Posted by Jim on April 06, 2000 at 18:57:05:
In Reply to: Savage gains ground off the line against a Harley posted by SavageLover on April 05, 2000 at 23:00:54:
Hee hee hee,
Boy did I have fun showing this to my Harley friends!!!!
Anyway, it met with universal scorn and claims of "LIES" and "KILL THE INFIDELS!"
It also generated some speculation. My guess is that Jeff's friends took the price (mortgage) they had to pay for their HDs in account when making their comparissons. Also some other factors:
1) If they were on city streets when they all swapped around bikes, they probably were shocked at how manueverable our light little bike actually is.
2) The Savage has considerably more rake than a Sportster, which (I don't know why) adds to its driveability.
3) When they said they had more torque, they probably meant it FELT like more torque... I doubt they tested it. The 1200 is less than twice the CCs, but is probably close to twice the weight. So it doesn't suprise me that it felt quicker.
4) As for the 883; it is a de-engineered bike. HD makes big bikes, they made this one as an entry level model. Consequently is probably alot beefier than it needs to be for 883 CCs. A good comparison is the mid 70s Mustang. The car was built to be a muscle car, so when Ford put an economy engine in it, it became a worse performer than most economy cars. (I had the same situation in reverse with a Chevy Cavalier Z-24. Built as an economy car for a 4 cylinder engine, the Z-24 model had massive problems when they dropped a beefed-up V6 in it. Talk to someone that owned one; cooling , tranny, engine mounts, drive-train-- all suffered from too much power to for that chasis/frame/body.)
BOTTOM LINE: Yes, there are great bikes out there that don't say "Harley Davidson" on them, but then again most bikes with that logo are pretty damn good. Look, for my money, the Savage is king, but maybe someday I'll get a bigger bike (I'd never get rid of The Piglet, though) that says HD on it. Right now, my money is going to other things (like 2 rugrats, a mortgage, food, etc...). Don't worry about what the thing says on it, JUST RIDE IT!
And KTRSD!
-Jim