Thread: Getting power out of a harley

Originally Posted by Ftx325

To much is never enough is it ? Jap sports bikes are way too much for the road but they still sell the latest and fastest, more powerful bikes

Should I say or should I no.......

The harsh reality is: 99% of road warriors on liter (and 600's) sport bikes, are completely unable to exploit what they ride to it's potential, and it is frightening to watch some of them try, and ride way beyond their ability to control their own destiny.

The Akaroa GP, the Rimataka hill and the Takaka hill are three classic examples of places you will find sport bike riders "proving" something
The need to get a knee down to "prove" speed is utterly deluded, and in the real world, on a twisty road with potentially hidden variables, leaves most sportbike riders exposed without the tools need to cope when it goes wrong. Local statistic on the Akaroa GP is an average of one rider every year killed in a single bike crash on the Hilltop section.(this excludes bike vs car, bike vs camper, bike vs towed boat) It goes wrong, rider target fixates and the only tool rider has is grab brake,,,,,, bang!

There are riders on sport bikes on the Akaroa GP that turn up to track days ( public "have a go days" run by Motorcycling Canterbury on Ruapuna and Levels) convinced they could show Stoner the way round the track, at the morning briefing everyone is told the guys in their group wearing dayglo vests will be racers doing laps for people to follow and get the idea about the "how" and they are available for riders to talk to between sessions to get advice and on track coaching during the day.

So, you go out in the "fast" group to circulate and observe, you watch someone doing it all wrong and you buzz in in front, turn in the seat to get eye to eye, tap the tail of your bike in the universal signal to follow - try to slow them down some, and try to show track positioning, where to be looking, when to be turning, braking, where to be apexing ect, there are ways to demo this stuff on the move that work quite well after a chat in the pits, but...... plenty of these guys get all offended and blast past you on the straight bit and try to leave you in their dust, shows the boys on the the pit wall "hey you see me go past that guy?! fuck I'm fast". So you go past them at the next corner and go around it looking back at them with the upraised palm signal that is universally understood by all, give it another shot at lead and follow, often getting the same result, most of the go fast sport bike mob just don't believe they get it wrong and need help.

Same guys riding a thousand miles an hr on public roads.

The "Akaroa GP" is named after the thousand mile an hr sport bike mob that thrash it (Chch - Akaroa and back) every weekend.

A lot like the Harley thing, a small minority makes you hate them all.

I totally agree. With the group I used to ride with which includes an ex nz 250 gp national champ and a current top street race rider , we used to have something we called the newbie curse. Now don't think we rode dangerously or at breakneck illegal speeds everywhere because we didn't , but we all enjoyed the hills and rode the corners quickly but completely controlled and what we felt was safely. But generally it was that any new riders that joined us often had an off within the first three rides with us trying to ride beyond their safe skill set. Including I might add the current top street racer...who binned twice in those three rides. Hence the newbie curse. It got to the point several people would stay back with newbies on our rides to keep an eye on them and take any perceived pressure off them to keep up.
And as previously mentioned we wouldn't ride with people we thought were a danger to themselves or other people and there were a few of those about.
And from my experience riders are slower when trying to get the knee down rather than letting it happen naturally but they don't seem to understand that.

I like two wheels and I like fast on NZ roads - perhaps y'all may wish to see Mr Jay Lawrence showing the way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KubGVzd64rg

I've never met the guy but holy fuck this is good

I used to work with him. Very nice guy and very very fast.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

You want the coolest bike with the biggest torque and the shittiest handling?...boss hoss v8 ... Fck yeah, I want one...

Attachment 150889

Harley? Girls bikes...

The fellow that makes Briford Trailers was importing them I think....

I remember being involved with speedway many years ago (I ran the club BBQ but did not race....) and when the bikes ran it was interesting. There would be Japanese bikes and Hogs. One of the rules was no brakes(?) or no gears(?) anyway, if the hog got out in front then while it was slower up the straight away as soon as it got to the corner it would out accelerate the japanese 4 cylinders then stay in front on the corner slow down and boom out of the corner. The japs would not keep up with the acceleration. But if the Japa bikes got out in front they just stayed fast and the Hogs would never catch up. Different horses for different courses.

