i've been around harleys my entire life. i have owned bikes ever since i was old enough. sold my last harley a few months back because i just cant stand what harley has become and i do not want to be associated with it/them anymore. if it werent for buell, i wouldnt be riding anymore.
i have been doing alot of thinking ever since harley killed off buell, as to why they would do that when they had offers on the table to sell it. all i can come up with is this....
they had to. buell was becoming the real american motorcycle, and buell riders were/are truely more bikers than the harley crowd. buell was making harley look bad. and, they wanted to take buell technology and put it into their sportsters. yes, they had rights to it and could have done it without killing buell, but people would have figured it out. they have already come out with one sportster headed that direction. most people that ride dont know beans about much of anything motorcycle, that cant be said of the average buell owner.
95% of harley riders dress in leather, ride to the bar, play the role, then they ride home...you can tell they dont ride much because their leather is spotless. 90% of them can not change their own oil. 99% of them will pass a person who is on the side of the road with a broken down bike. 95% of them are stick their noses in the air, and wouldnt even acknowlege a rider if they are on something other than a harley, and even then there is a good chance they will snub them if they dont think the other persons bike is cool enough. and that is really funny, because when i had my other bikes, those people would line up to kiss my ass when they saw my ride....how ******* stupid.
so now i ride a buell. in doing so, i dont have to deal with these shitheals much anymore. the ones that are what i mentioned above, stay away from me. occasionally a person will approach me and admire the buell, and i answer politely any questions they have. those types of people are generally good folks who i enjoy talking to. the rest are a joke and i am elated they stay away from me. and what is more, i really enjoy riding again.
so i guess if you are looking for a good harley forum, good luck. i know you might find some good folks out there eventually, but from a guy that has been around bikers for almost 40 years now, i think you will have to weed through alot of shitbirds and posers before you find any quality folk.