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Posted by Old Dog
- December 25, 2010, 04:04:54 AMWell it's Christmas Day over here in London. Snow and ice everywhere, so no ride out to the traditional meeting places today. There are several places I take my Drifter. One of them is a Harley dealership. Some of the Harley riders will not even speak to me, or even look at the bike! They are mainly older guys with very narrow views about most things, not just bikes. They clean their bikes, ride to the shop, ride home and clean their bikes again. Not many of them wear kit that looks used. Some of them run extremely loud pipes.
There are a few others who absolutely love the Drifter. These guys are proper riders. Bikes are high mileage and used for their intended purpose. I see them at other locations, they often do 3/400 miles on a Sunday. A couple of them pointed out how the Drifter is so well designed, with clean lines and a real get down to business type of machine that you can use every day.
The Drifter engine sounds tame compared to the loud Harley motors, even with my Roadhouse 2-1 (beautiful pipe), but it's faster and there are not many Harleys that look better in my opinion. Plus, Harleys are more common!
Nuff said, Merry Christmas to all the Drifter people in the North American paradise.
Rod - former member, rejoined.
Posted by Troll
- December 04, 2010, 15:06:29 PMI sold both of my H-Ds last year. '78 Superglide with a 98" S&S engine and a 1980 FLT. Been riding since 1963, and except for one Moto Guzzi and a BSA 650 lightening, always been H-Ds....Replaced the Superglide with a 2000 Kaw W650, and the FLT with an 01 Drifter. Not looking back (I would own another Guzzi, though).
Posted by chief
- November 27, 2010, 15:31:20 PMI think about all the great rides I would've missed had I been brand slave... makes me feel "superior"... 
Posted by TripWire
- November 24, 2010, 23:20:28 PMRide what you enjoy, enjoy what you ride. I got my Drifter to make me happy not the people I ride with. In my circle of friends we seem to spend more time talking about our rides not our bikes and yes more than half ride Harleys. I think Harely riders are like every other demographic out there, a few making a bad name for the rest of them.
Posted by scwilli
- November 22, 2010, 18:27:53 PMJust got back from a rally in Galveston, TX.
Nothing but good comments. The highlight was going to the biker bar and having people ignore my friend's 100th anniversary harley and ogle my drifter. Some asked if it was an Indian, but when told it was a Kawa most replied with a version of "looks damn good"
Also got to rub my hydraulic clutch in my friend's face while we were in Houston traffic.Posted by VN1500
- November 20, 2010, 08:45:51 AMI live in [deep] H/D country, so mostly I just get snubbed? on either my Drifter or my Nomad.....OK I can live with that. One guy thought my Nomad was a newer version of a V-Rod,..of course that was after he assured me of his vast motorcycle knowledge.<BG>
I did get a comment from an H/D rider one day when I was riding a BMW few years back.
He said nice little BNW ya got there. When ya gonna move up to a Harley?
To which i replied,..my first motorcycle was a Harley,...& I've been moving up ever since.
he didn't respond............
Posted by chief
- November 18, 2010, 15:01:51 PMLOL... yeah, reminds me of one of those nature shows... look at all the rugged individualists in this pic...
Posted by jveley
- November 18, 2010, 13:14:49 PMFor monty python fans who have seen "Life of Brian," kind of reminds me of the Harley-or-nothing folks:
"Yes... we're all individuals..."
Posted by chief
- November 18, 2010, 12:04:49 PMFirst, let me state this is not an indictment of all Harley owners... I'm one of those sometimes myself. This is only concerned with that minority who can't see past their dark sunglasses and skull masks.
It ticks off some of my harley buddies when we park someplace and it becomes obvious my drifter is getting all the attention from the citizens. One guy has spent about 40K on his custom harley... this in itself has halted any remarks about the Kaw brand name with this bunch.
You know back in the 70's we created the "jap crap" moniker for the bikes Honda and others were dumping on our economy. I rode a Triumph, Norton and later a Harley. Made in Japan once meant it was crap... truly crap. There were no "sport bikes"... unless you meant dirt! And AMF/HD was fighting for its life.
When I toyed with becoming a member of a particular unnamed club I was told I would have to dump the trumpf and get a harley... it had to be kickstart... it had to have this and that... I had to attend every meeting... had to wear certain articles of clothing... rules... rules... I'd had enough of rules so I bailed.
But times have changed.
Now, in this age of Lexus, Toyota, etc when some of the best cars and bikes on the planet are coming from Japan... we still hear this "jap crap" stuff out of some hd owners... not for any of the very good reasons we had, but simply because they have bought into HD advertising. Its easier to be a parrot and spout only what you are taught than to actually know what you are saying. Its part of being in the Harley club, one of the herd... along with the black leather, tough guy attitude and refusing to return a wave. Rules.
While pride in one's machine is understandable, owners who spout such nonsense demonstrate their own ignorance and I truly feel sorry for them. There are far too many fine machines to limit yourself to one brand. And, I don't need no stinkin RULES ruining my time in the saddle!
Posted by jveley
- November 18, 2010, 08:23:18 AMAround here, it's pretty much Harley or nothing, so I stick out in the crowd. The harley guys love my bike until I tell them that I have 2, done all of my mods, and still haven't spent all the money I got for my Road King when I sold it.
Posted by marshalldoll
- October 25, 2010, 20:05:32 PMI too have had quite a few other makes of bikes prior to purchasing my 1999 1500 drifter. For me the best and most trouble free ride so far. There is a donut shop that is a Harley hangout and last Sunday afternoon I decided to take my Drifter and go to Harley Haven. I pulled in and parked in the middle of maybe 15 Harleys and went inside for coffee. When I cam out a gang of Harley guys were all around my bike and the spokesperson said " So is it a Chief or Scout?" I had the pleasure of saying "Look at the neck tag !" He in turned yelled at all the other bikers " Its a Kawasaki" " I never knew they made such a nice bike!" Then they all wanted to know all about the machine. I had a great time and had no ill remarks from any of them. I rode off a very happy guy and yes years ago I too rode a Harley but never again.
Posted by 1999 Drifter
- October 25, 2010, 17:30:38 PMI saw a 1946 Indian for sale in Toronto Canada and I much prefer the look of my 99 1500
Posted by ski.dive
- October 25, 2010, 15:23:51 PMHARLEY owners in DAYTONA BEACH, hate anything that is not a HARLEY...
They said my DRIFTER was JAP JUNK.
Posted by chief
- February 12, 2010, 11:26:29 AMYeah, when I rode a harley I had a full toolkit too!... now I carry about a tenth of that... just essentials. AND... I have only had to use it once on my bikes... but have used the various tools several times for other folks...
Cheers.
Posted by bubbabland
- February 11, 2010, 21:28:56 PMI enjoy riding places where people ride everything. Coolest thing I ever saw was on US129 (the dragon) where an 82 Suzuki GS850, a new Goldwing, and 2 hard core Harley's were all stopped in a corner helping a 20 year old kid reattach his front sprocket on his Kawasaki crotch rocket. Everyone thought everyone's bike was cool. I stopped first (on the old suzuki) but had no tools, then the wing. But you should have seen the kid's face when the 2 Harley's stopped. He looked pretty scared, but one of them pulled the t-bag off his bike and unrolled it...FULL TOOLKIT! He had everything in there! Got him back on the road in no time.