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Yet another reason why Harley-Davidson makes poser bikes...

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N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
...sellin' to the commies! Maybe they can sell a billion t-shirts over there....
:rolleyes:

Harley to Open Dealership in China
EMILY FREDRIX, Associated Press Writer

Harley-Davidson Inc. will open its first dealership in China next month, marking its entry into the burgeoning economy.

Beijing Harley-Davidson, partnered with dealer Beijing Feng Huo Lun, will open in early April, the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer said Thursday.

"The quality of the Beijing Harley-Davidson dealership experience will be first-class in every respect," said David Foley, the company's managing director in China. "Customers will get a real understanding and appreciation of the Harley-Davidson lifestyle."

This will mark the motorcycle maker's first retail outlet in the country since at least World War II.

The new dealership will be in Beijing's Fourth Ring Road, just outside the downtown area, and just within limits of motorcycle operation. Motorcycles may not be operated within the city's Third Ring Road, a 30-mile highway that encircles the center of the city.

The dealership will have 14 staff members initially and be headed by Feng Huo Lun's founder, owner and executive director Wan Jidong. Foley said Wan and his management team are passionate about riding motorcycles and understand the market in China.

The dealership will sell several makes of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parts, accessories, merchandise and collectibles. Sales and service will be offered, as will rider training and events including organized rides.

Entry into the Chinese market is expected to be gradual because the market is limited by ownership and riding restrictions in most large cities and on highways, Harley-Davidson said. A population with a limited, but growing, disposable income will also prove a challenge, it said.

Harley-Davidson said it planned to develop the market for heavyweight motorcycles and work on addressing riding restrictions.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
I wouldn't say they suck, but because of marketing, I would say they're way over-priced for what they are.

Granted, if someone gave me one, I'd sell it and buy something else. If I need ear plugs, then something's wrong with the engineering.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,470
5,108
ahha - look @ all the haters. Go ride your $2000 bicycles
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,159
10,097
Funny, Brew had a harley entered at a show I went to a couple months ago. It was rather nice. Along with a couple of tiny bike frames on display. Seemed like nice guys talking to them.

Actually, this bike...

 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
43,075
15,163
Portland, OR
Changleen said:
Harleys, and indeed all chopper style bikes, suck.
That is the single most profound and enlightened statment ever written on this board. Even if it is incorrect.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,841
19
So Cal
LordOpie said:
If I need ear plugs, then something's wrong with the engineering.
Loud pipes save lives.

dump said:
ahha - look @ all the haters. Go ride your $2000 bicycles
:thumb: Nice burn. :hot:

Personally I like H-Ds... always have. Well, except for the AMF years. Those don't count.
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,728
2,708
Pōneke
jimmydean said:
That is the single most profound and enlightened statment ever written on this board. Even if it is incorrect.
If you think Choppers are cool, it is indeed you, my friend, who is incorrect. I am sorry for your deep delusional level of uncool. :) Hopefully Oregon will eventually rub off on you.
 

dhbuilder

jingoistic xenophobe
Aug 10, 2005
3,040
0
it cracks me up, all the harleys i'm seeing on those "your job is your credit, pay weekly" car lots.

seems like just yesterday all the hollywood plastic faced people and the yuppies were waiting in line to put their name on a waiting list for delivery.

now they're a dime a dozen, and stripped of their soul.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
43,075
15,163
Portland, OR
Changleen said:
If you think Choppers are cool, it is indeed you, my friend, who is incorrect. I am sorry for your deep delusional level of uncool. :) Hopefully Oregon will eventually rub off on you.
Choppers, like any motorcycle is cool on some level. Hell, a Vespa can be cool if it is built and ridden with care and self expression.

A statement like "Choopers suck" is as valuable as "Road bikes suck". Unless you have data to back this up, I still think you are inccorect. As you can still think you are correct.

The bottom line is I would rather see a single ridder on a motorcycle (Chopper or otherwise) than a single driver in a 9 passenger SUV that I see every day on my train ride to work.
 

noname

Monkey
Feb 19, 2006
544
0
outer limits
Ciaran said:
Loud pipes save lives.


:thumb: Nice burn. :hot:

Personally I like H-Ds... always have. Well, except for the AMF years. Those don't count.
Loud pipes don't save lives, they just annoy the neighbors. (has to push bike down the street to start it in the morning:) )
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
43,075
15,163
Portland, OR
Trainwreck said:
Except the 1%er's will tell you that's not a "real" Harley...
I like the looks of the v-rod, minus the "fake" fuel tank (gas is in the plastic tank under the seat, seems like a bad idea).
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,728
2,708
Pōneke
jimmydean said:
Choppers, like any motorcycle is cool on some level. Hell, a Vespa can be cool if it is built and ridden with care and self expression.

A statement like "Choopers suck" is as valuable as "Road bikes suck". Unless you have data to back this up, I still think you are inccorect. As you can still think you are correct.

The bottom line is I would rather see a single ridder on a motorcycle (Chopper or otherwise) than a single driver in a 9 passenger SUV that I see every day on my train ride to work.
You are taking this faaaar too seriously. (Seriously, you are right about the commute thing)

But Choppers still suck.

