The Harley Demo truck came to town.

I will willingly throw a leg over almost any two wheeled pleasure producer that someone volunteers to let me ride. You never know just what the specs of a particular model will translate to on a ride. Does that 32 inch seat height mean that I'm on my tip toes at at stoplight? Does 140 HP mean the bike has instant on demand torque and acceleration? Does my ass look big on this sport bike? All of those questions can be answered by heading on down to your local dealer when a demo truck comes to town. This weekend I had the chance to head over to Temecula Harley Davidson to ride their new 2018 models so I fired up the Yamaha and headed north for some V-Twin action.

I left the house pretty early. As I found out not just one week earlier, demo truck events can fill up fast. Last weekend just down the block from the Temecula Harley dealer, a Yamaha demo truck was in town. The dealer opened at 10:00 am. I arrived at 10:03 only to find that the first ride I could get on would be at 1:10 pm. I guess many people arrived early and they were allowed to sign up for everything. If you arrived later you were SOL like me since I have a life and kids and can't spend 3 hours screwing around waiting to ride a demo bike. I love you Yamaha, but you hurt me that day.

In the first three pictures you can see the opening ride of the day. This is the FLSL Softail Slim. This would be my first time on a big Harley in a few years. Right away I was hit by the ergonomic oddities of this bike (and every other one of the bikes I tested). The Slim had floorboards which took some getting used to on the test ride. I found myself hanging my feet halfway off the boards to get enough leverage to support my upper body when the road got twisty. The front single disc brake was actually very nice. A surprising thing given its relatively small size as compared to the bike's weight. The clutch required all four fingers to activate, but the brakes were two fingered powerful. Shifting was nice and crisp. I actually forgot to use the clutch when we entered the freeway for highway leg of the route and was surprised that it shifted very well with sport bike style clutches upshifts. The seat was hard and in the wrong position for my butt when combined with the forward controls. It handled the turns very well and I felt I could flick it into a curve with good confidence that it would hold a line. A good start to the day.

The next bike I rode was this Street Bob FXBB. It was the one I was wanting to ride the most out of the new Softail lineup. With the new softails, Harley is endingthe Dyna line of bikes. The Dynas are the ones that Harley guys go to for performance applications like stunting or track use. This one had forward controls that were pegs instead of floorboards. It also had some nice looking ape hangar handlebars. I was looking forward roaring away on this bad boy.

Right away the differences between the Slim and the Street Bob were the brakes. They didn't have the same feel with the Street Bob's brakes feeling a bit softer. The forward pegs had the same lack of upper body support as the Slims floorboards. The ape hangars were comfy, but made me a sail on the highway when combined with the foot control position. Seat comfort was the same as the Slim which is to say not comfortable. The engine character was not what I expected. I just couldn't figure out where to shift and where the power band was. Part of the issue is that I was expecting to get more feedback from the engine to feel what is was doing. The suspension was pretty harsh with every bump and crack in the road transmitted straight to my spine. With the bumpy suspension I couldn't feel the engine. The new Milwaukee 8 engines have had their vibrations tamed a bit with counter balancers. The only gauge on the Street Bob was a tiny digital speedo so I couldn't translate engine feel with rpm with and degree of certainty. The handling was just as good as the Slim. Turning into the corners was nice and I could see myself having some fun on a canyon road as the bike held a nice line with no wobble or complaint.

This dealer had the right idea when it came to signing people up for the demo rides. They only let us sign up for the first ride. After we got back they allowed us to sign up for the next two, but not any farther. After each ride you were able to go sign up for another set. They actually had 20 or so bikes vice the 10 the Yamaha truck had. There were empty bikes every ride that went out. This meant that you didn't have to wait three hours for a demo.

My next bike was the 1200 Sportster. I was looking forward to riding a bike a little more sized to my Yamaha. The bars on this bike were almost like clubman bars. The pegs were mid mounted so I expected the ride to be more like my style of riding. The seat was still hard and the rear suspension was rigid despite the twin shocks. The bar & peg combo bent me forward into the wind which was nice on the freeway part of the demo loop. The handling was as expected. Much more tippy than the bigger bikes. I really wanted to feel that part of the bike. Used Sportys are $3000 on the classifieds so this is one model that I could pick up if I wanted to. The ergonomics were more cramped than the other bikes. The pegs are wide and I kept getting my pants caught on the ends of them. They were a bit high up too. The transmission didn't shift as well as the bigger twins as it was a bit notchy, but clutches upshifts were still easy enough to do. The canyon section was fun and I started to slide my butt off the seat and swing my knee out a bit. I think the Sportster would be one I could get into if I got one. The aftermarket is pretty good for Sportsters with all manner of suspension and control upgrades available to make the Sporty what ever you want it to be.

