The perfect HD?

IRT racinginc215:

For the record, I don't bash American cars. How you interpreted the comparisions I made based on facts I found on each manufacturer's website as 'bashing Japanese bikes' is beyond me.

FlightService wrote: All kidding and "your bike sucks and my bikes better" aside garbage, have they gotten them to stop? The last one I rode (2009 Fat Boy) wouldn't stop if you hit the Empire State building? Thing are just too heavy with not enough brake.

Anyone with experience on this one?

For the record "they have to be moving to have to worry about stopping" is not an appropriate answer.

"Sh! even before you start. That was a pre-emptive "sh!" Now, I have a whole bag of "sh!" with your name on it. " ~Dr. Evil

I can't do a frontie or stopie or whatever they call them, but my bike will out brake any car. It's not a sport bike. Don't compare it to one. (Besides, as I have said before, in a race from, say, GRM HQ to the Queen Mary and back, my bike would kick any sport bike's butt.)

Dr. Hess wrote: I can't do a frontie or stopie or whatever they call them, but my bike will out brake any car. It's not a sport bike. Don't compare it to one. (Besides, as I have said before, in a race from, say, GRM HQ to the Queen Mary and back, my bike would kick any sport bike's butt.)

YOUR BIKE SWIMS?!?!?

Oh you meant from FL to CA, I would take that bet. VFR vs your HD.

Hess have you done the Iron Butt yet? On my bucket list.

On the road, I ride with Dr.Linda, and 1K in a day is more than she would care to do. We used to do 600 mile days regularly. I've done >850 in a day by myself, and if I had a place already picked out to stop, could have made it another 150, but that last storm where I could only see about 30 ft and got blown across I90 into the next lane was enough and I stopped at ~850 with daylight left.

FlightService said: VFR vs your HD. ...have you done the Iron Butt yet? On my bucket list.

I'll take that bet. Driver's License in a sealed envelope. Open the envelope for Johnny Law, lose the bet.

I did an Iron Butt last summer. Just need to send in the paperwork to get the brag tag.

I don't really care about how far I can ride my bike. I just want something to throw around on back roads.

RealMiniDriver wrote:

FlightService said: VFR vs your HD. ...have you done the Iron Butt yet? On my bucket list.

I'll take that bet. Driver's License in a sealed envelope. Open the envelope for Johnny Law, lose the bet. I did an Iron Butt last summer. Just need to send in the paperwork to get the brag tag.

VFR not CBR, The VFR is a super sport touring bike, Honda finally realized it and came out with the new one, and ruined it.

They went from this:

To this:

(face palm, even the model seems displeased.)

BTW, I have only pulled over twice on a bike. Once for riding in the HOV lane. The judge threw it out and said "officer that is why the little sign shows a motorcycle with one rider on it." The other time for failure to use a turn signal. I know the throttle has more than two positions and am not a show off, (at least not on a bike.)

The VFR is incredibly comfortable machine. Very relaxed riding position.

Dr. Hess wrote: On the road, I ride with Dr.Linda, and 1K in a day is more than she would care to do. We used to do 600 mile days regularly. I've done >850 in a day by myself, and if I had a place already picked out to stop, could have made it another 150, but that last storm where I could only see about 30 ft and got blown across I90 into the next lane was enough and I stopped at ~850 with daylight left.

Yeah, I actually want to do the rally. There is something about a rally, that runs at legal speeds, and will require a street tire change for most bikes.

Most days for me were a max of 400. More than that I am just pushing to hard and don't actually enjoy the scenery, not a fan of the interstates that much.

Dr. Hess wrote: I can't do a frontie or stopie or whatever they call them, but my bike will out brake any car. It's not a sport bike. Don't compare it to one. (Besides, as I have said before, in a race from, say, GRM HQ to the Queen Mary and back, my bike would kick any sport bike's butt.)

Yep. FWIW, All H-D touring bikes since 2006 have had OE Brembo brakes. They stop quite well considering they can weigh upwards of 800 pounds unladen.