I like both, but the one thing I find determines what I buy is the price. I simply get more bang for my buck from japanese.....Anyone have a cheap 4 cylinder 250cc-400cc crotch rocket near Chch??????

Finnwolf how do you find the RE after the Harley ?

Originally Posted by john m

Finnwolf how do you find the RE after the Harley ?

I can’t find it, it hasn’t arrived!

Now I’ve finished being a smart-arse.... on the test bike ride I found it was almost a scooter in comparison to the Electraglide Classic bulk.
It did go well, still pulled on an uphill in 6th gear.
The indicators took a bit of getting use to as the Harley ones self cancelled and the right hand indicator/left hand indicator switches were at the respective hand grips, whereas the RE has then on the one switch.
Having six speeds will be handy as while the RE pulled better than I thought it would my Harley had enough torque at low revs to tow start a bulldozer, rarely had to drop a gear to overtake, it spoilt me in that respect.
The Harley was not quite new enough to have ABS but the RE has it. ( had smoke coming of the front tyre of my HD Dyna T-Sport one day when avoiding a lamb that ran out on the road - ABS would have been handy!)

At the end of the day it’s horses for courses and the RE put a smile on my face, in the test ride it pretty much ticked all the boxes - went well, felt nimble/handled well, gearbox felt good, had a nice classic style.
(and the centre-stand will be a handy thing)

For a LAMS bike it actually pulled not too bad.

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

I can’t find it, it hasn’t arrived!

Now I’ve finished being a smart-arse.... on the test bike ride I found it was almost a scooter in comparison to the Electraglide Classic bulk.
It did go well, still pulled on an uphill in 6th gear.
The indicators took a bit of getting use to as the Harley ones self cancelled and the right hand indicator/left hand indicator switches were at the respective hand grips, whereas the RE has then on the one switch.
Having six speeds will be handy as while the RE pulled better than I thought it would my Harley had enough torque at low revs to tow start a bulldozer, rarely had to drop a gear to overtake, it spoilt me in that respect.
The Harley was not quite new enough to have ABS but the RE has it. ( had smoke coming of the front tyre of my HD Dyna T-Sport one day when avoiding a lamb that ran out on the road - ABS would have been handy!)

At the end of the day it’s horses for courses and the RE put a smile on my face, in the test ride it pretty much ticked all the boxes - went well, felt nimble/handled well, gearbox felt good, had a nice classic style.
(and the centre-stand will be a handy thing)

For a LAMS bike it actually pulled not too bad.

I am loving my RE Himalayan. Looking very closely at the twins too. They look the bees knees....

I must say I do like the look of the Royal Enfield. I think the guy who imports them is over Taranaki way so was thinking of going over for a test ride one day. How was the seat for comfort Finnwolf ? I can't decide if I should sell the Bandit and buy 1 or just buy 1 and keep the Bandit. I do like the torque of the Bandit, in 6th gear at 100mk/h just twist the throttle to overtake any tintop with ease. No chopping down like I had to on my CBR1000.

Oh how does the Himalayan go Tim. That was the model I was looking at a while ago

Originally Posted by rugerman

I must say I do like the look of the Royal Enfield. I think the guy who imports them is over Taranaki way so was thinking of going over for a test ride one day. How was the seat for comfort Finnwolf ? I can't decide if I should sell the Bandit and buy 1 or just buy 1 and keep the Bandit. I do like the torque of the Bandit, in 6th gear at 100mk/h just twist the throttle to overtake any tintop with ease. No chopping down like I had to on my CBR1000.

Oh how does the Himalayan go Tim. That was the model I was looking at a while ago

Definitely go for a test ride - but DONT expect anything like the performance of your other two bikes mentioned!

