Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes Test rode some Harleys.

This past weekend in Chattanooga, TN there was a big Harley Rally. Bikes numbered in the thousands. 99.9% of them were Harleys, but there was 1 Triumph there .

The Milwaukee factory had trucked down three 18 wheelers full of Harleys for everyone to test tide. A big parking lot downtown had been laid out in sections with areas for Buell/V-Rod, Tourers, Dynas, Softails and Sportsters. V-Rod rides were pre booked. The wait was around four hours and so i decided not to bother with that. For the other bikes you only had to wait in line for about 20/30 minutes for a ride. A ten mile route had been set out. Leaving downtown Chattanooga you headed out on I-24 for about 5 miles then turned of the interstate and headed over Lookout Mountain and then back into Chattanooga again. The course was marked out with orange arrows. A nice short ride that offered a little bit of everything. Interstate, twisty mountain roads uphill and downhill, and some busy city roads.

I rode four Harleys.

1st up, it was either a Heritage Softail or a Softail Deluxe. I get Harleys confused. All in all a very nice bike. Comfortable, nice wide bars and comfortable foot placement. Must confess, this Heal and Toe shifting takes some getting used to. Nice power with lots of touque, but to be honest it didnt exactly set the world on fire, and really didnt "feel" that much more powerfull than the TBA which has almost half the engine size.

2nd ride, 35th Anniversary Super Glide. Oh my, I liked this. Dont know why, it vibrated worse then the paint shaker in the Paint Dept at Lowes. Take your hands of the bar and the whole thing bounces around underneath you. But once you pulled away she smoothed out, and it felt much more powerful then the Softail. Same engine but you would never think so, it felt much more powerful. Much more pulling power then the TBA, or at least it sure felt like it had more power. Have to confess, I liked this bike.

4th up, Dyna Wide Glide. Nice, not as comfortable as the TBA, it was a long reach to the footpegs, and the bars were a lot higher then the other bikes. The six speed box gave a very relaxed feel when cruising on the interstate.

The third bike I rode . Have you ever been told that if you dont have anything good to say then Shut Up.

3rd Ride, a XL 883 Sportster....I'll shut up.

An enjoyable way to spend a saturday. This is the first time I've had a chance to ride a selection of Harleys, and I must say i enjoyed the experience. They were not nearly as heavy as I was expecting, and were a lot more comfortable then I expected. The gear boxes were all very clunky, and none of the bikes i rode turned into corners as fast or as easy as the our Triumphs. Riding the mountain section of the route, on the Triumph you only have to think the bike around the corners, on the Harleys you really have to press on the bars to make them turn in. It is certainly a different riding style to the Bonnie, and a lot less relaxed. High praise for the Bonnie I think, but i'm sure your die hard Harley riders would argue their case.

I can honestly say I would not trade Bonnie in for any of them. If i was to win the lottery then I sure there would be room in my garage for one. Not sure which one, probably the Softail, but maybe the Super Glide.

Mark

OK, OK, I cant resist. The Sportster. I have been riding now for 25 years. In that time I have had the pleasure of riding some nice bikes and some awful bikes, and I can say with hand on heart the Sportster is the worst machine i have ever ridden. A truly horrible ride. Its sits slightly higher then the TBA, has narrower handle bars a very skiny gas tank. I am average hight, 5ft 10, but I felt very cramped on this bike. As I pulled out of the parlking lot the bike felt horrible, I was about to take the thing straight back but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and follow the test route. I shouldnt have bothered , it didnt get any better. A truly horrible ride. How any one can buy one and then say they love Harleys is beyond me. If the choice was Sportster or car I would have to say,

What Car?

I agree, I like that 35th Anniversary Super Glide, I'll never sell my bike, but maybe someday I can get a 2nd bike

My brother Rick has a brand new Super Glide. Very nice bike but he paid all most $17K after he added some accessories. In a head to head short drag he barely pulls away and I mean bareley. He was shocked that the TBA could stay with him. In fact, I think a more experienced rider on the TBA could match the Super Glide. The mistake my brother made was taking my TBA for a ride on the twisties. He was amazed at the handling. He has 4 bikes; 2004 Super Glide, 1983 Iron Head Sportster, Yamaha 650 Special and a 1986 BMW R65. According to him the only bike he has that can match the TBA in handling is the BMW. I took the Super Glide out and I thought it handled well and was very quick but for the looks and price I'll take the TBA any day.

