2014 Harley Street 750!!

Well, just to show I'm no Harley hater, I drank some orange & black kool-aid today and am now a proud owner of a Harley......well, at least part of one. ;D

1535501_705451342812710_738290972_n.jpg


Early '50's Harley Hummer. Only missing a few parts. ;)
But the price was right. ;D
 
So, to resurrect this topic in the spirit of the OP's comments, I took a test run on the Street 750 this Saturday past at Harley Davidson of NYC in Long Island City, Queens. Impressions follow:

First look: I really appreciate the styling of this bike. It looks nice and low, nothing looks immediately out of place on it or awkward. The V-Twin looks powerful in there, and the bikini fairing also looks good. Switches and such are plastic, but not bad looking. The rear brake pedal looks too big, very much like a stamped piece of metal. As several online reviews have noted, there is a visible seam down the center of the tank, but it's no more noticeable than that on the Sportster. There is a mass of exposed wiring on the right side of the steering head, and while not pretty, it's not horrible either. Will be easy to cover with a wrap of some sort. The electronics for the switch gear are not routed through the bars, but are zip-tied to them.

Sitting on the bike: I'm 5'9, 155 lbs, 30 inch inseam. I currently have a CB500 Four, so the foot controls are much further forward than I'm used to, but not as far forward as one pictures when hearing the term "cruiser". I think they aren't much different than the positioning on my old CB350. The seat is low, but not Iron 883 low. Flat footing shouldn't be a problem for many. Reach to the bars is good, if a little high for my personal preference. I would replace the bars with drags or tracker bars to get slightly more forward lean, and to get my hands lower than my shoulders. They aren't mini-apes, but again, they're much different than my current drag bars. Not hateful though.

Riding: The controls mostly feel really nice. Six (6!) speed transmission shifted nice and easily with little noise other than a very satisfying clunk from neutral to first. The biggest downside I've heard from reviewers is the lack of break feel. Maybe so, but I'm coming from a 1972 CB500. It's better than that, so it's good enough for me. I'd say if you're comparing it to a modern sports bike, it's probably crap. If you're comparing it to a vintage anything, it's possibly on par or better by a shade. YMMV. The handling seemed crisp, easy, manageable with such a low seat. No complaints there. Power delivery is smooth, not overly fast, but that's not the point. It's also not slow. If you're a new rider, returning rider, or have been riding vintage bikes under 750cc, I think you'll be very happy with the engine on this little guy.

Sound: This is where the bike is also significantly different than other HDs. It's very modern sounding, smooth, happy to rev. Much more like a sewing machine than the old-school HD sound. I suspect this is for several reasons. SOHC, noise and emissions control, and newer technology. When the bike is idling, you hear more engine than exhaust note. On acceleration, the opposite holds, but it's not deeply bass-heavy. At higher speeds, the exhaust is drowned by wind, and you hear the higher frequencies from the engine again. Ultimately, it's much more subdued than the other HDs. This can easily be remedied if you chose. Just get a different pipe.

Fit and finish: I've mentioned some of that above. But the bike does feel solid. It doesn't appear cobbled together, but some parts do lack refinement, such as the very cast-looking fork clamps. Coming from an old old bike, this doesn't really bother me. I can see why it would bother a "Harley Superfan" who might have a $20,000 bike. On anything above $8,000 or so, this would be unacceptable. But the bike is cheaper than that, so...whatever.

Amenities: Again, my modern standards there are....none. No tach, the speedo only shows the odo and two trips. No clock, range gauge, etc. Is this a problem for me? No. YMMV. The only thing that bugs me, and this holds for most modern bikes these days, is the lack of a helmet lock, let alone two helmet locks like on my CBs. This is so lame.

So, final impressions? They were good enough that I put down a deposit for a delivery this weekend. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know, I'm happy to share anything I might have forgotten!!
 
Sonreir said:
I feel like I've come a bit late into this thread, but I like the idea of more smaller-engined bikes. I'm glad to see a shift in that direction.

I think it's pretty easy to hate on HD because they're the big kid on the block (in the US, anway). I do sometimes lament that the perception is that they put more money into marketing than they do R&D, but it's making money for them...

That said, I wouldn't mind owning one. The only V-twin I've ridden was the CX, but I'm told the HDs are good for what they are.

