Does anyone remember when harley davison sued honda?

Question

Sometime in 1980's harley sued honda for the patented sound. Honda built a shadow that sounded just like a honda. I've looked on the internet but can't find info on this anywhere! Anybody remember this?

Sometime in the 80's harley sued honda for making a shadow that sounded like the patentened sound of a harley. Does anyone have any info on this?

Answer 1

Harley did sue Honda I think in the late 80s or early 90s. The lawsuit was for the most part unsuccessful. Honda did have to make a few changes to the shadow, mainly the "shotgun pipes" style that they used. I believe Honda later came out with the Shadow ACE with the single pin crank as an FU to Harley. I think Harley might have tried to sue them again over the sound the ACE made.

Answer 2

The thing about answerers of these questions, is that those who ride american will answer 1 way, and those who ride japanese or don't ride & never have/never will - will answer the other I've owned/ridden both 100% with no question, my advice says go for the Sportster Price wise, you're right, they're about the same, but resale wise, the Harley will win, hands down. A used harley is always worth a good 20% more than a used japanese bike. So when it comes to pricing, the Harley wins Looks wise, it's purely subjective there, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, nobody can argue that one, so your preference will be your preference. Though the tie-breaker here is that a harley has about a million different ways you can customise it with parts from harley or the aftermarket. You can easily make it unique and make it your own, a japanese bike is just a coocki cutter clone where they all look the same. Sure you can buy a few do-dads from honda, but it won't change its look much unless you go pretty drastic (and in the cases that guys work hard to make them look different, they look like a harley, so what's that say) Chalk another win for harley Gauges, yep honda's are bigger. Honda wins that round Shaft drive vs belt drive... again, it's subjective, purley an opinion thing. Both are maintenance free so they claim. Neither requiring routine maintenance or adjustment. A shaft drive can get out of adjustment, just like your rear diff in your pickup can start to howl so that one's bull, and a harley belt can have road debris wreck it, so it's not guaranteed to be for life. But in the end, a belt is cheaper, quicker, and easier to repair than a shaft drive. I'd call that a harley win. Reliability. Again, purely subjective, and mostly a matter of opinion. Both are built by man, so both can fail. Both have decent warranty and both have decent history. My 2 cents says that back to that million ways to customize a harley, you will always find parts for your harley.... keep it 20 years and they'll still make em, the honda... i doubt it. Another win for the harley And finally, the name/reputation.... no explanation needed, harley wins hands down.... why else does honda try their best to make their bikes look like harleys. so you do the score and decide who wins, its your money, but i think harley has way more compelling reasons than the honda ever will - regardless of how many posts show up from posers who have never ridden a harley or an import for that matter for more than 10 miles in any 1 direction. PS and the one who hated her sportster and traded for a buell and loves it... that's the stupidest thing in this whole thread... every buell is based off a sportster, do some homework

Answer 3

Yes good old H.D. did try to sue, but it was determined that a sound can not be patented. How could Ford sue Chevy because their V-8 sounded alike with dual exhaust ? It was actually a superfluous lawsuit that went no where. H. D. was grasping at straws.They seemed to forget the Japanese company that gave , not lent them lots of money, and mfg. technology at one time. Can you see the Japanese, and now even Chinese parts on the H.D.s? As it has been stated here many times. if they had the engineers, instead of the lawers, they would be a lot better bike.

Answer 4

It was in the 1980s. Honda had been using Harley Davidson motorcycles for boat anchors and had tried to patent the idea. Harley thought that Honda was trying to copy their sound when all they were doing was just trying to keep their boats in place!

Answer 5

I just became the proud owner of a 1984 Honda Shadow 500 lawsuit model. Here's why....

Answer 6

Ya I've heard that also and was actually told that Harley won.(?) I have a 97 Shadow VT1100 Ace 2. I have 25k on mine, and have actually been asked if it was a Harley, have removed the name plates from the tank and air brushed American Classic in place. Installed drag pipes and when you crack the throttle it sounds and runs better than the comparable Harley model.Honda is a dependable machine where as Harleys really arent.

Answer 7

I know they sued Honda over the sound of the 1995 Honda shadow American classic single crank pin 1100cc engine. I have owned two brand new Harleys, right of the show room floor. I went back to Honda, I bought a new 1995 Honda shadow American classic . IT has never seen the inside of a shop, 149,000 miles.I also have a Goldwing I bought about 10 years ago. it is a 1987 model and it has not seen a shop since I have owned it. it has 240,000 miles on it.

Answer 8

i have heard that before, i have also heard that they sued the yamaha virago and they bought the right to it, from harley owners. i dont know if any of it is true though. i have never seen anything about either.

Answer 9

Yes I remember, Harley claimed that Honda stole there Potato Potato, And I think they won??

Answer 10

It was in 1988 over the Shadow VT800c. And yes it was over the sound of all things. I remember my uncle went and bought one thinking it was gonna be a collectors piece.