Cars R OK, but what kind of motorcycle do you have
The thread about what AudiogoNers drive is fun to see, but I was wondering what kind of motorcycles are represented by the crazy people here? I know this has been discussed a little on other threads, but If we can slip this by the censors, it might be fun.
I have a Victory V92C. It's a few years old now, but it still a fun cruiser!
tore off all the blinkers,horn, running lights & mirrors as soon as i got it otherwise pretty well stock except the engine.
atleast 100,000 miles on it by now, stroked out 50 over, kick start only,talk about a drag to start when its cold but its still alot of fun & aint left me stranded yet.
as long as i keep upgrading the hifi a new scooter is out of reach, oh well, i guess i cant have it all.
Original 1990 jelly-bean Honda CBR600F in white and gray. My bike has only done 6000 miles. It looks a lot like this one, although mine does not have "CBR" written on the side. It does have the groovy Honda "wing" symbol on the tank though. A sweet bike.
I owned quite a few bikes in the late '60s, early '70s made by the Spanish manufacturer Bultaco. If you know what I'm referring to, you will understand my moniker.
Bright yellow Ducati 748. Crap electrical system, but by far the coolest looking bike I`ve ever owned! And the sounds coming out of the carbon fiber cans! :) Plus that Italian flair..
My very first girlfriend and I both had little mini-bikes back during the summer of 1969, when I was just 14 years old. We had too much fun for such youngsters! I have loved women and bikes ever since.
I later bought a new 1974 Honda 750. I was dangerous; I had the need for speed; and I nearly always shifted at redline.
Then in 1983, I saw a Honda commercial with PeeWee Gleason screaming down the track turning a 10.82 quarter mile on a stock production (116 HP) Honda V65 Magna. I searched the city and bought one the very next day. Again, I was skillfully dangerous. I rode like a wild man and am quite happy to be alive today.
The temptation to ride remains; I don't have a bike at the present time. I have promised myself just one more scooter during this lifetime: a beautiful, good sounding, and SLOW Harley. "Slow" is now good at my age.
Back in the 60's I rode a BSA 500 single Gold Star then got a 650 Lightning. From the 70's to the 90's had several Harleys, until the cost to purchase one & maintain it got ridiculous! Now I ride a coustom Royal Star with the V-Max kit, makes about 100 ponies & never have any trouble with it. Other than the couston work I have done to the engine, pipes & replacing worn tires, I just chang oil every 4,000 mile, put gas in it & ride the hell out of it. Now that I am over 60 & retired, I wanted a scooter that I can just ride & not have to work on half the time or worse have to take it in to cycle shop & get ripped.
My first was a Honda mini-trail 50, then I moved on to a trail 70. I rode a lot of dirt bikes as a kid and they were mostly Honda 4 strokers.
As an adult, my first was a 1984 Yamaha RZ350-LC in Team America colors. It was cool hanging with the big 750 4 strokers on the little RZ350 two stroker. Also a fun bike to trick out as lots of aftermarket parts were/are available.
Moved on to a sweet 1990 Honda VFR-750 which I tricked out with a "left-side" Kerker exhaust, thus exposing the cool single sided swing arm and rear wheel. I promptly wad'd it while "following" a buddy on a very spirited canyon ride. He was coming into a fast blind right hander and his breake light failed. When I realized he was braking I grabbed too much brake and low sideded it. Luckily, I scrubbed off to about 80mph before hitting the pavement. Slide about 70 feet before leaving pavement and tumbling through a farmers front yard.
Here's some good advice: SAFETY EQUIPMENT WORKS!!! Full leathers, gloves, boot and helmets will save your A$$, literally. I slide a long way on pavement then left the road and tumbled end over end a couple of times. Walked away with NO ROAD RASH, just a broken arm.
Anyway, back to bikes, I moved on to a Honda CBR-900RR and loved it. At the time, it was so good, it felt like cheating!!! I know other bikes have surpassed it now, but man o man did that thing always felt like it was on rails.
