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Harley-Davidson says goodbye to the XR1200

Given the competition it was up against, it was a wise move to exit out of this market segment and focus on their core customer base.

It was a good effort on H-D's part.
 
OldMadBrit said:
So after all the effort the AMA put into establishing a race series for this POS 2 wheeled tractor - HD rewards them by discontinuing it :laughing

So it wasn't Eric Buell that HD hated - it was/is non-oval track racing :x
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Harley-Davidson built roadracers in the 50's, 60's and 70's. And many of those even had engines you could honestly say were built for tractors; the KR flathead 750's.
 
OldMadBrit said:
So after all the effort the AMA put into establishing a race series for this POS 2 wheeled tractor - HD rewards them by discontinuing it :laughing

So it wasn't Eric Buell that HD hated - it was/is non-oval track racing :x
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Vance & Hines is behind the XR1200 series, not HD. V&H put up the prize money and use the riders and bikes in advertising, while HD does not. Its a marketing effort for V&H to sell performance accessories to the huge HD market. The XR1200 series is slated to continue through 2014, IIRC..
 
a question about harleys....

why do their exhaust gas smell the same? I've been stuck behind many who don't watch their mirrors....they all have this smell of incomplete combustion. kind of like oil (or something else) burning.
 
Carlo said:
Desmondromic valve actuation goes back to before WWII.

And it IS outdated. Ducati's don't rev any higher than other high performance engines with valve springs.

They hang onto it for the same reason that Harley makes bikes with pushrod 45 degree v-twins; it's a trademark.
Let's also not forget how complicated desmodromic valve mechanisms are.
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There's actually a patent on that style of valve train from 1896.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmodromic_valve
 
JO EBRMC said:
Actually, F1 and the other MotoGP manufacturers had to develop and adopt pneumatic valves in order to keep up with Ducati's desmo valves. There was no way they could get to 19k RPMs with spring valves.
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The valve spring harmonics were the problem and that was solved in the early fifties (probably during the war). Honda was spinning their 250cc six cylinder to 18,000 rpm in the mid sixties and past 23,000 in the 80s. The smaller bikes rev'ed even higher. F1 ran spring valves for many decades before they switched to pneumatic valves. You are heavily drinking the Ducati-aid so I'm sure you are unconvinced but there is nothing done by desmodromic valve system that couldn't be done by spring valves. If there was everybody would be using the system that patent ran out some time in the 1940s.
 
corndog67 said:
You ride a Nightster. And you think the XR1200 is ugly?

It's the only Harley I'd actually want. I just sold a Sportster, it was a piece shit
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And you ride well a whole shit load of bikes what's your point? To each is own and what looks good to some may not look good to others.

I just can't seem to understand why so many of you bash Harley's and yet you feel the need to comment on a thread about Harley's. Why bother and waste the time and energy? But hey it is what it is, you will always have haters I guess.
 
fast4d said:
a question about harleys....

why do their exhaust gas smell the same? I've been stuck behind many who don't watch their mirrors....they all have this smell of incomplete combustion. kind of like oil (or something else) burning.
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that's probably exactly what it is. big displacement, air cooled engines will run hot by nature. keeping the fuel mix a little on the rich side (more gas than needed) keeps combustion temps down (perhaps a bit counter intuitive but it's true. lean burns hotter) and is "better" for the motor
 
I wanted a civilian VR1000, but we all know how that worked out.

HD would have poned the US sprotbike market.

Cheers!
 
Having owned a harley and trying to justify why I was on a shit suspension ill handling bike... I quickly realized Harley only cares about making bikes "new" in regards to swapable parts to make "current" models. They are worse than the recycling places that buy stolen shit from tweakers. Nothing is innovative
about Harley and the only thing they have over the jap market bikes is a solid vtwin(talking new bikes) engine. It's a shame there are no more sporty(not shitty suespension sv650's come to mind) vtwins coming from Japan. I would put stickers and buy random appareal if any of the major
four would sell that shit! Serious as a heart attack!
 
You can still do the Storz conversion (for $15k over the price of a sporty):

24.jpg
 
Nah, probably genetic memory or they just don't know any better. How else can you explain spending $20k for a "21st century" motorcycle that can be outrun by a 1978 550? :laughing

In all seriousness. There's nothing wrong with the bikes themselves really. They are what they are and HD has been doing a lot of upgrades over the past 10 years or so to their line up but keeping the styling. Gotta love the competition in the form of Polaris/Victory! :thumbup It's the people buying them and their attitudes about their 1 trick pony MCs that turn me off the brand mostly. That and the HD corp decisions are typically stupid. Oh and I want to do more than just cruise on my bikes so... there's that too. :teeth
 
Carlo said:
Desmondromic valve actuation goes back to before WWII.

And it IS outdated. Ducati's don't rev any higher than other high performance engines with valve springs.

They hang onto it for the same reason that Harley makes bikes with pushrod 45 degree v-twins; it's a trademark.
Let's also not forget how complicated desmodromic valve mechanisms are.
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While ducatis street bikes use demos for the reason you specify, the desmosedici uses it for the exact reason JO said. Massive rev ceilings without the use of pneumatics. There's a reason Ducati has easilly themostpowerfullbike in motogp.
 
IMO the XR1200 flopped because it was the worst of all possible worlds. It sure as hell wasn't a sportbike, it was naked and thus a bad touring bike, it didn't have the cruiser appeal, and people who like high quality will never accept that lump of shit they call an engine. You can't engineer around 45 degree vees and end up with anything worth a damn.
 
Kornholio said:
I know some are, but most aren't. It's amazing how much people just spout off the shit they were told by someone else without actually researching anything.
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It's true.

I never understand why people have to love one and hate the other. I love race bikes, I love the sport of Moto racing. Motogp, trials, mx, it's all badass.

The other day I was in the dealership looking at the new forty eight. Man those fat ass front tires, stripped down look, so sweet :cool
 
kevin 714 said:
While ducatis street bikes use demos for the reason you specify, the desmosedici uses it for the exact reason JO said. Massive rev ceilings without the use of pneumatics. There's a reason Ducati has easilly themostpowerfullbike in motogp.
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Pneumatics aren't required for stratospheric revs. The CBR250RR revved to 19,000 RPM with out pneumatics or desmo actuation. Duc uses desmo because it's tradition, not because it's a superior tech. Same reason Harley still sells 45-degree twins.
 
thenewwazoo said:
Pneumatics aren't required for stratospheric revs. The CBR250RR revved to 19,000 RPM with out pneumatics or desmo actuation. Duc uses desmo because it's tradition, not because it's a superior tech. Same reason Harley still sells 45-degree twins.
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It is if you are running under super lean fuel limits.

There's a reason the motogp bikes use pneumatics. There's a reason why Ducati wanted them specifically banned, and now that a rev cieling is being thrown around, they are freaking. Tradition doesn't mean shit in motogp. It never has. Ducati didn't run a twin, threw out the trellis frame for the CF one. Then threw that out to do a alloy twin spar. There's no tradition in motogp.
 
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