50,000 Harleys and 1 FJR (me)

It would be my pleasure.

ah crap now i cant remember what i wanted to say.............I've had the wing for just 3 mnths. went up to Bar Harbour for a week before Labor Day. 2675 miles later i think back on who waved and who didnt........
most couples on HD's waved but the ones who never do are the squids and the guys who ride ducati's.
as far as playing with all the knobs on the wing's dash, i'm still trying to figure out how to get the back massage button to work...........

Most bikers are friendy, and seem to slowly be leaving the "my bike is American made, so it's better routine". Rarely I see people who are that ignorant still. I point out to them that Polaris/Victories are made in Mexico now. I also point out that not all Harley parts are made in the U.S. either. It for some reason really makes the owners mad as hell. You know you shop at Wal Mart, and 96% of the stuff they sale comes from China, so I really don't see what the difference. Hey, if Kawasaki or Yamaha sold a pick up truck I would probably buy it.

my buddy asked me why i rode the old beemer instead of the harley

told i wanted to be able to tell which one was mine when i got ready to leave

The more I ride my H-D FXLR the more I love my XR650L - I'm just over saturated with the Harley scene...
To each their own though!

To the OP.

I could have written this last month....only change would have been the title: 500,000 Harleys and one DR650.

I left for a trip out west last month but had absolutely no idea Sturgis was going on at the time. My experiance mirrored yours. Everyone I talked to was cool. Most didn't wave but some did. Identical "uniforms" (vests, HD branded t-shirts etc). The only bad experiance I had was when the HD dealer in Gillette Wyoming refused to change a tire on my DR650.

Brand loyalty is an interesting thing. And that's all I got to say about that.

BTW, any pics?

Funny, my experience is much the same. I have ridden over 4 states since late may. Everywhere I went the Harley riders were very friendly. Further, everywhere I went everyone was helpful and kind as well. Regardless of where I went most of the bikes I saw were Harleys. When I have been out on the open road, in BFE, they were all Harleys. Most of those guys really ride the crap out of their bikes.

Me, I ride a Harley now too. Didn't intend to. Didn't see it coming. But, I am the anti-Harley guy. ATGATT with FF helm. Yes, my gear has HD logos, but it is textile w/body armor. Never got any grief from anyone. Did get a couple of compliments for the fact that my gear is HI-Viz. No one has ever dissed me due to my choice in bikes or gear.

I find that there seems to be at least two groups of riders of any brand: those that actually put down as many miles as they can AND those who enjoy polishing/posing with their garage queens. My RoadKing seems to get more washing from the rain than anything else....need to find a way to keep the whitewalls clean w/o having to do so myself......

I don't ride as far as some, but I ride more often than most....it is my main source of transport and I commute to work each day. I feel no peer pressure, but that is a choice. I think that the people who "only ride on the weekends" tend to feel a great deal of pressure, but not those who ride all the time...too busy riding to care.

Enjoyed the ride report. Have fun. Enjoy the ride.

The wave topic has been done to the extent that it's now a joke. However, one point of clarification. Most Harley and other riders are happy to wave if circumstances allow (safety first!). But when there are lots and lots of Harleys in one place, such as at or in the vicinity of a rally, most riders will forgo waving altogether, to anyone, including other Harleys. It just gets tiresome after a while and, well, a bit silly.

Regarding ATTGATT: A great many Harley riders have come round to the point where they wear full face or three-quarter helmets and armor in their jackets. Far from all, of course, or even most -- there's still that hardcore group (which includes my best friend) for whom image is everything, but as the Harley demographic ages you see more and more riders armoring up. I wear a Shoei Neotec helmet, a Fox Creek jacket with armor, and BMW city pants which look like jeans but have ungodly hip, shin and knee armor.

It's getting really hard to generalize anymore, isn't it?

I rode through the Sturgis area about two weeks after the big rally. It was funny that Harley riders would almost always wave... until you got close to Sturgis. Then the attitude appeared. But I just chalked it up to the fact that there were thousands of bikers still in the area, and who the heck has time for all that waving?

Regarding brand loyalty, I find that there are guys who are very brand loyal, and some who aren't. Me, I'm not brand loyal. I've had a few bikes from various manufacturers. I thought they were all good bikes for what I wanted right then. When my "perfect bike" changed, I changed bikes and looked around at all the brands, then bought the bike based on the features I wanted. (Does that make any sense?)

