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[Buy early]

Riding a motorcycle, any motorcycle is a joy and a riot but riding a Harley (or a Ducati) is a visceral experience. BMW's and Wings are more like Swiss watches. Harley's are more like Caterpillar earth movers. There's a reason to love them all but you get that extra oomph from a Harley. Not directly related to horsepower or straight line speed, it's the total experience.

[SBB]

Riding a motorcycle, any motorcycle is a joy and a riot but riding a Harley (or a Ducati) is a visceral experience. BMW's and Wings are more like Swiss watches. Harley's are more like Caterpillar earth movers. There's a reason to love them all but you get that extra oomph from a Harley. Not directly related to horsepower or straight line speed, it's the total experience.

 
A TOTAL experience!

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[Chains]

Ray,

You can make them LOUDER, but you can't make them sound better. It's all in the engine design. If you have a back/spine issues, ride what feels best and don't worry about the sound. Have you considered an Ultra? I think it's one of the most comfortable bikes on the road today. Much more comfortable than my old BMW RT.

With different exhaust like Bassani, Cobra or others, they sound louder but more like a sports car, Ferrari, Lamborghini than a throaty HD

[110tHunDer]

With different exhaust like Bassani, Cobra or others, they sound louder but more like a sports car, Ferrari, Lamborghini than a throaty HD

That might be givin' 'em just a little too much credit, dontcha think? 

[SBB]

That might be givin' 'em just a little too much credit, dontcha think? 

More like a Neon with a glass pack.
Or a Chevette with a rust hole in the muffler.


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Damn, did I say Chevette, geez I'm old!

[Keats]

With different exhaust like Bassani, Cobra or others, they sound louder but more like a sports car, Ferrari, Lamborghini than a throaty HD

One of our group got a Wing and put Cobras on, then took out the baffles.

It got loud enough that you could tell it was running, but sounded bad

certainly did not even come close to a Ferrari or Lambo.......that is funny

[Chains]

That might be givin' 'em just a little too much credit, dontcha think? 

Just my take on it, they do sound more like an exotic sports car than a motorcycle with the different exhaust, at least you can finally hear them running.

[Chains]

One of our group got a Wing and put Cobras on, then took out the baffles.

It got loud enough that you could tell it was running, but sounded bad

certainly did not even come close to a Ferrari or Lambo.......that is funny

leave the baffles in , a guy I work with butchered his up till it sounded like a 6 cyl chevy from the early 50's with a miss in the motor and a rod knocking.

[Keats]

He did put the baffles back in after cutting them in half and wrapping them........

There is nothing he can do that will make it sound like a Harley


I must admit it is pretty funny watching him try

[Keats]

Part of the fun riding has to do with feeling of power and acceleration......

The Wing may be faster but it does not feel faster......
After test driving one myself , the disconcerting realization was that you were going faster than you thought.

The Harley on the other hand feels faster than it really is, the roar of the big v twin makes you feel like you are going 100 mph......

The result is a better feeling on the Harley.

That is what the other manufacturers have never figured out.......

It is not about going the fastest, it is about the feel of  going the fastest

[Chains]

Part of the fun riding has to do with feeling of power and acceleration......

The Wing may be faster but it does not feel faster......
After test driving one myself was the discerning realization that you were going faster than you thought and able to get into trouble quickly.

The Harley on the other hand feels faster than it really is, the roar of the big v twin makes you feel like you are going 100 mph......

The result is a better feeling on the Harley.

That is what the other manufacturers have never figured out.......A Wing will never be a Harley in sound feel or pure emotion of riding.  They are indeed a different time of bike and I have no problem beating them with my bike, but I have to say it is close.  The wing feels much heavier than any Harley I have ever owned, hence the CVO.  Much better handling too me and the sound is absolutely one of a kind.

Wings may be the ticket to ride the contiguous US but Wingers are mostly a different group, at least the ones I have met.  I am just glad to see anyone riding a motorcycles no matter what the make or age.  I still think they are a great mainly trouble free bike for the guy or gal that is not too mechanicaly inclined

It is not about going the fastest, it is about the feel of going the fastest

[Jerry/MD]

FYI..... and it's probably already been posted, but I talked to one of my clients the other day, who is a parts guy for a Honda dealer.  He was telling me that 2010 will be the last year that Honda will produce Goldwings for a couple of years.  He said that Honda has over produced Goldwings and has 2008, 2009, and 2010's stacked up.   They will stop production until the inventory is depleted.
He speculated that when Honda starts production of the Goldwing again, it will be somewhat different... maybe bump up the engine to a 2000cc and change up the looks.

Truth?  I don't know... just what I heard.

Amazing. History repeats itself. They did the same thing in the early '80s...allowed production to outpace demand. The Japanese were dumping bikes in the US...prices were slashed...and Harley petitioned the Government to impose tarrifs. Anybody else remember?

[Keats]

I certainly remember,
Harley had a huge market share in the over 1000 cc class and the Japanses owned the under 1000cc class.
They needed more time to develop the EVO motor and bring it to market and asked for a Tariff on big bikes.
They released the tariff on imports early due to their success and backlog on bike orders.

Hard to keep asking for a tariff to protect them, if they sold everything they could make.

That was over 30 years ago.

[arcticdude]

I told my oldest son I was thinking about getting a Wing since my wife and I ride allot, his reaction was similar to telling him I was gay or something. He was shocked, he just shook his head and said Dad you were always my hero, a man's - man, you just can't do it it wouldn't be right. I just can't picture my dad on a Wing, please reconsider you might just be going through a bad moment in life or something, it will pass. The other two boys said I couldn't do it either.

Ray,

Buy the Wing and ride to Boston for lunch.  Call all your sons and tell them WHERE you are.  Then ride back home and be sitting at the dinner table for dinner.  Invite them over and ask them "Who's da man now?"   OF course, I'd have to slap the chit out of all of them for saying chit like that.  How many of their friend's dads ride period??

[RayG]

Might get a Wing but I won't have lunch in BOSTON, I'm from COW - HAPMPSHIRE. Those big city's are not for me. If I told them I was in Boston they would have me committed!