Harley-Davidson or Japanese Bikes?

[David]

Which do you prefer and why?

[Stephen Innes]

i prefer jap bikes that's what i am used to and familiar with . someone who is familiar with Harley's would probably say harley so obviously it is all up to personal preference .

[bluff mike]

Jap They run faster stronger and longer than HD. My Valkyrie has more American made parts than H-D, they're just put together right and the don't vibrate off.

[John S]

I'd stick with the Japanese bikes because they are cheaper, more reliable, and have by far better performance than any Harley-Davidson. Harley's are being produced in Zongshen China and they still charge their sucker customers around $20k for a motorcycle. I don't know about you, but I'm not paying $20k for a Made in China motorcycle.

[Master Chief]

If Harley made a V Max I'd buy one.
They don't.
I bought one from the only people who did.
Yamaha.

Someday, I will buy a Softail Custom.
When I do, I'll buy it from the only people who make one.
Harley-Davidson.

I buy what I like and don't care where its made.

Harley has a feel of being substantial. Everywhere you touch it it feels solid and heavy.
Yet it rides very balanced and nimble for such a big machine.
Its never going to catch a Ninja on a curvy road, it wasn't meant to.
From initial fire up through it's lumpy idle and big everything it has an appeal all its own.
No other way to say it, It just feels Bad Assed.

I love my V Max. It's as bad assed as the Harley and hauls the freight on the express track besides.
You don't have to know anything about bikes to know what its about just by looking at it.
For once the advertising fits the product. It has all the flavor of an American muscle car delivered by way of Hamatsu, Japan.I may never catch that Ninja on a mountain pass either, but between stop lights on the street, he's mine.

[Denny]

harley /american

[Havedogplusabiker]

Japanese Sport bikes. Love the lightness, speed, agility, sound of them.

[Holey Mufflers]

apples and oranges really.

round town, show off a ricer, become a blur. show off a hd, 3rd gear 20 mph and hit it.

touring, the ricers are likely to b smoother.

but i still perfer hd.

i can tow my car around the block. show me a ricer that can do that.

73 xlch. 12:1. sifton. 38mm. shorty drags. dead throttle. right hand shift.

[Mr. Smartypants]

I am not a cruiser person but I appreciate them for their good points--easy to ride, low center of gravity, a little extra comfort. I've ridden both Japanese cruisers (Honda Shadow and Magna) and Harleys (well, -one- Harley).

The Harley was definitely the nicer bike, but then it was a lot bigger than the Hondas. I'd like to compare it to a big touring V-Star or Vulcan or Shadow. And the Harley was just so danged EXPENSIVE!

The Harley has more chrome, prettier lines, etc. It really looks like no expense was spared. But the Japanese bikes are just a better deal for the money. And I would bet that the Japanese bikes would be more reliable and long-lived.

I don't have as much respect for the Harley Sportster. It's one of those bikes that's neither this nor that. It's not a cruiser and it's not a sportbike, it seems to be a 'standard' with cruiser styling. I see a lot of late-model used ones for sale seemingly very cheap. And I wonder whether people hate them and can't wait to get rid of them, or they love them so much they want to move up to a Dyna or Softail.

[James]

Both, but I tend to like the stuff nobody wants. I owned a 2005 Sportster 1200 for a year. Nice paint, fit and finish, real steel, etc. But I was totally frustrated by its low performance and lack of anything one might refer to as "cornering clearance". Surprisingly good handling and brakes, though. Bottom line, H-D can call them baggers, factory customs, whatever: They only build one type of bike: Cruisers. Not for me.
I own 4 Buells. Fantastic bikes! Spec sheets mean nothing: They are the most fun you can have on two wheels, on the street, or on the track.
Were I to buy another H-D, it would be a 2005-2006 V-Rod Street Rod. Standard riding position--no forward-mounted controls--and one of the best motors in the M/C world (thank you for your help, Porsche!). If I were wealthy, I'd find one, and have the motor grafted into a more sporting package. Numerous companies have done this, but I don't have $30-60,000 to invest in one bike.

The Japanese bikes are great performers, reliable, fun to ride, and just totally "me too". I just can't see spending $10-15,000 to have a bike that everybody and his younger brother also owns. And i just don't see the point in buying a "metric cruiser": Would a Japanese person buy a Samurai sword made in the U.S.? It just seems bass ackward to me.

Apart from the Buells, I also have a BMW K75S with turbo, and a 1981 Honda CB750F (owned snce new) that is far from stock, and nicer than what Honda originally built.