Speaks for me. As bikes specialized Harley went the complete opposite direction. I remember the Sprints and V twin dirt track bikes. Even little two strokes. Probably most had issues but at least it was a true range of models, not that crazy shit they were doing that practically incorporated the paint codes in the designation. FLH STD CHSPR HUPD CLASSIC WTF?

Man you guys have some great points here. For the record, I firmly believe that any vehicle which has been made fast by the owner (not sent to a shop) is INFINITELY cooler than any store bought vehicle.

And yes, suzuki COULD make a faster bike. But the fact is they don't. And don't pretend like guys who buy sportbikes don't care about the 1/4 mile times. It's not such a small hill. Every time I go to the track I see dozens and dozens of sportbike riders who care a whole hell of a lot about that "ant hill".

I love the points made about american bikes! I too would love to support an american company, and I have high hopes for motoczysz...

SOME guys who buy sportbikes care about 1/4 mile times, I on the other hand don't give a rip.

In this case I think being street legal like a vmax or a b-king means all the difference between people paying attention to it and taking it seriously and not being able to care less if it exists. I guess it's sorta like the new cobra jet mustang, a factory built drag car. But the fact is that so many other street legal bikes can easily be made to run with it. It would be alot more work to make just about any street car run with a factory built cobra jet mustang (which is DETUNED by the way) down a quarter mile. It's cool but are people actually racing the destroyer (besides for the hell of it) like they are the cobra jets? Was it even built for a specific racing class?

Okay i'm not a big know-it-all or anything but when I read these post abouth this Harley made me want to laugh and yes I even went to the Harley website to get their specifics so here are the specs given by manufacturer as you used in the beginning......

Harley piece of junk:
dry weight-526 pounds
97 ft/lbs torque at 7600 rpm
165 horse
THIS HARLEY IS NOT STREET LEGAL!!!!!!

Ducati 1198 S Corse
dry weight-370.3 pounds
97 ft/lbs torque at 8000 rpm
170 horse
THIS DUCATI IS STREET LEGAL!!!!!!!!!!

It does not matter what numbers you got because the numbers you got can not be accurate. The ducati has a lower dry weight and has relatively same torque and horse. The ducati is stated to have a little over 9 second 1/4 mile. The power weight ratio of the ducati would be much different than the harley due to its greater weight which simply means that the harley will NEVER keep up with the ducati but yet the ducati is STREET LEGAL. Harley has never and will NEVER hold any kind of performance lead on ANYONE. a freakin 2 year old can make a better and faster motorcycle.
sorry if it sounds like i'm trying to b an ass. jus never say a harley can out perform ANYTHING like my metrics or my ducatis.
have a nice day:cool:
GILL

If ducati, wait, I am laughing....


Ok....
wait, no, ok....

If Ducati put a longer swingarm, or wheelie bar, on the bike and lowered it there wouldn't even be a chance of the Harley keeping with it. The only thing that allows it to run that fast is it doesn't have the propensity to flip over on its shiny parts.

Or maybe just a new shoe.:lol:
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...7&d=1266897269

Well you started out ok ;)

C'mon dude be real....please. You really expect to launch the Ducati out of the hole like the vrod? The destroyer is purpose made for DRAG racing. Yeah it'll SMOKE the Ducati down a quarter mile, because that's not what the Ducati is built for. The MOTORS are evenly matched but the the chassis are COMPLETELY different-one tailor made for drag racing and one for road racing.

This Harley will smoke any Ducati down the 1/4 mile-there I said it ;)

Bro' did you ever consider things like um...wheelbase, rear tire width, gearing, the friggin giant wheelie bar?

hello Gill! welcome to the chaos! haha

big duck and v-rod 1/4 mile times should be easy to find out there somewhere. If one gets a wheelie bar, the other should too to be minimally fair.

Again, sorry. Harley Davidson's claim rests heavily on the word "Production" so unless it rolled of the Ducati assembly line with one...

:evillaugh:

I'm gonna have to see that wheelie bar pass states inspections before I lean on the word "Production".

They're gonna have to put red flags on these ramps to keep us older folks from driving up onto them at signal lights causing the bike to flip upwards thus ejecting the rider into the windshield of the vehicle behind, and ironically causing a static wheelie right there in stopped traffic. It ought to be a sight to behold. hahahaha. A couple of these incidents will likely precipitate a recall for the purpose of installing seat clamps similar to those used on amusement park rides designed to prevent the rider and passenger from being catapulted rearward when one of these drive-on incidents occurs.

