Harley Street Fighter 975

[michigan400]

Looks way better than the Harley "Adventure" bike I saw on Facebook. That thing looked confused.

[MT27]

if it comes in under $10,500 it will sell really well.  

 

The second cheapest 1200 sportster is $11k.  

 

[NRWhiteKnight]

It is awesome looking from the pics I saw yesterday. it would be nice for them to be able to come in under $12K. I am also thinking it will handle well, if it is as balanced as an XR1200. We'll have to wait and see. I'll be sure to test ride one (if the dealer will let me  ) when they get one.

[Beemer]

12 hours ago, mjh937 said:

I say give them the benefit of the doubt until they publish the specs.  It does look heavy though.  (I had to enter heavy three times before it did not autocorrect...first time it said great and the next time best, HD must be messing with my keyboard)

I 'secretly' do actually, just returning the flaming.   In all honesty, it helps our economy if they're successful so I'm all for it and if they did produce what I felt was a good bike I would maybe (big maybe) bury the hatchet and buy it. Then I would have to put up with the H.D. traditionalists flaming me because it's not a "real Harley", in their opinion. I see Harley breaking away from the traditionalists though, to survive as a company. Well, they helped to bring it on themselves but GL to them, none the less!

Side note: 50 years from now most of the traditionalists will be dead & buried and the nonsense will be a thing of the past.

[gregjet]

"Side note: 50 years from now most of the traditionalists will be dead & buried and the nonsense will be a thing of the past."

More than reasonable chance 20 years from now there won't be any more petrol fueled motorcycles ( I deliberatly used petrol , because is is possible there MAY be gas ...as in actual gas , not shortened from gasoline).

Between dwindling resources and the anti ICE powers the death is reasonable imminent.

Or maybe even two wheeled vehicles but "riderless".

Luckily for me I will be dead before then.

[Cruizin]

1 hour ago, gregjet said:

"Side note: 50 years from now most of the traditionalists will be dead & buried and the nonsense will be a thing of the past."

More than reasonable chance 20 years from now there won't be any more petrol fueled motorcycles ( I deliberatly used petrol , because is is possible there MAY be gas ...as in actual gas , not shortened from gasoline).

Between dwindling resources and the anti ICE powers the death is reasonable imminent.

Or maybe even two wheeled vehicles but "riderless".

Luckily for me I will be dead before then.

50 years from now there will probably be only cockroaches left on earth. 

[alexlj92]

2 hours ago, gregjet said:

"Side note: 50 years from now most of the traditionalists will be dead & buried and the nonsense will be a thing of the past."

More than reasonable chance 20 years from now there won't be any more petrol fueled motorcycles ( I deliberatly used petrol , because is is possible there MAY be gas ...as in actual gas , not shortened from gasoline).

Between dwindling resources and the anti ICE powers the death is reasonable imminent.

Or maybe even two wheeled vehicles but "riderless".

Luckily for me I will be dead before then.

Luckily oil reserves have been growing since 1980 as oil previously thought impossible to  produce from the ground has become within reach with new drilling and fracking techniques. We should have petrol engines for quite awhile barring any premature regulatory mandated cessation of their use on public streets.

[gregjet]

Alexlj92.

Ineresting note about the oil reserves. A long time friend of mine and stupidly rich mining magnate ( he used to have a oil leaking Norton and sleep in my spare room when he was a student), said he is actually considering getting out of oil properties because of the lack of new properties ( his term for mines and oil and gas wells) and the diminishing quality and amount of new discoveries. He is no greeny. So maybe you now something he doesn't.

Add to that the huge increasing number of people , with increasing number of cars , and even if there really was increasing reserves, the demand is going to way outstrip even current production.

Add to that that several countries in Europe are mandating that there will be NO diesel or petrol cars by 2040 , means car and motorcycle maunfacture is going to drop off. You reckon California ain't gonna follow?

[faffi]

Hmm, 50 years from now I'll only be 104 and in my prime  

[r1limited]

a pig is a pig is a pig

 

Once again HD misses the mark.  I understand the heritage they want to preserve, but the dinosaurs in the corporate arena are killing the brand.

[shinyribs]

We don't know any hard numbers on the bike yet. We don't know if they missed the mark or hit a bullseye.  I prefer to reserve judgement until I ride one. The FZ07 doesn't look that stunning on paper, but it's a gem in action. 

 

Not directed at anyone in particular... but lol vvv

 

 

[alexlj92]

23 hours ago, gregjet said:

Alexlj92.

