IF I WAS BADASS, THIS WOULD BE THE ONE

[Wild Will]

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/21january08_hd2008xbones.htm

...but I'm not.

[Gord]

Nice retro look to it. I think if I was to buy an American cycle, I would seriously look at a Victory ahead of an HD.

[jamming]

A Factory Bobber! I like it. Wouldn't buy it, but I like it.

+1 on the Victory. The Victory motor is heads and shoulders above the HD IMHO. I think Victory gets it. I want to ride it futher than the nearest bar.

[DarthRider]

The HD "Crossbones" looks a lot like the Biker's Choice "bobber" kit-bike named "The Rockabilly Rod". I helped design it and got to name it about a year before I retired. I did not however, get to interview or escort the Umbrella Girls models !
It wasn't a Softail though...it was a genu-ine bust-your-kidney hard tail !
And ours had a much "warmer" S&S "Shovelhead" motor than the Harley Dee.
Corporate snafus resulted in us never selling this kit-bike, which would have retailed for about $11 large. Too bad, too... we had a number of advance orders and *lots* of interest.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/55520117-L.jpg

We also had another new "retro-rod" about that time, this little old school chopper, also with a hot S&S. It was never sold as a kit either.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/55520126-L.jpg
We were going to call it "The 8-Ball". I never liked this one at all.

Geeze, Harley stole our design for the Rockabilly and Victory stole our name for the 8-ball...what are you going to do ?!

I thought I was going to be able to buy the complete runner prototype Rockabilly Rod. It would have been about $8K and I could have flipped it for twice that easy...or kept it. It was really a pretty cool little bike for the right time & place. It was real light with bags o' torque.
But not an "only bike" for sure...it was designed for the multi-bike yuppie with a fat checkbook and no toolbox. That was the typical buyer of all our other kit-bikes. Most were built by a dealer or the owner's buddy. The finished bikes were retailing for ~$18-24K, depending on paint & other things.

[AZBMWRIDER]

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/012108bottom.jpg


I like it... :eusa_clap:

A set of Jesse Bags and Id be good to go... :lol8:

[socalrob]

Those bars look a bit tall to me.

Can you get Ohlins springs for under the seat? That would be smooth & cool. Maybe order the "sport" suspension package.

[bmwdave52]

Looks like a WWII model. All you need is a holster for the Thompson.

[TorqueMonsterMT-01]

The ape hangers have to go. I would prefer flat wide bars. I'm thinking Pedro Infante style, not Peter Fonda.

[beekstersocal]

The HD "Crossbones" looks a lot like the Biker's Choice "bobber" kit-bike named "The Rockabilly Rod". I helped design it and got to name it about a year before I retired. I did not however, get to interview or escort the Umbrella Girls models !
It wasn't a Softail though...it was a genu-ine bust-your-kidney hard tail !
And ours had a much "warmer" S&S "Shovelhead" motor than the Harley Dee.
Corporate snafus resulted in us never selling this kit-bike, which would have retailed for about $11 large. Too bad, too... we had a number of advance orders and *lots* of interest.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/55520117-L.jpg

We also had another new "retro-rod" about that time, this little old school chopper, also with a hot S&S. It was never sold as a kit either.
http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/55520126-L.jpg
We were going to call it "The 8-Ball". I never liked this one at all.

Geeze, Harley stole our design for the Rockabilly and Victory stole our name for the 8-ball...what are you going to do ?!

I thought I was going to be able to buy the complete runner prototype Rockabilly Rod. It would have been about $8K and I could have flipped it for twice that easy...or kept it. It was really a pretty cool little bike for the right time & place. It was real light with bags o' torque.
But not an "only bike" for sure...it was designed for the multi-bike yuppie with a fat checkbook and no toolbox. That was the typical buyer of all our other kit-bikes. Most were built by a dealer or the owner's buddy. The finished bikes were retailing for ~$18-24K, depending on paint & other things.

both are real nice:054:

[Tipstall]

I liked her until I noticed that her jeans were ripped, that wrecked it for me.

Ken

[Rchop]

I know it's traditional, but I'm not a big springer fan. If I was going to go "bobber style", it would be more like this:

http://www.suckerpunchsallys.com/images/gallery/Gallery_big_two/052.jpg

or these...

http://www.suckerpunchsallys.com/images/gallery/Gallery_big_one/006.jpg

http://www.suckerpunchsallys.com/images/gallery/Gallery_big_one/020.jpg

[fnfalman]

I prefer my motorbikes fast and my women loose. I'll take the chick but leave those bikes.

