A test ride but on something a little different

[Cavetroll87]

Ok, so erm, I suspect I am going to get booted from the site for this but here goes.

I took a bike for a testride, I surprisingly quite enjoyed said bike, it was comfy, it handled pretty well, looked good (IMO) and was fun to ride!

all pretty standard, so why do I think im likely to be booted from here? well because the bike mentioned was a Harley Davidson...……

[insert jokes here]

Long story short im still not getting that same buzz from riding, truth be told I think a lot of my love for it died under that HGV 3 years ago. I don't feel inspired to ride much anymore coz I just not really enjoying it, so I figured a proper change might shake me out of the rut and to be honest ive always had a soft spot for these so I pootled down to my local dealer just to have a browse. Had a chat with the sales guy who was a young guy who has come from riding Street Triple RS's / Thruxtons and other middle weight nakeds and seemed to get where I was coming from.
He advised me to not to bother looking at the 800cc sportser and go straight to the 1200cc 48 as it has a bit more poke and coming off a more conventional bike it wouldn't feel too slow. So after a look around the demo one he offered me the keys for a little pootle around. (I say keys, its actually a fob with keyless start, have it in your pocket, walk up the bike disarms the alarm itself and thumb the starter and your good to go)


Ill be honest I was skeptical, all the old cliches, like I said I always had a soft spot but I always thought if i rode one id hate it and decide not for me, partly why i went there to be honest, but actuall as I pulled away I was shocked how easily the thing turned out the dealer. dont get me wrong, its not agile BUT its definatley better than I expected, especially at low speed it just felt very stable.

It felt quick enough to be honest, in a straight line anyway, hardly rip your arms out your socket pulling wheelies, but quick enough to get you in trouble if you wernt paying attention.
What felt really nice to me was how lazily you could ride it, no dancing through the gears to keep it in peak revs, just lazily ride the wave of torque. It also didnt encourage me to ride like a d!ck pulling overtakes at every second, was quite nice just flowing along.


Dont get me wrong the bike isnt perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination. sitting at lights it vibrates enough to shake your fillings out, its hot, like, really hot with your legs resting against the engine, the fuel range is APPALING due to the tiny tank (which i think looks awesome though) it has sperate indicator bottons, one on each side which i dindt like as I found taking my hand off/ moving the throttle to get the right hand one was a bit of a pain but im sure you get used to it but despite these and despite the fact im probably gunna get the boot from this wonderful site for saying this I really enjoyed my little fling with this chunky American and I am seriously considering swapping in for one because its just a very very different type of riding and i enjoyed it, and at the end of the day, thats what riding shuld be about.

Cheers and Farewell - its been nice knowing you all!

[Kwacky]

If you like it, ride it. Every group of biker gets stick from other groups of bikers. But it's your choice. If it's a fit for you, then go for it.

[Cav]

Get out!

Haha nah just kidding.. horses for courses and your course has changed

There's no harm in riding a bike for image or "just because" or whatever reason you want to ride

[Cavetroll87]

haha im not worried about image and stuff really, you guys have seen me, ive never been what would be considered normal or anything hence my willingness to at least give it ago, mainly I just wanted to point out it surprised me in how well it actually rode coz like everyone I probably believed too many of the old clichés about it.

Ill admit getting back on the MT09 afterwards was hilarious, it felt tiny, twitchy and wobbly for a few mile until my brain readjusted again. In an ideal world Id have one as a second bike but I am not in that position to have more than 1 bike (I choose to join the housing industry at the worst time since 2007!)

[Kwacky]

Is it a HD you want or a sportster?

My worry would be after sales. A mate of mine had one of these and he struggled getting a couple of warranty issues resolved. He ended up trading it in as he got pissed off with it.

But I guess there's a horror story for every type of bike.

[Cavetroll87]

I love the look of the sportster, the stripped back look, Im gunna try and get a test on a triumph bobber too, im not quite ready to switch yet anyway, ive heard mixed things about HD build quality, so old fashioned though cant be too much that can go wrong I would have thought but what do I know

[Kwacky]

They're so old school they're very relaxed about tolerances. That's what I think causes a lot of the issues.

[D41]

I owned a Sportster for a few weeks several years ago. I didn't enjoy it very much....the welds were atrocious, the power was on par with a Morris Minor, and it would "ground-out" the instant a turn appeared on the horizon. Range was laughable (don't leave it running, or the fuel consumption will beat the pump), as was the Caterpillar-like "handling", which would give a Sherman tank a run for it's money, but not much else.
They're the biking equivalent of a steam locomotive, IMHO.....the idea of ownership is far better than the reality of it.