FlightService wrote: BTW, I have only pulled over twice on a bike. Once for riding in the HOV lane. The judge threw it out and said "officer that is why the little sign shows a motorcycle with one rider on it."

Priceless!

Any HD is perfect, if its the one you want and suits your needs. Very "personal choice" motorcycle.

FlightService said: To this:

I must be crazy, because I like how both of them look. The older model looks amazing in white, but I saw the new one in maroon, and thought it looked nice. I'm convinced that my next ride will be a VFR.

Gross. The new Shamu VFR is an eyebortion.

Remember that I ride a bike that looks like Cyclops. Nonetheless, I'm not really interested in a 1200 cc ride.

I really like the 700/750/800 White VFRs I also like the Blue/White and Red limited production ones.

That will do.

Dr. Hess wrote: I can't do a frontie or stopie or whatever they call them, but my bike will out brake any car.

From the State of Michigan's 2008 police vehicle performance testing (the first stopping distance data I found for an FHLT): 60-0 braking:

Dodge Magnum 3.5l - 136.0 feet

Dodge Magnum 5.7l - 141.1 feet

Ford F-150 Super Crew Cab 5.4l - 147.3 feet

Ford Police Interceptor 3.55 4.6l - 148.0 feet

Chevrolet Suburban 3/4 ton - 156.4 feet

Harley Davidson Electra Glide - 173.3 feet

Chevrolet Tahoe (4WD) 5.3l - 173.7 feet

Electra Glide back then did not have ABS and it it is the police special it is a huge weighed down bike. It makes a huge difference with ABS and stock bike weight.

RealMiniDriver is there any truth to the fact that I cannot buy a Harley from a dealer out of my area and have it shipped in. When I was in PA for work there was a ton on Glides for sale much cheaper then I would have expected.

I figure the police equipment and all the crap Hess has loaded onto his bike are about a wash in terms of weight. Maybe it stops quicker without ABS, but it damn sure isn't knocking 70 feet off that number. Fact is, the average bike stops quite poorly compared to the average car, and unfortunately most riders assume exactly the opposite.

Josh wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote: I can't do a frontie or stopie or whatever they call them, but my bike will out brake any car.

From the State of Michigan's 2008 police vehicle performance testing (the first stopping distance data I found for an FHLT): 60-0 braking: Dodge Magnum 3.5l - 136.0 feet Dodge Magnum 5.7l - 141.1 feet Ford F-150 Super Crew Cab 5.4l - 147.3 feet Ford Police Interceptor 3.55 4.6l - 148.0 feet Chevrolet Suburban 3/4 ton - 156.4 feet Harley Davidson Electra Glide - 173.3 feet Chevrolet Tahoe (4WD) 5.3l - 173.7 feet

Yeah that is what I was afraid of and experienced.

Josh wrote: Fact is, the average bike stops quite poorly compared to the average car, and unfortunately most riders assume exactly the opposite.

Quoted for truth. It amazes me how many people think a bike can out-brake and out-turn a car, when the opposite is true. Run a sportbike against a sporty car (RX7/Miata/Corvette/any other GRM favorite), and the bike's only advantage is acceleration. Four beefy contact patches at the four corners of the vehicle wins the stop/turn argument every time.

The weight transfer also kills a bikes ability to brake. I can pull the lever harder, but once the rear wheel leaves the ground there isn't any more braking to be had.

BUT - they just had a car / bike magazine test where to had a Ducati 1198 vs a F458. The bike wasn't much faster to 60 or in the 1/4, and relatively sucked on the brakes but was faster over a lap so it doesn't exactly creep through the turns.

The bike is MUCH narrower than the car. Even though it sucks dynamically in comparison to the car, the bike can use a whole lot more of the track than the car. There's your lap time.

I don't know much about the subject but I was surprised to see that the track record at Barber is much faster for a car than a bike - 14 seconds!