I also have to applaud the dealership for their work on running the demo rides. They used the local H.O.G. chapter as the road captains to lead the ride. The route they chose was an equal mix of freeway, sedate back road and twisty canyon with just enough stop light to stoplight action to give you a good impression of the bike's capabilities for a normal rider's day of riding. I don't like group rides, but rolling up to a stoplight in a 20 bike group is kinda cool.

My fourth bike of the day was this Street 750. It is the foreign made, American assembled water cooled Harley that donates its engine to the Harley flat track race bikes, though those engines are much massaged of course. This bike had very different character than the other bikes. The controls were different, the fit and finish of the instruments was different and the overall personality of the engine was different. The engine had a very Japanese bike feel and I liked it as it was familiar. I didn't feel out of my element. It wasn't particularly powerful or revy, but when I twisted a handful of throttle it behaved like the bikes I'm used to. The handling was very sharp. It really reminded me of my Ninja track bike. The ergonomics were, you guessed it, very cramped. There is a rubber pad to protect your boot heel from the exhaust pipes on the brake side controls. The left side is just a flat topped peg. This translates to feeling like you have a floorboard on the right and a peg on the left. It was hard to move my feet into a good position for the curves. The pegs were super high which flayed my knees upward and outward. Brakes were overly soft for a bike with dual front discs and I actually had to use all four fingers to apply enough pressure to stop. I could see taking a used one of these and really going through it top to bottom to make a nifty little track bike out of it.

By this time I was starting to get tired. The mixed experience of the ride groups and the disconcerting feeling of all of the different bikes was starting to wear me down. I had one more bike to test. This is the Road King Special. It is a naked bagger and one that I was looking forward to riding thanks to its generous seat and relaxed handlebar position. After all of these other bike, my spine and butt were feeling a bit bruised. This would be a good way to finish up the day.

This is a classic big twin in the style of today's trend for big, brash, but comfortable bikes.  Everything on the bike was stout, but it all seemed right. The floorboards were still too far forward for my taste, but the bars were comfortable. One thing hard to get used to are the 1" bars and extra fat grips of the Harley bikes. Even though this bike had the same engine as the other big twins, it felt a bit more lively and I could hear the exhaust note a little more. Harley's with factory exhaust are quieter than my Yamaha with its Two Brother's Racing slip on exhaust can. As we took off, I felt very comfortable and could feel myself really digging the cruiser experience. One thing I absolutely did not like was the heel-toe shifter set up. The heel shifter locked my boot onto the floorboard in a way that prevented me from adjusting my foot position. Freeway riding was a blast, both from a pleasure standpoint and from the wind in my face. The bike really tipped into corners. I wanted to pick up the pace of the ride, but couldn't due to the slower rider in front of me. I could see some replacement floorboards in my future with this bike after shaving the stock ones down to a razor's edge. Good quality two-fingered front brakes combined with a solid rear brake meant that hauling the bike down from extra legal speeds was easy. The clutch still required a big old fist of grip from my whole left hand. The mirrors were stable and useable at all speeds and the seat was comfy enough for all day riding. At the end of the day this was my favorite bike.

After reading some of these thoughts you might think that I didn't like the bikes or that I'm a Harley Davidson hater. I love motorcycles of all shapes, sizes and dispositions. My thoughts were from a guy used to riding 13 year old Japanese standards and they show that these bikes are different from what I know. I could own any one of these bikes and once I put some time, effort and cash into tweaking them, could be a happy camper. I understand that Harley designs their bikes with styling as the first and foremost aspect and that design philosophy shapes their product. Every manufacturer has a basis of design, be it price, style, comfort or speed. These constraints shape the overall outcome of as delivered motorcycle. You as the rider need to get your ass onto as many bikes as you can to see what fits you best. Know that your tastes may change as you mature in the realm of Motorbiking. If you keep an open mind like I did, you can find yourself riding away with some good memories of a fun day experiencing the joy that only Motorbikes can provide. I also want to give a shout out to Temecula Harley Davidson for hosting a good event and to Harley for doing demo rides the right way. Thanks to my buddy Luis for letting me know about this chance to throw a leg over some new bikes.

This week I had some parts come in the mail to work on. My buddy and I are planning our first trackday together over the Thanksgiving Holiday break which should be fun. I've got some other projects in mind so make sure you don't go too far from the blog. Catch ya later!

Blue