A 1973 Aermacchi Harley SS350 with busted electric starter.
Sometimes that kick starter would kick back. Che cazzo!
Well & truly the Worst of Both Worlds. < |:)~
Posted on 12/05/2015 2:03:45 PM PST by martin_fierro
Sorry, No more 800lb pigbikes for me. In fact I found the Goldwings to be not all that comfortable.
OTOH, the PT Cruiser was always an underpowered, form-over-substance POS. I'm not sure the latest iteration of Indian has that problem.
As I’m 55, this would probably be the last bike I’d ever own. I want to ride, too, not wrench. Reliability and low maintenance are key.
Or better to stick with the "Old Bike"?
Good points. Thanks!
Ah, but Honda dropped reverse gear on the F6B "to save weight." < |:(~
That’s splendid.
But eventually I’m gonna have to turn.
Indian. Better resale.
A 1973 Aermacchi Harley SS350 with busted electric starter.
Sometimes that kick starter would kick back. Che cazzo!
Well & truly the Worst of Both Worlds. < |:)~
Much better wind protection on the Indian. I’ve ridden Hondas for decades and love every one I’ve had, but for longer range riding I ride BMW. That said, I think the Indian is an excellent choices too. Wind protection is important to me for a comfy ride, so the Indian wins between that Honda and that Indian.
That Indian is the bike I damned near bought. I just loved the leather!
I’d go with the Indian.
- Better Low End Torque
- Personality and Style
- Will Increase in Value
- Higher Quality Fit & Finish
- American Made
As others have noted, Polaris is in it for the long haul. I doubt Indian is going away again anytime soon. However, if they do, you’d have an instant collector bike.
Gold Wings historically do not hold their value. I haven’t ridden the F6B myself so I can’t attest to the low speed characteristics of the bike. It is worth noting the other Gold Wing models can be downright scary during parking lot maneuvers.
If you are looking for a Canyon Carver with storage and tunes there are far better bikes than either of these two.
You owe it to yourself to test ride an HD Ultra Classic before you commit. You might be surprised!
Whatever your choice, I will still make fun of you . . .
Always push the kick start lever all the way through it's stroke, and then keep it held at the bottom of the stroke until the engine is either running, or has stopped turning completely.
My ‘69 Guzzi Ambo 750 did not have a kick starter.
So when the battery got low, I had to push the bike (hopefully finding a downhill slope!) up to about 5MPH or so and then pop the clutch.
It had to be done in 2nd gear. The compression would stop the bike dead in its tracks in 1st.
But all things told, I loved that bike better than any before or since. Currently riding an old GL1200A - it’s all I currently can afford. But one day soon .......
Good for them. Their capital just went up in my estimation.
My goose is going on 21 and I still haven't worn it out yet. ;-)
I’m going back to my roots this coming season.
I’ll get a classic if I can afford it.
If not, maybe a used Bassa.
Concur.
â—¦ Belt drive
I think there's a conversion coming out [Sturgis rumor] if you really want a chain, but I think I could be convinced to give the rubber band a tryout. Note that the chain on the Indians produced at Chicopee Falls up to 1953 had the chain on the other side as the Harleys of the era. That used to be something Harley riders had a lot of fun mocking, right up until H-D came up with the Sportster with the chain on the same side. It's no deal breaker for me, but is is an issue for those wanting to fit saddlebag mounts from an original pre-'54 Indian.
◦ TONS of chrome & old-school styling  freaking gorgeous
Except for the mag wheels. The Indian classics have spoked wheels, and that would be what would be on archy's Indian. Having worked on tire changes on the road, in the rain/sleet/snow, I want steel rims and spokes. Unless, of course, you plan on trailering the bike wherever you're going and having a club breakdown truck along.
The Chief *vintage* package would be my pick, but I could see some other possibilities.
â—¦ Modern electronic features
My last Indian, my last Harley, my last Euro bike [Czech Jawa/CZ] and my last BMW [R60/2] were all 6 volt. To me, *modern electrics* would be anything 12 volt. Which I've had a couple of, via BritBike Lucas Electrics. Avoid.
• MINUSES:◦ Indian Motorcycle has been in & out of bankruptcy since last century. While the brand is now owned & produced by Polaris, I don't know how long Indian will be around this time.
Just so. I *almost* got one of the *coinhead* California Indians, until I visited a dealer a 300-mile trip away and saw how much they'd deviated from the pre-'54 originals. I'm reasonably happy with a 3-year history on the bike so far as working the bugs out and building a parts base, and 2016 will indeed be the third year of production for the *Polaris* Indians. Dealerships are of cource not quite as common as Wal-Marts, so if you need pieces on a wekkend, you may have a long wait on a brown truck.
Bt, of course, if you think production might shut down, the time to get one would be now, and sometime a decade or so hence, you could say, *Oh yeah, I had an Indian back in '16, before the EPA outlawed motorcycles....*
â—¦ I'm not familiar with long-term reliability of the brand
To be determined. Of course, design changes in the Honda [or others] could be a killer there too.
â—¦ Slightly higher asking price than the F6B
Yep. Sometimes, you DO get what you pay for. But buying out-of-season and from a motivated dealer wanting to either clear a showroom floor or have a highly visible local rider as a free advertisement can help.
When Indian unveiled the then-new 2014 Indian at the 2013 Sturgis Rally, [originally begun by a SD Indian riders' club] the asking price for the new 2014 model was $18,999. Not surprisingly, the asking price has gone up to the $21K, $22K range.
But try this dealer.
Myself? I'd kind of like to get my Vincent up and running again. But until then?
Maybe one of these.
Odd, we used to spend a good bit of money on having a good-quality machine shop split the crankshaft of a high-performance two-cycle and have it reworked into that *parallel twin* configuration. A *TWINgle it was called back in the day, with torque, torque, and more torque in the lower end of the power curve. There was an Irish lad named Sammy Miller who did pretty well on such bikes.
Triumph Rocket
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.