Harley power

A friend of mine traded his '09 Harley Ultra for a 2014. When we were riding together we weren't really racing (he had his wife on the back too) I could tell he was wide open by the exhaust sound and him ducking down behind the windshield. It was incredibly easy for me to come up behind him, drop way back and come up again while he was wide open. I could easily have cruised around him while he was wide open. Not looking to embarrass his new 30k machine.
Got me to wondering why Harley's continue to produce motorcycles with unusually low h.p. ratings. It is like pulling teeth to even find out the horsepower. They try to keep it hidden, like they are embarrassed about it. Some Harley forums say "it's about torque". They don't have much torque either.
Is the reason for the low power to help with air cooled engine life? When you can find a h.p. rating it is like 72 h.p. on an 800 lb bike. Some only showing 68 h.p! Yes, a V-rod is liquid cooled and 123? hp.
Some Harley's look great and sound great. Not bashing, just wondering about this marketing plan. It must work because 75% of the bikes I see are Harleys.
I'm not even saying I would not buy one. I know you can buy lots of screaming eagle upgrades. Maybe the marketing plan is to sell the high performance upgrades. If they came with over 100 hp, they would not be able to sell all of the upgrades.

I would say it's petty obvious that people buy Harleys, or any bike really, for a whole range of reasons. Harleys sell because they're Harleys. If it was just about hp or torque or speed or cubic inches there'd only be a handful of bikes to choose from. Don't really understand the point you're making.

I think the V twin air cooled design is very limited, as HP goes up, reliability goes down, as with all engines, but more so with these.

Had a few Harleys myself .. they are a bike that can be enjoyed just prowling around on I found. Unique really as most other bikes are all about going hard and fast everywhere.

Different strokes for different folks. I love my Roadking Classic for when i'm in the mood for just cruising around smelling the roses with the girlfriend. I never could understand pumping $5K of Screaming Eagle upgrades into an $18K bike and getting minimal results. I find unless their in their teens most woman feel secure on Harleys and Goldwings. As much as i admire the Goldwing for speed and dependability it's just not my cup of tea. It' was easy back in 2005 to make the decision to go with the Rocket. Speed can become an addiction. After riding the Rocket for three years,i heard about the 2008 Hyabusa upgrade. After giving it a test ride i was in shock, i knew this could be the bike that would end my life. Even today i'm still overly cautious when riding the Busa. I find i can only ride it for short distances without feeling aches and pains that come with older age..but if I miss the rush and just want to cruise around town i know they're all in the garage..

Most that I have met with Harleys don't really get the Rocket. They respect the bike but see no reason for all that power. They think the engine is ugly and mainly compare aesthetics not performance. I talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago and he was telling me he and his buddies rode pretty aggressively, usually running 10 mph or so over the speed limit. I just nodded and let it go.

Its all about having the right tool for the job. Harleys are the right tool for a lot of people.

GPMAZ said:

Harleys are the right tool

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Many of their riders, too . . . . .

ksquared said:

Many of their riders, too . . . . .

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In my limited experience, only riding 53 years, I've found most to be pretty stand up guys. But then I find that to be the case with riders of any marque. If you ride, you're ok by me.

Harry, I couldn't agree more with your sentiments, however, in my experience, the vast majority of Harley riders I've met - especially the ones who buy into the entire lifestyle - are incredible tools. They are most assuredly not of the "If you ride, you're OK with me" school.

Harleys are their own type of machine. Look at how much you get for the price. You get some really nice chrome, you get a better then average paint job, and you get some nice accessories like stereos, wind screen, cruise control and other type of comforts that dont always matter to someone if they aren't performance orientated. It's a relatively smooth riding machine with decent brakes and features, but being an air cooled motor you wont get it up into the higher RPMS with much power. I've never really understood why someone would spend so much on a bike that has no power, but its also a class or status symbol as well. Think about harley davidsons future. 5, 10 and 20 years from now who will they appeal to?

I've rented a number of Harleys during my trips to the US touring with the wife and while I did enjoy the cruise control and stereo, I found them to be severely underpowered, very common on the road and over all shaky feeling at low speed... I personally would never invest in one, but I can understand why they appeal to others.