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The Harley Street Rod is no Yamaha FZ-07. Not even close


Cruizin

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Oh Harley stepped in it this time. Comparing the new Street Rod motorcycle with a Yamaha FZ-07?
 
The FZ-07 is faster, lighter, has better suspension, handles much better, doesn't vibrate the coins out of our pockets and the FZ-07 costs less.
 
You send this new bike off to India to get it as cheap as possible (and scare the hell out of your union members) , but then you price it like an FZ-09?
 
And they keep dropping hints that this "Street Rod" is gunning for the mighty FZ-07? In what universe is this bike anything like an FZ-07?
 
FZ-07 forum members, I hereby challenge yee to put on your helmet cam's and go hunting for Harley Street Rod's. Post your vids in this very thread, below.
 
This thread will show up in Google search results. Lets stop the bullshet before it even starts.
 
GO!

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I will be interested to see some test ride videos show up here. Comparing the Street Rod to the FZ-07 seemed very strange to me. I cannot imagine that someone who is looking at either one of these bikes would even be considering the other. Of course if you want a bike that is heavier, slower, less powerful and more expensive there is only one choice.

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It's because the FZ-07 is the hottest selling bike right now due to the amount of bike ya get for the money.
 
So they want a piece of that sales revenue and hope we all go trade our fz-07's in for a Harley.
 
The traditional Harley guys would look down their noses at us, "that's not a real Harley". And then we would pull up next to an FZ-07 at a traffic light and get dusted when it turns green.
 
It's a lose lose scenario in my book. No thanks..

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This thing is just hideous. It got delivered this morning.
 

 
please no photo -bucket pics. They are hacked and unstable. Please click that button "add image to post" to post pics. It dumps the pic code into your post automatically.
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When the V-Rod was about to be released I took notice. The Horsepower and torque numbers were very close to my ZRX 1200r. When the quarter mile times came out they weren't even close to my Kawasaki. That Harley weighed so much that even a Porsche engine couldn't overcome it.
 
The street rod seems to weigh 516 pounds ready to go and costs more than an FZ-07 as well.
 
My FZ is black with orange stripes, time for some trolling.....

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I had a Harley Fatboy for a while. Within the first two months the speedometer just stopped working. Then, at the one year mark I had a total camshaft failure. Took months for the dealership to even get approval to honor the warranty and it was off the road for 7 months. Totally wiped out my riding season.
 
I sold it shortly after and would never spend another dime on a Harley Davidson.

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If anyone sees one ahead they won't have too much trouble catching up. ;)
On a side note: at least we know that someone in marketing at H.D. gets high ... real effing high! 8-)

Beemer

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I had a Harley Fatboy for a while. Within the first two months the speedometer just stopped working. Then, at the one year mark I had a total camshaft failure. Took months for the dealership to even get approval to honor the warranty and it was off the road for 7 months. Totally wiped out my riding season.  
I sold it shortly after and would never spend another dime on a Harley Davidson.
IKR! The proof is in the pudding. 
http://www.jamesrussellpublishing.biz/beforeyoubuyharley.html
 

Beemer

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Hello: I grew up in Italy and as such I never developed the "Harley" mystique. In my third year of University, this was THE bike I wanted...
 
Benelli_750_Sei_Left_Side.jpg
 
6 cylinders.
No wonder I always found Harleys...boring :)
 
Only two...and so heavy.
 
Now, if Italian bikes were not so expensive and, let's face it, having just this side of Harley's reliability, I would own one.
 
By I got kids in college. So Yamaha fz-07 it is. 90% of a Ducati at 65% of the cost and 150% more reliable!
 
Marco
 
I am a crazy Physics Prof. Beware :o:)
 

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Polaris closed victory so that they can focus on putting out a bunch more new Indians. We will start hearing about more Indian models soon. I also wouldn't be surprised if Polaris gets into the sport bike and Dirtbike industry and if so, look out. They build some damn good machines and their manufacturing is sound.

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If anyone sees one ahead they won't have too much trouble catching up. ;) On a side note: at least we know that someone in marketing at H.D. gets high ... real effing high! 8-)
Ha no kidding, the marketing dept...most definitely bong dependent. How else do you think they brainstorm what pile garbage is next to receive their cruddy HD logo? I saw a HD boot that had 10 f'n HD logos... on just the ONE side! 10! An insult to the cow that went into making it. What an embarrassment. Dignity-0
 

Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.          Fuss Life.

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I'm trying to find total sales of the FZ since it was brought to the US I'm willing to bet the 07 and 09 had a majority of 28% increase in sales the first year it was brought to the US. That being said I don't think any other company came close proof is in the pudding. That's why the other are scrambling but they missed the boat and now have to take a raft.