I'm bikeless today. Next one will be something really cool and much slower. I might get something like a Honda GB-500 and trick it out in 60's racer replica trim. Or buy a real 50's-60's Brit bike.
My first bike was an AJS 500 twin. Anybody remember that one? British bike, same as a Matchless. Last bike was a 750 Norton. Best I ever rode was a Vincent Black Shadow. World's fastest back in the day ('50s). British 1000cc V-twin.
Started with a Honda trailbike in mid-60's, to Scrambler, to Bultaco Pursang, BSA Victor (for TT - loved that bike), BSA Lightning (simultaneously w/Yamaha 360 factory Enduro), heavily-tweaked Super Sport in late 70's. Now thinking about picking up either another Lightning or Norton Commando for a re-do...
Used to ride a KTM 125 in enduros. That was fun but the body can only take so much bouncing off of trees! I've stayed away from the street, too many idiots.
1982 Suzuki GS1100L is whats in been the garage for 15 years or so. Its midnight black c/w plexiglass fairing, back rest and rack. This bike only has 11,000km (6800 miles) on it now, I bought it originaly with 3400km on it.
Had a Honda CR500 Moto-X before leaving blighty for the US of A. Best fun riding off-road, everyone going round in the same direction most of the time.
Used to have a Ducati ST-2, but I crashed it--twice. I don't ride no more. The good news is that I have a lot more money for audio gear! That, I'm still walking around and able to perform elementary arithmetic problems in a reasonably short period of time . . .
closest...Blue Ridge Mountains... north Georgia, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cherohala Skyway, etc. I can leave my home at 6am and hammer up HWY 441 out of Fla and be camped out sipping a cold one at 3pm in the N. GA mtns.
Northern CA without a doubt. NOWHERE on the east coast can hold a candle to these roads. And don't no one give me The Dragon. Yeah, go on and do The Dragon and make sure to by a nice gold frame for the ticket you get from the cops patrolling that legendary and relatively short stretch of road. Seriously, Northern CA's got it all. If you are sticking to the pavement, the closest thing to a public racetrack I've ever ridden is The Klammath River Higway - Rt. 99 from just north of Yreaka twisting 166 miles through a river canyon down to Willow Creek through Bigfoot country. Not very populated, not much traffic. Slow down through the tiny towns and take care on the Indian Rez as the curves, ov which there are oh so many, are no longer marked, and you will also be in open range country. Plenty of offroad excursions in that area, and plenty more great roads where that came from. I'm pretty sure God has made an appearence here on earth briefly as a civil engineer and designed many of the roads in that area. Just gorgeous!!!!
Northeast Wisconsin is famous for farming and agriculture, along with that one finds lots of two lane, unpopulated highways. There is lots of beautiful country around here to explore. There sure isn't much in the way of mountains, but that's why God made Germany and Austria.
Everywhere is a great ride, when you're on a bike.
I'm not at all fond of riding straight lines for long periods of time no matter how pretty the landscape. Bike or car, it's a drag for the most part. If I'm crossing hundreds of mile of blacktop most of which is straight it's a good argument for a cage in my mind. Bikes are most fun on twisty roads, and in the dirt where your body and the machine become one and your mind has no time to take in anything other than the joy you experience in that moment. You can keep your straight roads...I'd rather walk, read a book or listen to music.
I'm with Marco... Favorite roads were Highway 49 in northeast CA thru the Mother Lode country from Plymouth all the way down to Twainharte; Highway 89 over to Nevada, 32 out thru Whiskeytown and into the Trinity wilderness. Used to enjoy 84 in SoCal over to Lake Elsinore and rides thru Topanga but too many wanna-be cafe racers and newbie Harley riders these days...now in NW I'd like to ride Hwy 2 over Stevens Pass and 12 over White Pass...