Ineresting note about the oil reserves. A long time friend of mine and stupidly rich mining magnate ( he used to have a oil leaking Norton and sleep in my spare room when he was a student), said he is actually considering getting out of oil properties because of the lack of new properties ( his term for mines and oil and gas wells) and the diminishing quality and amount of new discoveries. He is no greeny. So maybe you now something he doesn't.

Add to that the huge increasing number of people , with increasing number of cars , and even if there really was increasing reserves, the demand is going to way outstrip even current production.

Add to that that several countries in Europe are mandating that there will be NO diesel or petrol cars by 2040 , means car and motorcycle maunfacture is going to drop off. You reckon California ain't gonna follow?

True, that is why I said conceded any premature regulatory death in the name of climate change in my original reply. I am in energy banking so that is where I have drawn my information from.

 

Oil properties may not be a good investment currently considering where prices are compared to 4 years ago and the high multiples they currently go for, but the global reserves that are able to be harvested have materially increased since 1980. (although been flat/ slightly decreasing the 3 years through 2014). Demand may outpace in the future but currently the demand/production equilibrium is keeping prices well below their highs before the innovation surrounding fracking and multi-directional drilling the past few years.

 

There always seems to be a scare regarding finite resources that doesn't account for human innovation and it usually comes from these "all else equal if this trend continues..." type projection models. I mean based on some 80's climate models nitrogen and other flakes from fossil fuel use emissions should've blocked out the sun creating a new ice age by now. Or other models said we should be out of fossil fuels by now and the earth considerably more warm to the tune of massive population death.

 

We will eventually run out, but the date is entirely uncertain and with innovation I will not be surprised if the market is able to make it a smooth transition if regulators can keep themselves from getting involved and mucking it up.

 

But I apologize for hijacking the thread and will end it here.

[pattonme]

On 7/31/2018 at 1:40 AM, Cruizin said:

And I believe that this bike will weigh under 600 lbs.  

it needs to be WAY under that or it'll get laughed out of the mags. try 500lbs. maybe 530 wet and ready to ride. They really should be aiming for 450-470 tops.

 

The Kaw Z900RS is 11K and sells for mid-9's and it's nothing special. Lovely bike (except suspension) but no technical marvel. Since it's a HD I doubt they'll price it below 13K but if they were smart (ha!) it'll be in the 11s. A Monster 851 is 11.6 which I see as it's direct competition.

[Cruizin]

21 minutes ago, pattonme said:

it needs to be WAY under that or it'll get laughed out of the mags. try 500lbs. maybe 530 wet and ready to ride. They really should be aiming for 450-470 tops.

 

The Kaw Z900RS is 11K and sells for mid-9's and it's nothing special. Lovely bike (except suspension) but no technical marvel. Since it's a HD I doubt they'll price it below 13K but if they were smart (ha!) it'll be in the 11s. A Monster 851 is 11.6 which I see as it's direct competition.

If it is priced at $13,000 it will have to put out 130 hp at the wheel to sell. Also, what worries me about price is that they are talking about it having lean sensitive traction control and crap like that, expensive shet. 

 

Time will tell but one thing is for sure. When this bike comes out, everyone will want to talk about it and test ride one. They will have a ton of hoopla and attention, they have a serious chance here to hit the naked market really hard. 

 

[FZ07R WaNaB]

On 7/31/2018 at 5:36 PM, Cruizin said:

50 years from now there will probably be only cockroaches left on earth. 

More specifically, and after the nuclear holocaust, that will be 6' cockroaches riding Honda XR/XL motorcycles.... the only two things that can't be killed 

[shinyribs]

1 hour ago, Cruizin said:

Also, what worries me about price is that they are talking about it having lean sensitive traction control and crap like that, expensive shet. 

 

 

 

Bingo. 

 

They need to leave that shet alone coming out of the gate. Strip that sucker to the bare essentials to drop weight and boost reliability. Sadly, and I'll never get it, people compare bikes on their "electronic packages" nowadays.

[i28]

1 hour ago, FZ07R WaNaB said:

More specifically, and after the nuclear holocaust, that will be 6' cockroaches riding Honda XR/XL motorcycles.... the only two things that can't be killed 

haha. good to know.  I'm about to pick up an XR100 for the go-kart track.

 

Also, is it just me or does the center of gravity seem a little bit high on the Streetfighter 975?

