Harley Davidsons 115th anniversary-Repopping the bike

[sarmisluters]

I like the idea.
Who has the luck to find and fight for an original.
Each to their own.

 

[cyclingday]

The idea isn't bad, but come up with something unique that nobody's ever seen before.

 

[fordmike65]

I too dig the idea, but the result looks pretty crappy. If you're gonna charge that much, have custom parts made for this project, such as the stem, bars, grips, dropstand, saddle,pedals and fenders. Most of those parts look like modern junk thrown together & painted up to mimic the original HD paint scheme. Just look at those fender braces! WTF!

 

[Duchess]

At least replicate something that's not available anymore, like a motobike with a tank (assuming HD made one back then). The tank could even be used to store batteries for an electric, which would almost justify the price. This doesn't look like anything I couldn't build myself (and better) for under $1200. It's not even made to measure. You can get custom bikes for less than that! It's like going to Men's Wearhouse and paying more for one of their suits than you'd pay for a high-end tailored suit.

Looked up the builder they hired. Their website talks way more about their coffee than their bikes and their bikes are all Linus-types and priced about the same, so this seems like an even worse deal than my knee jerk reaction. At least hire a high-end builder! But, I guess their usual demographic that pays for this name doesn't care about quality or value, anyway. They need to do something to appeal to a younger generation or they're looking at becoming history rather than just selling replica historic relics (some—probably Chinese company—would likely buy the name at bankruptcy auction to use to sell branded clothing and tchotchkes . . . I guess not much would change, then).

 

[sarmisluters]

I too dig the idea, but the result looks pretty crappy. If you're gonna charge that much, have custom parts made for this project, such as the stem, bars, grips, dropstand, saddle,pedals and fenders. Most of those parts look like modern junk thrown together & painted up to mimic the original HD paint scheme. Just look at those fender braces! WTF!

Marty, Mike,
So are you saying come up with something completely new that’s is not like anything they made back then ?
A quality repop with high quality custom nickle plated neck, bars, sprocket, cranks and etc would pique my interest even though I’m not a HD guy but I do like the post TOC styling.
My friend Dais Nagao and I both started at Art Center at Night long ago, Dais is now a motorcycle designer at HD.
I’ll let him know what we think.

s

 

[cyclingday]

Yeah, I mean, my take on it, would be to design something that's either nostalgic in concept, but completely new in design.
Especially, if your going to put it out in limited numbers with a premium price.
Or something completely modern to attract today's young buyers.
Interactive electronics with on board computing capabilities.

 

[fordmike65]

Now here's a thought....since they only plan to build 10 of these beauties, why not build them up using teens/20's Westfield frames? With a resource like The Cabe, I don't think it would be too difficult to wrangle up 10 frame sets, standard motorbike fenders and stems. New seatposts and dropstands could be made up. Scott's repop crossbars would look pretty good. A modern sealed bearing BB for a newer one piece crank compatible with the 1/2" pitch chainring they've custom made would be a nice touch. Possibly new headsets too. I suppose the Brooks saddle would look somewhat period, at least to the untrained eye. If period frames could not be used due to legal issues, then a better representation of the original one should have been constructed. Anywho...just talking out my a** here. Maybe they'll be great as-is! Let's wait till we get some closer detailed pics before condemning the HD Museum's attempt to capture the interest and intrigue an original HD bicycle possesses.

 

[fordmike65]

Marty, Mike,
So are you saying come up with something completely new that’s is not like anything they made back then ?
A quality repop with high quality custom nickle plated neck, bars, sprocket, cranks and etc would pique my interest even though I’m not a HD guy but I do like the post TOC styling.
My friend Dais Nagao and I both started at Art Center at Night long ago, Dais is now a motorcycle designer at HD.
I’ll let him know what we think.

s

I think Sarmis and I are on the same page. I'm thinking more of a tribute bike, like several others have built in the past. Similar to a true teens/20's HD bike, whether it be a period frameset or a completely new one in the same style.

 

[GiovanniLiCalsi]

Harley Davidson Corporation sacked 800 employees and are moving their factory to Thailand.
The new tax bill saved them 696 million dollars and this is how they thank us middle class working fools! Their employees got screwed!
They could have set up a pension fund of $100,000@employee and still had over 616 million dollars left. The theft of industrial jobs, that have been sent abroad have destroyed America.
America is in the grips of a corporate coup d’etat.

 

[cyclingday]

A few years ago, Trek took a page out of the Harley Davidson book, and made a bike with an Aramid belt drive train, and it was super cool,unique and worked very well.
Now that was thinking outside the box, and created a buzz in the industry.
If you want to make a splash to influence a new generation of buyers loyal to the brand, you've got to attract them with concepts that reflect the motorcycles that may be in their future.
A retro styled nostalgic bike from their turn of the century efforts will only appeal to the customers that they've already got.