2015 FZ-07 2003 2014 GSXR 1000

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As I was pulling out of a Bob Evans restaurant yesterday I heard a familiar plap-plap-puh-plap and instinctively, my head spun around to see some cat on a Harley. I was hoping it was one of the new street rods but it was nothing more than an 883. Never the less, he kept revving the engine and riding like a hooligan looking for a showdown (new kid in town) so I responded and went directly home and fired up the Yami! I searched for him but he was long gone. Oh well, he'll be back around and I'll get video of the assassination. He might not be the general we were looking for but I'll settle for a lieutenant any time. 8-)

Beemer

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As I was pulling out of a Bob Evans restaurant yesterday I heard a familiar plap-plap-puh-plap and instinctively, my head spun around to see some cat on a Harley. I was hoping it was one of the new street rods but it was nothing more than an 883. Never the less, he kept revving the engine and riding like a hooligan looking for a showdown (new kid in town) so I responded and went directly home and fired up the Yami! I searched for him but he was long gone. Oh well, he'll be back around and I'll get video of the assassination. He might not be the general we were looking for but I'll settle for a lieutenant any time. 8-)
 
 
The streets don't sound like a Harley, mostly because they aren't one. Lol. And the sound profile you're looking for is POTATO POTATO POTATO. Lol
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I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. I bought my first Harley in December of last year. It was a new 2016 Dyna Low Rider. I've heavily modified it into what's been called a 'club style' Dyna that a lot of the stunters are using now days See Avatar pic).
 
I think Harley did themselves a disservice when they mentioned the Street Rod competing with the FZ-07. I have a 2015 FZ-07 that purchased a few weeks ago. It's far from stock with upgrade suspension on both ends, exhaust, intake and tuner mods.
 
The Street Rod is not in the class of the FZ-07. I've ridden the Street Rod. It is all of the things the reviews say it is. It's a good standard bike that I would compare to a Triumph Bonneville before the FZ.
 
As for all of the Harley bashing, I love my Dyna and it is my daily rider. I rarely even use a car anymore. That bike is so solid feeling. Keep in mind that I have well over 10k in mods in my Dyna as it is far from stock with tall suspension and engine changes galore.
 
I don't want my first post to be a turn off, but my FZ feels like a toy compared to my Dyna. Sure the FZ would leave my Dyna in the mountains, but I can usually keep up with most sport bike on her. In a straight drag race, it isn't even close. The Dyna would smoke my FZ. The Dyna fit and finish is worlds better than the FZ. It should be. I paid 14k out the door before the 10+k in mods.
 
Now don't take that the wrong way. I really enjoy riding the FZ too. It is very fun in the mountains and around town. It certainly has its purpose. It's so flickable (motocross background). All motorcycles serve their purpose. You just have to find the right bike for your purpose.
Harley gets a bad rap because of the price and the seemingly slow engine. The problem is the technology is based on such an old design, Harley has to detune them to get them to pass emission standards. One of my first mods was a tuner. 100% stock with that tuner made an insane difference.
 
 

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I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. I bought my first Harley in December of last year. It was a new 2016 Dyna Low Rider. I've heavily modified it into what's been called a 'club style' Dyna that a lot of the stunters are using now days See Avatar pic). 
I think Harley did themselves a disservice when they mentioned the Street Rod competing with the FZ-07. I have a 2015 FZ-07 that purchased a few weeks ago. It's far from stock with upgrade suspension on both ends, exhaust, intake and tuner mods.
 
The Street Rod is not in the class of the FZ-07. I've ridden the Street Rod. It is all of the things the reviews say it is. It's a good standard bike that I would compare to a Triumph Bonneville before the FZ.
 
As for all of the Harley bashing, I love my Dyna and it is my daily rider. I rarely even use a car anymore. That bike is so solid feeling. Keep in mind that I have well over 10k in mods in my Dyna as it is far from stock with tall suspension and engine changes galore.
 
I don't want my first post to be a turn off, but my FZ feels like a toy compared to my Dyna. Sure the FZ would leave my Dyna in the mountains, but I can usually keep up with most sport bike on her. In a straight drag race, it isn't even close. The Dyna would smoke my FZ. The Dyna fit and finish is worlds better than the FZ. It should be. I paid 14k out the door before the 10+k in mods.
 
Now don't take that the wrong way. I really enjoy riding the FZ too. It is very fun in the mountains and around town. It certainly has its purpose. It's so flickable (motocross background). All motorcycles serve their purpose. You just have to find the right bike for your purpose.
Harley gets a bad rap because of the price and the seemingly slow engine. The problem is the technology is based on such an old design, Harley has to detune them to get them to pass emission standards. One of my first mods was a tuner. 100% stock with that tuner made an insane difference.
 

 
Welcome to the Forum, thanks for joining us.
 
