February 24, 2010 7:46 PM PST
Hoghaven, I agree with ya. Harley is not like it used to be. Nothing is, I know. When the boutique became the norm, you could see a difference in their attitude. The average working man can't afford to go down and buy one. I know that some don't want the price to go down because they say anyone could buy one then but who in the hell is "ANYONE"? We used to be the ones that were the outcasts and we didn't fit in anywhere else. Now you have folks that ride Harleys that want to exclude people because of their economic situation. I love the bike, not the name and damn sure not the company. Just remember, the only reason Harley survived was because of military contracts and police dept. contracts. It was them or Indian and it has been said that Harley just had more money to do a little pocket padding than Indian did.
I must admit a part of me does still miss when it was socially unacceptable to be a biker. People would give you a wide berth but now they feel they can come up and give their opinion on the last episode of american chopper or biker build off, they still get real offended when you tell them to go away.
The world is a changing place, faster sometimes than I would like but I think it it how you let it affect you is solution. If Harley are going to survive then they have to do as everybody else has done and do what it takes to get through this. I don't think the v-rod is the answer either, I don't know what is but I know I will never own anything else other than Harley!