Mark,

I have to say the aniversary SuperGlide is a nice looking piece. But as I said in the "Other Bikes" section......Where's the freakin' "Boattail" version?!!!

I'm glad you liked the SuperGlide. I was thinking that that bike, with an addition of bags and a windshield should be the bike that Bedouin should use for his "Trip Americana".

Dwight

Hey Mark, I almost bought an 04 1200 Sportster, I bought my 04 Green TBA instead.

I can't believe they are as bad as you say, I read the Cycle World review when the rubber mounted Sportsters first came out, and they actually liked the bike. They praised the Handling and the Motor. Maybe if you had a custom with the forward controls, you may have liked it more. I'm not pushing Sportsters, I just don't believe they are as bad as you say, but I have never ridden one, so I may not know what I'm talking about, just going by others reviews.......................

Hi Mark,
Mark is right, dead on and hit the nail on the head with the 883 Sporty. The 1200XL is rubber mounted and not much better than the 883. Mark was referring to the 883. They are rough, bouncy, beat you to death but could handle well if you could see. But your eyeballs bounce in their sockets and blurr your vision to a dangerous level.
A friend bought his wife a '96 883 sportster with 1200cc jugs and pistons. It is her first bike, and I could not believe it. I told him, "You're trying to get that lady killed". It is a beautiful bike with the small tank. She told me she wanted a larger tank - I said, "Lisa, don't waste your money - you can't ride that bike far enough to burn more gas". She recently confessed that her 2.2 gallon tank was planty. I swear it will beat you to death.
Hers is the fastest Harley I've ever ridden (i've ridden a lot of them). My friend and his bride suffer from milwaukee madness and can't see the negative side of HD.
She rides good enough now that I will let her ride my America one day soon. I can't wait to see the smile on her face when she gets used to it.
Ride Safe,
Dennis

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My friend and his bride suffer from milwaukee madness and can't see the negative side of HD.

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And that i think is what HD rely on when selling the 883.

Mark

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I almost bought an 04 1200 Sportster

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The 1200 may be a nice bike. But I was so disappointed with the 883 that I did not wait around to try the 1200.

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I read the Cycle World review when the rubber mounted Sportsters first came out, and they actually liked the bike.

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Sorry, I gave up on Cycle World. I cant think of a time when they havent liked what ever bike was given to them to test ride. I think they are more concerned about there advertising revenue then they are about giving honest and acurate road tests. I tend to read the Brit magazines, they are far more forward in calling a spade a spade. In fact, Triumph were so dissapontied in what one magazine had to say about the 600cc Sport bike they refused to supply the magazine with any more bikes for road testing.

Mark

The HD 1200 Sportster seems to get a bad wrap no matter who's doing the talking. Anti HD riders attack the Sportster and even HD riders make fun of it calling it a "chick's bike". This is funny to me because the 1200 is pound for pound the most powerful bike in the line up. Those HD guy's "old ladies" have more powerful bikes than they do.

I can't say anything about new 1200's or, for that matter stock ones. I can say that the one the OL has is quick. It's about 40 pounds lighter than the America and has a lot of mid range torque.
Low end torque isn't significantly more than the America as determined by the amount of throttle and clutch slipping needed to climb the ramp into my little shop area. I think this is probably because of all the modifications on the engine.
Going through the gears, it is an effort to hang on with a lot of throttle, but it runs out early because it is geared lower than the old '76 Ironhead I used to have, so the top speed is no faster than the America, and maybe slightly less.
The ride is less than pleasent and it handles like a log, but that might be partly because it has been lowered a lot.
Oh, and it vibrates worse than the 500 Velocette single I had years ago.
Things I do know about the new ones is that they have 1 more gear, so they might have a more liberal top gear ratio.
The rubber engine mount seems to work, at least it does above 2300 rpms.
The new bikes weigh upward of 100 pounds more than they did in '88, so any power gains they may have made while refining the design are more than offset.
The engineering required to maintain proper drivebelt tension whilst the engine/gearbox assembly are flopping around on the rubber mount boggles the mind and makes the way the aircleaner moves next to the leg seem entirely against the ways of nature.
Untill they find a way to reduce the amount of rotating mass, HD performance is doomed to be less than expected.

Really wish you had a chance to ride a v-rod, also did they have the other 2 new additions to the v-rod lineup? I think there called night rod and street rod.

