *marketed*
as such.  It is a specific type of bike for a specific type of person.
 Saying Harleys are designed to "get noticed" is only because of how
you perceive them.  It's like saying a semi-automatic weapon is
designed specifically for gang related homicides.

I know plenty of Harley riders.  Some want to be noticed, some just
enjoy the ride.

Ken

On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 11:16, James Ewing Cottrell 3rd
<JECottrell3@comcast.net> wrote:
> Ken Kauffman wrote:
>>
>> Whats up with the Harley bash?  How much do you really know about the
>> engineering changes over the last 10 years?
>>
>> Ken
>
> I owned a BMW R65 from 1983 to 1993. Right before I bought my bike, I read a
> lot of magazines, and one extremely technical report explaining why short
> strokes and high RPMs could deliver as much power as was feasible to
> engineer, while a given size was essentially limited by inertia. Sort of
> like how there is a maximum size for animals, dinosaurs were pretty big, but
> weight goes up by length cubed while size goes up by size squared. Anything
> bigger would collapse under its own weight.
>
> I don't know anything about the last ten years, but I'd love to hear what
> you have to say.
>
> I probably dissed the Harley brand a little harshly, so let me clarify:
>
> Harleys are not designed to be efficient, they are designed to Get Noticed.
> A twin at that angle is Unbalanced from the start.
>
> JIM
>
> P.S. Some girl told me after I explained all that, that I was totally
> missing the point, that the REAL reason women loved riding on the back of
> Harley's is that they were essentially a Big Giant Vibrator. Now why didn't
> they mention THAT in the magazines?!?
>



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