Did folks here consider the HD Street Bob??

[BanditSRT8]

Originally Posted by saddlebag

I liked the sound of the stock bike in motion just fine. I didn't think the cans improved the sound, just made it more annoying. It doesn't have a real enticing idling sound, but so what?



It's got impressive comfort, power, and handling, but unless you want to challenge teenagers to races between stoplights, it's a fairly useless machine. And I don't need a $20k doorstop.

I'd love to see them harness that motor in a more useful steed, like say the FJR. I keep hearing they are going to put the inline cross plane engine in the FJR, but it seems the Japs are about finished with innovation these days, leaving it up to the Europeans. They are taking the Harley route of same bike new paint. Saves a lot of money on R&D, that's for sure.

But you can't compare apples to oranges. You can't compare a cruiser to a sportbike, sport-tourer or standard.

People put serious coin into hopping up all types of cruisers. V-Rods, Dynas, Vegas, Hammers, M109s, Rocket III's, Warriors and more. They do the exact same thing that you're knocking... they go fast in a straight line, or mellow curves. They aren't sportbikes. They're not meant for the same purpose.

The Vmax was the first production muscle cruiser, and was specifically made (and marketed) for drag racing. And they excel at that.

But they don't handle as badly as some would have you believe. The only reasons I didn't buy the Max was because my Diavel Carbon was lighter, almost exactly as fast, and handled a bit better. The footpeg position and bike availability in my area were the final determining factors though.

But I was very, very close. And after test riding one, I was blown away. The power is flat-out brilliant.

[half_crazy]

Wouldn't it be a long shot for someone who is considering a Street Bob to slide all the way to a Diavel or V-Max?

Originally Posted by BanditSRT8

The only reasons I didn't buy the Max was because my Diavel Carbon was lighter, almost exactly as fast, and handled a bit better.

All very good reasons... and it's an Italian V-twin.

[saddlebag]

Originally Posted by BanditSRT8

People put serious coin into hopping up all types of cruisers. V-Rods, Dynas, Vegas, Hammers, M109s, Rocket III's, Warriors and more. They do the exact same thing that you're knocking... they go fast in a straight line, or mellow curves. They aren't sportbikes. They're not meant for the same purpose.

I'm not knocking anything. I don't care how people want to use their bikes if I didn't pay for them. I do care that *MY* bike is capable of being ridden between gas stations without having to push it. I also care that the power comes on with some finesse as I don't ride to go fast between stop lights. I like bikes to corner properly and that requires gradual, linear fueling. The V-max had one of the worst on-off throttle responses I've ever experienced and I've experienced some bad ones.