To Harley Or Not To Harley, That Is The Question?

TSJMajesty said:
Could never get that bike to wheelie like I could my 900 Ninja though! I think it had to do with a loose nut..., the one on top of the seat! :bag
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I did it all the time....but not like a Crotch Rocket. That damn shaft drive!!!!
 
la szum said:
1600ccs of rubber throwing gravel all over the pavement. They can all f**k themselves. :horse

It's like Mad Max's Thunderdome where I live. Only with Suburbanites escaping the
'Burbs for the weekend. :LOL:
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Speaking of throwing gravel
I don’t know if this is a thing elsewhere but…
The rural roads around here are oil and chipped every few years.
Now that can be both annoying having that smutz stuck to your bike.
Even worse was the loose gravel to ride on.
 
duzie said:
Speaking of throwing gravel
I don’t know if this is a thing elsewhere but…
The rural roads around here are oil and chipped every few years.
Now that can be both annoying having that smutz stuck to your bike.
Even worse was the loose gravel to ride on.
Click to expand...
Damn chip'n'seal, hate it......hot water wash.....then alcohol for the residue.
 
duzie said:
Speaking of throwing gravel
I don’t know if this is a thing elsewhere but…
The rural roads around here are oil and chipped every few years.
Now that can be both annoying having that smutz stuck to your bike.
Even worse was the loose gravel to ride on.
Click to expand...

Yup. Same here in spots. I usually turn around if I am on the bike. I ain't riding
on that shit. :beer
 
Yeah, the Ethanol is crap for combustible engines in the long-term.... and Ethanol
is in pretty much all consumer fuels at this point. Smart to treat it with something.

A friend recommended Startron. I have used Sta-bil in chiansaws for years.
 
I never used Sta-bil in my bikes, but use it for my fuel that I have around for lawn mower, chainsaw, weed whackers, generator, power washer, etc. I only use it when the fuel is going to sit for a while (fuel don't last around here, so not often). I also use some stuff called Sea Foam to keep things tidy inside the engines and I used that stuff on my bikes as well (as recommended from a HD shop in Cali years ago). I always use premium fuel in the bikes and my preferred vendor was Phillips 76 ;~))

@likitlikeyoulikeit , when it comes to not riding I can't help but think "what would Dad say"! Maybe a winter project to get that drunken bovine on the road!! I know, what the hell am I talking about with the drunken bovine? It is a bad joke a wrote many years ago! Are your ready for it?

What do you call a drunk Japanese bovine on two wheels? Kaw a sake!

As for stories, my stories got stories! Literally!! If I were to make it to the Murder Mitten Mayhem shindig/hootenany/hoedown/throwdown, I will tell a few ;~)) As for you and your pops, I am sure there are some good stories lurking in those memories as well!!!

Safe and sane you crazy kidz! And don't do anything I wouldn't do, which of course leaves the door wide open!!
 
la szum said:
Yup. Same here in spots. I usually turn around if I am on the bike. I ain't riding
on that shit. :beer
Click to expand...
Interesting you say that because I recently experienced a new situation in road repair. Early this year, we had a landslide that took out a bridge about a mile from where I live. It is one of only two ways to get to the house, and the other way is a LOT longer. Anyway, in the repairs, they have decided to lay a bunch of new asphalt both before and after the bridge blowout. Now for decades, I have hated when they are laying down new asphalt because as you drive through those areas, your vehicle gets covered with little bits of that stuff as it is kicked up by the wheels. Well this new stuff is different in many ways. First of all, I have not heard or seen the remnants of, any asphalt on our white vehicles that my girl and I both drive. I have not even heard a bit of it getting kicked up into the wheel wells and such. On top of that, they lay this stuff down, and you are driving on it literally less than half a day later! OMG!! I can only pray that this new asphalt method/material has better durability and if it does, I am big smiles ;~)) I have not looked into what this new stuff is and how/why it is different in these ways, but me likey ;~))
 
When I did that first ride with the older guys, I had to stay in the middle of the pack, since I had only been riding for less than a year. But I was SO eager to get that KZ750 leaned over in some turns, especially when we got up into the mountains. Jeff led the whole way on his KZ1000 J2, and Uncle Charlie, whom we called 'Beer Truck Chuck', because he had one of those pvc containers mounted on his luggage rack on his LTD1000, filled with beer and ice, usually brought up the rear.

But as it turned out, Ralph on his KZ650 CSR would ride slow, falling way behind, even past Charlie. He'd get so far back we couldn't even see him behind us! So I decided to "ride the gap," a trick I picked up from Motorcyclist Magazine that basically said, when you're on twisty roads with cars going slower than you want to, but are unsafe to pass, when you catch up to a 4-wheeler, you pull over until the next one comes up behind you, and jump back in, ride at your speed, catch up to the car again, and repeat. (This only works in light traffic though.)

