StefkaRose,

That post you responded to wasn't meant as an attack on you, although you took it as such.

I can throw rocks because I own not one but two Harley-Davidson’s. I run stock pipes. I like my bikes quiet and I ride fast. I also have 17 other motorcycles. Right now, parked next to the Harley '08 Softail I have a '97 Honda Valkyrie. It doesn't have the panache of the HD, but it will run rings around it. More power, more torque, smoother ride better handling.

You see, the HD has a common crank pin engine (the V-Rod motor has a staggered crank pin) so just by design it really isn't a twin (although it has two cylinders) operationally it's more like one and a half cylinders. This is what gives the motorcycle such a unique sound - Honda also came out with a Shadow ACE with a common crank pin engine - it sounded like a Harley – Potato - Potato - so much so HD tried to sue Honda by saying the noise a Harley made was a trade mark? Didn't work. With that design you get cool sounds - but not a great deal of power.

The HD is a fun bike to ride, but if some asks me I will tell them the Honda is a better motorcycle because it is. It's bigger and more substantial. It does everything better-but it's down in the coolness factor-in the eyes of some.

Then there is my '06 BMW R-1200RT. Looks ugly. Rides better than either of the above bikes. Gets 50+ MPG, it's got lots of great features too. It'll leave the HD for dead, although I have never done a side by side roll on test the BMW would give the Valkyrie a real run, I would expect them to have similar acceleration.

Loud pipes. Really LOUD (as in no baffling at all shot-gun style) isn’t cool. What bothers me about it is the negative impression it leaves on the general populace. Enough people get pissed off things happen, and these are not good things either. Look at what happened in Denver and New York. When they decided to ban motorcycles from the down town area, it affected ALL motorcycles, not just bikes with loud pipes. In Denver they have backed off of this some, but still you must have stock pipes - if they stop you, you will need to have that all important stamp on there....

Loud Pipes = Irresponsibility.