matt777

I certainly wasn't street racing by any stretch but just surprised at the acceleration of a Harley. I know some of the sport bikes are super quick.

CWhaley

Cdmdriver is spot on with his insight.

Having owned Harley's (father has been on them sense the late 50's) for the better part of 30 years ~ got my first sportie at 14~ I can tell you that a properly modified motor is much quicker then you can imagine off the line...

My Heritage can smoke even a PDK equiped 911 off the line all the way up to about the 1/4 mile point... it would be a "No contest"... after that forget it... I'm toast! As my bike flatens out at around the 125 mph point.

On the other hand, if you take my Ducati 999... You would be so far behind me that I could finish lunch before your car caught me.

Canyon56

These cars are pretty slow (in the modern world sense.)

Other people on the street think they're fast because they recognize that it's a Porsche. I never get myself pulled into any sort of challenge, it would be too embarrassing.

dcdude

250 units per year in India is barely seems like news. Good news is that bikes for U.S. domestic consumption will continue to be made here. Anything else would be suicide for H-D.

Seems like a Harley would be a huge luxury item in India. But even if only the top 10% of Indian workers could afford one, multiplied out by the population (1 billion?) you may have a market there not burdened with the safety stigma 2 wheelers have here.

matt777

Just wait until the Asian and Indian middle class start wanting for for all of the luxuries and toys we have. Somehow I think the NA market will become secondary to many mfg's. Maybe Harleys will be on their list too.

dcdude

Yup, yup. Remember, Panamera was launched in Shanghai, right? I'm sure that Tiffany, Cartier, Rolex, Abercrombie you name it are all scrambling for a new or improved retail presence in India and Asia. It's like a new gold rush and first movers are more likely to become the most desirable name brands.

I expect that our now dead cigar craze will also have new life over there as well.

IXLR8

Even then, a supercar would have a tough time against the hottest of motorcycles, except beyond 180 MPH where only a few mega dollar supercars would have an edge.

I remember an acquaintance who thought his mid-eighties Nissan 300 ZX Turbo was fast. I was on my 500 Gamma and saw him get real small in my mirrors. Was he humbled.

2Many Cars

They already do.


The combination of low end torque and light weight give the Harley a huge advantage off the line. You'll lose them at the first corner though.

CWhaley

That is another misconception... A well ridden Harley can corner as well as any sport bike. I would leave my Ducati home & run the Heritage with the other sport bike boys... Those kids were always impressed that "The old man" could hang with 'em.

Now, the whole driving experience is different... NO front brake! Lots of rear trail braking (too keep the fat pig down), with lots of road. If I get in front of you WATCH...

matt777

I'm just trying to figure out on how to capitalize on this.

chopperzz

There's been a huge push on,mid to complex, manufacturing in India. The population will force domination for the brands that invest in planting roots there now. Anything that signifies the West will be in furious demand, so local manufacturing of Western brands is leading edge.

chopperzz

As for the Harley, it's easy to have a highly modified motor with no visual difference. I have a US built aftermarket motor, that fits in a stock frame, with 2025 cc's (121 cubic inches) and a very real 124 HP weighing in at 450 Lbs! Through 1st, 2nd& 3rd nothing can keep up.

993_Pilot

Put the crack pipe down, there's NO misconception. Most of the Harley's I've seen will start scraping hard parts if they try to lean over like a sport bike. A great deal of being fast is having good brakes, and as you mentioned, Harley brakes suck. About 75% of your braking capability should come from the front wheel, so rear wheel trail braking won't cut it. Even if they did have equal brakes, a Heritage weighs about 750 pounds compared to less than 400 for a modern sport bike. Now let's compare the grip of a 150 rear tire touring tire compared to 180 or 190 sport tire. Simple physics, and we haven't even started talking about steering geometry and suspension yet. Assuming equally skilled riders, I haven't seen a Harley yet that can keep up with a modern sport bike, especially in the turns. Now to be fair, a lot of the kids that ride sport bikes don't really know how to ride too well which is evidenced by the 1"+ "chicken strips" that you see on their rear tires... this must be who you are comparing yourself to. Harley's were designed for cruising the open roads, and that is what they are good at.

clutch-monkey

your post prompted me to have a quick search for road tests and i found this, goddamn.

csertich

Tell me it ain't so! It's bad enough that we are putting our U.S. software developers out of work by sending our work over there. Really ticks me off.

On another note, Car & Driver November 2010. New Porsche Turbo S with PDK, 0-60 in 2.7 seconds.

chuck