Gnomad
15-04-2005, 10:11 PM
As mentioned in a different thread or two, my favorite wife and I rented a Harley for 24 hours in Las vegas. I figeered that a review of the bike might be interesting for those who have never actually enjoyed the Harley experience, and may wonder if they really are all that and a crisp sandwich.
Anyway, the bike-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/KL5A/thehog.jpg
2005 Electra Glide Classic, rolling couch, with 3400 miles on the clock. This particular machine is fuel injected and fully equipped for touring, with full bags, rhino fairing with the tall windshield, AM/FM/CD player, footboards, crash bars, the whole nine yards. Retail price is about $20,000 USD, give or take, at least as priced by my local HD emporium.
First impressions were quite favorable. The EGC is the classic American touring bike and looks the part. The japanese have tried to imitate the looks and feel of a Harley but none of them have ever captured the feel of the thing. Build quality was very good. The only flaw was a slightly misapplied piece of trim on the dashboard. Harley has the best factory paint on the planet-the finish is smooth, deep, clear, absolutely beautiful. The seat is well shaped and padded for long distance touring for both rider and pillion, and has very nicely shaped backrest and armrests. This is a good thing, as Gnoma'am actually fell asleep as we were rolling through the high desert between Vegas and Searchlight and didn't fall off. After checking the bike for previous damage, and finding that a previous renter had dinged a crashbar and a paasenger footboard, we fired up the EGC and rolled off, with Montgomery Gentry blasting from the CD player.
Here we had just a bit of trouble. The EGC is heavy enough, add a passenger and the bike gets very unwieldy at low speeds. Add to this the operators unfamiliarity with floorboards and heel/toe shifters and things were very "interesting" at first. My first real gripe with the ergonomics were the placement of the heel portion of the shifter. I'd get the bike going from a light and immedeiately upon putting my foot on the floorboards I'd bump the bike into second with my heel. This got old in traffic really quick. The other issue that got old in traffic was the heat from the rear cylinder and the rear exhaust pipe crossover. In heavy traffic, like the Las Vegas strip and construction areas, this was extremely uncomfortable, as in bake your oysters hot!! Add to this heat the general wobbliness of the bike at low speeds and you have the reason that HD riders are ready to beat up the first person to give them any crap. This bike is not a commuter bike. No how, no way. No, this is a touring bike and needs to stretch it's legs and run to be really happy.
So how's it work on the highway?
Oh baby.
Once above wobble speed, the bike is willing to work at any speed from sedate criusing though Red Rock Canyon at 25mph to hauling through the desert at 85+. The V-Twin engine launches the heavy bike and rolls on the power as needed. There are only 5 gears but you could get by with 4, the gearing is rather tall so 5th only gets used above 70mph or so. It has that vtwin rumble and roar......and it's a sound that you like to invoke often. The vibration smooths out at highway speeds, although it's almost always there a bit, a low frequency vibration in a lopy rhyhymn that doesn't bother one to much and won't put your hands and feet to sleep. The riding postion puts you in a comfortable command pose, and the bars reach back nicely. As a person prone to numb hands while riding, I was pleasantly suprised to note that at no time during the ride did my hands go numb. It's been a long time since I was able to ride a bike 350 miles without shaking my hands out. It is a super stable machine at speed but surprisingly willing to turn into corners, as long as you don't try to lean it over too far, or the floorboards scrape the road, on both sides, but fortunately for my damage deposit it's not something you can see or they are actually made for such contact and it's normal, but still unnerving. You won't be chasing the squids through the canyons but you could also have a smoke while riding behind that big windshield, with no buffeting or wind in the face, amazingly smooth coverage. A good thing too, or you wouldn't been able to listen to the CD player.
Thundering across the American Southwest on a big Harley is almost a religious experience. If you are ever in Vegas and have a day to devote to it, try it, it is exactly what the bike is made for , and the proper tool for the proper job in experienced hands makes for a delighted craftsman. Out on the road, we were delighted. :XTmotard:
So, would I pay 20 large for one?
Probably not.
