I think you answered your own question:
The new Indians may change the minds of
some of us...
Quite honestly, I think the real reason I bought into the whole Harley mystique was to satisfy my middle-age male ego "crisis" more than anything else. There - I said it -
My name is Ken and I am a Harleyholic. ("Hi, Ken...")
But the experience has been
much more rewarding than a simple ego massage...
I LOVE motorcycles and have since I was a kid - and I have had more than a few metrics in my day. I had been off of bikes for a good while, since my ex really hated them and thought they were dangerous (and they are). I acquiesced to her wishes while my kids were growing up and I did the "responsible parent" gig... but trading a part of my soul in the process for their sakes. I don't regret doing that, but now I am in MY time with Mary, and things are different in our lives. I will no longer makes those sacrifices, as I feel that I have done my financial duty as a parent and provider. Mary feels the same about her three grown children.
As much as I enjoyed my less-expensive but much-higher-performing metrics... there just something about a Harley that gets me going. Maybe it's the look, the beautiful paint, the styling, the wonderful sound and rumbling, the CHROME!, REALLY GOOD MARKETING on the part of the MoCo... or perhaps simply my male ego. I don't know.
But I will say that since we bought my first Harley, I have met a LOT of really nice folks via the various forums - plus a select few who turned out to not be so nice and who I have cut out of my life permanently. Life is just TOO SHORT to tolerate
"jerks living rent-free in your head", as a friend of mine likes to put it!
There is an interesting brotherhood/sisterhood social dynamic in the Harley ridership that frankly I never experienced with the metrics. Of course, the availability of Internet forums such as CVOHarley have done wonders to enable the sort of social behavior we see now. We didn't have that kind of communication capability back in the '70s when I began riding. So perhaps that same sort of social dynamic happens in other brands' riderships, too. I don't know, and frankly I don't care.
But in owning a Harley, I don't feel as if I'm ever "alone" with it - either at home nor on the road.
I feel as if I always have friends along if I need them... and that just feels very nice!I will also say that the tone of conversation here on CVOHarley is
noticeably more civil and supportive than on any of the other Harley forums of which I am a member... and that includes pretty much all of them. Since I became active here when we bought the Honey Badger in Aug 2011, I have stopped even visiting any other Harley forums - except for our local "Georgia Crew" subgroup on HDF. I simply neither need nor desire them anymore!
Ken