[Frankie]

You ride what you enjoy riding regardless of make and model, your always welcome here, after all it is Tankslap and your more likely to endure more on that than anything else lol......joking aside

I have had two Harley's in my life on bikes, and had them for a few years, 1st was a sportster, used to be 833, converted to 1200, with some stage tuning, this was an old girl, still chain drive, and man could it wheeelie lol......which they can do, just watch some of the YouTube clips, guys on big ol baggers get them up ha ha. Eventually I blew it up, and sold it to Jeff at Riverside In Putney, (I was living in west London at the time) I have to say it was a massive amount of fun, in a different way, not speed as such, it would do 90 mph all day long without feeling hard work, turned well enough, but you did have to work it. It was old school engineering, no electronics nothing, but on a bike like that was not needed. Brakes were poor, you needed to think about doing things like breaking before you needed to lol.

Then I bought my all time favourite HD, big stripped down FXDXi...... started life as a 14? Something can't remember, ended up with stage two tuning and 1550 big bore kit, again would do 130 flat out, but it would wobble and "generate Tankslaps" well almost the front needed a super stiff damper it was all over the place, back down to 100 and below it was smooth as a kitten. As with the previous bike the feet position was still down, not out front, I did have foot pegs on the crash bars for the crusing mode,,,, feet out front just chilln along.

This model has the twin discs on the front, again they were still pretty poor in terms of what we have today, I don't believe they have got much better, but they did the job, we are just spoilt with brakes that are so good now on most bikes.
Still they were great bikes, and I would not dis anyone who wants to ride one, it is a shame they is a following for the brand rather than bike out there as well..... groups who not only have the bike, but every little bit of HD kit, right down to the old lady with her HD handbag! Again if that what people like to do, who are we to turn our nose up.
I still have a soft spot for a HD, but you touched on it earlier, Triumph do a lovely machine which is new world tech including brakes, but with great old School looks. Deffo worth a test ride, I would also look at the victorys as well while you are at it, some really nice V twins in their line up as well. I will have to dig out some pics of my old girls they were fun at the time. No doubt I will get asked to leave the forum now

[Blade]

Biking is about putting a smile on your face and enjoying the ride. It's always the journey and not the destination. If it makes you smile, what's not to like.

[kiwikrasher]

I ride a GB400TT and they’ve let me stay it vibrates, handles average, brakes crap and is way slower than a Harley. But I still love it.

I’ll admit I’m always ready to take the piss out of Harley’s, but I’d rather ride one than not ride at all. My dad is a big Harley man and I do take his for a ride each time I go back to visit and I will admit it’s not entirely unenjoyable. I can see the attraction to them.

If it what fits you and you get enjoyment from it, go for it!

You get a tasselled jacket and I’ll disown you

[D41]

Whaaaaat??
Tassel jackets are frickin' fantastic....proper Native American wear....great for channeling water away & stuff like that.

That said, they'd maybe look just a little out of place on the M1, or wherever. Maybe.

[Itchy]

A bike is a bike. Whether other people like it is irrelevant if it fits the bill.
If it makes you happy again when you ride it, it's kind of a no-brainer, really.

[duke63]

The Triumph Street Twin I had a few weeks ago was a fantastic bike. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it at all but riding it was a very pure motorcycle experience.

But for the big annual tour, I could quite happily live with one of those. There is no doubt biking can get too serious at times.

[duke63]

A bike is a bike. Whether other people like it is irrelevant if it fits the bill.
If it makes you happy again when you ride it, it's kind of a no-brainer, really.

Indeed. It’s good to be different from the crowd sometimes.

[Cavetroll87]

cheers guys, sorry for slow reply, work is a bit mental atm, plus the other job of trying to get my album ready for realease is taking up a lot of my spare time haha!

As I say im not in a position to change yet anyway but I enjoyed it like I say, so who knows what the future may hold, I don't ride a whole lot anymore anyway, 4 outta 5 days a week im being a taxi for little man so is purely for sunny weekend rides now. 99% of my riding is on my own nowadays so no need to worry about trying to keep up with anyone and I haven't done a trackday in 4 years so it just ticks a lot of boxes for me for being a bit different.

As for the tassled jacket, that's not really my thing, im thinking more ass-less chaps!

[duke63]

I would try the equivalent Triumph though, they are making some exceptionally good bikes currently.

[Monty]

Mate seriously don't worry about it, I've got loads of gay biker mates

[D41]

Now there's a bombshell. Didn't see that one coming.

[Cav]

I've got loads of gay biker mates

Didn't see that one cumming

Looks like Darren's been there before and knows to close his eyes for the finale