What is the best motorcycle Harley-Davidson ever produced?
Depends on how you look at it.Without getting into all the classics like the Shovelheads and Panheads, and sticking to the more modern bikes, you have a few candidates.Sportster 883 - Perhaps responsible for getting more people into Harley who weren’t leaning that way because it is easy to ride and relatively cheap and after riding one, you are pretty much going to be buying an upgrade which can be a Dyna, Softail, or Touring Harley. At the minimum, you are probably going to be buying a 1200 Sportster just to get more power.Fat Boy - Made super iconic thanks to Terminator 2 when Arnold steals one and then saves John Connor on his Fat Boy. When it first came out, the headlight bezel, solid disc wheels, and silver finish was a departure from other more traditional looking Harley's. That got people who would have settled for other bikes get a Fat Boy just because it was simply bad ass.Electra Glide - The batwing fairing on the Electra has often been imitated but never duplicated. Many aftermarket versions have been made and people tack them onto their metric cruisers or smaller bikes to make it look like an Electra, but nothing beats the original. The basic design has not changed since the mid-1950s and it is instantly recognizable as a Harley when you see that fairing and hear the distinctive rumble.
How do I increase my motorcycle top speed?
What have you got to start with and how much money have you got?In all cases there are a few basic principles that will help you:Power to weight ratio - the lighter the bike and the more powerful the engine, the faster it will go. Shedding unneeded bits like pillion foot-pegs, mirrors, lights etc. is an easy starting point.Air resistance - the faster you go the more the air will resist you, the rider, and the bike pushing through it, so fairings and being in a tucked position help a lot.Gearing - most bikes are geared (through both gearbox and drive sprockets) to provide a balance of acceleration, cruising speed and top speed. You can sacrifice acceleration to gain top end speed by increasing the size (number of teeth) on the front and fine tune this by decreasing the number of teeth on the back sprocket. This might make first gear so tall that you need to slip the clutch a lot just to set off but, done to the correct ratio, this will give increased top speed.How far you take these principles depends on how keen and wealthy you are. For example, the cost of replacing nuts, bolts and other fasteners with lightweight titanium can be eye watering, as can carbon fibre bodywork and magnesium wheels. The further you go, the more it costs - so some basic modifications might provide 5% more engine power, but each subsequent gain will be smaller at exponentially greater cost.Don’t ignore suspension and brakes. To go fast more than once you need to stay on the bike and survive the trip.
Why do my hazard lights work, but not my turn signals?
Hazard lights and turn signals use the same bulb, so it is not the bulb, the lamp, or the cables to them. Turn signals only work when the ignition is on; hazard lights work whether the ignition is on or not. The two systems have separate power supplies, so they have separate fuses. You may have a blown fuse.Different vehicles use different circuits, and it is not possible to accurately diagnose the fault with the small amount of information provided. You need a circuit diagram and a voltmeter, and a continuity tester. First locate and test the turn signal fuse. Do you have voltage to and from the turn signal switch?The hazard light switch is not a simple on/off switch. In the “on” position, a fused battery feed connects to left and right turn signal. In the “off” position, the left turn switch wire is connected to the left turn lamp and the right turn switch wire is connected to the right turn lamp, so there are 3 inputs and 2 outputs.The fault could be a fuse, turn signal switch, hazard switch, flasher unit, or a broken wire or connection.
Why are Harley-Davidsons so popular among American police forces given their limited performance?
The problem with police bikes (and police cars) is that they have to be specc’d to perform to what the department needs. This means that they have to be serviceable, parts are available, they are expected to hold up between servicings, and they need to actually do the job.One of the big things that shuts down a potential police bike is the ability to get a big enough ground plane for the radio. Cars are fairly easy, as they’re big metal shells on wheels. But a bike doesn’t have that much metal, and so police radios can be problematic if the bike isn’t ALL metal, like a Harley or older Kawi.As an example, the 2010 Kawasaki Concours 1400 ABS Police model was being considered as a potential replacement both for the older BMW and Kawi 1000 California Highway Patrol motor fleet. It had room for all the equipment, it had the performance specs (and then some), it had the dealer and parts network, and all of the other checkboxes for the CHP to order a boatload of them and put them to work. But the techs at the CHP just couldn’t get police radio antennas to ground reliably using the Big Connie’s frame. And that was the dealbreaker.There have been some exceptions, but most have been more for ‘community outreach’ purposes. Case in point: The Oklahoma Highway Patrol procured a Suzuki Hayabusa sport-touring bike as part of a drug bust forfeiture, and originally was going to set it up as strictly a show bike for outreach to the young sportbike riding community. However, the motor officers assigned to ride it realized, it would make an excellent “interceptor” unit. So the department bought two more with drug-seized funds, kitted all three out as patrol interceptors, then sent the bikes and the officers overland to the Keith Code Superbike School in California, so that the officers could learn how to ride bikes that were capable of 189mph speeds.Apparently the program has been quite successful, be it the original ‘outreach’ or actually running down speeders with them.
Kawasaki Vulcan or Yamaha V-Star?
I've narrowed my choice down to 2 bikes, an 07 Vulcan 900 or an 06 Yamaha V-Star 1100. Both are brand new, but as u can see, one is an 06(Yamaha) and the other a 07(Kawasaki). Although, the Yamaha is a little larger in engine cc, they are similar in price(a couple hundred more) because the yamaha has the bigger discount & rebate right now. Also, if anybody has any experience in both manufacturer, which is the more reliable of the 2. Appreciate all the input, thanx.