Ha! It's REAL easy to hate on a H-D! All one has to do is ride anything else. As one who has owned two Buell XB's (XB12R and XB9R) and 4 in-line Japanese race reps, my impression of the brand has not changed. Everything else is just better. This summer, I did a EBR (BUELL) demo on their new 1190RS. It's a pretty damn good sport bike. The powertrain and electronics are light years ahead of the old XB line with the hopped up Sporty engine. In short, you'd have to GIVE me a H-D for me to own one. And, I'd only own it up to the minute I sold it. :-D Now the Project Live Wire e-bike that H-D has unveiled is quite a different story. I really, really want to demo ride one of those. That bike, should it make it to production, is probably the only thing that would bring me into the bar and shield fold.
 
MattIn11225 said:
So, to resurrect this topic in the spirit of the OP's comments, I took a test run on the Street 750 this Saturday past at Harley Davidson of NYC in Long Island City, Queens. Impressions follow:

First look: I really appreciate the styling of this bike. It looks nice and low, nothing looks immediately out of place on it or awkward. The V-Twin looks powerful in there, and the bikini fairing also looks good. Switches and such are plastic, but not bad looking. The rear brake pedal looks too big, very much like a stamped piece of metal. As several online reviews have noted, there is a visible seam down the center of the tank, but it's no more noticeable than that on the Sportster. There is a mass of exposed wiring on the right side of the steering head, and while not pretty, it's not horrible either. Will be easy to cover with a wrap of some sort. The electronics for the switch gear are not routed through the bars, but are zip-tied to them.

Sitting on the bike: I'm 5'9, 155 lbs, 30 inch inseam. I currently have a CB500 Four, so the foot controls are much further forward than I'm used to, but not as far forward as one pictures when hearing the term "cruiser". I think they aren't much different than the positioning on my old CB350. The seat is low, but not Iron 883 low. Flat footing shouldn't be a problem for many. Reach to the bars is good, if a little high for my personal preference. I would replace the bars with drags or tracker bars to get slightly more forward lean, and to get my hands lower than my shoulders. They aren't mini-apes, but again, they're much different than my current drag bars. Not hateful though.

Riding: The controls mostly feel really nice. Six (6!) speed transmission shifted nice and easily with little noise other than a very satisfying clunk from neutral to first. The biggest downside I've heard from reviewers is the lack of break feel. Maybe so, but I'm coming from a 1972 CB500. It's better than that, so it's good enough for me. I'd say if you're comparing it to a modern sports bike, it's probably crap. If you're comparing it to a vintage anything, it's possibly on par or better by a shade. YMMV. The handling seemed crisp, easy, manageable with such a low seat. No complaints there. Power delivery is smooth, not overly fast, but that's not the point. It's also not slow. If you're a new rider, returning rider, or have been riding vintage bikes under 750cc, I think you'll be very happy with the engine on this little guy.

Sound: This is where the bike is also significantly different than other HDs. It's very modern sounding, smooth, happy to rev. Much more like a sewing machine than the old-school HD sound. I suspect this is for several reasons. SOHC, noise and emissions control, and newer technology. When the bike is idling, you hear more engine than exhaust note. On acceleration, the opposite holds, but it's not deeply bass-heavy. At higher speeds, the exhaust is drowned by wind, and you hear the higher frequencies from the engine again. Ultimately, it's much more subdued than the other HDs. This can easily be remedied if you chose. Just get a different pipe.

Fit and finish: I've mentioned some of that above. But the bike does feel solid. It doesn't appear cobbled together, but some parts do lack refinement, such as the very cast-looking fork clamps. Coming from an old old bike, this doesn't really bother me. I can see why it would bother a "Harley Superfan" who might have a $20,000 bike. On anything above $8,000 or so, this would be unacceptable. But the bike is cheaper than that, so...whatever.

Amenities: Again, my modern standards there are....none. No tach, the speedo only shows the odo and two trips. No clock, range gauge, etc. Is this a problem for me? No. YMMV. The only thing that bugs me, and this holds for most modern bikes these days, is the lack of a helmet lock, let alone two helmet locks like on my CBs. This is so lame.

So, final impressions? They were good enough that I put down a deposit for a delivery this weekend. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know, I'm happy to share anything I might have forgotten!!

nice write up - looking forward to some real pictures of it
 
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