Why Harley-Davidson and Other Cruisers Stink
March 20, 2008 by admin
Filed under Feature, Motorcycles
I can’t understand why people want to buy a Harley-Davidson cruiser. To me they seem awfully expensive, slow and boring. You can get so much more if you use the same amount of money to buy a traditional road bike or sport bike instead.
Let’s try to have an example and compare a cruiser and a sport bike with the same price tag. The Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 (cruiser) retails for $6,695 and the Yamaha FZ 6 (road bike) retails for $6,999.
Harley-Davidson Sportster 883
Yamaha FZ 6
| Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 | Yamaha FZ 6 | |
| Topspeed (km/h): | 168 | 220 |
| Acceleration (0-100 km/h): | 7.1 | 3.5 |
| Engine: | V2, 883 ccm | S4, 600 ccm |
| Power: | 53 hp (40 kw) | 98 hp (73 kw) |
| Weight (kg): | 255 | 187 |
Not surprisingly, the Yamaha is much, much faster than the Harley-Davidson even though the engine is smaller. It also accelerates more than twice as fast, so when it comes to speed and fun there is no doubt that the Yamaha rules.
Another thing is the way the motorcycles look. Honestly speaking, I think most cruisers look awful. They don’t look cool, so you don’t look cool when you ride one.
A highly opinionated and ill-informed article. Sure the raw specs are there, but have you actually gone for a ride on both of these bikes? One bike cannot be all things to all people. That’s why the have different subclasses of bikes. Tourers, bobbers, cafe racers, race replicas, motards, rat bikes, nakeds, and yes, cruisers. And guess what? They named them after what they were for or how they looked. So we can all guess what a cruiser is for – right? It’s about a lazy evening, cruising up and down the strip, it’s about riding to the store when you didn’t need to go to the store, it’s about getting on and going, in a very torque oriented, visceral, all-senses way.
“And other cruisers”…yeah, well, again you need to do a bit more research. Suzuki M109 Boulevard, Hyosung GV650 Aquila, and the Yamaha V-Max are all cruisers that do something a bit differently. Now the GV650 is the only one that’s less expensive than the FZ6, but it has the same top speed, 80 hp (with more torque, a measure of real world usability), upside down forks, big twin disks front, aluminum perimeter frame and 90 degree Ducati style V-twin.
I don’t know about making you look cool, but it makes you feel cool.
And that’s what it’s really all about.
Honda DN-01 looks very much the real thing to my eyes, and ears. I’d like to own one, too.
Coming soon, to a Honda Dealer near you.
But perhaps you are thinking of Harley Davidson products, not ALL Cruisers?
If the Sportster is so bad why has it been made for over 50 years and they sell every one they make year after year? They also have one of the highest resale prices of any bike made.
I don’t much like cruisers either. I find most of them ugly; I much prefer the naked street bikes and the 1970’s-80s muscle looks.
Harley is the Apple of the Motorcycle community, to me.
there are only one true king, yamaha v-max so all you harley losers get alive or get a max my max use to pump out 147 hp standerd. wich standerd harley can kick that now my max aint a cruiser nor a street just a muscle with a great v4 beat ps. 2008 v-max kicks 200hp
The essence of being a biker is to be open and to different perspectives. We are not shielded by windscreens and we are one with the surroundings.
I own quite a number of bikes, a British big bore single, a Japanese 2 stroke twin cafe racer, a V-4 sports bike and a Czech 250 cc Jawa. I love all of them and I enjoy each machine.
The Jap bikes are extremely quick and handle amazingly well, the brit bike makes a great tourer and the jawa is an extremely sturdy bike that can handle any terrain. Its what you want to be on any particular day that matters.
a vmax is great but my 350 cc twin will eat it for breakfast on any twisty road. but the same bike will lose to the V-4 on the race track which will lose against the Jawa on rough terrain.
A sportster sucks , but Harleys have their place.
The one thing that I hate is racism among humans, degrading Harleys is the closest thing you can come to racism as far as bikes are concerned.
It’s not what you ride that is important, It’s that you ride. I have a sport Tourer, cruiser, standard, and a bunch of scooters and enjoy them all. Ride safe, John.
Lets start by saying , you picked (in my opinion) the worst bike Harley makes to do a comparison. If its speed you want without having to spend a sack full of money , then you’re right, Harley is not for you, but if it’s comfort you’re looking for, a cruiser is diffinitely the way to ride, and when it comes to cruisers, Harley is the king. When it comes to resale value, Harley is the king. And just a little thought to ponder over. How many pre 1990’s Yamahas are still riding the roads or for that matter how many sport bikes of those same years can be found other than in a salvage yard. I agree with BigJohn, it aint what you ride but that you ride. But for my money , I’m buying comfort, I’m buying resale, I’m buying tradition, I’m buying American, I’ve bought a Harley!