{"id":32808,"date":"2026-04-11T00:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=32808"},"modified":"2026-03-29T15:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:37:52","slug":"why-are-all-my-friends-buying-harleys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/why-are-all-my-friends-buying-harleys\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are All My Friends Buying Harleys?"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

Don’t get excited; I don’t have that many friends.\u00a0 But lately two of them (Baja John and Uncle Joe Gresh) both bought Harleys.\u00a0 I guess I started thinking about it when I went to the gym yesterday morning.\u00a0 There was an early Harley V-Rod parked in front.\u00a0 It looked brand new.\u00a0 It’s too bad that bike didn’t make it with the beer bellies and tattoos bunch.\u00a0 Harley is on the skids now, struggling through a huge sales downturn and significant layoffs.\u00a0 I guess they don’t know what to do.\u00a0 I do (small bikes and even smaller prices; it ain’t rocket science, Milwaukee).\u00a0 Eh, what do I know?<\/p>\n

\"\"The V-Rod had me thinking about Baja John.\u00a0 He bought a V-Rod last year.\u00a0 I haven’t seen it yet, so I called John and asked him to send a photo.\u00a0 It’s the one you see at the top of this blog.\u00a0 I need to get out there to Arizona and visit with John again.\u00a0 Maybe on the next pig hunt.\u00a0 Maybe sooner.<\/p>\n

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And then there’s Gresh and his Buell.\u00a0 I knew more about that motorcycle, as Sue and I hosted Gresh out here in La La Land when he came out to pick it up.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s a beautiful motorcycle, and it’s been fun watching Joe resurrect it.\u00a0 He’s having fun.\u00a0 It’s too bad Buell didn’t work out for Harley, either.\u00a0 I thought those bikes might have been the answer.\u00a0\u00a0Joe’s adventures have had me thinking maybe I need to find an older Buell to play with.\u00a0 It would be fun.\u00a0 But there aren’t too many Harley dealers around here anymore; they’ve been dropping like left wing loonies (sorry for the redundancy) at a MAGA rally.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 Harley dealers are falling fast.\u00a0 It’s a shame, really.<\/p>\n

The upshot of the above, of course, is that if you are in the market for a Harley, this is probably a good time to buy.\u00a0 I’ve owned two Harleys; one was a turd and the other was awesome.\u00a0 They sure were beautiful, though.\u00a0 Even the ’79 Electra-Glide (the turd) that treated me worse than Kamala Harris at a Toastmasters meeting was drop dead gorgeous.<\/p>\n

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I think if I was going to buy another motorcycle, it would be a Moto Guzzi.\u00a0 The work I’ve been doing for Motorcycle Classics<\/em> magazine with Cycle Garden in Indio cemented what I already felt:\u00a0 Guzzis are the world’s most beautiful motorcycles.\u00a0 I like the Ambassadors and El Dorados from the 1970s, and I also like the Griso.\u00a0 I’m keeping my eyes peeled.\u00a0 And there’s another plus on the Guzzis:\u00a0 They sure are easy to maintain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How easy?\u00a0 Hey, buy a recent issue of Motorcycle Classics<\/em>, turn to the “How To” section, and you’ll see.\u00a0 The upcoming issue has a feature on how to de-rust a gas tank, and it’s pretty interesting.\u00a0 I think you’ll like it.<\/p>\n

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