Question for you...

Hi guys and girls, as ridding season is coming up/beginning I want to get on my 550 and get going. But I have a question that is bothering me. Every time I see a Harley or one of the those "chromed out" bikes or choppers with the big V Twins I feel tiny lol, almost as though I should take my bike elsewhere. Now, I love my bike, put blood and sweat and time into it with my customizations to make it like no other, but when I see these awesome machines I feel obsolete.

A friend who rides one of those "chromed out" ones told me "It's not what you ride, it's that you ride."

Do you all basically live by this? Am I the only one that feels this way; maybe because I am a kid and love the shinny big and new stuff? Am I just thinking crazy? lol.

Just wondering...

 

It is whatever floats your boat.
Spend 17k and "feel good" about yourself.
Or to enjoy yourself!?

I can put a move on most of the Harley riders I roll with.
...and guess what....I have NO payments

Ride and have fun brother

 

Is a smile plastered on your face when you ride? 'nuff said...

 

Just remember the extra riding time you get because you don't have all that chrome to polish.

 

There's nothing saying you can't have two bikes. If you want a chromed out Harley, then go buy one. If you find the XJ never gets ridden after you do, sell it to someone who'll appreciated it for what it is. Simple as that.

 

If you feel intimidated by those more expensive chromed out V-twins, maybe you should go buy one. Go jump on the bandwagon like the others did.
You need to be comfortable with what you have and not worry about what others may think of your ride. Your better then that!
For me, I refuse to go pay hommage to the Harley gods at the "Church of chrome" next door to me. I just ride by and wave to them. I you have a smile on all the time, it makes people wonder!!! PD

 

Yes!

Ok, question answered

 

i bought my 550 when the guys i rode with were on a rebuilt FZR (600) and a turbo-less seca turbo. some of them had v-65 hondas or cb900s or 'wings. no one gave a crap about what anyone else was riding as long as you were riding...

NOW, i know EXACTLY how you feel and im 43. everyone (that I know) likes to see shiny new iron in their driveways. one of the crowd i hang with now has an '00 zrx (1100) kawasaki and an '07 CVO dyna. BOTH very nice bikes. the other guy who just started his mid-life crisis bought new in '07 a night-train softail and a nightster sportster. DAMN im thinking. 3 new harleys in a matter of 6 months and ive got my 27yr old 1/2 liter bike. that doesnt run (well it does NOW thanks to RickCoMatic and MiCarl). they both say, who cares if youve got a harley. if you want one go buy it, if you dont want to then, just make sure you call us before you go riding...


put some money aside every paycheck and just keep getting road time. if you really want a chromed v-twin then youll have some money towards it while your enjoying your 550...

 

You know, during the off season, I had the same problem... looking through different mags, contenplating on rather or not it was even worth trying restore my 650 but then when I started it up for the first time this year, I said ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

I rode a hurl-ly once. I really didn't like it. You can't rev them. Before I knew that, I was trying to give her throttle like she was a """"rice burner''''
After the ride, I found out '''how''' to operate the new pice of junk. I laughed. It was a 'Harley Day' at our bike dealer. Free rides.
And WHY does there have to be so much arogance
with harley owners???? To me there all Prick&.
I don't care who likes or dosen't like what I drive, I originally paid $200.00
for my bike. I traded it to my friend for a really good technics home stereo.
He went out and bought a new suzuki, and gave her back to me for free.
He wanted to make sure she went to a good home. and she is.

 

For me... don't matter.. my left hand still comes out and down to another dude on a bike that passes me.. it's just a riding respect thing.. I ride with sportbikes, road bikes, scooters, bicycles... it don't matter .. well, the bikes and scooters are a little slow, but point made.. take the 15-20k you saved and buy urself something nice

 

I ride with Harleys all the time. No one makes fun of my little riceburner. They all started on bikes like mine and "moved up". I have no desire to move up. However, I am looking for a cheap Goldwing for the long rides. I have been to bike week (ohio) and parked with all of the Hogs and had no issues. As someone said above "your ridin'". Besides you make fun of my riceburner and I throw in minute rice and blow you away! ha-ha :lol:

 

I get some crap from old school Harley guys. I can't count how many times I've heard "when you gonna get a Harley?". I just laugh and say "whatever you can afford, bro..."

 

We have some acquaintances who are hard core Harley.

When he found out about my XJ he said to me: "Well I always tell people a Jap bike is ok for a first bike. But if you get serious you need to have a Harley".

I wonder what he'll think of the Venture........

 

been some good advice and insightful responses to you in this thread. IMHO it depends on what you want and enjoy about biking. If you have a bunch of Harley friends and like riding with them, you just may wanna look for a hog. There are plenty of them available; I regularly get people offering me one just for picking up the payments (you can wait and probly snag a late model Sportster for $6K-ish); my dear friend bike repair shop owner offered me a clean 91 for $3K, plenty cheap)

Or if you enjoy long haul touring I think of that as "The Goldwing World" - they're smooth and comfy interstate rides.

So it's a personal call. For some bikers it's a "culture" thing - they spend a lot of time riding with other bikers, so you may wanna have a bike like theirs. Which really is understandable, gives you something to share and talk about.

Though all generalities suck, including this one, I kind break HD riders into three groups:
the good ones - normal folks who own and can afford a bike just to ride when they want (plus bought their new bike from America, which is no bad thing)
the faddists - heard being a Harley Rider was cool, but aren't real bikers. They spend more time earning the payment money than on the road.
and the GasHoles - who wanna look down on somebody, so choose motorcyle brands for their prejudice. I don't wanna spend time with or even think about people like that.

I love my Max because it's always ready and eager for impulsive, fun sport rides. I like knowing it's reliable and won't make me feel guilty if I lay off riding a while - no depreciation so all I lose is insurance pmts.

And don't underestimate XJs. Properly maintained they have power to spare, good acceleration and more than enough top end for me to spread my body parts across two counties if I make some stupid riding mistake.

'nuff ramble. Whatever you ride, or even if you don't ride, just do what makes you happy. Some other vehicle fan tries to put you down, well they can just go Truck themselves!