I have been looking at the American Iron Horse cruisers lately. I don't like the choppers, but their other bikes are amazing. There is a dealer here who has several including a Slammer. They ain't cheap, but they sho is nice.
1. 1962 Honda 250 dream 2. 1965 Norton Atlas 3. 1987 HD Sportster 4. 1988 HD Low Rider 5. 1947 Indian Chief, my pride and joy for over 10 years,sadly I had to sell it. Foot clutch, tank shifter, left hand throttle, right hand spark advance, flathead motor......sigh. Favorite roads: US 6 thru northern PA on a crisp fall day with the leaves in full foliage, and the byways of the Maryland eastern shore
A highly modified '94 Harley Sportster 1200. Lowered 2.5", 33 degree raked inverted mid-glide front end w/ 21" rim, ported dual plug heads, Andrews N-8 cams, modified electrics, custom carb, 10.3:1 compression ratio, North County Customs step-tuned exhaust, custom paint, way too much to list...I think the only original Harley parts remaining are the frame and motor cases. If anyone thinks an audio obsession can get expensive, don't even think about getting into custom bikes. They sure are alot of fun, though!!!
Honda st1100 and a 1970 cb750. The 750 is really custom, I built it up in '82 with lotsa neat bits. Very fun to ride. The st is a great rider, it does everything sooo well it's a little boring...
A stylish and razor sharp 600 that still feels comfortable to ride. Hey if it's good enough for James Bond, it's good enough for me! Excellent bike.
I am now thinking seriously about splashing out for the new MV Augusta F4 1000 -- the one item that might make me part with some audio gear to top up the toy fund.
In the past, I have ridden:
1998 Blue Yamaha R-1 with carbon exhaust, an insane beast of a bike,
and my first bike a 1995 Racing Yellow Triumph Daytona 900, lovely sounding triple, great torque, British style and comfy to ride but a bit soft -- more of a sport/tourer.
I love bikes. And Ruebent, I agree -- always wear safety gear.
I sold mine after some yahoo in a pickup almost killed me. I was flying along with traffic and came up to a dead stop. This is extremely common in the bay area. I had an extremely bad vibe- kind of butterflies in the back of my neck, and a pulled over to the shoulder. Joe monstertruck shudders to a stop a good, long five seconds later. "It was a ggod thing you saw me-" yahoo yells; " I couldn't have stopped in time!" Fact is, I didn't see him. Safety gear wouln't have helped... leathers and a helmet would have been wafer thin- and blood red. I also have friends going between cars who have had people try to cut them off. You need a good ball peen hammer as safety equipment these days. I MISS MY BIKE!
Elizabeth, the classic one was the Yamaha ysr-50, which was actually large enough to be comfortable for a full size person, but cost a couple grand or so. It was a real blast to ride even with that tiny motor. And there`s all kinds of aftermarket parts to soup them up. What makes them dangerous, is that they`re so tiny, they`re almost invisible in traffic.
Elizabeth: I see people riding these things on 45 MPH streets ALL the time now. I'm talking about guys in their 20's on these little "pee wee" bikes. I don't know whether to run them over or laugh : )
One of these days, i'll fix my scooter. Stretched a rod from riding well above redline for several miles. She still limps along if i really wanted to, but i'm not wanting to do any more damage than is already done. When i do her up, she'll be nice. I've already got the motor planned out courtesy of a computer program that i have, but i don't know what to do with the forks & frame. Probably rake it a few degrees and stretch it a bit, but i'm not quite sure of how much. Won't make for much of a long-haul bike, but i don't get much of a chance to do that anyhow. I just wish it ran now... :( Sean >
PS... It's an old Harley in case you're wondering.
I just came home this afternoon with a 2004 Victory Kingpin. I don't know how it happened. It is faster, gets better mileage, and is more comfortable than the V92C. The only problem is, it isn't as loud! I gotta have loud pipes!
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