So I did that with the bikes. I'd catch up to Jeff, then fall back to Ralph, then ride at my pace, enjoying the curves, until I caught up to Jeff again. This was on 211 in VA, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a ball, and was still able to stay inside the group!

Then a cop stopped to check on us, because we decided to pull off and wait for Ralph, not knowing where he was!

Before we got to the camp site, we pulled into some podunk town to find a spot to change back out of the rain gear, and there were these guys just hanging out on a porch of what looked to be a closed store. I was the only one who was down for parking the bikes right up at that porch, and making some new friends! But after we got introduced, we all ended up smoking some weed with them, and the next thing I know, one of the guys is riding off with one of them in his truck. He gets back with some home-made moonshine! Perfect! LOL

Fun times, but it ended up being the only year I did that ride with them. Many years later, when I got the Concours, and later the Electra Glide, I'd do that same ride, but with my wife, and later my gf! I LOVE getting out to those mountains!! Probably been there about 6 times. It's so peaceful up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I always pick it up at the south end of Skyline Drive, then ride it down to around Staunton.
 
TSJMajesty said:
When I did that first ride with the older guys, I had to stay in the middle of the pack, since I had only been riding for less than a year. But I was SO eager to get that KZ750 leaned over in some turns, especially when we got up into the mountains. Jeff led the whole way on his KZ1000 J2, and Uncle Charlie, whom we called 'Beer Truck Chuck', because he had one of those pvc containers mounted on his luggage rack on his LTD1000, filled with beer and ice, usually brought up the rear.

But as it turned out, Ralph on his KZ650 CSR would ride slow, falling way behind, even past Charlie. He'd get so far back we couldn't even see him behind us! So I decided to "ride the gap," a trick I picked up from Motorcyclist Magazine that basically said, when you're on twisty roads with cars going slower than you want to, but are unsafe to pass, when you catch up to a 4-wheeler, you pull over until the next one comes up behind you, and jump back in, ride at your speed, catch up to the car again, and repeat. (This only works in light traffic though.)

So I did that with the bikes. I'd catch up to Jeff, then fall back to Ralph, then ride at my pace, enjoying the curves, until I caught up to Jeff again. This was on 211 in VA, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a ball, and was still able to stay inside the group!

Then a cop stopped to check on us, because we decided to pull off and wait for Ralph, not knowing where he was!

Before we got to the camp site, we pulled into some podunk town to find a spot to change back out of the rain gear, and there were these guys just hanging out on a porch of what looked to be a closed store. I was the only one who was down for parking the bikes right up at that porch, and making some new friends! But after we got introduced, we all ended up smoking some weed with them, and the next thing I know, one of the guys is riding off with one of them in his truck. He gets back with some home-made moonshine! Perfect! LOL

Fun times, but it ended up being the only year I did that ride with them. Many years later, when I got the Concours, and later the Electra Glide, I'd do that same ride, but with my wife, and later my gf! I LOVE getting out to those mountains!! Probably been there about 6 times. It's so peaceful up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I always pick it up at the south end of Skyline Drive, then ride it down to around Staunton.
Click to expand...
Meeting new people and talking shit ..sharing a buzz... sometimes eating as a group, taking over a whole restaurant....I really miss that shit.

Met so many cool people that way.
 
TSJMajesty said:
When I did that first ride with the older guys, I had to stay in the middle of the pack, since I had only been riding for less than a year. But I was SO eager to get that KZ750 leaned over in some turns, especially when we got up into the mountains. Jeff led the whole way on his KZ1000 J2, and Uncle Charlie, whom we called 'Beer Truck Chuck', because he had one of those pvc containers mounted on his luggage rack on his LTD1000, filled with beer and ice, usually brought up the rear.

But as it turned out, Ralph on his KZ650 CSR would ride slow, falling way behind, even past Charlie. He'd get so far back we couldn't even see him behind us! So I decided to "ride the gap," a trick I picked up from Motorcyclist Magazine that basically said, when you're on twisty roads with cars going slower than you want to, but are unsafe to pass, when you catch up to a 4-wheeler, you pull over until the next one comes up behind you, and jump back in, ride at your speed, catch up to the car again, and repeat. (This only works in light traffic though.)

So I did that with the bikes. I'd catch up to Jeff, then fall back to Ralph, then ride at my pace, enjoying the curves, until I caught up to Jeff again. This was on 211 in VA, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a ball, and was still able to stay inside the group!

Then a cop stopped to check on us, because we decided to pull off and wait for Ralph, not knowing where he was!