No pics. I took off pretty early in the morning. Well, early for me on a weekend. And I don't really function well in the mornings, so I forgot my camera. And to be embarrassingly honest, I've never figured out how to use the camera on my phone. Apparently it has a pretty good camera, I'm just clueless about it.

Yes, damn it!!! And if I can't generalize and stereotype riders and focus on cliches, how am I going to be an elitist snob?

I followed a small group of guys on RoadKings (and one Electra Glide, I think) for about 20 miles this Saturday, and I didn't pass them because I really enjoyed the sound of those pipes. Very mellow with still a bit of crackle. Fantastic sound!!!

Anyway, hand to God, I'm not bashing Harley with this question, but what sort of mpg do you get with that big bike on your commute?

On the highway, I can get 50 mpg if I keep the mph around 60-65. I commute, too, primarily through the small town in which I live, and my mpg just plummets to the mid-30s. Frankly, I think my FJR should do a little better on the mpg in town. I'm curious about your mpg.

i avg 36+ (06 rg) which is about the same as my airheads

didn't mean to kill your thread

they'res some pic's from bbbq on the last pages of my ride report if your intrested

I love Harleys. At least when i'm lane splitting. People hear those loud pipes and see the bike, they just get out of the way. I drop right in behind them and roll along. I'm not a fan of the loud pipes when my neighbor rolls his garage queen out, races up the street and back and then lets it idle for the next 20 minutes, but at least that's only about once a month.

You didn't kill the thread... it was pretty close to the end of its natural life.

I checked out a lot of pix from the BBBQ, including those on your thread. Fantastic write-up, btw.

It's amazing that I recognized most of the places where you took photos. Not all, but it big fraction. I lived in Memphis for a lot of years, then moved back to the Ozarks. So it's all familiar territory.

Its funny to see this. I have two bikes and yesterday I took my Yamaha Midnight Star out on a ride with four other Harley riders. It was just like you said for the clothes, alll Harley leather with brands on everything.....and me on my Yamaha want to be. I was wearing jeans, my hunting boots, black carhart and real DOT helmet. These guys are good guys and I was amazed that when you put them on these bikes they turned into goofballs....They only gave a hand out if it was another Harley. What the hell was my thought at the time I guess. However this is not much different than some of the rides I have been on and clearly got the "you dont have an orange bike or a BMW" attitude. You know us knuckle dragging KLR 650 slobs dont you? Relax, just a joke but its true to some level. I guess I see it this way. If I take my KLR 650 and show up at a ride that is full of BMW iron I am bound to find a bunch of great guys and one slack jawed lived lipped punk with more hanging on his bars than I have in my bike. And he is going to tell me all about it. Some people just cant help it and think they are only as good as what they have I guess?

I do think the percentage of true assholes on bikes is pretty low, whether they're riding FJRs or Harleys or 650s. The really vocal ones are the guys we remember, because they stand out. We never remember the guy at the other pump fueling his bike who just nods at you, fills his bike, and takes off. He's just another biker, and in the majority, I think — just a rider, not a brand loyalist or an asshole, just a guy out enjoying a ride and acknowledging you on your ride.

And I don't care what you ride. I don't care what you wear. I don't care if you wave or not. But I do notice when 50,000 guys are all wearing the same thing. Personally, I find it laughable, but I don't think I'm judgmental about it. It's just not for me. If you want to buy a certain brand of bike and wear their branded apparel, just like everyone else, then I'm okay with that.

thx, i'm trying to see all i can while i'm out here

I was there on my bmwr115rs. How many of you got caught in the awful fog and later rain on the higher elevations of 71. I saw a lot of under dressed riders that were not having a good time. Looking very cold and miserable. Slow riders were even more in evidence than normal, as the wet roads really slowed down what riders were on the road. I had a nice ride, and proper gear made a wet ride comfortable, just all the fog to deal with. Passed a lot of riders.

Sunday rode back to Joplin, and detour thru eureka springs. I was glad to see they paved the horrible tar snake section of 62. 74 is heavily tar snakes and a lot of them were wet. Not fun. Between the dry parts of 74, 71, and 62 and 178, I managed to cup a nearly new shinko raven and drag my footpeg a couple of times. All with the panniers mounted an loaded. And the demo bike rides are always lots of fun. Victory makes a very nice running bike,

Rod