Not only does Harley need to rely on a foreign engine for power(which is arguably the best part of the bike), but now a wheelie bar to help hold the pig upright at signal lights. In defense of this unique accessory, the wheelie bar does do a great job as a passenger loading ramp which then electrically folds up and doubles as a sissy bar/storage compartment when not needed for street drags. Certainly there will be typical aftermarket chrome models decked out with leather fringe and lots of lights. :cool:

:gatlin::flamethrower::boom: :fight:
Whatta bunch o Haters y'all are:eek:

Production means it's built that way & comes that way from the Harley factory-doesn't have anything to do with being street legal or passing any kind of inspection.

And AGAIN for everyone who thinks otherwise, the Vrod's motor was NOT designed by Porsche. The original VR1000 motor was a joint effort between Harley, Roush and Cosworth. And Harley consulted with Porsche to develop the engine into the streetable engine in the VRod. They've been consulting with Porsche for over 20 years. All this information is available free on the internet if anyone wants to simply look it up. So it's not a "real" Harley or a "real" American bike then? P-51's and MIG-15's were powered by Rolls engines. Aprilia's by Rotax...Who cares? They're all shit too?

Got no beef with Harley the machine, but with all of the beer-gutted Dennis Hopper wannabe's who have flipped me the bird over the years as I rolled past on a Japanese bike. Never on the German bimmer, just on the sporting stuff from Japan. I don't hate the HD bike, just the lifestyle statement and the absurd posturing.

Man you guys are REALLY missing the point. For once I am in total agreeance with captainchaos. The whole entire point of this thread is that it is THE single quickest PRODUCTION vehicle ever sold. I don't care if you can put a wheelie bar on a duc and beat it. Not the point. Everyone knows this, so stop saying it. The point is, they didn't. Harley did. You can say whatever you'd like about harley, or how this bike is purpose built for the strip only (which only makes it more badass) but the facts are the facts. It's the quickest, and for anyone who cares at all about speed, it deserves some respect. This ain't no softail, it is the single quickest production vehicle of any kind EVER made.

You guys sound awfully foolish complaining about how it can't drive on the street... you might as well be complaining that your desmosedicci doesn't handle motocrossing very well, or that your dirtbike doesn't have a windshield and saddlebags. It's built for a reason.

LOL am I really that much of a troublemaker? ;) I know I have a big mouth sometimes...I just love how saying "Harley" around here is like going to MLK blvd and yelling the N-word.

I don't know the particulars of who did what to whom because I wasn't there when it was happening. What i do know is what caliber of product Harley has been selling from the early 60's to the present. History has proven to me that HD has been selling mainly overpriced scrap and that if you have done it for that long, i'll have to see evidence to the contrary for at least a decade before I'll believe that things are changing. During these years i've seen how HD has compared to manufacturers of quality motorcycles and also that, if capitalism would have been allowed to work as intended, they would be no more than museum or collector items now.

If I were independently wealthy,or even if all my kids worked for them, I wouldn't buy a freakin spoke from HD because of their modus operandi over the past half century. :D

So, do i believe that HD took any meaningful part in developing the V-rod motor? I'll let you figure that one out for yourself.

I absolutely agree with you on that nath, I hate the company as well. This isn't about their company's other bikes, or people who ride them... Just like we try to convince harley owners all the time, it doesn't matter what name is on the damn bike, the bike should speak for itself. And this particular bike happens to be the quickest anything ever sold. It would be hypocritical for us to bash it because it's a harley seeing how we are constantly defending our bikes from rednecks. Our bikes are built much better than the harleys, doesn't matter that its not amurrican. This particular harley is built fast. Look past the name plate people.

I just want to know one thing, would you get on it and rip it down the 1/4 mile if they let ya? Yes. Every one of us would.

The point is that this engine is probably awesome, fast and technologically up to date, but to think that HD had a meaningful part in it's development is unlikely, improbable, unbelievable, and just plain bullshit.

As far as being the fastest with or without it's little trailer training wheels, I don't know for sure and don't really care. As far as i'm concerned, the V-rod engine is about as much HD as MV Augusta is HD.

