Harley Davidson of Richmond (January 22, 2011)

Made two bike shops on Saturday January 22; Honda House (previous two posts) and Richmond Harley-Davidson on Hull Street. Nice dealership, though not one of the "newer style" ones. Friendly people, and they don't bother you which is nice; sort of "look around and if you need anything, give me a yell" sort of thing. Did like this Screaming Eagle version of a Harley-Davidson. That gives them a bigger engine, and some really great graphics as well (as well as a bigger price tag) but they are beautiful motorcycles. Something just totally American and classic about Harley-Davidson. I like the sound of them too...very unique to the brand.

This bike is much like my Vulcan, your simple basic cruiser. Unlike mine, its air cooled, though Harley has moved to water cooled bikes with its V-Rod line. They have also gone from chains to belt drive. Like mine, Harley in general has hydraulic lifters which do not require periodic and often expensive valve adjustments. For many years vibration and reliability were issues (as were the famous Harley-Davidson oil leaks) but those I am told are pretty much issues of the past. I have ridden a few Harley's and find them to be smooth and impressive; and nothing fell off of them which is what you want with a motorcycle.
Really liked this photo, taken from the year of a Harley-Davidson bagger. Looks like a big long bike (and it is a big long bike). Harley now has some American competition, some from the latest version of Indian (which at last report makes versions of one model..The Chief), which is made in Kings Mountain, NC and Victory Motorcycles which is based and produced in Minnesota since 1998. They also make some interesting motorcycles and I will be showing some of their bikes for 2011 in a future update of this page.
Enjoyed my cold day out checking out some of the new 2011's (and some older bikes) though still waiting to see some of the newest creations from the creative minds of US and overseas motorcycle manufacturers. Like to see what the latest trends are; there is a lot of diversity in motorcycles, and some very interesting ideas which push the boundaries of what is a motorcycle. Will be fun to check some of those out in the months to come. Looking forward to some interesting shops, but also looking forward to some fun and interesting rides coming up in 2011.