Well after owning my HD for the past few months and 3000 miles Im very pleased with mine.To be honest it handles alot better than my America ever did and the power is there when I need it,I always thought in my mind that Id never own a ****** Harley ,but I hate to admit it but the Super Glide Sport is one sweet bike.I could care less about the other bikes they sell,this one I will keep and hopefully add a Triumph in the near future ....

Hey Donny, nice bike, what kind of Triumph are you thinking about?

Some of those old harley guys might call the 1200 sportsters a chick bike, but if you think back a few years you'll remember harley made a 74ci engine which every macho h***d**** rode. Guess what 74ci is in cc's? I'll give you a hint. It begins with 12 and ends with 00. Sometimes those hd guys should remain quite so as not to appear dumb....Angelis

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Really wish you had a chance to ride a v-rod, also did they have the other 2 new additions to the v-rod lineup

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They had four models of the V-Rod available for rides, but the four hour wait was to much for me. One of the V-Rods was a Screaming Eagle model. Cant say much about it as I only saw it as it rode by. The Screaming Eagle Fat Boys looked very nice, but then so it should at $30,000 +.

All the test rides you were free to ride on your own. But the V-Rod rides you had a leader to follow with a trail rider staying at the back. The V-Rod rides were much more controlled than the other models.

Mark

Why are HD's so ****** expensive?

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Why are HD's so ****** expensive?

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No idea, but there doesnt seem to be any shortage in people prepaid to pay the high prices.

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Why are HD's so ****** expensive?

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No idea, but there doesnt seem to be any shortage in people prepared to pay the high prices.

Oops, how did that happen.

Oh and I forgot to add....the fourth reason!!!

Because sooooo many "Boomers" going through that "mid-life crisis" thing, or returning after becoming "Empty Nesters"...AND knowing NOTHING about motorcycling other than Harley Davidson.....The dealers are now conditioned to rub their hands together in a satisfied mode when they see those dentists, wannabees and the generally il-informed(mainly in the lack of looking at alternatives...such as a TRIUMPH...MAYBE!!!) drive up to their dealership.

In other words.....they're gouging us(well...THEM at least)

Many H/D owners that I've talked to have told me how they ordered a particular bike, and when it arrived, it had "magically" added to it, extras that weren't originally ordered, but the dealer told them..."Take it or leave it. We can sell it somebody else if you don't want it!"

Dwight

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Many H/D owners that I've talked to have told me how they ordered a particular bike, and when it arrived, it had "magically" added to it, extras that weren't originally ordered, but the dealer told them..."Take it or leave it. We can sell it somebody else if you don't want it!"

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There could be a lot of truth to that. The local Harley store in Chattanooga is one of these big stores with a big inventory of bikes, And a boutique that takes up more space then the bikes. I'll sometimes go in there just to look around. Other then the Sportsters, it isnt very often that you'll see a stock bike in there. They always have a list of extras hanging on the handlebars. Normally put the price up by a few thousand.

mark

My old boss was riding one day and came across three guys....two had yamaha roadstars....the third guy was on a rented harley...they all took turns riding the harley....but at the end of the day they were drawing straws to see who HAD to ride the harley home...they all hated it...

The '04 Sportys and later are all rubber mounted. This improvement advanced the comfort level light years beyond all previous Sportsters: Something that any other company would have done at least a decade earlier. Everything is relative, and the good reviews on the rubber mounted models are probably based on the knowledge that those candy a$$ bike magazine test riders will never again have to be subjected to the punishment delivered by previous Sportsters!

Donny,
Good points. The SuperGlide is the only model they make that I care to own. I had an '87 Super and I loved it. When Triumph came out with the Bonneville again, I knew my desire for any other brand would dwindle. Then the America shows up --- WOW!
My friend with the WideGlide and wife's big Sportster just sold his WideGlide. He wants to buy another ultralight plane - "AND TRY TO FIND A USED TRIUMPH LEGEND OR THUNDERBIRD". He wants to get a bike for under $5,000 that will outrun his wife's (1200cc) 883Sportster.
That's how impressed he is with my America, he knows a 900cc TriumphTriple will do that.
Ride Safe Friend,
Dennis

Takr your Superglide out in a crooked road and see how it does. If it manages as well as an America, there is something wrong, maybe the America has bad or underinflated tires. The Sport isn't that much different from a Lowrider, and the handling on the LR is best described as 'majestic'. The Lowrider does excell at slow race speeds, but it is better on the freeway than a back mountain road.