NO! Not everyone of us would. I don't like the style of bike. I wouldn't ride it. AND, NO, I'm not just saying that to be controversial.

If you want 1/4 mile times I found some. Some faster than this "production" bike. Now, before anyone tries, this is based on the honesty of the poster as to what mods they did or did not do, but based on what is available, they are faster than the Destroyer. Time slips scanned to prove it.

http://www.dragtimes.com/Kawasaki-ZX...lip-15711.html

http://www.dragtimes.com/Kawasaki-ZX...lip-16165.html

http://www.dragtimes.com/Kawasaki-ZX...lip-15909.html

As for Ducatis. I'll take 10.09 in the 1/4. I'll give you the less than 1 second to have the ability to carve corners. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bi.../?&R=EPI-94785 It could probably be improved by changing the gearing.

Time for bed, so I'll end with this. Maverick, you didn't state or provide a source for the supposed 9.18 1/4 mile time. I reread the OP to make sure. Please provide. Thanks.

One more.

I question the "production" title. In looking, most consider "production vehicles" are those that are massed produced. Not a special vehicle from the factory.

Otherwise, we could consider the Hennessy Viper a production vehicle, that was factory authorized for modification and ran a sub-9 1/4 mile time. Or a dealer option wheelie bar on a Hyabuse or ZX-14, those would be production as well.

Find an industry definition of "production vehicle" and find me production numbers for the V-rod Destroyer. Then I might be inclined to say good job to HD. Otherwise, this is an attempt to gain recognition in a time of short sales. A weak attempt at that, in my opinion.

True. But on the subject of letting things take their course-if the US let Japan rebuild it's own country and let it pay to defend itself for decades instead of doing it for them, allowing it to pour all it's money into developing it's auto industry, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't be riding a Honda or driving say a Toyota either...

As I said this seems to be the path every thread takes whenever anyone mentions anything having to do with Harley. I certainly don't waive a damn Harley banner, but I do find it a little curious the hate folks have towards them. It's really silly to compare them to anything other than other makes and models of bike with a similar mission. This whole conversation would be much more intelligent if we compared say a new wide glide to a new honda fury. And it may just be an opinion but there really ISN'T much of a comparison. And it has nothing to do with the name plate.

So how do you guys feel about Victory?

OMG!!!! WHY would you bring up Victory?!?! The only good thing about their bikes is, well, that they, um... I've run out of controversial opinions. Sorry Captain

HAHAHA

if you believe that there is any real comparison relative to quality vs price between japanese and american industries, e.g., honda/chevy, toyota/ford, yamaha/harley. i don't know what to tell you.

I would like to be proud of national brands, unfortunately,there is no justification for this.

For you to make this statement while Toyota is embroiled in this recall mess is curious. I remember the '70's and early 80's Honda cars being notorious for burning oil...early Toyotas that would rot out their rocker panels if you looked at them funny...Datsun/Nissans that would always have oily soot on their bumpers above the exhaust pipe...
I also remember my old '68 Mustang that ran strong and trouble free and if you did need parts, you could buy 'em for the change in your pocket.
As a loose generality, Japanese automotive products DO exhibit better "build quality" using captive fasteners and very few sheet metal screws.

To address the other issue of this thread, I've owned or ridden bikes from just about every nation that has cared to produce them. There were good and bad points to every one.
I've owned Harleys and was inaugural HOG member #72. Harleys are fun to ride and I'll probably own another before I quit bikes altogether. I'm not a fan of the 1 percenter ethic or Harley's marketing practice of perpetuating this lifestyle. but then, I've never heard a gun manufacturer complain about certain folks who buy their products and insist upon holding the piece with the front sight blade horizontal.

Captain, thanks for always bringing a little sanity to the party.

HaHaHa I've been reading this thead since the beginning, but really havent had much to say about it(dont wanna start a fight, lol) but I dont have a problem with any type of motorcycle, I either own all brands or have owned them, in the process of building a slightly stretched harley got a '47 frame for my rolling chassis so far, but....thats neither here nor there but this complaining that this bike is or isnt the fastest is a bunch of drama that Im sure doesnt need to take up space on an otherwise great site. If this bike is the fastest Im sure the #s tell the tale then so be it let Harley brag on it, I think I read somewhere on here that if Honda or Yamaha wanted to step up they would, thank you for letting me put in my opinion, you guys have a wonderful day and remember.........be careful out there:)