HDRCGB - Classic Mechanics Magazine
- Thread starter El Hombre
- Start date
The Drach Man
Club Member
Good move...anything that opens up the pleasure of owning an older Harley has got to be good. Personally, I prefer Classic Bike, as oddly, the mag seems to have more mechanical articles. I generally learn something new, a technique, an idea, each time I pick it up.
I can admire the architecture of an old bike in a way that the new ones cannot reach, but any article on an old Indian or - if it's gonna be a Harley featured at all - an old flat tracker - grabs me straightaway. Too few, however, and never any on an old BT.
Having said all that, I haven't bought a bke mag in years, and generally do my perusing while pretending to go off and get the yoghurt in the supermarket. I think the wife hasn't yet worked it out....
I can admire the architecture of an old bike in a way that the new ones cannot reach, but any article on an old Indian or - if it's gonna be a Harley featured at all - an old flat tracker - grabs me straightaway. Too few, however, and never any on an old BT.
Having said all that, I haven't bought a bke mag in years, and generally do my perusing while pretending to go off and get the yoghurt in the supermarket. I think the wife hasn't yet worked it out....
kevscrivener
Moderator
Likewise. Back in the day, I was often approached by people wanting to talk about the old 45, and one of the most frequent comments was "I get all the bike magazines but I can't afford a Harley".
My stock reply was on the lines of "Well, I bought this one with the money I saved by not buying all the bike magazines".
Batman
Three Wheel Clerk
I was the same with the Servi, people wanting to talk about it, now I've sold it, no one even notices the Glide.
Maybe its time to look for a Shovel again...........
The Drach Man
Club Member
Added to which, the possibility of recruiting more to the interest; I was reflecting on what I suspect is a prevalence of older owners of classics - because they need more cash to equip a small 'workshop'? - and younger riders are buying their ready-to-go bikes with finance and little wriggle room for further financial outlay? I know that was the case with me.
El Hombre
Club Member
Yes, I have to agree. Sign on the line and get on the bike was the way I did it back in the day. Later on it was credit cards for tuning and accessories. But, there's a lot of very cool and astute youngsters out there who like the vintage scene for it's accessibility and independence. Although, prices are a major barrier, they get together, share and help each other out. Which is the traditional custom amongst bikers old and new.
kevscrivener
Moderator
Maybe so, but this is the UK. Harleys have never been that popular with motorcycling journos (with a few honourable exceptions) and their biggest issue over here has been the perceived exclusivity of the brand (something that neither the factory nor the owners seem keen to play down) coupled with flawed design and construction.
This was evident even back in the 1970's; we had the XLCR which was expensive and didn't go, and the XR1000 which was even more expensive but had too much power for the rolling chassis to handle and wasn't reliable. They were the only two bikes which even remotely competed with what Japan and Italy had to offer to the sporting rider at the time, and if you wanted a big tourer the Gold Wing and BMW's R100RS gave you far better reliability and value for money from the former, and state of the art perfection from the latter. I happily concede that neither competed with the ElectraGlide in terms of presence and sheer grin factor, but you must remember that the vast majority of classic bike owners are influenced by what they either had or aspired to when they were young, and back then the general consensus amongst those who didn't own Harleys was that they were expensive crap. It's a handle which the MoCo has struggled to shake off to this day, and regrettably they as much as anyone else are responsible for that given the faults and recalls which have accompanied every model rollout bar the VRod; which essentially wasn't a Harley at all.
Give a dog a bad name, etc.
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El Hombre
Club Member
I think Ray has sold the Servi ??? But, I get your drift. I'll keep an eye on the issues and wait for the right time. I think they have some stuff lined up to test the water. They obviously need to be careful. Considering Kev's points above - it could backfire on them! Then again, it might increase circulation?
The Drach Man
Club Member
I'd buy it. After I've fetched the yoghurt
kevscrivener
Moderator
As I said above Paul, it's a UK thing. I've been a VMCC member for as long as I've been involved with this club; and even there, Harley riders suffer much the same sort of attitude. Barring the genuine vintage and veteran stuff such as the likes of Ken Lee and John Andrew campaign, you don't tend to come across a lot of other VMCC eligible Harleys at club nights and events; although there are a fair few who run modern ones as well as their classic fleet. I should add that I've never come across any direct hostility (such as used to be meted out by certain sections back in the day were you rash enough to visit on anything Oriental) but there's no doubt that Harleys are sometimes viewed with a certain amount of suspicion. Oddly enough, Indians always seem to be welcome.
As to why this is; well, I suspect that it's partly the image that we like to cultivate, which portrays us as either the two wheeled version of a dude ranch or a heavily watered down pastiche of the less desirable elements of motorcycling society, depending on which Harley club you belong to. Our own club long had a tendency to circle its wagons and be somewhat secretive, which didn't help matters either.
El Hombre
Club Member
People do make associations and prejudge individuals + groups. Prejudice will nearly always beat logic. That's how marketing, politicians etc work their magic and even the bike press uses clichés to manipulate readers. The biggest critics of Harleys are people that have never ridden one, but they know all about them!
The lifestyle image of a typical Harley rider is as Kev says "heavily watered down pastiche of the less desirable elements of motorcycling society" certainly springs to mind. Although, I guess in the USA it's included in the iconology of apple pie, Detroit, Coca Cola etc.
As for Indian, I love them but they don't compare with the same lineage as Harley. You can trace a Shovel back to the 30's just by looking at the parts catalogue. Even the later Evos, TC's etc are obvious relatives.
I think Andy does a good job of showing the diversity of Harleys in AMV along with some technical features, but the inclusion of older Harleys in CMM would reach an audience that does not read American based mags. It's a nut and bolt thing with machines and people who love them. They like to understand how things work and how to fix them when they go wrong.
The lifestyle image of a typical Harley rider is as Kev says "heavily watered down pastiche of the less desirable elements of motorcycling society" certainly springs to mind. Although, I guess in the USA it's included in the iconology of apple pie, Detroit, Coca Cola etc.
As for Indian, I love them but they don't compare with the same lineage as Harley. You can trace a Shovel back to the 30's just by looking at the parts catalogue. Even the later Evos, TC's etc are obvious relatives.
I think Andy does a good job of showing the diversity of Harleys in AMV along with some technical features, but the inclusion of older Harleys in CMM would reach an audience that does not read American based mags. It's a nut and bolt thing with machines and people who love them. They like to understand how things work and how to fix them when they go wrong.
The Drach Man
Club Member
September 2021 edition. One of three letters supporting the inclusion of Harleys in CCM....
Are we becoming respectable? I can't understand the bias against us.....
