Thread: Shall I say? --What's so Special about Harleys

if you think Harley has a smooth ride you'll fall asleep on a Victory Kingpin, the OTHER American motorcycle...

I'd love to take a ride on one for sure! I wish motorcycles could be test ridden like cars. Wouldn't that just be sweet

What's the sportiest bike Harley makes?


Justin

This is off subject --- but have any of you guys ever watched the Victory by Design series -- very good program --- nice historical perspective on various car makers.

Justin

Victory is doing test rides now, if you have a licence you get to test ride AND you get a free t-shirt...

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

What's the sportiest bike Harley makes?


Justin

that would be the buell

If you mean something that's actually Harley branded, the VRSC series is the sportiest. If you just want it to be built by Harley, Buell for sure. They've got some really sweet bikes. I especially like the firebolt!

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

I'd love to take a ride on one for sure! I wish motorcycles could be test ridden like cars. Wouldn't that just be sweet

It varies from dealer to dealer but quite a few will allow them. My local Kawasaki dealer is great about them as is the Harley dealer. The Suzuki/Victory dealer will do it if pushed. All in all I think about 50-60% of the dealers local to me are fairly good about test rides within reason (to some of the more expensive/extreme bikes out you usually have to be fairly serious).*

Also a lot of the bigger shows like Cyclefest have a bunch of the manufacturers with bikes to test ride. Last one I went to had about 6 manufacturers an about 30-40 unique models to ride.

*(assuming you have an endorsement and proper attire usually of course)

As far as Harley's go, one of the reasons my friend cited for picking a Harley is that he feels their post-sales support is better than anything else he's ever gotten from any other manufacturer's dealers. The local places always make a note to remember his name, make sure his bike is cleaned after service, etc. Plus the fact that he can ride the heck out of it and sell it for close to what he paid for it doesn't seem to hurt his feelings at all either.

I've only owned a BMW, Suzuki and Kawasaki and I'm not really a cruiser guy so Harley hasn't really been on my radar. I might, however, consider Buell if I get another bike. They've got some interesting designs and reliability seems to better these days (heard a lot of negative stories in the early days of Buell).

Ant

Ant,
least someone get the wrong impression, Victory and Suzuki are two separate companies....one is an American company. Victory is sponsoring the test ride nationally until the end of may.

Originally Posted by MaduroMan_wcp

Ant,
least someone get the wrong impression, Victory and Suzuki are two separate companies....one is an American company. Victory is sponsoring the test ride nationally until the end of may.

Sorry, didn't mean for it to come across that way. That just happens to be the two manufacturers that dealer stocks and they've always been painful to get a test ride at (promotions aside).

My point was that, aside from any promotions, some dealers are very good about test rides and some aren't so good. I've been able to get test rides of BMW, Aprillia, Ducati, Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Harley/Buell, Yamaha and Triumph at various dealerships and the opposite has held true at other dealerships. It's just a matter of finding dealerships that are willing to do it.

Ant