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In recent years, some articles have appeared which implicate the Harely-Davidson models with the rubber-mounted engines in several accidents involving a peculiar motorcycle instability colloquially termed "high-speed wobble." The generation of a high-speed wobble can occur suddenly and become so vicious that no amount of rider input can control it; in such cases the motorcyle is usually upset and the rider thrown off. The causes of wobble (which can occur in any motorcycle) are many and varied, including improper tire inflation, wind-effects, irregularities in the road surface, after-market equipment (such as handle-bar or fork mounted windshields), speed, rider/passenger/luggage weight, and cornering forces. In particular, the inherent rigidity of the frame is important. A current theory as to why the Harley-Davidson cruiser motorcycles are apparently susceptible to this anomaly is the effects of the rubber-mounted engines. In the design of a motorcycle frame, the engineer/designer takes into account the rigidity added to the frame by a solidly bolted engine. In this case, the structure of the engine, being directly affixed to the frame, adds to frame rigidiy.
In an effort to make their cruisers as smooth running as the Japanese cruisers, Harley-Davidson simply changed the engine mounts on their big bikes, attaching the engine to the frame via rubber snubbers. This isolated engine vibration from the frame, but as an unintended consequence also removed the rigidity afforded by a solid engine-frame combination, and in addition allowed the engine itself to wobble under certain throttle settings and load conditions. The theory is that under these specific circumstances the vibrating engine sets up a harmonic with the frame, and a catastrophic wobble at speed may ensue. In support of this theory is the fact that wobble appears to be much less of a problem (if seen at all) in the rigidly-mounted engine models, such as the FLSTF Fatboy and the older Sportsters.
Operating under the assumption that a freely vibrating engine aggravated the appearance of high-speed wobble, several after-market companies released stabilizing kits which attach underneath the engine, usually via the transmission, and bolt the engine to the frame, allowing some vibratory isolation, but preventing any side-to-side movement of the engine. Rigorous data on the effect of these kits is not readily available, but the common consensus among Harley riders (as detailed in numerous motorcycle and Harley-Davidson bulletin boards, forums, and blogs) is that the kits are effective.
Harley-Davidson has not issued any official statement concerning this matter (possibly due to ongoing litigation), but 2012 cruiser models with rubber-mounted engines are being released with a braced engine. The Harley-Davidson brace is simply a threaded fastener which attaches from the cylinder head of the front cylinder and runs obliquely to a left frame member. This is a very visible device, as opposed to the after-market kits which are mounted underneath the frame. Whether this device is as effective as the aftermarket kits, or indeed, whether either type of device is effective at all, remains to be seen98.170.199.37 (talk) 02:29, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
(Above section copied from article. Needs sources cited and deletion of original research, revision for neutrality and WP:Undue weight. See WP:USERGENERATED for why forums, blogs, and bulletin boards can't be cited. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 03:20, 31 January 2012 (UTC))
There is a new world record. Done by Michel von Tell on the Harley LiveWire. Over 1000 miles within one day. Its going around the world in the last days. I will post some links. Maybe someone will put this in the article or creat a topic with harley records in the article.
Canada https://electrek.co/2020/03/22/harley-davidson-livewire-electric-motorcycle-1000-miles-in-24-hrs/ Germany https://www.motorradonline.de/elektro/harley-davidson-rekord-elektromotorrad/ Italia https://www.moto.it/elettrico/harley-davidson-livewire-1-723-km-in-24-h.html Chech Republic https://www.auto.cz/elektricky-harley-davidson-livewire-zlomil-dulezity-rekord-kolik-najel-za-24-hodin-133797 Arabia https://www.autocentre.ua/news/shvejtsarets-ustanovil-rekord-ginnesa-na-elektricheskom-harley-davidson-1210420.html
Timi!Tim!11 (talk) 18:26, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
The next time someone decides to archive old discussions on this page, would they please create a new archive page instead of chucking all the old discussions onto an existing archive page? If the page was archived because it was too long, appending one archive onto another is going to make that archive page even longer. If the time to do it properly is not available, leave it until it is, or for another editor who has it. Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 11:43, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
Kevin Ash in The Daily Telegraph[23]
The recession hit the company hard, not just because Harley makes the kind of luxury goods that are easily postponed when cash becomes tight, but because in the United States it had set up a financial division to loan people money to buy its bikes. A large proportion of the 340,000 annual sales at that time were only possible because of those loans, which was a fine deal for Harley, as it had both the loans and the bikes making it money.
The plan worked, right up until the world of subprime loans – which is exactly what many of these were – caved in. Instead of making money at both ends of the deal, now Harley was losing it at every turn and the debts became gaspingly high. A firefight ensued, during which subdivisions Buell and MV Agusta were closed and sold respectively, and the company also benefited from a $700 million loan from the US government as part of the help doled out to the indigenous motor industry.
There should be better coverage of this aspect of H-D's troubles in relation to the Subprime mortgage crisis and the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010. It's misleading to present the world of motorcycling in isolation rather than highlighting the interconnections with the rest of society and historical events. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 04:17, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
Additionally, there's not a word re the bailout money -$2.3 billion - taken by H.D. in 2010. The page looks like a sales brochure.Orthotox (talk) 08:20, 20 October 2012 (UTC)
No. It's Wikipedia, the Wild West of lies and bovine excrement. I came here for the laughs. You idiots take this drivel seriously. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pozzdonn (talk • contribs) 19:17, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
When this review was done, the reasons for stripping this article of its "Good Article" status were as follows:
Since that time, the introduction has been expanded, the offending watermark has been cropped out of the image (which had been donated under the appropriate licence by the site in question), and citations have been added, though maybe not enough.
