Thats why I stay off of them!

 

Uh..what about the small block in your vette? Not exactly cutting edge technology? Might be refined, but nothing new in the past 60 to 70 years. Same old internal combustion four stroke design.

 

Harley Davidson never claimed to be a sport bike. Harleys are cruisers and touring bikes. The new V-Rod is a Hot Rod and damn good. My buddy traded his Ultra Classic for a Goldwing 1800 and lasted a whole year before trading back for a Harley because the Goldwing was like driving a car absolutely no charater.

 

I’ve only got one thing to say about this!
“I wouldn’t have something that when you get off you have to take a stick and prop it up”

PS I would like to have one but there are just too many dam fools on the road! And a bad leg don't help either!

 

I would like to have a Harley just to look at...To many idiots on the road for me!

 

Clicked right to the last page, so I may have missed relevant previous diatribes. My '01 Heritage Springer and "02 Coupe sit next to eachother in the garage. If it hasn't been said before, IT'S ALL ABOUT LOW END TORQUE, AND HOW COOL THAT FEELS UNDER THE THROTTLE. The twelve thousand rpm sports bikes are very fast, but they stall when you start them with 1000 rpms. The one place they don't stall is the rate of decline on their resale price If I threw a supercharger on my friend's new 350Z, he might be faster than me. I would still hate to drive it. Are we coming through yet?

 

My z06 says"I'm gonna kick you ***",my 95 Springer did not.However the Ducati Monster S4 certainly does.

 

I absolutely agree!

Therefore it is completely unrealistic to talk about the vette as a "harley on 4 wheels". If one is to find a motorcycle that is the equal of the modern vette , it must be a sport bike. I would consider the Ducati 999, but that bike doesn't hold its own against the competition, as well as the vette does.

/

 

You know, you guys can tak a simple statement and make a federal case out of it!.... This is basically what the guy is saying ....
Nothing more and nothing less. They are both a part of American heritage! Zuti

 

Nothing says Stars & Stripes like a Harley or a Vette

 

Nothing like a Vette and a Hog in the garage !If the Hog gets sick the Vette will cure him!!!!!

 

I can only assume you did not type that with a "straight face". Just because the LS2 (or LS1/LS6) have pushrods, everyone likes to remind us that they are low tech. Truth is, GM does a lot of things poorly, but this is not one of them. By keeping the engine "low tech" with pushrods, and looking for other ways to make horsepower, they have developed this "low tech" engine into producing over 1 hp per cubic inch AND it has equal torque (and it gets 28mpg on the highway). Look at all the exotic Ferrari, Porsche etc engines - they don't have crap for torque.

I have to agree with posts that the Harley and Corvette are nothing alike. Corvette continual strives for world class performance at an affordable price. Harley on the other hands seems to strive for 1940's performance at the high end of the price scale.

I really think my motorcycle has much more in common. It's a Honda ST1300. It combines leading edge technology, performance well above average, and everyday livability for comfort and amenities and costs about 2/3 the price of the average Harley (and that's before Harley riders add $5,000 worth of chrome).

I'm not knocking Harley or Harley riders. I have some very close friends who own Harleys (and I ride with them every weekend). I give credit to Harley for some incredible marketing. I'm simply taking issue with the original premise of this thread.

 

The local HOG had an "American Pride Ride" on Sept 11 this year and invited our Corvette club to join them. We did a "Red, White and Blue" salute for them:



Interesting demographic study - for both similarities and differences.

David

 

Honda does make nice bikes. But the premise of this thread is the iconic status and heritage of Vettes and Hawgs... Little boys DREAM of owning both when they grow up. I know I did. Doubt that's true of any Hondas, even though now I think my MDX is the greatest SUV ever made, and I love Honda's quality!

,
Vaughn

 

I have a Roadstar Warrior that has a 102 CI V twin stock from the factory. It's a cruiser but also has suspension and brakes from a Yamaha R1. Comes from the factory with a 200 mm tire. On the dyno it put down 90 rwhp and 109 rwt. Why can't a Harley do that? Harleys look good but my bike looks a hella lot better, not to mention it weighs less and handles better. Over 12k miles of hard riding and not one oil leak. Maybe someday Harley will build a bike for the modern times.

http://www.rswarrior.com/members/mem...andle=reelmcoy

 

I remember when the Japanese first came out with their in-line 4’s and 6’s there marketing strategy was that an in-line engine was far superior to a V-twin, that the V-twin was a piece of junk! Now every one of them have what? V-Twins! So I guess a V-twin can’t be all that bad!

 

ADG, you are right on all counts. I started riding motorcycles around 1957. Have owned 15 Harleys. Wanted a corvette since 1959. Got my first one this year. Great machine, American Iron, and the same brother-hood that makes it extra special that no other make of sports car has. Don't wait as long as I did. Do it!

Bob

 

[QUOTE=jschindler]I can only assume you did not type that with a "straight face". Just because the LS2 (or LS1/LS6) have pushrods, everyone likes to remind us that they are low tech. Truth is, GM does a lot of things poorly, but this is not one of them. By keeping the engine "low tech" with pushrods, and looking for other ways to make horsepower, they have developed this "low tech" engine into producing over 1 hp per cubic inch AND it has equal torque (and it gets 28mpg on the highway). Look at all the exotic Ferrari, Porsche etc engines - they don't have crap for torque.

Looks like GM is stuck in the 60's eh, make that the 50's since that's when they first came out with an engine that was advertised as 1HP/CI.
The 57 Fuelie! Great engine but was a pain to keep running!

 

Even though everything I said was accurate and could say a lot more, I probably said more than I should have. I did not intend to trash the Harley just to point out that comparing a Harley to a Corvette is way off. I never implied that the Harley should be a sport bike. There is room for every type. I have owned most of them the last 35 years. When I hear Corvette, I think power, speed, light weight, great handling, great braking, and good looks. When I hear Harley, the only thing that comes to mind is good looks.

As to your specific comment, I am well aware that the Corvette uses a pushrod 2-valve V8. Chevy, however, has managed to get competitive power out if this design while retaining its advantages of compact design, light weight, and simplicity. Harley push rod engines do not have competitive power, not stock anyway. But then we should not be comparing stock engines to modified engines as so many on this forum frequently do because then the sky is the limit. We all know that one of the reasons, besides cost, that Chevy discontinued the dual overhead cam 4-valve ZR1 engine was that they had figured out how to get as much power out of the pushrod 2-valve design. I say "great". I applaud them. If the Vette is getting competitive power, I don't care what the design is.

 

[QUOTE=PaPaChoc]That 1957 FI small block was putting out about 1 HP per cubic inch by the old SAE gross measurement system. Today, using SAE net HP which has been in use since the early 1970s. that rating would be about 20% less. The Z06 gets over 1 HP per cubic inch. Using the SAE gross measurement standard from the 1950s, the Z06 would be putting out about 500 HP at the crank. So there has been considerable improvement.