I dont have a Harley either - I ride early 1980's Honda CX500 and CX650 V-twins. Dont have anything against Harleys and their owners - except maybe the persona of superiority they try to assume here in New Zealand - and I wave to pretty much all oncoming bikes when I'm riding.

The more people on bikes the better , irrespective of the make.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
I seldom run twice the speed limit anymore. I gave that up seven years ago when I sold my Muzzy kitted ZX-12R. 90% of the fatalities I read about here are squids on crotch rockets.

Crotch rockets kill their fair share no doubt. But in the last 30 years or so of paying attention to bike fatalities the vast majority where I lived (Alaska and now Colorado) have been older gents with limited riding experience on "cruisers" they just bought. Most deaths were blamed on the rider being unable to negotiate curves properly and they simply rode off the road.
Either way its usually related to inexperience.

I've owned about every brand I can think of except maybe MV Augusta or Laverda.

Favorites were the Norton, Ducati, Harley, BMW, Ariel.

Right now I have a 1970 Triumph Tiger restoration project in the works.

that will be sweet! My last Brit Bike was a '76 Trident, white tank and panels with the gold stripe. It ran very well, but I was too into serious fast to appreciate it. If I could just get it back...

My wife and kid tell me I am getting too old for a bike (71). I spend a vbunch of time on mine. I started with a 750 full dress, gold wing 1200, COrvette (4 so far) and then got back to a bike. A '08 Heritage Softail, '10 Electragl;ide classic, and now a 2012 FLHTK. Put 20,000 on it last year.

Rich, yes I wish for your sake you did have your Trident now. That was really a nice M/C. I recall back in the 90s when HDs were expensive and hard to get, now it seems all manner of pre-70s British M/Cs are out of control expensive and there are damn few for sale. Part of that is the cafe racer craze going on I guess.

I bought a 1969 Norton Commando Fastback for $700 in 1980 and you can't touch one for less than $10,000 now if you could even find one. I really wish I still had that one. Had to have an Indian though, you know how it is. I think most of the Brit bikes are going back to England, there are lots for sale there and damn are they spendy.

I actually bought two Triumph TR6Rs last month in a package deal and plan to restore one and sell the other (it's a rolling chassis just one step up from a complete basket case).

I think the best M/C I ever had was a BMW R1100GS, but the Norton and HD Fatboy are the ones I really miss now. And the '48 Indian Chief. And the Ariel Square Four. Damn.

My brother had a Trident. Believe it was a 74 or 75. I remember it was a triple 750 and orange/black with the trannie on the right side. He had an extended front end put on it before he picked it up new as well as a king/queen seat and the mandatory sissy bar. Great looking bike. It was a bitch to start and occasionally it would demonstrate an electrical gremlin and not start for 30-45 minutes. Kick start to boot I believe.
He would of most likely still owned the bike if a lady didn't pull out right in front of him and he smashed into the side of her car. He eventually healed but the bike didn't.

I have a Blown Alcohol Victory Vegas.

Damn, how do you hold onto that one?

quote:

and now a 2012 FLHTK. Put 20,000 on it last year.

20K in one year? Must be short on gun work :-)

I've been riding a little over forty years, and have had just about everything at one time or another- with the exception of Harley and Suzuki. Present bikes are:

2005 Ural GearUp sidecar rig with selectable two wheel drive... slow and clumsy, with about the same performance parameters as a four cylinder Army Jeep... but once sorted has proven to be the most dependable vehicle I've ever owned regardless of the number of wheels.

2010 Moto Guzzi V7 Classic- somewhat faster than the Ural but you're never quite sure if you're going to get to where you're going without pushing it part of the way. "Itallian" and "electronics" are two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence!

1980 Yamaha DT175- this is my daily transportation to and from work. In 33 years of use, other than tires/air filters/spark plugs/chains&sprockets, I've replaced exactly one motor mount stud. It still has all the original light bulbs no less. The damn thing simply refuses to die!

If I had to limit myself to one, it would probably be the Ural. It's slow- but you will eventually get to where you're going. It will also haul everything you need to carry and then some. I can load all the camping gear in the sidecar, throw the canoe on top of the tent trailer, and disappear for days doing the Forest Service roads, stopping to fish as the spirit moves me. I value this above speed or Poser Factor.

Porosonik.

Oh my lord, that HD is beautiful Pegleg.

PSmith- Thanks. The old guy is a 1935 VLD 74 cu. in. flathead and is stone stock except for the after market battery box and a shoulder bolt holding the front brake drum from spinning. I've had it since 1984. It's my baby.
The chopper was built from the ground up and has a Paughco frame that I cut into three pieces and put 4" in the down legs, straightened the backbone and raked the neck to 38 degrees and added 2" in the rear section. I did all the work myself except for the Harley crate motor, SS carb and aluminum oil tank. Laced the wheels with stainless steel spokes and put 10" over tubes in an FL front end. With a Jockey shift and foot clutch the bike weighs in at under 400 pounds loaded with fuel and oil. Being a bare bones chopper, if I take a bolt off something is falling off. Don't even have a kickstand. Most big inch motor bikes only see my tail light.

I received my first motor bike at age 6. I currently ride a 97 Wide Glide that I purchased new. It has an 89ci stroker kit. The heads are ported and polished and it has an Andrews cam with a crane fireball ignition.

A titled & plated Honda XR 650R
or a BRP (Big Red Pig)

I love to ride, having had motorcycles since I was 10 years old with my Yamaha 55cc. I'm 56 now and I ride a 1995 Harley Softail Nostalgia. It's pretty much stone-stock but it gets me to where I'm going and more important, gets me home as well. I'm not into speed anymore, so I don't need something that will do 200 mph, 110 mph is fast enough for me.

I do appreciate the 50 mpg I get from the bike as my 6.0 liter truck gets 11 mpg on a good day. And unless it's raining, under 50 degrees or I have to haul something from Lowe's or tow my boat, I'm on the bike.

Here's how it looks, with the exception of the mustache bar and solo seat that I added two days after the picture was taken...

Ah, the Harley Davidson, they say that 96% of all the Harleys made are still on the road, the other 4% made it all the way home.
Ashy (ZXR 750 M)

I don't ride on motorcycles.

My late dad told me not to get one. That when he was young he had one and the chain came off and almost ripped into his leg.

My son had one but it's gone now. Hope he never gets on one again.

Not that I have not fallen for some vehicle or other. At one time it had to be a red Porsche.

Here is my choice as my greatest car. My new 1969 Ford XL convertible that I ordered loaded incl. the fabulous 429 V8.

Savage 99,

I came home from my first tour in 'nam in summer of '70. Going back in 30 days. Needed a hot rod. The Ford dealer had the 1970 version of your car. 320HP sound about right from that 429. I passed, got a Red Roadrunner coupe instead...

Idaho Sharpshooter,

Those cars were so good. I ordered that Ford XL new with the 429 4bbl, air, 8 track, posi and that convertable power top. That Ford was a king of it's road.

Some of these car topics seem to concentrate on how fast the car was on a street drag from a light. That 429 was very fast of course but it won over all as it was comfortable, handsome, powerful. It would do it all. The kind of car where the passenger would hold a scarf up in the wind with the top down yet it had room in the trunk for two deer and more gear.

Here was the car I got the next year. A 1970 Olds Toronado with the 455, with studded snow tires for the winter.