japanese cruiser riders?

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WISH FULL THINKING...Show more

to the non-biking public that knows nothing about bikes they think every cruiser is a Harley, they can't tell the difference between a Japanese Cruiser and a Harley.

some guys ( I'm not one of them ) take it as a complement when some non-biker walks up to them and says " Nice Harley" to the owner of a Japanese bike.

many Japanese cruiser bikes do almost sound like a Harley, especially ones with performance exhaust pipes, and some do almost look like a Harley

as an experienced biker I can tell the difference in sound and looks of a Harley, but many people can't

so the guy you know likes to impress the people that knows nothing about bikes, thinking its a Harley when its not...Show more

A Harley has a very distinctive sound.

In a two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, the pistons are timed so that one fires on one revolution of the crankshaft and the other fires on the next revolution -- so one of the two pistons fires on every revolution of the crankshaft. To create this type of engine, the crankshaft has two separate pins for the connecting rods from the pistons. The pins are 180 degrees apart from one another, and always 'travel' next to each other. They alternate firing every time they come to the top.

A Harley engine has two pistons. The difference in the Harley engine is that the crankshaft has only one pin, and both pistons connect to it. This design, combined with the V arrangement of the cylinders, means that the pistons cannot fire at even intervals. Instead of one piston firing every 360 degrees, a Harley engine goes like this:

* A piston fires.
* The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
* There is a 405-degree gap.
* A piston fires.
* The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
* There is a 405-degree gap.

And the cycle continues.

At idle, you can hear the brp-brp sound followed by a pause. So its sound is brp-brp...brp-brp...brp-brp. That is the unique sound you hear!

[ Some guys ( like Joe B above ) take it as a complement when some non-biker walks up to them and says " Nice Harley" to the owner of a Japanese bike. --Me? I'm insulted! This is NOT a Harley and anyone who says it is is STUPID. I have owned more than one Harley, and they are lousy motorcycles. They always need repairs. They leak oil. They handle lousy, mostly because their engine arrangement causes them to torque to the side when accelerating and de-accellerating. When I see some guy with a Harley, If it's a real looker I'll say 'nice bike' or 'nice Harley', but more often than not I'll say "nice Honda" or even "What's that, a Honda?" ]...Show more

I dont know why every answer on this page assumes sounding like a harley is a good thing. But Joe B is right he may have just wanted the powerful sound of a harley and was trying to impress people. My take on it though is maybe he bought his Shadow (which is a very decent bike) because he didnt want a harley, because he didn't want to have to repair his poorly built bike every 500 miles like every harley out there. Nope i'm guessing he bought a shadow because he wanted a shadow and he wanted it to sound LIKE a shadow he wanted to be able to actually cruise on his bike without having to stop at a good ol' "AMERICAN MUSCLE" shop to repair his busted kick start, head light, chain link, exhaust manifold.....you get the idea....Show more

I knew a guy who had an older Shadow ACE with straight pipes. He would brag about how it sounded like a Harley....Show more