[isiahstites]

Geez,

What has come over guys this past week? Two Harley threads with positive comments........have you guys been taking your meds??

Scott

[Rchop]

Geez,

What has come over guys this past week? Two Harley threads with positive comments........have you guys been taking your meds??

Scott

:rofl:don't take it personal Scott, I'm sure we can find plenty more people out there that don't like your Harley....ahhh....ummmm....oh wait, I have one too:webers:

[Arby]

Scott

It's not meds that they forgot. It's the Kool Aid that they forgot to drink!!:eusa_drool:

RB

[Sweet Lorraine]

Now, in all probability this won't hold true for every single H-D rider (especially those on this site, ahem!), but IMHO H-D owners/riders are bad-boy posers and bad-ass wannabe's. I've always believed true mc enthusiasts enjoy the 2-wheel experience for the performance, handling, speed AND the gosh darn pride and joy of riding a really fine piece of motorcycle wizardry -- such as the BMW. Maybe there isn't the "bling" factor in the BMW when compared to the H-D with all its chrome accessories (read: bling) . . . kind of like a gorgeous male model, all buff and oiled up - looks ever so fine, but no substance; couldn't hold an intelligent conversation if he had to, but holy schitotzky is he a pile of eye candy. Anyway, I'd like to see someone on one of those H-D's with the ape hangers try taking some of the roads like Deal's Gap in Tennessee or Spearfish Canyon in South Dakota. Good luck, poser!!!

Now, let me tell you how I really feel!!!!!!

SL

[Arby]

delete

[Rchop]

I've always believed true mc enthusiasts enjoy the 2-wheel experience
SL

You should have stopped right there!! I consider myself a "true motorcycle enthusiast" which means to me, I like to ride anything on two wheels. That would include any bike from scooters to a Hyabusa, an antique board tracker to a V-8 powered Boss Hoss and everything in between.
I applaud anyone who takes the time to appreciate the experience including weekend "posers", as you call them, and iron butt distance riders.
What I don't have tolerance for, is people who think their view of "what a true motorcycle rider is" is as narrow as yours.

[DarthRider]

Yikes...as with most stereotypes, there is always some basis in truth. Then taken to an extreme.
Then the "always & never" generalizations creep in.
I have a KLR, a 1050 Speed Triple and a BMW replete with it's 3rd rear drive unit sitting in the shop...which is the "true, real" motorcycle I wonder ?
I wish I had the twin to Randy's new Road Glide sitting out there too. And Scott's Bonneville special Buell. Would I then have 2 boat anchors or two more motorcycles ? Would I still be a motorcycle enthusiast or just 2/3 of one and 1/3 "poser & wannabe" ?

My favorite old boss used to tell all we young up-and-comers as we plotted our careers, "Be very aware of the difference in 20 years' experience and 1 years' experience 20 times".

Something we motorcyclists/riders/bikers/enthusiasts/whatever would do well to remember...

[Sweet Lorraine]

Ok, ok! Didn't mean to offend! Which part of "such as" didn't compute? There are a lot of motorcycle manufacturers out there that produce beauties, technologically as well as aesthetically. I have known more than a few Harley owners throughout my life, and have found the majority to be less than pleasant, less than intelligent and mostly brainless. I work with a fellow who owns an H-D, and he is the CFO of this company. He is intelligent, witty, charming, and possesses boatloads of good ol' common sense. So, please, kind members, don't dismiss the "such as" portion of my previous reply. I am less narrow minded than you could possibly know, dear RChop.

SL

[DarthRider]

No prob here SL...I wasn't offended. Just a little disappointed, that's all.
As a group, we motorcyclists take enough of a beating from society in general, without heaping it on each other, seems to me.

[Rchop]

Would I then have 2 boat anchors or two more motorcycles ?

Ahoy there! I'm the captain of this Road Glide and I resemble that remark :naughty::naughty:LOL

[Wild Will]

Sweetness, badass though they might be, those leather do-rag, fringed, conchoed, armpits in the breeze guys will be the first to stop and lend a hand.
They'll even be amazed when they see the mileage on a well-used BMW speedo, and can actually be interested in the technology.