So, please explain the power mods that you made to your Dyna to make it so much faster than an FZ-07. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Dyna weighs in around 670 lbs and stock engine makes around 76 hp, right?
 
The FZ-07 weighs 265 lbs less and makes around 70 hp stock. I'd be real interested in learning what you did to make your Dyna faster than an FZ-07. Just what engine changes did you do and how much power are you making? My FZ-09 went up against most every screaming eagle in my town and those drag races were not even close, but that bike was making around 120 hp when I sold it.
 
Hey, if you prefer a feet forward riding style, the Harley is the bike for you. Same with Indians.
 
I hang out at the local dragstrip, and the Dyna lowriders here are pulling in the 13's/high 12's. My friend Bill used to work for Harley and now has his own Harley custom shop and his fastest Dyna does the 1/4 mile in a best time of 11.53. Now, the drag bikes are different, but I don't think that yours is a drag bike, right?
 
The fastest stock FZ-07 time I have seen was 12.2 in the 1/4 mile. Install a @hordboy airobx and an ECU tune from @2wheeldynoworks and I think high 11's are possible on the FZ-07 with the right rider.
 
 
Again, Welcome to the forum and please share some dyno graphs of your Harley. I bet that it makes alot of Tq. And keep in mind, the FZ-07 is an entry level sportbike.
 
 
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And keep in mind, Harley owners have been bashing Japanese bikes since just after the AMF days in the 80's. Even though, Japanese bikes last far longer, are faster, handle better, and give far more bang for the buck. I would love for an american company to start building bikes that last 100,000 or more miles consistently. I would love for a USA brand to build a sportbike or even a sport touring bike that can even come close to what the Japanese, Germans, Austrians and Italians are building.  
But I think if that is gonna happen, it is probably gonna be Polaris. Keep an eye on Polaris. Now that they have shut down their Victory plant and are absorbing that cost this fiscal year, I have heard rumors of them expanding into new areas. They are doing really well with Indian, and their snomobiles, ATV's and Side by Sides are selling like crazy. They know how to build power and suspension very well.
 

Thanks man I appreciate the welcome. I've been snooping around for about a month now trying to find my twisty bike. Love the site and I have found a lot of useful information. My Dyna put out just over 100 HP which is about normal for the club style Dynas. I have upgraded exhaust, cams, intake, and tuner. You have to remember a Harley isn't about HP its about torque. Do some googling on Unknown Industried or Club Style Dynas. It's mostly young adults. Mostly old MX'ers like me or skaters. There are 100s of videos out there.
there are kinds of posts on You Tubes of Dyna's running with R6s and such at the drag strip.
My Dyna parts specifically are:
Rear Shocks : Hagon 13.5 shocksForks           : Race Tech Gold Valve Emulators (stiffer springs)Cams           : Andrews 357Exhaust       : TBRTuner          : Vance and Hines FP3
I'm leaving off the MX' T-bar handbars and the other nick naks that don't really matter. Frankly, I can't even remember it all as most of the mods were done about a month after I got the bike and realized how slow and clumsy it was from the factory. 
Not all is good with Harley in my eyes though. Harley parts seem to be designed for longevity verses performance. I feel like its the opposite on metric/KTM sport bikes and mx bikes. For example, Harley stock tires are bloody awful. The stock suspension is cheap 1920s knockoffs. The brake pads were featured on the Flinstones. Once you change those parts and tune the bike. It's a completely different animal. I'm also not a big fan of Softails or any of the baggers. Now you want to talk about slow! In order to eliminate the vibration on the V-twin, they counter balance the engine. Those things have no sole at all. I rather run a Sportster than those pieces of %$##!
A lot of the Harley negativity comes form the AMF days and has trickled down through the years. For example, I've heard they have bad brakes from my research when I was thinking about buying the Harley. Truthfully, my Dyna, even at around 630 lbs (stock 666 lbs), I feel like it stops just as well as the FZ. Keep in mind that I'm not a heavy braker and use rev matching to slow down most of the time, but when I go deep in a corner and have the big b*tch leaner over, that Dyna will scrub some speed!
I've actually ridden the Indian Scout because my wife wanted one. It's a nice bike for sure. I liked the Victory Octane version much better though. I'm more of a traditionalist though. I prefer a Sporty to the Scout myself based on looks, but if it was for my wife I would go with the Scout because of the lower center of gravity.
 As far as your other comment about a dependable US made bike. A LOT of the guys in the Harley forums get well over 100k miles on their bikes. Honestly, I don't see me ever needing to buy another Dyna in my lifetime. I put about 12k a year on this one and I'm 47 years old as long as it's not involved in an accident I shouldn't have to.
No offense to anyone, but I fully expect the FZ-07 to be clapped out by the time it get to 50k. It's partly how I'm going to ride it though. I'm a rev'r and I bought it for the mountains and occasional track days.
I'm not bashing one brand or the other. It's just how I see it after my 37+ years of riding motorcycles. These companies don't pay me anything. I'm going to use what I think gets the job done for what I want to do. I love my FZ and I love my Dyna.
 
