drrod
Site Supporter
There is a big difference between music and just noise!!!! But......like beauty, it is all in the ear of the beholder.And that is the kind of hype that sells all those Hawgs!
How Harley-Davidson Killed Itself by FortNine
- Thread starter STrep
- Start date
Harley-Davidson - a 117 year history of turning gasoline directly into noise without the annoying by-product of horsepower.
GGely
Site Supporter
Are you saying that my 51 years of playing guitar puts me in the same camp as Segovia, Joe Pass, BB King et al? No sir, I firmly accept the mantle of “King of the Noise Makers”!
Took me a second to get your point...
drrod
Site Supporter
Have you ever driven an MG-TC? It was (is?) a coal cart but it played a very big role in bringing "sports cars" to our shores and sparking the interest in them. I think HD is kinda like that. Old tech for sure but still played a big role in bringing motorcycling to us. The difference is that MG recognized when their day was done. HD is still being a little myopic. I would love to own an MGTC,D, or F. Not for its technology, but just because...........
HD is hoping that there are still enough of riders that think like that.
GGely
Site Supporter
^^^ +1 Excellent points. In my youth, I recall hearing that the MG 4 cylinder engine was originally designed for a tractor.
That might explain my heavy right foot.
That might explain my heavy right foot.
or an MGB - or an E- type Jag - or a Porsche 356 - or a 289 Cobra - or a 48 Ford Woody - or a ( ad infinitum)
I guess I just like motorcycle music better than any car. My last Valkyrie sounded pretty good to me. And just so I could enjoy riding it long distances I also had the stock exhaust ends cut off and I could slide them into the chrome stacks for factory silence as needed.
I do miss this bike but not the poor gas mileage.
I do miss this bike but not the poor gas mileage.
BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
(Raymond, those honda flat 6's do sound great!)
The noise part of HD, and the rebel appearance leads me to just SMH.
I used to ride a lot with a guy who had a HD 95th anniversary road king (1998 model year), with upgraded exhaust and cams. Me and sometimes another ST rider would inevitably end up in front of him after 10's of minutes of him in the lead as we didn't like the noise and smell.
It was humorous as we knew when he was trying to pass a vehicle--we heard his motor's efforts to turn fuel into noise and smelled the foul exhaust before seeing any result of the twisting the right wrist. When we teased him, he would acknowledge and commented a couple times that "you were way behind me when I went to pass, and as I did my mirror check and head turn to pull in from the pass, you were right there on my 6!"--that apparently annoyed him a bit, as did his twice-as-frequent required fuel stops. We enjoyed poking him on various topics (maybe poked a bit too much?) Nah!
I was reminded of the HD 'way' a couple times this week while commuting to/from work. The noise and stink brought back the memories, as did the unmistakable change of sound as the rider would want to accelerate.
To be fair, we each have our preferences, and I did see quite a few HDs out. Good for them.
But HD is in trouble... will see what the new CEO's influence is.
The noise part of HD, and the rebel appearance leads me to just SMH.
I used to ride a lot with a guy who had a HD 95th anniversary road king (1998 model year), with upgraded exhaust and cams. Me and sometimes another ST rider would inevitably end up in front of him after 10's of minutes of him in the lead as we didn't like the noise and smell.
It was humorous as we knew when he was trying to pass a vehicle--we heard his motor's efforts to turn fuel into noise and smelled the foul exhaust before seeing any result of the twisting the right wrist. When we teased him, he would acknowledge and commented a couple times that "you were way behind me when I went to pass, and as I did my mirror check and head turn to pull in from the pass, you were right there on my 6!"--that apparently annoyed him a bit, as did his twice-as-frequent required fuel stops. We enjoyed poking him on various topics (maybe poked a bit too much?) Nah!
I was reminded of the HD 'way' a couple times this week while commuting to/from work. The noise and stink brought back the memories, as did the unmistakable change of sound as the rider would want to accelerate.
To be fair, we each have our preferences, and I did see quite a few HDs out. Good for them.
But HD is in trouble... will see what the new CEO's influence is.