Before we got to the camp site, we pulled into some podunk town to find a spot to change back out of the rain gear, and there were these guys just hanging out on a porch of what looked to be a closed store. I was the only one who was down for parking the bikes right up at that porch, and making some new friends! But after we got introduced, we all ended up smoking some weed with them, and the next thing I know, one of the guys is riding off with one of them in his truck. He gets back with some home-made moonshine! Perfect! LOL

Fun times, but it ended up being the only year I did that ride with them. Many years later, when I got the Concours, and later the Electra Glide, I'd do that same ride, but with my wife, and later my gf! I LOVE getting out to those mountains!! Probably been there about 6 times. It's so peaceful up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I always pick it up at the south end of Skyline Drive, then ride it down to around Staunton.
Click to expand...
LOVE the Blue Ridge Parkway! Truly 500 or so of the best miles I have ever done ;~)) Only did it once but if I were to do it again, I would ride it end to end in both directions (assuming cooperative weather)!! Other road highlights for me are of course Hwy 1 in California, US 101 along the Pacific coast once you leave California (which I consider to be all one road, like the BRP and it's extensions), and US 12 (aka The Lolo Pass) bridging Montana and Idaho! Blue Ridge and those two are probably my top 3!!! I stopped on US 12 to take a picture of the sign at the beginning of the video below, epic ride ;~)) And although some HD riders don't like the sharp turns the way crotch rocket riders do ("My boards were throwin' sparks"), the turns on this ride are gentle and total bliss!!! A must do for any rider, bucket list item IMO (along with the other two I mentioned). A lot of great stretches out there including but not limited to the whole Black Hills area in SD. Great riding country as well, but do NOT go during Sturgis ;~)) And of course, any place there is mountains, rivers, other water, forrests, etc. can be pure bliss!!! Amber waves of grain and corn fields can get old real quick (at least for me), but between these wonderful riding paradises, you are bound to endure some heavy doses of that Americana richness ;~))

Rides I do not need to do again include Mississippi River Road (not a whole lot of river riding and difficult to follow IMO) and Route 66 (or the parts that remain anyway, it has some great sections but overall, pass, though of course, better than the interstate ;~))

​
 
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Man, you guys are bringing back a lot of great memories with the stories of the bikes! I'm pretty sure I posted a pic of the V-Max I had back in the day, and after that there was the '90 Kawi ZX7, and then the '95 Honda 900RR......all great bikes, but the days of goin' 140 down I-435 wearin' nothin' but shorts, tank top, and a pair of Vaurnets are over!

I hope @la szum doesn't mind, but I'm going to post a pic of my latest bike in his thread. I haven't had a bike for about 25 years, and I've wanted one of these since I was 10 years old......well I finally got one....lol

Without further ado, I give you the 1969 Honda Trail 70.......mini but mighty!
biggrin.gif



IMG_0647.JPG
 
ᛗᛜᛜᚺDᛜᎶ Ꮤᛨᚳᚴ said:
LOVE the Blue Ridge Parkway! Truly 500 or so of the best miles I have ever done ;~)) Only did it once but if I were to do it again, I would ride it end to end in both directions (assuming cooperative weather)!! Other road highlights for me are of course Hwy 1 in California, US 101 along the Pacific coast once you leave California (which I consider to be all one road, like the BRP and it's extensions), and US 12 (aka The Lolo Pass) bridging Montana and Idaho! Blue Ridge and those two are probably my top 3!!! I stopped on US 12 to take a picture of the sign at the beginning of the video below, epic ride ;~)) And although some HD riders don't like the sharp turns the way crotch rocket riders do ("My boards were throwin' sparks"), the turns on this ride are gentle and total bliss!!! A must do for any rider, bucket list item IMO (along with the other two I mentioned). A lot of great stretches out there including but not limited to the whole Black Hills area in SD. Great riding country as well, but do NOT go during Sturgis ;~)) And of course, any place there is mountains, rivers, other water, forrests, etc. can be pure bliss!!! Amber waves of grain and corn fields can get old real quick (at least for me), but between these wonderful riding paradises, you are bound to endure some heavy doses of that Americana richness ;~))

Rides I do not need to do again include Mississippi River Road (not a whole lot of river riding and difficult to follow IMO) and Route 66 (or the parts that remain anyway, it has some great sections but overall, pass, though of course, better than the interstate ;~))

​
Click to expand...


That is epic! I have driven the entire length of the Lewis & Clark Highway. From Lewiston, ID to Missoula, MT?? :unsure:

Swam and bathed in the Snake River. Seemed like it followed right along the River the entire way through Idaho.

Man, loved that stretch of road. So great. :chef

That was all in a Toyota Pathfinder. Maybe someday on a bike. :LOL:
 
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