Here, let me help you out:

Homosexual:


Cool:
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
...man, some of you guys will never get it.:)

Choppers are supposed to be the loudest, rudest, most badass thing on 2 wheels. It's a form of self expression. That's why guys started chopping frames in the first place - so they could have a bike that no one else had.

H-D started out that way - a small company... a while ago. But then they became a huge corporate entity, and the fact that most of their clientele during the late 80's and early 90's became near-retirement lawers, bankers, and doctors, didn't exactly help their image either. Harley even had stories on news shows that embraced and drew attention to these issues. Through these changes H-D lost some of its outlaw character.

Enter the realm of the custom Chopper. It's iconic. You can't look at one and not think of "the bad guy". Even though some may ride them, old rich guys don't really like the feel of a rigid frame rattling their stool loose on a trip down the road. :D

So motorcycles are an art thing and a culture thing.

Since art is in the eye of the beholder:








 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
43,075
15,163
Portland, OR
Cooler than either:

http://homepages.borland.com/cdunn/images/borland/DSCF0011.JPG


Built from a Ducati 900ss. Frame, tank, seat, rear fender, and the controls are custom, the rest is pure Ducati. The rake is 3 degrees past stock, it will still rail corners, yet get more tail.

Isn't that the TRUE measure of a machine? How many chicks you can get? :D

That is pure Marzocchi goodness right there.

<edit> That first picture was too huge, sorry.

I like the CFL frame too, minus all the rake, it is a very nice frame Jesse built.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,841
19
So Cal
noname said:
Loud pipes don't save lives, they just annoy the neighbors. (has to push bike down the street to start it in the morning:) )
Talk to some bikers and you'll hear different.


Personally Chang, I have always found the ricers to be soulless and ghey. Vroom vroom... Look at me, I am a poser! Oh wait, now I'm dead! :dead:
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,997
22,031
Sleazattle
S.K.C. said:
...man, some of you guys will never get it.:)
............................................

So motorcycles are an art thing and a culture thing.

Since art is in the eye of the beholder:
Like Skooks said about bicycles. The art is in the ride. I'll take something that can turn, stop, go several hundred miles on a tank, is reliable and is quiet enough to enjoy your surroundings. Choppers are great for being seen cruising down a straight highway. Not my cup of tea. The best thing about a motorcycle, as well asa MTB is the feeling of pulling G's in one corner, feeling weightless as you transition into another corner to yet again get pushed into the saddle as the bike leans into a turn.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,841
19
So Cal
stinkyboy said:
:rofl:

Do you read/respond to PM's?
Only when I get them. Why? You send me one? Or did I just miss the joke?

Edit: Yeah, I suck at PMs... I'm looking for it.
 

noname

Monkey
Feb 19, 2006
544
0
outer limits
Ciaran said:
Talk to some bikers and you'll hear different.


Personally Chang, I have always found the ricers to be soulless and ghey. Vroom vroom... Look at me, I am a poser! Oh wait, now I'm dead! :dead:
been riding for 24 years, and yes my superbike is very loud(hafta wear earplugs) but it is a simple matter of physics that sound propagates rearward on motorcycles (unless you aim your pipes foward). I was passed just a few days ago by a chopper and I didn't hear him till he was right next to and almost past me, then I heard him till he was about a 1/2 mile away. Check with the AMA, they take the same stance, most motorcycle collisions take place at an 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock angle, louder pipes wouldn't have helped any of them.
It is nice to have loud @ss pipes to annoy inattentive drivers as you pass them though!:D
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,159
10,097
Atomic Dog said:
Why does it have to be fast or scraping your knee on the ground in a corner to be enjoyable?
Because they think they will actually be able to ride their sport bike like that............up until they are sliding across the pavement and into a guardrail.
 

spookydave

Monkey
Sep 6, 2001
518
0
Orange County, CA
stevew, I like your style. My friend died of cancer and his childhood thumper is now for sale. You should save this old iron.



And as far as Harley... They are doing pretty well in Pro Stock and Top Fuel these days.

To each their own, it's all good I say.
 

noname

Monkey
Feb 19, 2006
544
0
outer limits
Atomic Dog said:
Why does it have to be fast or scraping your knee on the ground in a corner to be enjoyable?
For me the difference between cruisers and sportbikes is like the difference between beach cruisers and mountain bikes. They both are enjoyable in their intended element, and both can be made beutiful in their own way, what makes both of them enjoyable and appealing is vastly different. Beach cruisers are great for bar hopping and scopin out the beach bunnies, mountain bikes are great when you want to get out and really have fun pushing yourself physically.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,841
19
So Cal
spookydave said:
stevew, I like your style. My friend died of cancer and his childhood thumper is now for sale. You should save this old iron.



And as far as Harley... They are doing pretty well in Pro Stock and Top Fuel these days.

To each their own, it's all good I say.
Dang man, if you still have that bike in say oh 9 - 12 months I might be able to take it. I'd love to have a bike like that to work on and build up. I bet it would be a great project.

How much would it go for (appx. if you don't mind me asking)