I just watched a video from Netflix...."The History of the V-Rod".
I didn't realize how stupid the guys @ Harley truly were. Geez!
For instance, they spent years designing the motorcycle. Instead of
using their already wildly radical sport/superbike VR1000 that's been
on the circuit, they wanted to appeal to the already Harley riders.
They went for a couple years trying to figure out how to work in a
radiator into their design. Instead of going down the hall and looking
at a Buell, or even down the highway and looking at the Hondas,
Suzukis, Kawasakis and so on, they were plumb baffled. The modern
sportbikes put their radiators behind the headlight to hide them.
That's how it's been done for years. Harley couldn't figure it out.
Even the RC51 doesn't have a problem....the guys at Honda put the
radiator on the side of the bike.
You know, the thing I like about the Harley is the style of it. The
thing I don't like about it is how locked in the style is. If you go
buy a $20k Harley, spend $10k on chrome and "doodads", then park it in
a parking lot with other bikes, it gets lost. The V-Rod isn't any
different. They're (the guys @ Harley) stuffed in a box of "this is
how our motorcycles are" and they can't seem to get out of it. The
last innovative thing that's come down the pipe of a Harley was using
aluminum for their engines, but that idea was still years behind
everyone else.
On another note, I saw another DVD about Harleys. They interviewed
some nitwit at the beginning of the show that was supposedly a Harley
dealer. He was talking about Buell and said Eric Buell (a Harley
designer who branched into his own designs....not what this guy said,
but rather a fact that everyone but the nitwit knew) stole the Harley
engine design and "I think that Harley might even own some of the
Buell company now". That was the dumbest person in motorcycling that
I've come across....and especially a Harley dealer. I packaged the DVD
back up at that comment and sent it right back to Netflix.
What the hell is with these DVD makers? They get rid of the
soundtracks to WKRP, they have a couple testosterone overdosed
meatheads welding some tubing onto a motorcycle frame and fender and
sell the bike for $80k, they have nitwits dressing up like clowns and
hugging Gary Busey and calling themselves "real bikers". ****, I'm
going to re-rent The Alamo!
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