Overall, it has affected my opinion of the HD experience. These bikes are not the junk I've always thought them to be. It was a well built, beautiful example of the rolling craftsmanship that you will not see come out of Japan, and it's a long term kind of bike, but I can't see actually owning such a bike in my present circumstances. It would be different if I lived in the lower 48 though, as it would literally be the last bike you'd ever have to buy. It is a timeless classic, updated but not obsoleted, and the perfect way for a couple to roll across this big country on two wheels.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/KL5A/usonbike1.jpg
Anyway, the bike-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/KL5A/thehog.jpg
2005 Electra Glide Classic, rolling couch, with 3400 miles on the clock. This particular machine is fuel injected and fully equipped for touring, with full bags, rhino fairing with the tall windshield, AM/FM/CD player, footboards, crash bars, the whole nine yards. Retail price is about $20,000 USD, give or take, at least as priced by my local HD emporium.
First impressions were quite favorable. The EGC is the classic American touring bike and looks the part. The japanese have tried to imitate the looks and feel of a Harley but none of them have ever captured the feel of the thing. Build quality was very good. The only flaw was a slightly misapplied piece of trim on the dashboard. Harley has the best factory paint on the planet-the finish is smooth, deep, clear, absolutely beautiful. The seat is well shaped and padded for long distance touring for both rider and pillion, and has very nicely shaped backrest and armrests. This is a good thing, as Gnoma'am actually fell asleep as we were rolling through the high desert between Vegas and Searchlight and didn't fall off. After checking the bike for previous damage, and finding that a previous renter had dinged a crashbar and a paasenger footboard, we fired up the EGC and rolled off, with Montgomery Gentry blasting from the CD player.
Here we had just a bit of trouble. The EGC is heavy enough, add a passenger and the bike gets very unwieldy at low speeds. Add to this the operators unfamiliarity with floorboards and heel/toe shifters and things were very "interesting" at first. My first real gripe with the ergonomics were the placement of the heel portion of the shifter. I'd get the bike going from a light and immedeiately upon putting my foot on the floorboards I'd bump the bike into second with my heel. This got old in traffic really quick. The other issue that got old in traffic was the heat from the rear cylinder and the rear exhaust pipe crossover. In heavy traffic, like the Las Vegas strip and construction areas, this was extremely uncomfortable, as in bake your oysters hot!! Add to this heat the general wobbliness of the bike at low speeds and you have the reason that HD riders are ready to beat up the first person to give them any crap. This bike is not a commuter bike. No how, no way. No, this is a touring bike and needs to stretch it's legs and run to be really happy.
So how's it work on the highway?
Oh baby.
Once above wobble speed, the bike is willing to work at any speed from sedate criusing though Red Rock Canyon at 25mph to hauling through the desert at 85+. The V-Twin engine launches the heavy bike and rolls on the power as needed. There are only 5 gears but you could get by with 4, the gearing is rather tall so 5th only gets used above 70mph or so. It has that vtwin rumble and roar......and it's a sound that you like to invoke often. The vibration smooths out at highway speeds, although it's almost always there a bit, a low frequency vibration in a lopy rhyhymn that doesn't bother one to much and won't put your hands and feet to sleep. The riding postion puts you in a comfortable command pose, and the bars reach back nicely. As a person prone to numb hands while riding, I was pleasantly suprised to note that at no time during the ride did my hands go numb. It's been a long time since I was able to ride a bike 350 miles without shaking my hands out. It is a super stable machine at speed but surprisingly willing to turn into corners, as long as you don't try to lean it over too far, or the floorboards scrape the road, on both sides, but fortunately for my damage deposit it's not something you can see or they are actually made for such contact and it's normal, but still unnerving. You won't be chasing the squids through the canyons but you could also have a smoke while riding behind that big windshield, with no buffeting or wind in the face, amazingly smooth coverage. A good thing too, or you wouldn't been able to listen to the CD player.
Thundering across the American Southwest on a big Harley is almost a religious experience. If you are ever in Vegas and have a day to devote to it, try it, it is exactly what the bike is made for , and the proper tool for the proper job in experienced hands makes for a delighted craftsman. Out on the road, we were delighted. :XTmotard:
So, would I pay 20 large for one?
Probably not.
Overall, it has affected my opinion of the HD experience. These bikes are not the junk I've always thought them to be. It was a well built, beautiful example of the rolling craftsmanship that you will not see come out of Japan, and it's a long term kind of bike, but I can't see actually owning such a bike in my present circumstances. It would be different if I lived in the lower 48 though, as it would literally be the last bike you'd ever have to buy. It is a timeless classic, updated but not obsoleted, and the perfect way for a couple to roll across this big country on two wheels.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/KL5A/usonbike1.jpg