Closing date July issue -> May 19
Harley-Davidson: brand or myth? –column
This isn't meant as a negative story. I once did something with a Shovelhead engine myself and am still sad that I had to sell that stuff back then. It is more of a reflection. Not because Harleys aren't perfect. They almost never have been, and the entire supply chain industry is delighted about that. Nor is it because perfection is our standard. I have been a happy rider of all kinds of ex-Soviet junk three-wheelers for over 30 years. And those aren't perfect either. But that doesn't detract from the fun. And the costs are in balance with the quality.
At Harley-Davidson, the brand is often spoken of with an almost religious veneration: The Real American Steel, The Best Bike God Ever Made. The Experience, so to speak. Accuse me of a lack of religious conviction. So be it.
Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand. A brand where the myth stands far above the reality. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was founded in 1903. It became a public limited company, Harley-Davidson, Inc., in 1981 following a management buyout. In 1986, the company went public, and its shares are still listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Harley was a truly American company. To put it very bluntly: we make something, and we'll see how we solve the problems after the sale. Indian had better engineers. Harley-Davidson had better salespeople. Harley left the problem-solving to the dealers and buyers.
Harley ran into bad weather multiple times. And the savior in times of greatest need, AMF, received a barrage of criticism, even though it was precisely because of this that the brand stayed afloat during the most difficult times.
Harley's genius came to the fore when Willie G. Davidson and a group of associates carried out the aforementioned management buyout. That was when Harley received a massive boost in terms of models and reputation. Harley stood for a lifestyle. Just like right after World War II, when the returning GIs bought surplus Harleys and invented 'chopping'.
Harley-Davidson produced a series of motorcycles that is impressive: Knuckleheads, Panheads, Shovelheads… These were 100% American motorcycles for American conditions: long stretches on dead-straight roads where serious speed limits applied. You made an impression by sprinting from a traffic light. Due to the road structure and legal speeds, razor-sharp handling plus a set of anchors of brakes weren't really necessary.
In Europe, Harleys were very expensive. And impressive. But because people in Europe rode faster on winding roads, the handling and braking stood out very negatively to those who did not want to ride in the American style. As a result, the motorcycles overheated, burned a lot of oil, and broke down quite often. However, by riding the machines with technical skill and respect, and treating them with constant care, attention, and love, the problems could usually be kept well under control.
Those nicknames for the various big twins were actually coined by the clientele. And the engine blocks themselves were essentially continuous developments based on their predecessors, and each time (slightly) better. But right up to the last of the Big Three, the Shovelheads, they were renowned oil guzzlers. Back to those nicknames: with a bit of imagination, the tops of the cylinder heads looked somewhat like a set of knuckles, an inverted pan, or a shovel.
Later, marketers relieved riders of the need to come up with names themselves. The Evolution engines thus became the Blockheads. Then came the Twin Cam engines (1999-2017), the Milwaukee-Eight, the Revolution, and the Revolution Max engines.
Throughout that entire period, the Evo engines (1984-1999) were actually the only Harley engines that were unconditionally good. They were developed to save Harley once again and did so convincingly, provided they were properly maintained, including the prescribed oil and change intervals. The Evos had Japanese Showa front forks, Japanese Keihin carburetors, and (usually) Italian brakes. But the rest was still convincingly American.
By now, the successors to the Evo engines have acquired just as objectively bad a reputation online as the predecessors of the Evo engines. The Shovels marked the end of an evolutionary trajectory. The engines after the Evos were based on marketing and cost savings. A lot of web pages have been filled with that by now. You can make the marketing and merchandise departments work overtime, but if you put a bad product on the market… well. Trust is built slowly and lost quickly, as they say.
Meanwhile, existing, older Harley riders only want big air-cooled V-twins. These are no longer allowed to be manufactured due to emission regulations. For the younger generation, the new Harleys are simply overpriced modern motorcycles. The myth doesn't exist for them. And the newest, lighter Harleys? They used to come from India and are now 100% Chinese products.
Nothing lasts forever. So neither does a brand like Harley. But Harley has built some very nice motorcycles, real character machines. And those Evos? They are already true classics by now too. In the view of many, the last of the mythical brand.
The bottom line?
Harley is a brand with high survival capabilities. Once one of many American motorcycle brands and usually quite exceptional on our roads, Harleys have always had weak points throughout the decades. And subsequently, a great deal has been done to address this by the factory, but especially by many specialized suppliers.
The magic words are attention, maintenance, and respect.
And of the countless pieces of wisdom about the brand, one is very important: a Harley is only as good as its previous owner. And there are countless Evos that have clocked the full 100,000 kilometers virtually without any problems.
We can complain about the quality of Harley, but there are definitely better motorcycles than BMW, and I know all about that by now. Everything is as good as the ratio between quality and performing the right actions to keep it working.
I agree with Mr. or Ms. 'Anonymous' regarding the noise. Harleys are quiet motorcycles straight from the factory, and that unnecessary noise annoys the living daylights out of me. I am also annoyed that my 'Bavarian Boxers' are so nice and quiet, just as the type approval prescribes, while a Ducati 1199 Panigale is allowed to make four times as much noise and has European approval likewise. That is sheer idiocy. Anyway.