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Guest 2wheeler
 
No offense to anyone, but I fully expect the FZ-07 to be clapped out by the time it get to 50k. It's partly how I'm going to ride it though. I'm a rev'r and I bought it for the mountains and occasional track d
 

Welcome to the forum.
 
FWIW, we have a forum member, Tiffani (zombiphone), who by now has over 50,000 miles on her FZ with no major problems. This is with her doing most of that mileage in a year covering 49 states. She is currently in Mexico, and God only knows how far south she plans to go. She has commented many times on the forum about how great the FZ is, and stone reliable. Oh yeah, and she is a 250cc road racer too.
 
You bought a much better bike than you realized!
 
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/authors/tiffani-burkett
 
 
 
 
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pineappleunderthesea
I don't want my first post to be a turn off, but my FZ feels like a toy compared to my Dyna. Sure the FZ would leave my Dyna in the mountains, but I can usually keep up with most sport bike on her. In a straight drag race, it isn't even close. The Dyna would smoke my FZ. The Dyna fit and finish is worlds better than the FZ. It should be. I paid 14k out the door before the 10+k in mods.
 
Now don't take that the wrong way. I really enjoy riding the FZ too. It is very fun in the mountains and around town. It certainly has its purpose. It's so flickable (motocross background). All motorcycles serve their purpose. You just have to find the right bike for your purpose.
Harley gets a bad rap because of the price and the seemingly slow engine. The problem is the technology is based on such an old design, Harley has to detune them to get them to pass emission standards. One of my first mods was a tuner. 100% stock with that tuner made an insane difference.
 

I agree that a cruiser and a sport bike like the FZ can serve different purposes, and there's nothing wrong with having both.  Harley specifically does a fantastic job in building a community that draws people back--for example, the Harley dealer where I live regularly holds music events with free food and beer (having signing a waiver for the beer!), and I can understand how this makes you feel as part of a close-knit community.  I don't see this from the local Yamaha or Honda dealers, sure they may have some events in a while, but nothing like the Harley dealer. 
With that said, the word "Harley" seems to bring negativity for a lot of people that I talk to:  they're either unreliable, or the people who buy them are d!cks that like to rev at red lights or in front of bars.  Doesn't matter if it's true or untrue, it's a Harley stereotype and we all know that stereotypes are hard to undo.  I know quite a few riders who bought Japanese cruisers, or Victory/Indian simply because they didn't want to associate themselves with Harley name...
 
As for myself, I had a Honda Shadow as a first bike and liked it, and also had long test rides on the Victory Gunner and Indian Scout (the latter two were much, much better than the Shadow!), but in the end I ended up with the FZ cause it so much more fun for the type of riding I do!
 
 
 
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Regarding reliability, Harley has had that covered since the Evo engine appeared in 1984. Even MOTORRAD, who wore out engines like the Z1000, XJ650, GS1000 and CB400 among a lot of others in just 16,000 miles, found the Harley engines mostly to be close to factory fresh after 32,000 miles.
 
After 32,000 miles, the MT-07 was also in a superb condition save for too much clearance of the big end bearings (likely put in wrong from the factory as little wear was evident) and uneven wear on the crank main bearings. One piston pin and the accompanying small end had very visible gouges. The exhaust valves should be ground once the engine was apart, one had a minor leak. However, not valves needed adjustment at the 25,000 mile service. One gear shifter fork had some discreet marks. Paint had begun to flake from frame and swingarm, and some bolts and nuts had clear signs of corrosion.
 
Note that there is nothing to suggest that the engine would have developed a hernia if it hadn't been opened - it would probably have done the same distance again and more without any real problem.
 
Am I off topic already? ;)
 
 
 

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I didn't mean to say the FZ was unreliable. It's just that I'm going to be really hard on it. I did t buy it to be a commuter bike. I bought it to beat on at the track.
 
My MX bikes would last two years most of the time. I expect to rip with this one a few years and hand it down to my son.

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Ya them dirty no good inbreeding toothless midjet bastids over in Milwaukee, how dare they. I mean just the other day I was like doing my bad ass gansta stunna stuff on my gansta fz and whodo you think tried to challange. Ya them no good inbreeding toothless midjet bastids over in Milwaukee, why I showed them what a real bike was
 
 
 
southpark.jpg
 

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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[div]Let's jack that FZ-07 up to 95 h.p. from 70 and see which bike rules in the 1/4.[/div]

Beemer

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