Well said MS1700.

thebru wrote:
I eluded to this on another thread but feel it needs it's own soap box. If it's fact it's not bashing!! I'm getting a bit tired that every time a member voices his opinion of HD and it's not glowing, it's bashing. I've been on this site a long time and find 99% of it's members respect all bikes. Yes they voice there opinion and I find most come from experience and knowledge. If so that is not bashing. It's very rare I read just an all out bash on any other bike. I want to read members opinions of other bikes, good or bad. After my experience with HD,
they gave me all the reason I need to bash them. But it comes from fact and knowledge and experience.
So let's try to lighten up on this "NO BRAND BASHING" crap and let people relate there opinions that are based in fact.

Sorry to rant, I usually don't, but this one has been bugging me.

Ok I'm going to speak out on this one. Let me start by saying I own 2 R*'s and 1 harley FLHT. I have been riding legally on the street for 41 years and owned numerious different makes of bikes in the last 45 years. Here is what I see that happens on this forum. Everyone says I'm not brand bashing when they mention H.D. Well really if your not brand bashing and your so proud of your R* why does everyone want to compare their R* to H.D.??? I never hear anyone say "My R* is better then the Suzuki M90 or M50, or the Honda Goldwing,Fury or the Kawasaki Vulcan or Nomad, or the BMW or Triumph motorcycles. I never ever hear any comparison other then to try and put down H.D and make it out like HD builds an inferior product compared to their R*. Many people base their thoughts on things they have heard about HD in the past and really don't have real world experiance with owning one. At least a modern version of the harley. Most on here have taken up riding motorcycles late in life. I read alot of what people write and trust me there are few people here that have many many years of riding and owning. And I'm only saying this for the sake of argument. I read things where people talk about how harley shakes so bad. Cartersta even said "I don't like my fillings being shaken out of my mouth" Really? What year bike are you riding. My FLHT other then at idle is way smoother then my 2 R*'s on the highway. Hell my R* shakes so bad I can't even play a C.D. in the stereo while riding, but amazingly I can with my harley. People talk about oil puking H.D.! Yeah maybe in the past but after the Evo engine came along those oil leaks stopped. I have had oil leaks on my R* from some seals just like any mechanical vehicle after time it can happen so you fix it. 5 years now and my harley doesn't leak a drop, of course neither do my R*'s cause if I saw a leak I would fix it as it wasn't designed to leak. No motorcycle was!!!!
MS1700 kind of eluded to alot of the problems that have and can occure on the R*. It's not a perfect machine believe me but he says for a whole lot less money. Really? Most parts for the R* are more expensive then HD that's why so many buy HD & aftermarket HD due to supply and demand the prices are cheaper. Yes you may have paid less money for your R* but after reading here people don't want to offer crap for a used R* so what does that say for the R* if after a couple of years R* owners don't think it's worth much?????

I needed a replacement wheel hub for my 00 R* when it came defective from the factory. Yamaha would not help and Yamaha wanted $600 for a new hub. Not a complete wheel but a hub. I can buy brand new complete wheels for under $200 for a harley. I could go on and on with things I have read on this forum and people trying to compare the R* to HD. So yes it's brand bashing as far as I'm concerned unless people start comparing the R* to alot of other brands of cruisers out there on the market. People say they ride the R* cause they want to be different. OMG have you looked at most of the bikes on here. Other then paint most look alike. There are 1000's of R*'s and they all look alike. And I'm not trying to put anyones bike down I'm just making a point. I like them all as long as your out there in the wind I don't care what you ride. Riding a motorcycle is a feeling I have never really been able to describe, I just love it so much and prefer it to being inside a vehicle. That is why I ride around 350 days out of the year.

In the end I think Gram who started this forum wanted it to be a place where people who own a R* could come and talk about their bikes and seek out help when there was a problem. A place to show off your bike and have comradery with others. It was not meant for "MY BIKE IS BETTER THEN YOURS!" Who gives a crap if you think your bike is better. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right. Some people may think my wife is ugly and others may think she is beautiful that's what makes the world go round. You can't please everyone. I love my wife to death so it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.
I'm sick to death of people here trying to compare the R* to HD! If your so proud of your bike you don't need to say anything. It's like the guy who is one ass whopping SOB and could beat you down with no problem. They don't need to brag!! They know where they stand and are confident in themselves. Well if your confident in your R* then don't say anything other then I love my R* and don't try and compare it, just know in your mind you made the right decision in buying a R* and be done with it.

