Tilley Harley-Davidson, July 1, 2011

On the way home from Virginia, made a stop at Tilley's Harley-Davidson.It is located in Salisbury, NC just off of I-85 (just follow the signs). The store is one of two (there is also another location in Statesville, NC. Seen at right is a Screaming Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod. Basically uprated customs of some (varies from year to year) Harley-Davidson models; they tend to increase performance of the bikes so done. This is Harley's highest performance model, the V-Rod series has the most horsepower of any of the Harley line (which is due to the end of the Buell line of motorcycles) and also is Harley's only water cooled motorcycle engine.
Seen here is the Harley-Davidson Blackline. It has the air cooled Twin Cam 96B engine, split drag bars, and is the typical cruiser configuration. This bike is nice in that it uses smaller tires (moving away from the ultra wide tires that have been popular the last few years. Read a review of the bike in Motorcyclist this month; they noted it is rather "pricy" and at around $15K I could see that. Harley makes some lower priced bikes (mostly in the 883/1200 cc "Sportster line up) but they tend to be small for a tall person. Back in the day, the 883 was considered a big bike, now its considered a girls bike (which in the movie Wild Hogs was a point of some humor)
Harley though is beefing up that image somewhat with the XR1200X which is a more performance based version of the Sportster. In fact they have quite a line up of Sportster based bikes. This one at left (which is the XR1200X) uses the Evolution engine. Styling is based on the XR-750. Buell did a lot with these engines which was the basis of most of their line, but they still tend to be underpowered in comparision with many other brands of motorcycles. Still this one is said to have some better than average handling (for an HD) and pretty good performance for an air cooled motor. I sure like the look of this bike, though small for a 6'2' in rider.
Seen here is the outside of the Tilley Harley-Davidson Store. Ed Tilley had a long career as a car and motorcycle racer including a number of championships in 84,85 and 86 on a bike that had the neat name of "Lucifer's Hammer" (and has reached somewhat legendary status), and a three year championship run in HD Twin Sports in 91,92,93. At one time Ed also worked with the NASCAR legend Richard Petty. Among locals, the dealership is held in high regard, know a few who have purchased bikes from them, and say they will again.
The dealership is having what it calls the "Biker Blues BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic September 23-24, 2011 at the dealership. There will be bands, "Favorite beverages", vendors, food, a bike show, a poker run (those are a blast) and other fun things to see and do during the two day event. Check the Tilley Harley-Davidson web site for more information on the dealership, and the upcoming event.