Are harleys really that slow?

Went for a nice 200+ mile ride today. Twice I had guys on harleys next to me at a light. One guy on a sweet looking bagger and the other on a sporty classic 1200. Both times we got into revving the motors indicating a mutual desire for a quick drag. The first guy on the sporty didn't have a chance. I wasted him. The second guy I came across during my ride, the guy on the bagger, got a head start. I shifted normally from 1st to 2nd then gave her hell and wasted him.
Are harleys really that slow to where a tiny little 550 can blow their wheels off? Or do these guys just not know how to ride? I had the same experience with a guy on a dyna last year and wasted him too.

 

My bet is they dont know how to ride fast or didnt care.

I have a friend who has a dyna running high 11s in a quarter mile trapping 105 or so. I don't think your 550 would do that even if your an excellent rider weighing around 100 pounds. lol

I havent had a chance to drag anyone yet, but I certainly have ridden faster bikes than my XJ. Hell my CR250 would have given this a run for its money, but then again it was pretty quick.

 

Never ridden harley, but these XJ's weight a lot less and have 6 gears, displacement ain't everything when we're talking about acceleration :wink:

 

What is it with everybody dogging harley's on this site. Yes I do agree that certain GUYS who do own Harley's are IDIOTS. But I own one fxdwg and I like it. Not as fast as my xj1100 but it's fast. ANd I think I would blow your 550 away with it lololol

 

Harleys are an aquired taste, personally I love them, but I do think they are a little over-rated. I've owned 2 and loved both of them, my problem was the cost to keep them going. I think Harley is a little out of line with the prices

 

Maybe they just ride responsibly. Were they trying to race you? I never got beat by ANYTHING from 0-60 when I had my 883 Sportster, but after that it was usually over, except for the view of a rapidly dissapearing taillight ahead of me. Typically speaking, Harley has more lowend power, whereas the high revving inline fours produce most of their power in the upper rpm range. My 1200 Sportster redlines at about 5200 rpms, and tops out at about 110 mph. I would guess your bike is doing about 60 mph at 5200 rpms. My Sportster is not as fast as my 1982 Maxim 650 was, but it gets over 50 mpg (I was lucky to get 40 with my Maxim), and it has enough torque that I don't have tap dance with the shifter when traveling up and down big hills. I guess it is all what you are into. At my advanced age, I am into liscense preservation and affordable insurance premiums. Not preaching, as I had more of my share of fun when I was younger. Also, I have owned many Maxims ( including a 1985 Maxim X that I put 45,000 miles on, and multiple points on my liscense), and I think the chain drive 550 is an absolute screamer!

 

I think so too. I'm sure most of them are good bikes, but prices usually has a lot brand extra, atleast in Finland they do...

 

Harleys. Hmmmm It's been an age old debate since the dawn of time this one (well at leats since 1903 lol)

Personally I like Harleys, especially sporsters. I like trimed down bikes, and sporties apeal to me.

Harleys are not fast. But then they were never designed to be. They are built for long cruising, and no other bike in the world can match a Harley for that.
Had a go on a V-rod a year or so ago, the owner was telling me how it was at leats the equal of an R1. (now at the time I worked in a Yamaha dealership and had a 2008 R1 as a company vehicle) I rode the V-rod and rode it hard, and I have to say I was really dissapointed with the performance. Was about as quick as a XVS1300 star, and absolutely nowhere even near an R1.....

But (and this is the thing) The noise that Rod made and it's looks were absolutely fantastic, and I would be so proud to be seen riding one, let alone owning one.

If I ever manage to own a Harley it'll be for cruising thanks. And I'll love it.

Being from the UK, we tend to go for sports bikes due to the types of roads we have. Harleys especially baggers are just too big and heavy
Don't get me wrong, we have a huge following for them, it's just sportsbikes are far more popular here.

In short, harleys are cool, just not fast.

 

They dog Harleys on every site. Except the Harley sites ... there they just dog Sportsters, or as they are somestimes called, "Skirtsters".

 

Well I wouldn't even attempt a race with a Vrod. Those definitely are fast. I guess anything half engineered by a super-car manufacturer like porsche would be fast. The guy on the Dyna last year was absolutely trying to race. The guy on the sporty today was also definitely trying to race. Don't know about the bagger though. But he did take off with some pretty cranked throttle.

I don't hate Harley. But it's name has been taken from real bikers and shat on by people who make tons of money, buy more than they are worth on credit, and then, because now they have a Harley Davidson, act like kings of the road every friday... with enough spent in accessories and apparrel to buy 2 brand new metric bikes and a harley. And they don't care about how long it will last or how reliable it is. hell, they can just buy another fully loaded one on credit when that one is too old for them. It's not harley. It's the people that shouldn't be on them. Otherwise, for the real bikers and real motorcyclist, a harley is a great bike. Comfortable, lots of torque and enough payload to throw everything and 2 fat people on it and ride into the mountains, lots of shiney, awesome sound, and ALWAYS project potential. Take the yuppy weekend warrior jerks off of them and they'd shine again for the people who would keep the name and the legend sacred.

 

What XJ do you have? Pretty sure mine is only 5. Harleys have between 4 and 6 depending on the bike.

 

He has a 550 Maxim. 550's have 6 gears...all the rest of us only get 5.

 

That little 550 seca. Just fast googled some Sportser 1200 and it had only 4, but it was some older one... My knowledge about Harleys is pretty limited

 

According to wikipedia - the sportster got 5 gears in 1991

 

The Seat Ibiza (google it) was half engineered by porsche.It was
sh!t...don't mean a thing

Anyhoo, Pinks season 1 episode 2 guy called Paul Hart took his brand new VRod up against Mike Voorhees old Suzuki GS1000 (30 odd yrs old).......and got absolutely creamed.

 

does anyone know what kind of quarter mile times the different XJ's can do? Preferably in stock form.

I've seen some old bike mag articles which claim the 750 Seca will do a 11.97 sec quarter.

What about the 550?

 

I suppose you are right on that. Porsche also made the 914... But as far as bikes go, the vrod is pretty damn fast. Argue that any way you choose but for all intents and purposes it's a pretty fast freakin bike. Doesn't mean I am going to grab one because I lost mine, but there are some pretty intense drags where the vrod just shows it's comp up. Over 120 brake HP and over 80 ft lbs of torque... It can pull a quarter in slightly under 11.4 which is faster than the Suzuki m109. And this bike was engineered for performance. Porsche played that role. They make the 939 which is fast. They make the 914 which was a pile of crap. But dodge make the neon. They also make the SRT-4 which, when made in the neon body, was the fastest american production economy car made with a 0-60 in just over 5 seconds.
My point is, porsche put good engineering into the v-rod's performance. The bike is fast and the xj550 couldn't handle it. And I love my 550

 

Quite true. They also went to belt final drive in 1991.

 

In 914 defense

It will post the best times all day long at most auto cross courses.

 

Not against an 80cc shifter =] LOL

But with a good driver and VERY little work done to a 914 it would do very well in an autocross. Actually the 914 was a great car, if you never get weather over 75 degrees. That air cooled VW mill doesn't like heat.