No, my uncle had one though and it was coolness. We can thank them for the concept, but not the execution. I did a short stint in a MGB once. If you didn't hear "tick-tick-tick" when you turned the key, put it back in your pocket, you have been demoted to pedestrian. The light switch had three positions: off, flicker, and dim. The best MG was made by Mazda. It is called the Miata or MX-5. They also showed Fiat how to build a 124 Spider.
Same for the Volvo 240 engine, though it doesn't claim to be sporty - just comfortably dull.
st11ray
2006 ST1300
My sister had 2 MG's. She always wanted to borrow my 304 V8 CJ5 because her MG's were always in the shop.
You can still own a new MG (well sort of) and just like HD will be soon, they're made in China.
Will HOG have to become CHOG?
Upt'North.
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
Not entirely wrong,..........but I have 2 that sound fantastic. Not turbocharged but NA.
1. Yamaha crossplane crank engines
2. Aprilia V-4
Simply gorgeous and I have NO idea how Aprilia managed to get that exhaust past the EPA!
Found this posted by Ryan (YouTube), four days ago.
Apologize it's an image ... i couldn't copy the text
Apologize it's an image ... i couldn't copy the text
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Messages
- 893
- Age
- 72
- Location
- Ada ( Grand Rapids ) Michigan
- Bike
- '07 ST 1300 & '91 GW
When I was 18 , my Dad comes home one day and tells me he bought a car for me, a MG ! I'm thinking cool , a MG TC or TD or A or B . "for $40. " ,,,, (" uh-oh" ) ,, a '64 "MG-1100" ,,, ("what the ? " ) . Turns out body style was like a front wheel drive VW rabbit . & somewhat of a basket case ; Spent all summer rebuilding the car - tranny input shaft bearing had 4 balls left in it - the rest of them was shrapnel on the bottom of the transmission case , Engine crank missed the transmission gears by about a 1/4 " since tranny ran in the same engine oil . FWD driveshafts - one of them had a loose U-joint beating a hole into the side of the transmission case . ( Outer joints were CV ) Had no regular suspension springs or shocks - suspension was 4 anti-freeze filled water pots (@350 psi ) with plungers ramming up into them from "A" arms . Pots had hoses & tubes connecting to the rear pots on the same side . but the right side system on this one was trauma ruptured under the car and lost all anti-freeze so car was riding low on 2 chunks of rubber instead . "Hydrolastic Suspension" it was called . Engine oil was leaking on the dry clutch through only one rear main seal . Front body Grille let air in the front to only be blown on the side of the FWD engine , the radiator was mounted on and sucking air from the left wheel well . Positive ground Lucas electrical system gremlins . Later , I put in negative ground but entirely electrically insulated from body U.S. radio . After I got tired , after 2 years of college , of the starter bendix gear getting stuck in the flywheel gear/teeth every 2 weeks , ( no matter where or what weather was happening ) , I finally sold it & got a '73 Mazda RX3 wagon with the rotary engine - but boy was that another story of 3 engine failures !
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drrod
Site Supporter
Au contraire!!!! A simple tap of the electric fuel pump with something (always a wrench available) and away you went. I had a 63 MGB. Never left me walking but is sure taught me a lot about wrenching!! Not really a winter car. You could freeze wine behind the seats on a cold day (DAMHIKT).
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
My older sister had an MGB GT bought new and I had the pleasure of fixing it on occasion. Greatest gearbox on the planet with that neat little shifter on the console . Just enough length for your hand if you grabbed it around the base of the shaft - then simply rocked your wrist for gearchange . Short throw indeed. But the Achilles heel was the Leyland electric overdrive . If you put the car in reverse with the overdrive engaged you trashed the overdrive - there was no preventive system either- not so much as an idiot light.
Then there was the manual choke cable - better keep a bunch of them on hand as they failed frequently.
OldWingit
Ed Wing
Interesting. As a young guy of twenty in Scotch Plains, N.J. , I bought one of the first Austin Healey's in N.J. It had the electric over drive to use in 2nd and 3rd gears with a switch on the gear shift. The overdrive worked great but most of the early ones lost second gear in the tranny. Naturally no parts so my beautiful Healey ended up on blocks for a few months. Don't get me started on the Lucas parts.
Ed Wing
Ed Wing
I'll have you know young man, Lucas are a much loved (by those who don't know them) English company that can be trusted. Says so on this chart
.Upt'North.