I recently watched a documentary on YouTube. An American list of what they considered the worst motorcycle. I was perplexed that he identified the worst engine block at Harley-Davidson. It concerned a chain tensioner that runs nicely in the oil. It turned out to break frequently, causing the engine to develop a deadly thirst for oil. Yes, that American was taking aim at his own country's muscle-bound icon with that. I do think there's some truth to it. But anyway. If you know that, surely you replace it before it breaks...?! Problem solved. Laughing between our teeth while filtering flies from the air, we ride off into the sunset once again.
Good and objective story Dolf, it is what it is!
When I wanted to buy a heavier BMW in '69 after my R25, it was way too expensive. The Harley I bought instead of the BMW was too, but a loan from my parents sorted out that financial gap. The fact that a few friends subsequently bought something similar, and even my father sold his Vespa and switched to a Hydra, marked the beginning of a little club where we all had different bikes. Even at the Harley Days in Breda, it was a sport to see if we could find two identical ones. No other motorcycle brand has as many accessories available, so they are all different. With those oldies, there was regular maintenance and the occasional wrenching job on the road. I rode my last Harleys for 113 km, 95 km until I wrecked it, and this one is now at 43. Just the routine services, and otherwise just keep going. From the North Cape to Greece and from Tallinn to Benidorm. So you can just ride a Harley too. All that nagging about tinkering gets tiring sometimes. And I still think it's one of my more entertaining motorcycle stories: standing next to a police officer at a traffic light and him remarking, very surprised, that he has never experienced a Harley making less noise than his BMW. So the noise isn't necessary either.
With the right approach, a Harley can make you just as happy as the woman of your dreams can. With the wrong approach, it turns into a bitter divorce.
I have never understood that adoration of Harley.
I have to say, I have never ridden a Harley, but I have absolutely no desire to either.
In my eyes, Harley riders are people who ride that brand so they can say they ride a Harley.
They want to appear interesting to those around them. And this manifests itself primarily in installed loud exhaust pipes, which cast other motorcyclists in a bad light.
It seems that 70% of Harley sales concern merchandise and the remaining 30% the motorcycles; that tells me enough.
I don't ride a motorcycle to walk around in checked shirts, leather jackets, t-shirts, and caps with 'my brand'.
I have been riding motorcycles for well over 40 years now, 35 of which have been on Ducatis, Laverdas, and Guzzis—not always the quality of a Japanese bike, but for me, they are real motorcycles that handle and brake well, and that I personally enjoy immensely.
Replace 'Harley' in your story with 'Ducati' and it makes sense again, right down to the checkered shirts.. 😉
To each their own…
I agree 100%!
Well Rocco, Harleys are quite expensive, prejudices are cheap.
The difference between gentle love and blind adoration,
The last photo isn't an Evo, by the way. That's a Twin Cam (Street Glide)...
50 bonus points for Flanders. I'm going to take another look at it. The photo was from a press introduction about thirty years ago 🙂
Harley and the Davidson brothers started, like almost all brands, with the blueprints of the Dion-Bouton single-cylinder; that little block was proven to be good and reliable.
Moreover, their grey (black was only available for the first few years) single-cylinder engines proved to be quiet compared to the competition, and the nickname 'Silent Grey Fellow' was soon coined.
The demand for more power led Mr. Curtiss to decide to mount a second cylinder at an angle on the existing single-cylinder block, and the other American brands dutifully followed his example… including HD.
The single-cylinder engines died a temporary, quiet death, until it became apparent in the 20s that they performed well, primarily in European grass track races.
Because of their sound, they were called the 'Peashooters'.
Americans themselves were already turning up their noses at it back then: V-twin... and if not, that's it!
That attitude has hardly changed since then…
They like to pat themselves on the back; bigger is better... and we are the best.
They claim (the Russians do too, incidentally) to have single-handedly put an end to WWII, at least according to the current president, and conveniently forget the help and cooperation they received.
Also from our Dutch…
For a time, the old guard was afraid that young people would not share their interest in old classic stuff.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, because motorcycling is hugely popular and the old stuff is getting attention too.
Those are usually the older Japanese bikes getting a failed Ali-Express bobber makeover… but retro models and old English bikes also receive applause.
H-Ds were, are, and remain expensive to buy, and the old stuff is becoming unaffordable…unfortunately.
An Evo Sportster, on the other hand, is a slight exception; a very nice and manageable bike.
The big, clumsy lummoxes are more for strumming... that is where H-Ds come into their own best.
Female athletes are genetically undervalued.
The biggest problem for the survival of Harley Davidson is that the average age of its riders is 60+.
Young people usually cannot afford a motorcycle costing 25.000 euros either; furthermore, the addition of an abundance of modern electronics is also a deterrent for this brand.
If you are looking for a new, simple classic motorcycle, a new Royal Enfield is a more obvious choice: pure simplicity and many times cheaper to buy.
Amen!