But they are old school. They hearken to the days when the road represented freedom and hell raising to the guys coming home from the chaos of WWII; these guys were killers, returned home to a boring societal existence. My dad was one of these guys. It's still happening today. If I lived where the roads were straight, like Beano, I mean Deano, and I drove delivering the goods to countless race tracks last year, I'd have a Harley too. I mean, I can't believe that Daytona BMW is one of the nation's top sellers. Where the hell do they ride? The salesman there and I mused about this mysterious issue one day last season. Harley country, for sure.

And it's also true that with a Harley, you have a much greater chance of hooking up with a sexy, be-thonged female, than you would have on your GS.
It's a fact. I've seen it. Badass women like badass bikes and guys. They're not going to discuss Kant or Kierkegaard. They're going to sip brews and then get down to business. While we poor BMW riders shyly approach each other's bike and pass along some guarded comments, the thonged wild woman is enjoying Magoo's Vibe Rider seat! Hoo boy!

There's truth in every spectacle, if you look beyond the chaps and identical black vests and tee shirts from HD of Sri Lanka, you'll find some very nice, genuine Bros who'll hit you if you're nasty, and buy you beer of you're nice.

I remember Dean, my role model (I'm very challenged) once telling me during one of our daily phone calls "Hey, I'm riding one of the big, cruiser Kawasaki's right now. I'm behind this big old windshield and I'm talking to you on the cell phone! (he always gets so excited; I for one am ecstatic that he doesn't drool). You know, I could really enjoy having one of these things"
I asked him how he'd get it down Baghdad Drive, and there was a pause, and he said, merely, "oh, yeah, I forgot" and promptly hung up on me.

There's a thong-desiring hell raiser in each and every one of us, Sweetness, even though we may ride these type A, retentive, over priced and over technologied German bikes. But if I could only keep one bike, if it came with one of them thonged, nicely packaged Harley loving wild women, I'd get me a leather do rag faster than a Mormon could say Moroni!

[Gord]

I found Sweet L's post highly amusing, and with a substantial hint of truth to it. I am one of two non-H-D riders in my neighbourhood. There are 5 H-D's, 1 BMW and 1 Ducati. I can attest to the single-minded myopia of the majority of this H-D crew. Mention any other motorcycle outside of an H-D, and their eyes glaze over. Mention H-D, and they can tell you about every chrome doodad they can add to their hog and what it would cost them. Does that make them bad people? Not at all. They do after all let me - a non-H-D owner - ride with them. And at least one of the H-D crew can appreciate a vintage Norton or even a Triumph. But the word "cult" comes to mind when I think about what being a member of a HOG Chapter entails and what I see happen when one tries to discuss motorcycles other than Harley Davidson.

'Tis one of the reasons I so love this board. No matter what you ride, we are all open-minded and accepting of motorcyclists no matter what they ride!

[Optimus Prime]

Sweetness, badass though they might be, those leather do-rag, fringed, conchoed, armpits in the breeze guys will be the first to stop and lend a hand.


My experience has been the exact opposite. The most frustrating was when I had the sudden blowout in the middle of nowhere ohio. It's dusk with a slight drizzle, and here I am in my red 'stich with the bike on the side stand and hazards on. I'm standing by the road with my helmet off, and making eye contact with the approaching rider (it's a long straight road in farm country) In the hour and a half it took my buddy to arrive with his truck I was passed by no less then 30 HD riders (most in pairs and one group of 10-12).

None stopped
one waved
5 gave me the bird.

Not to mention the next day that the HD dealer (only bike dealer in town) wouldn't fit a new tire because it was a Triumph and, "I only work on real 'merican bikes". Never mind that here I am, a fellow rider, hundreds of miles away from home with a gashed tire and in need of some help on the Saturday before a 3 day weekend. Thanks a lot, buddy.

I still like some of their bikes, but that experience was not a pleasant one when it comes to HD riders and their dealers.

[Gord]

They're not going to discuss Kant or Kierkegaard.

Will - you obviously don't hang out at some of the places I have. Why, I recall this one stripper who could debate John Locke versus Thomas Hobbes better than the average university prof. At least I think it was Locke and Hobbes. I was...er...distracted.

[Wild Will]

Will - you obviously don't hang out at some of the places I have. Why, I recall this one stripper who could debate John Locke versus Thomas Hobbes better than the average university prof. At least I think it was Locke and Hobbes. I was...er...distracted.

And that deficit in my sylvan life is to my detriment, Gord. I'd love to find a stripper who could teach me a thing or two.

Bummer about the way some HD badasses treated Optimus Prime. Truth be told, I was just trying to get a little bit more familiar with Sweet Lorraine. I mean, you never know...

[isiahstites]

delete


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