Riding with HOG riders...not the clash of clans type

[Guest]

So I met this chick that rides a Harley. She invites me for a Sunday morning ride to the coast for breakfast. I meet her and there are 5 other HD riders there, they crack wise at first "man thats a quiet bike", "ride in the back so you don't slow us up", "keep up if you can". So I play it off, I mean, I only ride a GS850 ya know and they are on 103's 107's and 1 110. I guess they had ridden together a lot and I caught on to the "hit it" signal that was being given. Me being me I just played the keep-the-pace game. At breakfast they again cracked wise with, "we could see ya back there hope we weren't going to fast for you" crap. Again, I let it fester some more and said nothing. So, we are on a long straight away, signal goes up, HD pipes scream...so as I pass the first 5 in second gear, I look over at the 110 shift and leave him wanting. We had planned on stopping at a specific gas station on the way back, by the time they got there, I had pumped my gas and pulled into a parking spot and was taking my helmet off. We got drinks sat on the bench and the stunned silence was deafening. Needless to say, when we all met up that night at the bar, a whole new tune was being sung about me and my 850. The next week they told me to pick spot to ride in, I said rear, they said why, I said "i carry tools... its easier for me to pull off when you break down." I think I found a new riding group.

[roeme]

Nice story.

From a cursory glance at some misc specs floating around on the web, your 850 should have a few horses less than the HD's - Matches my experience though; to be fast, the bike is secondary. Rider is where it counts.

[storm 64]

Haha, great story. When will they learne you don't mess with the mighty 850!

I was riding with this group of guys. The one guy had a souped up Harley. The first time he caught me off guard, he pulled out and passed everyone. The next time I heard him coming. I dropped it down into 4th gear, as soon as he passed me I pulled it out into the passing lane and the race was on! I wound out 4th gear and hit 5th, me and my 1100 were gone! Now when I run into the fellow, he's always real nice to me.☺

[gsrick]

That's hilarious Chris. At least there are now a few Hogs that will know better than to mess with the mighty Zook. Bet the word spreads quickly.

[GS1150Pilot]

Some of those big motor Harleys are damned fast. When I had my VMax, I raced a guy on a bagger, and until 100 or so, that thing kept up, no joke.

[gsrick]

Some of those big motor Harleys are damned fast. When I had my VMax, I raced a guy on a bagger, and until 100 or so, that thing kept up, no joke.

No doubt, but look at the cc's they have to have to make it. Sorry cubic inches.

[dorkburger]

I was invited by a H-D riding friend to join him and his friends for a ride - mostly, but not exclusively H-Ds There was mutual respect all around but excepting my friend who at one time rode a KZ 1000, all were surprised by the old Suzuki.

The highlight of my friends day was when I caught a guy in our group on a CBR 1000RR who thougt he was a bad arse by surprise and left him far behind pulling out of a tool booth. No way I'd keep up in a real race, but still, my friend said I may as well have peed in his Corn Flakes. He was pleased....

[GS1150Pilot]

The 1150 is still a fast bike by most any standards.

[Mosquito13]

NICE! I ride with a couple HD's bar hopping . I usually ride my rd400 or h1500 both with chambers and bean oil mix . They know they can beat me after the mile... but the best is at the parking lot when my bikes gets the most conversation over their big $$$ hogs. Haven't rode the gs yet. Going to Herb's Limestone this weekend . Will see what reception the GS1100 gets with the HD crowd there. http://gotonight.com/venues/venue/?id=4501

[lurch12_2000]

The only HD rider that takes up my offer to go riding any more is Jedz123. And his isn't the typical HD. I guess the others don't want to be seen with my assorted non HD bikes that outperform theirs at a tenth of the cost. So I stopped asking them.

[subforry]

850s rule, yeah.

Not too long a ago friend of mine and I rode with some Harley guys. My friend rode his Speed Triple and I rode the K1300GT. They slowed way down for the turns and speed up on the straights. We agreed that was the opposite of how we usually ride. These guys also stop for gas every 90-100 miles. We were just laughing at ourselves when we tried to join in on the mandatory engine revving after the gas stop. At least the Speed Triple made some noise.

It was nice experience with some good guys.

[Blue Falcon]

Nice story.

From a cursory glance at some misc specs floating around on the web, your 850 should have a few horses less than the HD's - Matches my experience though; to be fast, the bike is secondary. Rider is where it counts.

You are correct, stock HP I am about 15-20HP less. Those rating also don't account for the weight on the bike, I was probably 300-500 lbs less than any of them total rider/bike weight. That negates any HP advantage they may have had. The 110 had it wrapped and I still passed him without full throttle and made it look easy. He also said he was already in 4th as I was shifting in 3rd, the red line is low on the HD's. In running the stop lights with HD's, the new ones get me in 1st and 2nd but 3rd is a blow by from me, power band shifting the whole way to 5th. They are geared like Jeeps, great low end, but nothing after 2nd.

[1978GS750E]

As a Harley and a GS owner....you are comparing apples and oranges here. My GS is quicker, my Harley is more comfortable. The GS is a sport bike, and the Harley is a touring bike, for a reason! I like riding my GS anywhere less than 60-70 miles but if I'm gonna do 347 miles like last Saturday, I want to be on the Harley. No way could this old body handle that many miles on the GS. Love 'em both, just for different reasons.

[lurch12_2000]

Well I think the OP was comparing a GS850G to the Harley. I wouldn't call the 850G a sport bike but it does handle well,
is quicker than it looks and will easily handle 300 miles days in comfort...very quiet and smooth with a 150-200 mile tank range. I'm not saying that you can't enjoy a stock Harley if that's what you choose, but ride a stock properly tuned old GS850G with some bags and you'll have no problems eating up as many miles as the overrated and overpriced HD. It's really an image thing that somehow HD is the final step in bikes. I don't ask Harley riders to go riding to show them up but rather to enjoy some riding together. The issue is a lot of those folks seem to project a Harley or nothing persona. You'll find that with some of the BMW crowd too.

[Blue Falcon]

As a Harley and a GS owner....you are comparing apples and oranges here. My GS is quicker, my Harley is more comfortable. The GS is a sport bike, and the Harley is a touring bike, for a reason! I like riding my GS anywhere less than 60-70 miles but if I'm gonna do 347 miles like last Saturday, I want to be on the Harley. No way could this old body handle that many miles on the GS. Love 'em both, just for different reasons.

Finished a 3200 mile trip on my 850 last month....I don't think there is a bike around that is comfortable after 8 hours a day of riding. Wasn't comparing the two, just telling a nice little story about my day of riding and the new group I ride with, I was underestimated as well as my bike, only because I don't have loud pipes and my tank doesn't have an HD emblem on it.