And if I have pissed anyone off I'm truly Sorry! I don't want that. What I would like to see, is to come here and when I see where someone needs help and I have been there and done that I want to help them out. And when I see someone needs a part that I might have I want to help them out. May not always be a freebie but it will be a major discount over buying new! What I want to do is come here and share what I have done with my bikes. People can even say to me. Hey I like this but I really don't like that! Cool that's your opinion. Your not riding my bike and if everyone liked how my bikes looked then everyone would copy it and then it wouldn't be different. Let the other bike brands do the dirt talking! Let's show them were better then that!

Let's all just get along and share in the joy of owning a RoadStar!!

hardone2get...very well said

Personally the local HD dealer here, Barnett's in El Paso, hasn't bashed me when I owned a Venture Royale and was just " window shopping " looking at Road Glides ! I was actually in the HD market for a Softtail or a Road Glide ( which is the only HD I'd consider )when I found a RS Silverado I couldn't pass up !

Love my RS and people also comment on my bike everyday

Laughed ny a** off. Yup! We have an area in Tororto called the beaches. Used to live the while I was going to school. Now's it's been whitewashed into YUPPIEVILLE ride through there every day. The place is infested with Vepas, shouldn't do it but I like oto rattle them with my 3" Hard Kromes.

My R* is better than a Vespa.

It all boils down to being happy with the bike we ride, with the monthly payments we can afford (until it's paid off). Like it's been said, H-D's are expensive up front, but the parts are relatively cheaper. Our scoots are less expensive up front, but the parts can be more than your dental bill. It's a trade-off. I'd be as proud owning a Harley as I am owning a Roadstar. It's my ride.

hardone2get all I can say is AMEN Brother! Well Said! I am with you 110%! I am more tired of the "I saw an HD on the road today and they looked at me funny..." threads than I am of the "which oil is best" threads. Coming from a guy who has owned more HD's than R*s I can appreciate things about both bikes. Hell I can appreciate things about just about every bike. I don't know if it's me or what but I personally have never had someone seriously down the bike I was riding. Of course there are always friends that talk crap, but I have never been on my R* and had a perfect stranger say a negative word and I am at the local HD shop all the time for bike night. They just happen to share the same parking lot with Quaker Steak & Lube who has a weekly bike night. All I can say is just freaking ride and quit being so sensitive. If it bothers you that much than obviously you must have a problem with the bike your riding. If that's the case go buy an HD. They are fantastic machines!

I love my RS for lots of reasons, one is that yes people mistake it for an HD. I like the fact that I got a great bike that fools a lot of people, people who don't know their bikes. I live in HD country, and as I've said before, that up here you can't swing a pig without hitting a hog. That's just saying that there are soooooooo many around, I wanted to have something as nice, but still be different.
Danny, you've called me once or twice when I said something out of line and I respect that. It's hard, we are a brotherhood here who all (almost all) have one thing in common, we have Roadstars. It's sort of like the old joke about the guy who got stranded on an almost deserted island, the other two guys there made fun of him because he got the ugly elephant. (I'll tell you the entire joke if you've never heard it before).

i have to agree i waited 20+ years to buy a bike again cause i said not until i can afford an H-D,
well i went lookin but when i saw my bike all i told the wife was thats my bike right there.
it didnt matter what kind it was. it fit me to a T,so much so that i didnt even start it up till i had it loaded in the truck,
the sound of it was just icy on the cake for me.
btw my name is onry{Rod} and im an *R addict

HD just out of my Price range for what you get, Being a Former marine, yea American made touches home, but if I wanted that I would be shopping Victory, more American than Harley. That's what bothers me most about the Harley thing, they preach all this made in America stuff and they have such a foreign content it's not even funny, especially in aftermarket gear and accessories. If it's all about American made, jump on a victory. (personally I only saw one I liked,@ the MW Meet and Greet)

That said, my friend just bought a Road king, the air ride duel shock set up is outstanding! (But the side-stand set up scares the crap out of me.) It's agreat looking bike, and in about 5K$$$$ he'll have what I got factory. (midnight) But his seat will never come off as quick!

If you go into a HD dealership now, they are giving the dam things away! Seriously! If you wanted one you could have one. But you do and you have a Roadstar, or you don't and that's why your here reading this.

I like HD parts made to work on a Roadstar!