Harley has figured out how to build a Honda Shadow..

Beer Baron wrote:

Jamesc2123 wrote: I hope it handles as good as it looks, and lightness is a great start. For me agility and handling are what I love most in bikes; 45 HP is still enough to get to dangerous speeds far faster than most cars. They're stressing maneuverability in urban riding, I'm not sure exactly what that will translate to in the real world, but I'm definitely interested.

Only question/niggle I have about that, is that they say they have intentionally made the suspension softer to deal with potholes and crap around the city. That makes sense for that purpose, although I suspect that means it is tuned for low speed, in-town threadability, rather than sharp corner carving. Not sure if that is good or bad. Does look like it has tons more rear travel than a sportster, which I've read as a major complaint of those bikes. As for low power, peak HP is a very small part of the equation. I'm guessing this has a healthy torque curve but with a low redline. If that is the case, perfectly reasonable for motoring around town. I looked up the Honda CTX700 as reference (since I see that as the main competitor). Peak horsepower on that 700 is 48. only 43 for a 500? I call that spitting distance. Now, does it do that with MPG comparable to the 64 the CTX gets?

First, kudos to Harley for building a bike that is at home somewhere besides an interstate or bar parking lot. However, I question the company's target market of the urban rider. Yes, these bikes could be at home in some urban settings, but I ride my 75 Suzuki GT380 and 79 Honda CB400 Hawk on two lane highways and they do just fine. The will accelerate to beyond legal speeds rather quickly and will cruise at highway speeds all day. The only place I am hesitant to ride them is in interstates. The GT is probably making about 40 HP now and the Hawk about 45 HP. Bikes with this kind of power are very practical for suburban and rural road riding. They handle the twisties nicely too.

Moparman wrote: First, kudos to Harley for building a bike that is at home somewhere besides an interstate or bar parking lot. However, I question the company's target market of the urban rider. Yes, these bikes could be at home in some urban settings, but I ride my 75 Suzuki GT380 and 79 Honda CB400 Hawk on two lane highways and they do just fine. The will accelerate to beyond legal speeds rather quickly and will cruise at highway speeds all day. The only place I am hesitant to ride them is in interstates. The GT is probably making about 40 HP now and the Hawk about 45 HP. Bikes with this kind of power are very practical for suburban and rural road riding. They handle the twisties nicely too.

And they're a heck of a lot cheaper to buy!

minimac wrote:

Moparman wrote: First, kudos to Harley for building a bike that is at home somewhere besides an interstate or bar parking lot. However, I question the company's target market of the urban rider. Yes, these bikes could be at home in some urban settings, but I ride my 75 Suzuki GT380 and 79 Honda CB400 Hawk on two lane highways and they do just fine. The will accelerate to beyond legal speeds rather quickly and will cruise at highway speeds all day. The only place I am hesitant to ride them is in interstates. The GT is probably making about 40 HP now and the Hawk about 45 HP. Bikes with this kind of power are very practical for suburban and rural road riding. They handle the twisties nicely too.

And they're a heck of a lot cheaper to buy!

I bought a 1979 CB400 Hawk over the summer. It had been well cared for, except for the past year when it was parked as the owner had hip issues (had a replacement a few months ago). It had just under 11,000 original and documented miles. It has fairly new Continental tires and had no rust except from the inside of the mufflers. It was set up as a small touring bike. In my opinion, it was too much for the little bike. Here are some before and after pics.

Before:

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/Tom_Byrne/media/HawkBefore3_zpsaa11562d.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/Tom_Byrne/media/HawkBefore2_zps58f203b8.jpg.html][/URL]

After:

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/Tom_Byrne/media/HawkNewSeat1_zps5ae866b7.jpg.html][/URL]

I sprayed the Chrysler Plum Crazy Purple paint myself. The "400" on the sidecovers are from letters found at the local Advance Auto store.

The bike cost me $1,000. I have another $500 in it and half of that is the seat. It rides wonderfully.

From the look of your pipes, it may be time to re-jet! I like the seat...a lot. Your $1500 personalized bike will run as well if not better than a $7k new one.

It has been rejetted and runs better than ever. The p/o had some carb work done and the jetting was all wrong. It is very right now. It will run to at least 100 MPH with a 240lb (me) rider on its back.