Hey ask any random person whats the coolest bike and what do you think their answer is...,? Ducati? Naah....,MV Agusta?....,nope.....,gixxer? ....,lol

I too laugh at Harleys adds. Oh hell yea, I'll be as cool as my fatass Dentist who rides a Harley to try to have some 'cool' for the first time in his pathetic life.

But as a counterpoint, I see Sport bike riders as the biggest posers. So very few have every done a trackday to improve their skills and even fewer are racers.
Yet there they are wobbling around with their GP or full race exhausts. Hell they will never use the stock HP nor tell the difference in weight loss. We hyperbike riders are really guilty on those points.
We also wear certain helmets and gear as fashion statements. And think we are cool because of what we wear and what we ride.
In the real world, sports bikes are far more impractical than cruisers.
600's are a bitch off the line. Conversely, I had to regear my bike so it could crawl in urban traffic.

So all those folks flocking to the Orange and Black at least are having a fine time putting about to their various gatherings.
With bikes that are designed for legal speeds and eye catching style.
Meanwhile we sporty types sneer at those fools riding antiqued designs.
You know, the most copied make on the planet.
I finally got hip to the whole cruiser thing when I observed a whole group of friends having a ball arranging rides and putting to various destinations. Relaxed, laughing, talking to each other while easing down back roads. Roads I absolutely scorched down on my usual solo speed runs.
So I got a open faced helmet and went on another ride with them. Suddenly I was having more fun at 1/4 the speed I normally travel.
If you dont get the whole cruiser/HD thing, fine. But dont knock it. Scooters are way fun too.
All 2 wheelers was a brotherhood regardless of make just 40 years ago.
That has been lost.......,too bad.

75% percent of harleys ever made are still on the road.

The other 25% made it home.

Don't we all 'pose' to some extent?
Like to have others see our Rocketships.
Feel good about having a bike that'll do the 1/4 in 8 seconds?
Like the feeling of passing the 'other' bikes 'in the way'.
I do...I won't lie.I like having this bike...separate...unique...maintaining it.Knowing it's very similar to an aircraft in some respects.Looking down the chute....yeah...I feel good about my Ninja...Harleys...if it's your type of bike...nothing wrong with it. We all get what we feel is 'for us'...the clothes...the attitudes...the bikes..the cars...It used to be Harley guys were a 'bad example' for motorcyclists...it's becoming more and more the other way IMO...guys doing triple digits on one wheel...in traffic...stuff like that.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 11/23/2012 @ 9:29 AM *

Really green, I don't care about all of that. When we bought the 14 it was a decision we both made, we went to the dealership and I put the wife on the back and said how does she feel. we bought the 14 because we like riding sportbikes 2 up and it was the most comfortable. Yea I like the power she has and she handles extremely well but the main thing was she was a bike you can ride 2 up all day and not have to go see the chiropractor the next day.

Not even a teensy bit Heathun?I mean..when you two go into a restaurant...and there's folks standing around,you have a little voice that says.."yeah...they're mine..." .(in a good way that is)

lol I find it funny that most of the time people don't care about the car you're driving but when it comes to bikes, most are quick to judge. You know what? It's not a bike thing, it's a people thing. I hang with some harley/cruisers riders but you would have to agree that 60% of that population is not open minded. They parade on their HD like their shit don't stink and look upon us as lesser individuals. A friend of mine (in his late 50's) told me he wanted to get the BMW K 1600 but was scared his buddies were going to dump him for ditching is HD: peer pressure at 50... the H D way lol. Now, it isn't just an HD v.s Sport bike things... When I go on group rides, some of the guys on 600 and liters look at my bike like it doesn't belong. Then start the questions: how much does it weight, how's the handling and regardless of your answer they're still not convinced. I even ran circles around a kid on a Daytona 675 R and the funny thing is that I didn't do it on the sweepers, I waited for the roads to get really tight. Still no love for the 14. lol
They are bad bikes regardless of the make and kind but because we expect HD riders to critic the bikes we love to ride so much, we are quick to reverse discriminate. A HD is the last thing I need in my garage but I would admit that some of them look really cool, especially the old ones. The only beef I have with HD riders if you wanna call it that is the price of their machines. It's way too much for something that doesn't boast any performance in my opinion. It is true most sport bikes riders are posers who will never get to see the limits of their machines. However, we do get a better return on our investment. As far as the GP helmets and the cool looking stuff, I'm guilty of that but it doesn't make me a poser. Would wearing a pair of Jordans make a H-S Basketball players a poser? Hardly so! The protective gear doesn't come cheap, why not get the colors that you want etc. There is nothing wrong with riding slow and wearing an Arai Corsair V.

Here's a shot from my poser days lol, circa July 2006. I think I'd had my 14 maybe a month. I actually rode to bike night like that, tee shirt and jeans. Much better to wear the full gear even if it's a bit pretentious!

"There is nothing wrong with riding slow and wearing an Arai Corsair V"....got that right.And the rest as well.

I will say however...my Heritage Classic when new was 17,500...back in 2000.When it was stolen with 18,000 miles...Harley Insurance gave me 18K for it....not too bad.And as for the new 14R I wrecked...bought it for 10k,traded my 07 in for 4k(51K miles on her)...and the insurance gave me a check for 15,700.Not to bad either(10k on that bike).You lose with the mods and stuff....that's pretty much the way it goes...UNLESS...you pay more insurance for that stuff...then it could be worth it.POSER>>>>>>>

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 11/23/2012 @ 8:02 PM *

HAHA Cool pic Kruz... Once in a blue moon, I'm also guilty of showing off the triceps! Looks like you had a date. Nice.

Lets see... Porky, slow, expensive. I too, just don't get it.

HAHA Cool pic Kruz... Once in a blue moon, I'm also guilty of showing off the triceps! Looks like you had a date. Nice.

Yea, that was Barbara, my little riding buddy down in San Antonio, she literally weighed 98 lbs. Wish I still had her phone number ....lol!