Re: Harley Davidson Dyna ride height

I don't know, to be honest, but I can't imagine they'd have to have done
much undercutting to put people off buying British.

A tales from my personal experience - in 1983 my Dad bought his first brand
new car. It was an MG Maestro (4 door family hatchback type thing) and it
was crap. Really crap. In reverse gear it didn't have enough pulling power
to reverse off his driveway. Things went wrong with it. So many things, in
fact, that for the three years he owned it he did more miles in courtesy
cars than he did in his own.

In 1986 he replaced it with a brand new Nissan Bluebird, which included such
unimaginable luxuries as 4 (yes, FOUR) electric windows! When the time came
to get a new car the Bluebird became my mum's car and, when she finally
wanted a new car, it passed to my brother.

All in it gave 16 years of faultless service to our family and would
probably have carried on if somebody hadn't broken into it and, finding
nothing to steal, set fire to the interior.

My parents have only ever owned Japanese cars since and I don't suppose
they're alone in their experiences.

This thread actually prompted me to sit down and try to think if any good
cars came out of BL in the 70s or 80s and I couldn't think of a single one.

Even Ford, purveyor of the ordinary to the masses, created some great cars
in that period, but our own industry did squat. Cars that could have been
great; the Jaguar XJS, the Triumph Stag, the Triumph TR-7 and so on, ended
up as half-arsed attempts.

Does that have such an effect on a premium brand like HD though? I don't
know how their pricing model works in the States, but over here they're
unashamedly more expensive than Japanese bikes aimed at the same market.

People still buy them because (a) they specifically want the HD experience,
not a Jap copy of it and (b) HD residuals are rock solid, so you've got a
good chance of getting back the extra money you spend in the first place.

Was the situation in the US vastly different?

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

In

Range Rover
Rover SD1 (ok, only the very late Vitesse, but still)

Um, um.... ok, as you were...


--
Pete M

Alfa 155
Ford Capri (still broked)
Porsche 911 3.2 (For Sale - ebay soon)
COSOC #5, OMF#9
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain

 

Not me personally, no. You're thinking of somebody older than me.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

this is true. The Yamaha vs. Honda production war in the early 1980s. I
was involved in the bike biz at the time, and it was horrific in Europe
- not just the US. There were vast stocks of new bikes that nobody
wanted to buy.

I'm not sure that this is true, though. Yamaha damn nearly bankrupted
itself trying to out-produce Honda, and Honda, for its part, was left
with a series of under-developed bikes that had been rushed into
production to fend off Yamaha.

Both sides lost heavily, and I really don't think they were bailed out
by the Japanese government. But if it is so, I'd like to see some
evidence or reports.

 

This stereotype has always intrigued me; why do you think the British
have bad teeth?

 

Similar, but I suspect we differ in the details. For example, "high milages"
means 700-1000+ miles per day, for days on end, covering 5-6000 miles per
trip and upward of 30,000 miles/year to me. A neutral position isn't enough
for that - one must be able to move around into varied positions with two
aboard else you'll be saddle sore at days end. For example, floorboards (vs
pegs) allow me to stretch my leg or legs forward, heels on the leading edge
of a board, or tuck them under me sport style with toes on the board, or
anywhere in between, mix or match. Panniers must be able to hold a weeks
clothing for two plus warm/cold/wet weather coats and the bike must also
accomodate a tent and sleep gear if needed. Agree on the drive - H-Ds belt
requires less maintenance than BMWs shaft.

I don't believe H-D competes in these areas. That's why everyone should own
several motorcycles. I even have a Suzuki !cruiser! because, having owned a
dozen different Harleys, I liked it better than H-D's cruisers. The sum of
injuries and arthritis now prevents me from riding many of my favorites of
yore.

OTOH it's silly to claim that H-D only makes cruisers. The only way Honda
could beat them on our dirt ovals was to clone H-Ds racebike.

 

Pete M said...

Crap, great concept ruined by shoddy workmanship/build quality and
terrible electrics.

.....as crap as any other SD1

 

Yes, I should have been more clear in my statement.

 

Three major differences. U.S. workers wages and benefits in U.S.
plants producing Japanese cars are, on average, 40% of what wages and
benefits are in U.S. plants producing American cars.

 

I understand that. I just wondered what the 'merkins base this fact on.

 

A friend of mine just returned from a three year stay in England. He says
that many English do have bad teeth. This friend tends not to over
exagerate, being an engineer.

He also said that the general level of medicine was very poor. I was
surprised at both of these claims, to be honest with you. Then again, I have
never been there.

SB

 

Hoh yuss indeed!

 

They have more disposable income to waste on cosmetic dentistry?

 

http://www.karott.com/images/happy.jpg

HTH

 

Not really: he's not British.

 

sweller said...

Nothing. Quite a few Americans have good *looking* teeth. All this means
is they pay shedloads of cash for dental work. They should concentrate
more on eating better and losing a few pounds instead.

I know more grossly overweight Americans than I do Americans with good
teeth.

 

NHS dentistry?

 

OK, how about:

http://www.double-whammy.com/photos/kendodd.jpg

 

There are NHS dentists!!??!!??

Dave

 

On the contrary. Imagine that you dressed warmly because it was 40 deg and
raining when you left at 6AM but now its 100deg with 98% humidity and you're
70 miles from home with a laptop and briefcase that won't fit in the tiny
panniers, let alone the heavy insulated rainsuit, so you're forced to wear
it home along with the full-face helmet the bike's lack of protection
dictates. But had you wisely chosen your H-D instead, you could easily put
all your gear in it's luggage and even exchange the full-face for a beany
and enjoy the ride home.