ZAR wrote on 04/20/13 at 19:21:01:Yeah,yeah,yeah.....it's still a V-twin Hurley knock-off........nothing new there....same old s&%t.
HD knock off in the bodywork department, Vincent engine knock off. Yamaha (like the latest Indian engine from Polaris) uses an offset rear cylinder, just like Vincent did on the infamous Black Shadow. The earliest incarnation by Yamaha even used a Vincent clone swingarm and shock layout...
A truer HD knock off would be the Kawasaki Vulcan V-twin... oh, wait, Kawasaki designed the Evo... look it up, it's true. HD came crying to Japan in the early 80s, Kawi stepped up and helped the brand survive. The design gurus at Kawasaki actually liked and respected the HD as a classic platform and couldn't stomach the thought of it going out of business. Harley paid off the debt for the Evo in 1994. Imagine where Harleys would be today if Kawasaki hadn't had to stick with pushrods and a separate transmission while modernizing the old nosecone Shovelhead...
A super sized HD knock off would be the Yamaha Road Star engine. Beefed up Shovelhead with pushrods sharing a common cover.