Seat, I didn’t ride for long enough but I doubt it would be comfortable for much more than two- three hours non-stop, who knows...

Originally Posted by rugerman

I must say I do like the look of the Royal Enfield. I think the guy who imports them is over Taranaki way so was thinking of going over for a test ride one day. How was the seat for comfort Finnwolf ? I can't decide if I should sell the Bandit and buy 1 or just buy 1 and keep the Bandit. I do like the torque of the Bandit, in 6th gear at 100mk/h just twist the throttle to overtake any tintop with ease. No chopping down like I had to on my CBR1000.

Oh how does the Himalayan go Tim. That was the model I was looking at a while ago

If you are highway hauling, the Himalayan is not for you. 90km max is realistic, possibly closer to 80 for extended periods. Redline should see it reach 120 but I have never even tried that with mine. It feels better at slower speeds. More like its comfortable rather than working. In all honesty for the dodgy roads (or tracks(?)) they are built for speed is not really an issue. They handle terrain well and run on the smell of an oily rag. The 15 litre tank will get me over 350km comfortably. The newer one may even be better at both speed and economy with the shift to Fuel injection. Very practical. I use mine as my daily to get to and from work as I have a nearly 40km commute, most of it on 80km roads making it well suited for it. And at $7500 brand new they are not an expensive bike. Mine has the fancy trekker panniers and a givi topbox just to finish the ensemble off...


@rugerman what size bandit do you have? I was thinking about something like that in the stable next to the Virago and the RE. That or the V Strom though I was preferring to stay under 600cc.
@Finnwolf I found mine pretty good from Chch to Blenheim recently. Timewise it was a longer trip as I sat mostly around 80km letting stuff past as soon as I could. You can also get an after market touring seat, along with a myriad of other bits and bobs for them. And most of it is pretty good value. The Panniers were on the dear side but they are Givi Trekker side boxes fitted with RE racks for RE which is why they are dearer, but ironically Givi trekkers are dearer still......

I was servicing the enfields for a while and must admit found them very , ummm , shall we say pedestrian in the power delivery in the early models. Not saying that is a bad thing necessarily. I seriously considered one in the cafe racer style when photos were first released as the look really does it for me. Then one came in for a service and I rode it. I was unfortunately disappointed again with power and never bought one. Now just to clarify I always have had classic triumphs along with my sports bikes including 500 from late 60 early 70's and don't expect much from the older machines but was still underwhelmed by the cafe racer.
So basically ride one first before selling the more powerful machine just in case it's not quite what you were expecting.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

I was servicing the enfields for a while and must admit found them very , ummm , shall we say pedestrian in the power delivery in the early models. Not saying that is a bad thing necessarily. I seriously considered one in the cafe racer style when photos were first released as the look really does it for me. Then one came in for a service and I rode it. I was unfortunately disappointed again with power and never bought one. Now just to clarify I always have had classic triumphs along with my sports bikes including 500 from late 60 early 70's and don't expect much from the older machines but was still underwhelmed by the cafe racer.
So basically ride one first before selling the more powerful machine just in case it's not quite what you were expecting.

What year was the ‘cafe racer’ RE?

Once you've had power it is hard to "step down". I am always disappointed when I get on my KLE500 after riding my KTMs.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

I was servicing the enfields for a while and must admit found them very , ummm , shall we say pedestrian in the power delivery in the early models. Not saying that is a bad thing necessarily. I seriously considered one in the cafe racer style when photos were first released as the look really does it for me. Then one came in for a service and I rode it. I was unfortunately disappointed again with power and never bought one. Now just to clarify I always have had classic triumphs along with my sports bikes including 500 from late 60 early 70's and don't expect much from the older machines but was still underwhelmed by the cafe racer.
So basically ride one first before selling the more powerful machine just in case it's not quite what you were expecting.

That's informative. So, the cafe racer RE bike is less inspiring, performance wise than a 60s/70s Bonny 650? That would definitely sum it up for me.