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!
Crowd mentality. There is really no excuse for Harley-Davidson answering for American quality. I would love for there to be a decent quality American motorcycle, but that’s far in the future. And the people willing to buy into the substandard offering just put that future day farther off.
OK – some (dull) people want a Harley, which is fair enough, but why on earch do they cost so much? The most expensive Harley should be about half or at the most 2/3 the price of a modern sports bikes. What on earth are they charging for? About 50% of the cost of a sportsbike is to cover the cost of development – fly by wire, traction control, new crank and piston designed, aerodynamics etc. A harley is a heap of junk unchanged since the time of the dinosaur.
As for comfort – your having a laugh! The sportster 833 in backbreakingly uncomforable.
Anyone who buys one seriously needs a lobotomy.
well sorry its not about power its about torque that makes cruisers special as a result u get this feeling of pulling u can never get in a sports bike , also power and torque come at a lower rpm at which engine in unstressed perfect for relaxed driving……..
i build custom bikes as a hobby……………..so trust me
both are different and are worlds apart
i would have 2 bikes a nice liter class bike when u feel like opening up the road and to go dame fast and one cruiser for visit to bar and long rides
cruiser makes u feel good
sports bike takes u fast ,,,,and thats the bottom line
I think for a lot of people owning a harley is like owning an old western pistol. When I say old western pistol most people would definitely say they would want a colt or smith and wesson, not a foreign made replica. Owning something like that is like owning a piece of history. When you want a piece of history most people like to be as authentic as possible and there is nothing wrong with that. Sure the newer pistols will perform better, but that is not the point.
Man are you nuts?
You are right about speed and acceleration but about the looks sport bike drools,every sports bike look like japanese plastics.low quality,but harley parts are metal.Now about the sound.Only one bike in this world got a distictive sound like harley davidson(different though),That’s a Royal Enfield Bullet.Now about the engine,look both picture and just look at the engine,harleys looks so cool,other looks small.
Conclusion
if you are a chocolate boy go for a sports bike(only boys runs fast men walks with with ease),if you want to live as a man Go for the harley…
I don´t understand.
it´s like compare a 4X4 vs a ¨GTI¨ car,and say i preffer the gti because for the same money is more fast.
Different kind of bikes,for different kind of people
different way to live with your bike.
sorry for my english,i´m still learning
Harley deserves to go under if they cant change with the times.Putting out the same looking old tired bikes year after year will be their downfall.Cmon,they are so over priced,their accessories,labor etc…They need to change up some!!They all look like the same pile of steel and chrome with different names.