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[BUCKNUT GREG]

* Fired00d likes

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

Yes Mongo....Agreed   

[johnsachs]

* Fired00d likes

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

Me Too...........

[Black Diamond]

   That's the one I'm looking at!

JW

[Hotrod50]

I just saw the big wheel bike at the Grand Junction HD dealer late Thursday night in the parking lot.   I thought it looked pretty cool in person.

[Sea Biscuit]

I am also a member of another forum where the owners modify the heck out of their Harley's...anywhere from 21" to 30" wheels (soon to see a 32" wheel)...all I can say is they ride just as far and as often as most members do here!

With all due respect, if you have never been on a Harley with a bigger front wheel, then you really don't know what you are talking about...if done correctly, big wheel Harley's ride very well and you would be amazed!

Different strokes for different folks!

Myself, I can see doing a 23"-26", but, just not yet!

[HDultraDad]

Here's what I have seen... Most if not all are on SG's or RG's.  They wouldn't look good on anything other.  You may be able to have a "good" ride or even ride as long as a bike with a smaller wheel, but my concern is the "arrive alive" factor. 

Statistics show 77% of all motorcycle accidents involving other vehicles are in the from (10:00 to 2:00).  With the big front tire, it pushes the fairing up very high to the point of obstructing clear view of what's in front of the biker.  Heck, most riders don't know how to size a proper windshield for good visibility.  What do you think a fairing will do to visibility? 

I'm not knocking them.  Each rider takes the risk.  We all style our rides how we see fit.  It is just some styles are less about true, safe riding than others.

[Midnight Rider]

AGREED!!!

They both look really stupid to me. And how the hell do you RIDE those things? Those ground-dragging bags would seem to have maybe a 10 degree or less lean angle. Maybe cruising around town in the flatlands would be possible... but definitely not in the mountains where we live!

Bikes like these are just useless, decorated toys in a heavy metal freak show..

Ken

100% sure they have an air shock system of some sort to get the bike off the ground for actual riding.  Now the front wheel and super low profile tire?  IMO, while it looks good, it's impractical for anything more than cruising around town or bar hopping, but that's all a lot of people do with their bikes, so whatever blows their skirts up...Show Queens.

[spydglide]

I love customs & 'choppers'.. ..love the imagination & craftsmanship in them.  But, my days of riding them are long gone (with my youth)    har!   spyder

[VaEagle]

Looks, and what looks good or not is always in the eye of the beholder. I think a bike style is up to the owner since he has to ride it and pay for it.
I realize that each style of bike has a function whether practical or not even if it's just rolling art. Think of it as dirt bikes have us beat for off-road use, sport bikes for handling and top speed but we have comfort, load hauling and image/tradition/history on our side. Take any one out of their intended use and their status suffers. once you consider accessories then you wouldn't find MotoGP bikes with stretched forks, ape hanger bars, lowered suspensions, floorboards, highway pegs etc.
While sport bikes are maneuverable and fast I don't want to feel like a monkey humping a football  when I ride. Nor would I want a big wheel bike since every one I see makes me think of this :

[CVO2FIXUP]

 I think the builders just like the challenge of putting radical parts together and making the whole thing work.  I can see it. It's hard to make wacky parts work together properly.  I don't like that look my self, but respect the effort.  It is a fad though, just like those "low pants" the brothers wear. Starting to see less of them thank god!!   Oh, I love that Big Wheel pick.  The thing has such a proud stance eh!!

[Jswerve]

Just got back from Sturgis and saw all these bikes they are absolutely amazing and fun to look at. If it ain't your money and you have never ridden one, why are you an expert on how they ride and what do you care anyway? FYI I saw them being ridden all over out there from Sundance and Hulett, WY all the way down to Mount Rushmore. To each his own 

[Spiderman]

As someone pointed out, motorcycles serve the wants and needs of their owners. If your want is to ride 25,000 miles a year, I can't see getting too far into the customization thing. Not out of safety or anything like that but the cosmetics take a beatiing pounding down the highway or backroads 500, 600, 700 miles a day. Having said that, customs are a way of expressing a lot of things. The likes of the owner, the talent of the builder, the ability to push the envelope and as was pointed out still be able to ride it. I recall a couple of Arlen Ness's very early customs being somewhat questionable as to rideability. And that was a long long time ago. Sugar Bear probably fell down a number of times before he perfected his super long springers. In any event, my comment on the big wheel thing was just that - - the bikes make me think of those big wheel toys that showed up about 30 years ago or thereabouts. I personally don't care for the look but I have to give Props to the guys who year after year come up with stuff we've not seen before. I met Jesse James before he was super famous in Laughlin. He was his usual asshole self in his attitude and seemed to get even more pissy over my question was  "I can see how these bikes are actually physically built, but the ideas, the designs behind them amaze me "  He didn't understand that I worked in a place where 6" think steel is heated and bent into the sonar domes and where tinsmiths did the seemingly impossible with sheets of flat metal and so on and so on. We had 13,000 employees  - -some of them going back to post WWII with skills and talents that were nothing short of amazing. But as to motorcycles, the ideas Jesse was putting out there (at that time) were radical and different and my question was intended to be serious as to what influenced him. Arlen Ness on the other hand has never not taken the time to speak with me about a particular bike that I might ask him about He and his son Corey are always incredibly gracious and accesible. Anyway, not to get off the track but at the end of all this, people should remember that you don't have to be a musician to like music or have an opinion on it. You don't have to be Chip Foose to like a car or not like a car and so forth.

B B

[CVO Brian]

Love this forum!! Just an opinion board fellas.. I had and built two of these bikes. One with a 23 and one with a 26" front wheel. And yes Midnight, they both had Air ride adjustable on the fly. and surprisingly enough, they both rode great. In fact the streetglide in my avatar with the 23" is the bike I rode in Sturgis two years ago. Solo, mind you, not sure mama would have riddin 1k miles on the back of that little seat,lol
They are a work of art just as the choppers were 10 years ago. Fad ? i say yes to an extent, they are way more functional then the chopper and the chopper went out all together. Touring bikes with bags and radio will never go out of style. I too saw all those bikes in the Pictures in Sturgis. The Maple CVO was truly a work of Art and no expense was spared making this a ridable machine. It was clearly my favorite and we saw at least 50 like it.
I will also agree with the safety factor, while highway driving is great, cornering due to the large wheel can be very difficult and you better be a big dude to navigate on shaky ground and to be able to see over the fairing. I seen several go down at Throttle and the chip on gravel and dirt roads just doing a slow turn. But , hey , I saw a couple Ultras go down as well. I live in the City of Bling and Show Bikes and ride every Thursday in Downtown Miami with the owners of some of those bikes in those pictures and yes its all about LOOK AT ME, EGO and everything else that goes with having money to burn. You should see the Cars and boats these guys have. SHow bikes NO DOUBT !!! I'm done with it and love my CVO and cushy ride it brings. But I still want people to look at my bike though.

[acevtwin]

Like it was said earlier, To each his own. Not my style.  CVOBrian, On a bike like that, do they even have front suspension? It looks like there is no room for travel between the front fender and fairing.

[CVO Brian]

Little to none. heaviest Fork oil possible and lower springs 1-2". We tried air ride in a couple but kept leaking so we aborted.