Are you proud of your motorcycle because of the brand or proud of brand because of the motorcycle?

Question

Think about that for a minute.

And be honest otherwise your just kidding yourself

Or maybe a blind, or not so smart following for 105 years. Maybe telling the government to tax other companies to near death for decades just to stay in business 105 years.

Just for the record. When I first typed this question up. I had no intent on making it a personal attack against Harley or Harley riders. However as usual some Harley riders showed and and made it so. Ride on your message started out great I understand the pride of building your own. But then you started in about the whole 105 year following thing and that blew it all. Firecracker is the only one that acctually made complete sense. The rest of the Harley crew however were worthless and full of nothing but scorn and just reinforced my reasons for disliking Harley.

Answer 1

I understand where you are going with this , ( Blind customer loyalty)
I am proud of my bikes because they are "ME BRAND'.
I built them largely from Harley parts but they are my creations, you will not see others like them.
Gotta love the bike to love the brand, but if the bike is cool the brand does not matter all that much.

Answer 2

I really don't understand why you make posts like this. By now we all know you don't care for Harley's and that's fine. But why all the attacks. Even if Harley made the biggest piece of crap motorcycle in the world why would that bother you? I know this is going to make all of the Harley haters angry and I'm sorry, but truthfully when yo guys post things like this it makes you sound jealous. I realize that is not the case but it does come across that way. I own 3 metric bikes and I love them. The Japanese, in my opinion, have done more for the sport of motorcycling and the development of the modern motorcycle than any other manufacturer in the world. They make great bikes. I just don't understand all the hate. No Harley does not fit in the same mold as many other manufacturers, but that's okay. They have something to offer the motorcycle community also. Any true enthusiast would see that.

Answer 3

Pride?
What's that got to do with riding?

Ok, Ok....
I used to be proud of my bike, but it didn't have a darn thing to do with the brand. It was because it was old, ran well, looked good, and it was all because of me. I fixed it, I painted it, I rode it. I,I,I,I,I. See where I'm going with that? Pride was personal, not brand.

I ride a newer bike now, and it's a different brand.
Pride? All you see me write about is my stuff, what I do, nothing special about the brand.

Ride on makes an excellent point that's similar.
He takes pride in his ride because of him, not the brand.

P.S. I like a lot of the stuff you write, even if I don't always agree. You have knowledge and give good advice. I just wish you would lay off the digging at HD. We all know what the flaws were and are. The crap's old.

Edit: You're right, and I apologize. You didn't say anything about HD. I expected an argument that maybe wasn't there.

Answer 4

I am proud to ride. I have owned a 75 Honda a 83 Kawasaki. a 91 Suzuki, a 02 Kawasaki and now a 05 Harley road king, I'm just bloody happy I can finally afford and ride a spectacular looking and very comfortable riding bike.I dont give a hoot what you ride as long as you ride.

Answer 5

I ride a Burgman 650. A maxi scooter. I bought it because I liked it. Now it's hard to get out of a gas station because so many people want to talk about it.

Basically, I just like to ride. Preferably alone. Going where I want, stopping when I want. Cruising down the interstate, or a little fun in the twisties.

Usually, I'll wave at people who wave at me. But I didn't get into riding to become part of any group. Just to have some fun.

Now I stop at gas stations that seem empty and quickly slip in and out.

I never bash other bikes. They are what other people like.

Answer 6

I have owned bikes since the early 1980's and my favorite brand was Yamaha, mostly cause of the local Yamaha Dealer treated me fair, then when I had a falling out with the dealer i switched to Suzuki, I loved every Suzuki bike they made and was planning on making Suzuki my own personal brand for life, then in 2005 I purchased a new Suzuki M50, but that bike was a lemon and the dealer refused to repair it under warranty, now I have switched back to Yamaha.
When I own any bike, i expect the dealer to treat me fair, not to lie to me, I expect the dealer to respect me as one of his good customers cause I almost buy a new bike every year.
The biggest problem with most motorcycle dealers is they will give ten times more attention to new customers, then their former, or regular customers and that's a mistake.
I think dealers expect every new customer will later and automatically be pissed off with them