[robbo10]

I wonder where it will be made. Have they told us? If outside the US that might affect pricing opportunities. And now there's a phoney trade war going, on, different  choices may be made. 

[Beemer]

12 hours ago, FZ07R WaNaB said:

More specifically, and after the nuclear holocaust, that will be 6' cockroaches riding Honda XR/XL motorcycles.... the only two things that can't be killed 

If you're going to be silly how about making a good/bad "B" parody movie illustrating 6' cockroaches riding XL's. There could be a nomadic motorcycle gang roaming the land in search of food, gasoline and poop and causing mayhem, death and destruction along the way. There also could be a lone cockroach named Mad Cock with a flee as a pet clashing with the gang. 

 

[topazsparrow]

12 hours ago, shinyribs said:

Bingo. 

 

They need to leave that shet alone coming out of the gate. Strip that sucker to the bare essentials to drop weight and boost reliability. Sadly, and I'll never get it, people compare bikes on their "electronic packages" nowadays.

You're on the same page as me man.

 

I don't really care about the electronics packages - they're nice bonuses when they work well... and nothing but an annoyance when they don't (like when you can't turn TCS or anti-wheelie off while moving and it comes on by default every time you start the bike). I want a motor with some nice character, suspension that just works without needing to dick around with aftermarket parts, and a good nimble chassis with some ability to adjust the ergonomics via aftermarket parts...

 

our FZ nailed it in every category but the suspension. Even has a cable throttle which is vastly more responsive and less of a headache IMO.

[pattonme]

12 hours ago, shinyribs said:

Bingo. 

 

They need to leave that shet alone coming out of the gate. Strip that sucker to the bare essentials to drop weight and boost reliability. Sadly, and I'll never get it, people compare bikes on their "electronic packages" nowadays.

because there is nothing left to differentiate them. Electronics are "cheap". They're just gouging the heck out of the customer for them. IMU chips are a couple dollars, the incremental cost of a copy of software approaches zero. Ok so I don't want to go back to points, but companies need to actually spend time on tuning their precious FI maps. It's not Euro 4/5 that is the problem as such - it's the unwillingness to spend the time to actually get it right. Ditto suspension.

[shinyribs]

@topazsparrow Right on, man.  I'll never understand all the electronics. Traction control, rain mode, abs, lean angle....I don't mean this to sound cocky, but if someone is that afraid of a bike then they should be starting out on a smalerl bike that inspires confidence. Which we all should anyway! I can see the appeal to have all these systems for some people, but I wish that would be offered as accessories rather than standard. Let the people who want a computer to hold their hand buy the Nanny Package and pay extra for it, but don't force it on the rest of us that just want to ride the motorcycle. 

[Cruizin]

Cycle World trying to guess the HP possibilities  https://www.cycleworld.com/closer-look-at-harley-davidsons-new-975-and-1250cc-v-twin

[topazsparrow]

10 minutes ago, Cruizin said:

Cycle World trying to guess the HP possibilities  https://www.cycleworld.com/closer-look-at-harley-davidsons-new-975-and-1250cc-v-twin

TLDR; 60hp - 75hp & 54 ft/lbs based on what they typical put out with similar motors.

 

Seems low, but so does the FZ07 compared to similar bikes - until you ride it. Harley motors can typically pick up a fair number of ponies with aftermarket too, which has traditionally been their M.O. Buy a sub par bike and dump tons of money into official or aftermarket parts to make it good / cool.

 

I know for lots of us the horsepower figures matter a lot, but I can't say the same is true for a lot of other riders. Look how many people are perfectly content with their groms and R3's and whatnot. I'm sure if Harley can make this bike "cool" and reasonably affordable to get into (which i'm doubting right now), it will probably sell pretty well. Particularly given how liberally Harley offers test rides. Basically none of the japanese bike dealers in Canada let you test ride any new bike these days. I've been wanting to get into an MT-10 for a little while now but just sitting on it isn't enough to make up my mind.

[pattonme]

nobody realistically need more than 60hp and 40ft/lb. The likes of the R3/N300/DRZ400/690SMR are fun because you get to wring it's neck and you don't have to be doing a buck-twenty to get the thrill.

 

Until HD abandons the technology limitations and mindset left over from WW2 they will continue to disappear into irrelevance. Keep their antique engines for their traditional lineup, but this is a chance to get a clean break and take Ducati on. No the twins don't need to rev into Penagalli territory but should at least get within 10-15% of the Monsters. 

 

an interesting link

http://www.ducatitech.com/info/bore_stroke.html