Harley's Patented Sound

[Jeff Higgins]

While they may have failed in their efforts to actually secure a patent on their sound, it remains none the less unmistakable. Just compare the sound of a Harley-Davidson to that of, say, a Honda or something.

http://www.bmcycles.com/harleyVShonda.swf

[widebody911]

it remains none the less unmistakable.
And nonetheless annoying as fingernails on the chalkboard of my soul...

[legion]

Doesn't the Harley "sound" come from the fact that Harley engines are more-or-less two cylinder radial engines? (They don't have a crankshaft as such, and the cylinders fire something like 300º and 420º apart, rather than 360º apart....if I understand correctly.

[VaSteve]

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/harley1.htm

Explains the engine design

[Jeff Higgins]

The rods share a common crankpin, so the pistons go up and down together, seperated by the angle between cylinders of 45 degrees. So when the front fires, rather than a full 360 degrees later, the rear fires 315 degrees later. Then it takes 405 degrees before the front fires again.

Funny, Thom, my rather vehicularly-unsophisticated wife tells me my Bugs sound like my Harleys which sound like my Bugs... she "can't tell them apart"... The only thing that "sounds different" is my 911. Women; sheesh... If they only understood the effort we put into such things.

[Tyson Schmidt]

Q: What's the firing order on a Harley?



A: One, then maybe the other one.

[Don Plumley]

LOL!

[Hugh R]

35 years ago, a friend of mine with a Kawasaki 500 (3 cyl. 2-stroke) was challenged by someone with a 1,200 cc Harley to a 1/4 mile drag. The jap bike did the 1/4 in half the time.

[dd74]

According to the chief of marketing at Harley, as reported by NPR, Harley's sound will soon be a thing of the past: they're seeking to make the motorcycles more quiet. It's a...um...marketing move.

[pwd72s]

An artist friend described the sound in writing as: "po-tate-toe, po-tate-toe". Looked appropriate to me...

[dd74]

Originally posted by pwd72s
An artist friend described the sound in writing as: "po-tate-toe, po-tate-toe". Looked appropriate to me...

Can he translate it into ebonics?

[Tyson Schmidt]

Originally posted by Hugh R
35 years ago, a friend of mine with a Kawasaki 500 (3 cyl. 2-stroke) was challenged by someone with a 1,200 cc Harley to a 1/4 mile drag. The jap bike did the 1/4 in half the time.

I've ridden that very bike!

Scared the living daylights out of me when the third plug unfouled while at wide open throttle. And I thought it was pretty quick running on two cylinders. Way too much power for the bike's brakes and handling.

[svandamme]

i've never understood harleys
they're the no different to me then a small econobox with a fart can : loud, ugly and slow

i'll take an Italian crotch rocket, or for longer distances a German flat-2 bike any day of the week...

[gaijindabe]

Granny's V-twin kohler garden tractor sounds better that most Harleys..

[NICKG]

my 1000ss ducati with Termis just plain rumbes...nothing like a harley's lazy lope

[dagriff]

Originally posted by dd74
It's a...um...marketing move.

Harley as a whole is one big marketing move. The ultimate triumph (no ref to the bike intended) of marketing spin over engineering.
Harley, several times was on the verge of going the way of the British bike industry, & for the same reasons, until some incredible marketing started them on the path they now follow.
Hence, all the Village People leather clad accountants that come out to my little town on a Sunday.
The bike itself is seems almost irrelevant, & I bet most of them could talk to you all day about chrome, the best polish & the correct amount of buttock that should protrude from the Chaps, but fery few would know one end of say, a valve from the other.

I guess it's the same mind set that made the Toronto Raptors the highest earning NBA team the year before they started playing, just on merchandise sales.

If I was an old school Harley rider (and I am sure I will be blasted by a few on here), I think I would embarrassed by these new foppish riders. I could take them seriously if it was just about the bike not the "style".
A recent thread about Porsche drivers being perceived as *********s in the '80's seems to sum up where Porsche were heading, and Harley seems to have arrived at.
However, Porsche thought they had lost their way, but Harley seems to think they have found theirs.
Before anyone asks, I have been riding bikes for nearly 40 years,
and for many years 365 rain & shine (not in Canada!).
Having had my share of road rash, broken bones & lost friends, I would also say that any Motorcycle manufacturer that even implies that it's ok to wear the incredibly unprotective clothing & helmets is corporately irresponsible. If it were a car maker the class action law suits would be through the roof.
Criticizing Harley seems to be perceived as Anti-American & tantamount to burning the flag (which I guess shows that the advertising works), So I will bend over now.

[Jeff Higgins]

No need to bend over, dagriff. Here is one old-school Hardley-Ableson rider (28 years, four bikes, well over 300K miles on them) that agrees with you 100% on where they have gone. It is truly embarassing to see the weekend warriors out in full regalia. They think they are buying their way into a lifestyle with cold hard cash; if they only knew how foolish they look.

Their new bikes are actually quite capable. Down on power compared to other bikes, but very comfortable with great brakes, good handling, and very good reliability. My 2000 Road King has over 75K miles on it with no more than routine maintanence. Not many cars will even do that anymore. Granted, the chopper look crap that the wannabe's buy up are harsh, ill handling and uncomfortable, but that's o.k. because they don't actually ride them much. The touring bikes will hold their own with anything currently out there, except, like I said, in regards to power. The posers don't generally buy them, however; they leave them for the riders.

[dagriff]

Thanks Jeff, I'll put down the Vaseline & pick up a Jameson!
(Hold the ice. Ice is what you put on a black eye!).

I should go try out a tourer.

My wifes Hairdresser (Honest, a hairdresser....) has one of the "little" Harleys (860?) at idle the engine bounces around like a Tit in a trance.

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by dagriff

Having had my share of road rash, broken bones & lost friends, I would also say that any Motorcycle manufacturer that even implies that it's ok to wear the incredibly unprotective clothing & helmets is corporately irresponsible. If it were a car maker the class action law suits would be through the roof.
Criticizing Harley seems to be perceived as Anti-American & tantamount to burning the flag (which I guess shows that the advertising works), So I will bend over now.

I am a new rider and was looking for a bike and gear. I went to the HD dealer and asked about gear...the salesguy said he was old school and didn't wear much if any (helmet law here in VA, at least). Isn't that sort of like going to the car dealer and they don't endorse seatbelts.

Across town at the BMW dealer, the guy explained all of the various gear and how it works. I didn't buy a bike at either place, but I did appreciate the lesson at BMW.

I bought an old BMW and went back to the HD Dealer to get some gloves (hey, they're close at least). They had a 6' tall spinner with mens gloves (seperate one for the ladies). Not a SINGLE pair of non-branded gloves. I don't think they had any non-branded anything there. Wow.

[legion]

OTOH, if Harley had depended solely on the "hard-core biker" crowd, they would have been out of business 30 years ago.