Answer 7

all good answers to be sure. but theres one more. about 15 or 20 years ago when Japans economy was booming & ours temporarily was'nt, a high Japanese official publicly stated it was because American workers were stupid, lazy & illiterate and could'nt compete in the new world order with Japan at the top.
within a few years after that the situations were reversed. I BELIEVE IT WAS BECAUSE I PARKED MY YAMAHA & BOUGHT ANOTHER HARLEY. so I personally saved American industry but no one ever pats me on the back for it. maybe there were some other people involved?

Answer 8

I've owned all four Jap bike brands, but I switched to Kawasaki over 25 years ago because they have never once left me walking. I now have two, both older machines and sure they're not the perfect bike, but Kawasaki builds very tough engines that have never once let me down in many years and many miles of riding. To me, getting home is more important than staying home polishing a Jap/German/American/Italian bike.

Answer 9

let's see .... I wanted a cheap bike,but a cruiser.I looked at Honda,Suzuki,Yamaha,Triumph,Kawasaki,Royal Enfield,and of course Harley Davidson ......
the brand new 883L Harley Sportster was $6700.00,
the Triumph 900 was like $7200.00, all of the other bikes were like $5500.00 for a 650 ...... and looked like Harley wannabees .... so it was basically between the Sportster or the Bonneville.
I didn't like the look of the Triumph and live close enough to Daytona to have fun buying tool bags for my front forks,I like the touring seat available for my broken tail bone,as well as the look of the Pistl Pete jacket for easy access to my cell phone,wrench,kick stand coaster,gloves,face mask and would really feel silly riding were I like to ride not being on a Harley but something that "looks like a Harley".... now I had never ridden one.... and actually purchased the Sportster for my wife,who wound up pregnent and didn't like to ride it anyway.
I have since ridden a Road King,Super Glide,V Rod,V Star 1300,Honda GoldWing and a VTX 1800

I liked the V Rod and the VTX 1800 ... I do want to ride some more Crotch Rockets like a Triumph Speed Triple ... but the Road King and Super Glide were to wide for me as I like the thinness for handling that I get from bikes like a Sportster,VTX and V Rod .....

I do have a pride of living out my childhood dreams of growing up and owning/riding a Harley ... the little 883 reminds me alot of the little 80 cc Yamaha I rode all over the Country roads as a pre-teen,sneeking out at night to ride into town with my older friend to purchase whiskey and other things and then consuming them in the woods on a weekly basis,out running County Cops,and just being a kid ...
but after demo riding a few other bikes and mostly just going out and having a great time on this little bike that everyone rips on (the bike I always called a "girls bike")
Yah,I can say I am proud of my bike because it brings me joy in my life,not because of a name brand (well there is a little bit of,well ALOT of PRIDE in the fact that yah,I RIDE A HARLEY !!!!)
but more than that there is a sense of ADRENALINE pumping through my veins when I ride,and buddy I ride my bike.I wonder if anyone else answering this has ever jumped a street bike at 50 mph and landed upright and just kept going,laughing insanely that they survived what they thought for sure would be a horrific crash .. I did,and then went back and jumped it 5 more times in the past year .....
I hear of my childhood friends that had similiar dreams to mine but they never grew up and are in and out of prison their whole lives,and I remember when we were all just about going out and having a good time .....
so yah,it depends on what you do I guess ... but I see these kids on town roads driving like idiots when they could open it up on the interstate,I don't know ...
for me I feel proud of my Sportster and cruisin at 85 mph on the interstate not many people are keeping up with me on any given day ..... and if they want to I share the lane so if they need to pass they can come on over .... if they have the nerve to ride like me or better to begin with ........

Answer 10

I don't care what the bike says on the side of the tank. Just let me get on and ride every day and I'll be a happy man.