You're right, there isn't a whole lot of difference in the Dyna wide and Super glides. The Wideglide has the fork legs spread farther apart, and an awkward looking adapter to make the brakes fit. On the newer ones, I don't think they even use different size legs. The Wideglide would look a lot better to me if it had a 16 inch rim with the same tire and fender as the Softail Heritage. As it is, it looks like a circus fat lady on a unicycle.

I think its crazy to go out and order a bike wait for weeks sometimes months and get something you dident want, end up buying it anyways, take it home and on the home it more and likely falls apart so then you have to take it back pay outragous rates to get it fixed then take it back home and finally polish the chrome

Seriously my cousin got a midnight edition or something like that and on the way home the headlight fell off..lol

And also a guy who works with my wife just bought a new fat boy and had it about a week and had it back for repair. But he tells here it has excellant resale value.

Boy it really makes me want to go out and get one.

Well the SuperGlide Sport is just a little different from the other Dynas,first it has the flat dirt track style handlebars and the rear gas shocks are ajustable for both preload and rebound as are the front, the foot pegs are mounted right under you.As for cornering it has alot more clearance than my America did ,I know it didnt take long to drag the kickstand when you made a tight left turn ,but after owning both bikes I did see a difference.The sport is just different.Its hard to explain ,theres both good and bad points, but this bike will eat up the twisties and the handling is what impressed me the most.I love both bikes dont get me wrong ,Im not trying to make one look better than the other, there are just pros and cons on whatever bike you ride....

The Ol's Lowrider was bought and ridden home same day. And, she had a choice of 4 different colours, so she got exactly the one she wanted. They added some accessories whilst we were doing the paperwork. They didn't have time to add the Easy Brackets and bags, so she had to take it back in the next week for that.

As for the headlight falling off on your cousin, that was the dealers fault. Lousey dealer setup is more to be blamed on the marketing than manufacturing department.

The greatest majority of problems with newer HD products have been with the electrical components imported from the far east. But, since Triumph has been forced to buy from the same sources, I'm just holding my breath. Don't forget, the biggest problem with Triumph has been faulty ignition modules.

The mechanical parts of HD's are well designed and well made, and the bikes are very good at what they do. It's just that my Triumph does what suits me better.

Skillet:
Your friend is right...if he wants to blow by ANY of the H-D's tell him to look for a Sprint ST or RS. I bought my '01 ST (demo) a few months ago. Since then I've seen quite a few in the $5K price range. It's a totally different experience than my old Speedmaster that fits me a lot better. I took a while to get used to the power, but what a gas. I really miss the SM...am thinking about a standard Bonneville for a second bike (for my daughter actually). Anytime any of you out there have a chance to ride a Sprint, new or old, take it. The sport touring side is a whole 'nother world.

Keep up the good work guys & keep all those folks down on the Gulf coast in your thoughts. The mess down there is unbelievable.

TM

To try and belittle harleys as a whole is foolish. Like any successful company they have good and bad, but aside from the bikes that fall to one of the extremes of good or bad it's all subjective. handling is a big one for me, but it's not for some. You couldn't get me to trade my speedy for any harley, but not because there aren't any that can do certain things better. it's because my speedy looks and feels so right for me.

My problem with harleys isn't with the bikes themselves. It's with the reason the people who buy them do so. It's that whole biker dude lifestyle. From what i've seen the vast majority of HD riders buy into it to one degree or another and to me it's plain moronic. i know 2 people with HD's. One is one of the few who himself hates the whole HD lifestyle. The other bought one and became a completely different and idiotic person who is just one of the millions of lemmings that want to be cool. He bought every single accessory that you have to buy in order to be part of the scene, and i know him well enough to know many of the things he's bought wouldn't have happened if he'd bought strictly by what he personally liked with no regard to becoming like the crowd. Every single thing that is part of the whole HD persona he had done/bought. Myself and others who know him literally just shake our heads and roll our eyes knowing who he is and seeing the phoney persona he's trying to be. It's friggin rediculous and obvious as can be.

personally the fact that there are so HD people like him would rule out any HD in my garage no matter how much i might like it because i don't want to be part of that scene in any way shape or form. To me it's really quite a pathetic scene.I feel sorry for those who truly love harleys but don't want to be a part of that whole scene like the one friend of mine. I'm just thrilled at the fact that i was lucky enough that my favorite bike of all happens to also be so unique that i don't have to worry about being one of the many. A hell of a nice cherry on top for Triumph owners IMO.