Sturgis Bound...........Finally

With my family and I, we buy cars for cars. Not exactly for who makes the car, but for the car itself. Does that make sense? It's the same with politics for me, I don't enjoy considering myself a democrat or republican or other, I am intersted in the person, not the brand name. I hate it when people vote democrat or republican without even know what or who they vote for (please don't turn this into a politics thread, this was just an example)

Thinking back as far as I can remember, my family has had Mazda, Ford, Infiniti (Nissan), Honda (current mommy mobile), Acura (Honda - current dad cruiser), Ford (my brother's car), Subaru (my car). So we're all across the board, and each car has had it's goods and very few bads. So we buy for the car, not the brand.

The same would go with me and motorcycles. I'm a sports bike kind of person...that's just me. There's good and bad with Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Harley/Buell (American), Victory (American). The thing that people like about the Japanese/Eastern companies is that those companies have all types of motorcycles, from cruisers to dual sports to sport bikes and everything in between. Meanwhile, Harley is all cruiser bikes, Buell is all "sport" (don't really look or cost the part though) or street bikes, and Victory is all cruisers.

So, for sportbikers or sportbiker wanna be's (me), our selection for buying American is essentially only found in Buell, where you have 2 real sportbikes to choose from. That's why so many sportbikers ride Japanese or whatever else there is, because American has very very limited choices and models.

I'm not fighting or opening up a can of worms, just showing the point of view from the other side

 

Heck my bike weights 900 lbs dry. I like riding a bike with some weight, the wind doesn't blow you all over the road. I done with the fast crap, all it will do is get you killed.

Little grandma looks in the direction your coming and see's a light way off in the distance and then looks the other way before she pulls out in front of you not knowing you were doing 100+mph. Guess what happens after that........your loved ones are looking in your casket.

 

:-/ Personal opinion here.

I find the VROD to be awesome looking, sounding... that's it.

That is one of the MOST uncomfortable bikes I have ever been on. I think HD went goof on it... the pegs are up front like a cruiser but the rest of the orientation is like a sport... can you imagine? Terrible design. Try it out and let me know if you disagree or not... I rarely see anyone with one around here... I'm only guessing that's the reason... I think someone in the design process got confused and nobody caught the mistake.

You either lean forward or you lean back... having it laid out so you have to do both simultaneously is just goofy...

If you want a quality sport bike (i.e. if you want to ride fast and nimble)... there really isn't any real american made competition in this market... sorry buell... you're not bad... but you don't really compare either...

I'll ride happily with anyone, whatever they happen to be riding... even if it is something of lesser quality than a Victory

 

Haha agreed on the riding with anyone part...except I don't have a motorcycle.

It warms my heart to see a riding group go by and it's a mix of cruisers to sport bikes. Feel the love.

 

I like victory bikes but god their pricey, Otty point well taken never rode a road bike at all, in the past all I've had is dirt toys so HP:Weight ratio was really important so thats what made me look at that as a big point, I'll give the vrod and sportster another look but I really like the BMW bikes also, great cruisers very comfy just ugly

 

these comments chap me. they're simply not true. that's not how economics work. Nor are the implications even true.

the only way someone can claim you are not helping the american economy when buying sport bikes is if you bought it directly from a different country, paid the foreign country directly to ship it to you, bypassed the american port of entries, skipped the taxes/tariffs, and never ever had it serviced in america or bought after market parts. It's simply not true.

(I do admit this particular quoted comment used the word "more", but I disagree w/it too).

Everything from the american truckers, the americans working the port, the salesman at the dealer, the janitor at the dealer, the mechanics across the country, the american bank that is financing it, etc etc etc.

Heck, Honda has 8 (EIGHT) motorcycle manufacturing plants in America. That would be made in america (assembled in America). HD's are assembled here, but they have many, many parts that did not originate in America. It is not 100% American either.

With cars, it's even more rediculous of an assertion as a ton of "american cars" are made in Canada and Mexico (GM) employing them to build our cars, not Americans. While you have BMW's, Honda's, and several others actually built by Americans in America.


Brand loyalty because of where the home office is located is not condusive to an informed process anymore.

Sorry folks... I'm sure that'll rile up some folks feathers... it is what it is.


I won't pretend to know how sturgis came about... but I am quite sure it is not about the economy. Equating them is not a valid argument on keeping out the foreign bikes.

 

All you have to do is look where the profits go. Do they stay in America or go to foreign banks?????

 

Come on man. I'm not saying when you buy a foreign (insert item) no money goes back to the host country. But that's not the only way buying something impacts the economy. The dealer has money to employ americans, the interest you pay on the loan (if you use a bank) stays here (relatively), the service, the aftermarket parts... all of that.

Define profits? Each local dealer has their own profit worked in. That stays here.

When you buy a HD, not all those profits stay here either. Majority of the parts in your gauges were made elsewhere (as an example). The rubber on your tires is most likely imported.

Besides, the entire argument presumes if someone didn't buy a sport bike they would even be inclined to buy a cruiser - local made or otherwise. It's two totally different markets that are as related as corvette's and F150's (which both have 4 wheels and a cage).

I take it you don't drink Bud* beer anymore (or ever, I don't know)?

plenty of profits to buying any single item in america, stay in america. maybe not 100%, but the 100% rule applies to a very small set of items of such complexity as a vehicle.


So yeah, you could say profits stay here. The reverse is true as well, to a degree. But if you factor in sport bikes (or cruisers) from the likes of Honda that are built in America the reverse becomes smaller and smaller.

 

Why is it made some where else now???

Never did drink beer in my wild days, beer was for boys.....;D Whiskey is a mans drink. ( Might be why I was always in trouble too :-/ )

 

hah.

Bud was purchased by InBev, a Belgium company. Made in America, profits go overseas. Just like if you drink Miller, it's owned by South African breweries.