The peer reviewer tool came up with the following concerns:
#The script has spotted the following contractions: Didn't, if these are outside of quotations, they should be expanded. (A search of the article found the use of "didn't" in a quote of a reference.)
We should also keep an eye on WP:SIZERULE, which indicates that we should probably split this article. Granted, the 91 kB size is a gross figure and the readable prose would be somewhat less, but splitting off and summarizing the History and Engines sections might be advisable.
The Model Designations section could also use some work.
O.K., folks, are we up to it?
Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 02:13, 14 October 2012 (UTC)
Should we add the fact that the Russian band Aria recorded the album (or single?) "Tribute to Harley-Davidson"? 83.237.225.175 (talk) 19:09, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
there are a few flicks that feature HD bikes prominently, including (at least) one that mentions a model by name in its title. are the people that are so keen to make wikipedia into a pocket-book by reducing the size of entries, are they against these things being mentioned here?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Glide_in_Blue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_on_a_Motorcycle
I'm sure there are more.
duncanrmi (talk) 01:35, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
Just imagine if we had a list of every single time a character in a movie drank a Coca-Cola, or we saw someone vacuuming a rug with a Hoover. It's not just a matter of getting it down to pocket book size. You'd end up with a section at the end of the article filled with miscellaneous connect, sometimes called "trivia", which is essentially a garbage dump at the bottom of an article where unconnected arbitrary factoids collect. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trivia sections. A fact can exist yet have no meaning, and without meaning facts tend to get thrown on a heap, which isn't valuable. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 20:09, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
Nowhere does it indicate where the bikes are actually built and assembled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.34.34.203 (talk) 23:13, 8 March 2014 (UTC)
Headline-1: Harley-Davidson introduces electric motorcycle
QUOTE: "Harley-Davidson will unveil its first electric motorcycle next week, and President Matt Levatich said he expects the company known for its big touring bikes and iconic brand to become a leader in developing technology and standards for electric vehicles. Harley will show handmade demonstration models Monday at an invitation-only event in New York. The company will then take several dozen riders on a 30-city tour to test drive the bikes and provide feedback. Harley will use the information it gathers to continue refining the bike, which might not hit the market for several more years. The venture is a risk for Harley because there's currently almost no market ..." -- Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 14:43, 19 June 2014 (UTC) -- PS:FYI for future editing.
50 miles for a dollar—gas, oil, tires, and all. — ¾-10 04:38, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
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Hello, recently Dennis Bratland removed my content mentioning Harley-Davidson Clubs. These clubs contributed significantly to the fame of this brand around the world, therefore should be mentioned here, at least in one sentence. There was also mention of the oldest one, which is now located in Prague, which became the oldest H-D club in the world in 1978, when the San Francisco club, till then the oldest, stopped existing. It is sourced by two H-D clubs (Prague and Preston), and by independent sources: Itnsource, Czech car magazine Auto.cz and Czech TV Nova. These both informations meets the criteria for notability and reliability, therefore should be included. Jirka.h23 (talk) 17:37, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
I don't think the sources given are reliable, or that they are even in a position to know what they claim. I started a discussion at the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to seek consensus on the sources: Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard#Oldest Harley-Davidson club in history? Let's see what others have to say. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 18:04, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
So you have self-serving, self-published websites, which we can throw right out the window. And then you have some very brief news items which are very obviously just rehashes of press releases and quotations of the subject's claims about itself. A claim like this needs to be based on sources that have no conflict of interest, and that plausibly could have verified the claim in some way. The sense I get from most of these "news" sites is that they simply don't care whether or not this is the first Harley club in the world. They aren't interested in finding out. If they had exerted any effort to verify it, they'd be telling us so. We have no plausible explanation for how anyone found proof that this historical claim is true. It's just a thing this club says, and a lot of locals in Prague believe it. That's all.
So basically, as the IP said, it's tripe. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 21:41, 2 July 2017 (UTC)
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A user has suggested that this reference does not belong on the article. However Wikipedia is an encyclopedia which must be neutral and balanced. I believe removing material that is not flattering to Harley Davidson would make the wikipedia entry a brochure or promotion. Please discuss here if you have interest. Lubbad85 (☎) 02:46, 2 May 2019 (UTC)
The article is missing Model Family "Livewire". No references anywhere in the article. Notable for being electric, I think its the first Harley model to be electric. Darwulf (talk) 23:37, 5 May 2020 (UTC)
A couple of things I've found here.
- They have an electric model called the Livewire
- Their York, PA facility is involved in the EPA "One Cleanup Program" and was the first in the US to volunteer and enroll in this program.
Part of an ongoing project I've started. Further information can be found on my talk page, and I'd appreciate any help. Darwulf (talk) 23:42, 5 May 2020 (UTC)
I seem to remember a recent news article that H-D is closing down their Indian operation. However, their is no mention of it in the article. What is the status of the Indian operation? --TGC55 (talk) 13:20, 8 November 2020 (UTC)
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 9 January 2024 and 12 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Zainilkhanmahorvani (article contribs).
— Assignment last updated by Michelle312 (talk) 02:32, 4 April 2024 (UTC)
I just wanted Harley-Davidson to know,my husband loved his so much. We he got sick he would not let me sale it. He ordered his Softtail 2002. It only has 2,200 miles on before he started getting sick. I don’t know what I could get out of it. It’s like brand new. He put a seat for two on it, so we could enjoy it together. You never know how long you have on this earth. He was a member of th hog. I just wanted to share his love he had for his Harley. His name was Don O Turner Sr from Spartanburg SC. There should be a website that people could tell how much they love their Harley. Thanks 99.95.153.161 (talk) 17:23, 3 June 2024 (UTC)