My thought for 2010 on Metric vs Harley

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Originally Posted By: Gunatics_Adler

I dont buy my bike to just trade it off every couple of years to have something new. Indeed, I believe in customizing the bike I buy and riding it until the wheels fall off(chroming it up, paint ect on a cruiser).,


I don't either with my toys. Cars yes because they get so beaten by the kiddies. But my bikes & boats I keep for at least 10 years. I was just making a point because the average guy keeps a motorcycle about 4-5 years. I'll keep this Harley for the duration.
 
Here is my final thought.....
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2olCKnTVPI
 
Originally Posted By: fuel tanker man
I drive a fuel tanker and a couple of years ago I was going north on I-81, near the 130 mile marker in Virginia. There's a rest area there, and a car was coming out of the rest area merging with northbound traffic.

I moved into the left lane (not a lot of truckers do that, I know, but I'm nice :) )... and I let the car merge, and speed on ahead of me...

I put my right turn signal on, preparing to move back into the right lane. There was nothing in my mirrors--not even the spot mirror at the right corner of the hood--and as I was getting ready to move the tanker truck into the right lane, I heard an engine running somewhere near my truck.

I thought there must be a helicopter overhead, but it sounded like it was coming from the right side of the truck.

I held the left lane and extra few seconds, then out from seemingly nowhere a Harley Davidson--yes, with loud pipes--emerged from my blind spot at the right front corner of the truck. I don't know if he had been in the rest area, or had simply made the fool mistake of trying to buzz around me on the right when I moved left to let the car merge.

In any event, I can say, with God as my witness, that I did not see the guy--but I did hear the engine on the Harley, and it probably kept me from running over the guy.

Dan


Hello from another Dan, and another truck driver except I drive a concrete mixer.

I get very upset whenever there is a biker around me when I drive, I had two kids on crotchrockets pull up behind me once so close that I totally lost sight of them, as a supervisor my job is hiring drivers and over the years have seen many times of a fully loaded mixer rolling back several feet because the driver was in the wrong gear or just because of poor driving skills.

I own two bikes myself a 1980 Honda CX 500 and a 2009 Yamaha 1300 Tourer. And I religiously avoid getting anywhere near big rigs when I ride. And both of my bikes are relatively quiet as I have no need to make it louder to create more horsepower, I did drill out a 1 1/2" hole in one baffle of the 1300 for better bottom end smoothness but its still a quiet engine and will stay that way.

All I can say is you trusted your intuition, and it probably saved someones life, bitter part is they never knew that from that day forward.
 
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Some people shouldn't be riding motorcycles. Usually, they're the ones that end up dieing or maimed. Of course, there's also the occasion when a cager will pull a left hand turn in front of a biker causing an accident. Those incidents are difficult to avoid.

I have a riding philosophy. Riding a motorcycle is like being a duck during duck hunting season. Stay alert, avoid high traffic periods when possible, go through intersections like they're mined. Alway be aware of blind spots. Yours and those of vehicles around you.

I seldom ride in town. When I do, I chose the least busy times to go and take the least congested routes. If I want to ride for pleasure, I head out to the numerous secondary highways that carve through hills and valleys not far from home. So far, it's worked for me.
 
I'm most afraid of "weekenders".

These are the idiots who really don't know [censored] about riding and are out cruising with their friends.
 
I live and ride in a suburban and urban area between 2 cities. So, I am always riding in heavy traffic and have been for years. Most of the people who get hurt are hit by vehicles with the infamous left hand turn being the highest culprit. I have been hit like this head on once (driver was DUI)and clipped off the side by a merging idiot who doesn't look on 2 occasions. Then I got my SEII pipes and people do hear you coming up along side. Most don't like it but too bad IMO. Loud pipes DO help.

Most of the bashing I get is from metric riders who live in rural areas and really don't understand what riding in the city is all about. They equate being hit and injured to some measure of skill which is most cases it is not. These are the same people who fancy themselves as very skilled riders because they have riden a long time in rural areas and never had an accident. I would like to see many of them ride to a major Metro area at rush hour...their facial expression would be worth a few bucks.
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I just found this in The Cultural Clash by Jean Donaldson, a book about dogs, ''If people's knowledge of driving cars was similar to their knowedge of ''driving'' dogs, they'd try going a cross a lake and sue the manufacturer when the thing didn't float.''

My feeling is she is giving car drivers too much credit.
 
For some of us, motorcycling means: PERFORMANCE

That has been the basic theme to motorcycles since their inception. Autos are transportation for most people, but motorcycles are pleasure vehicles. No one HAS to ride them for transportation (although some choose to) so naturally they gravitate towards performance.

So, some motorcyclists are always looking for higher performance even if they cannot utilize it on the public roads. Hence, track racing, dirt racing, and dynos. I guess, we think all motorcyclists should be as fixated on performance as we are and that may cause friction between cruiser riders and sport riders.

Everybody gets on an ego trip and so egos clash. However, if you are not into performance through your choice of motorcycle be aware of the mindset of those who are and vice-versa.

Even though you can "hop-up" a non-performance motorcycle, it is counter-intuitive to the performance set that believe the path to ultimate performance comes from taking the factory "hot-rods" and then juicing them up more. Not starting with a low-performance motorcycle and trying to make it something it was not intended to be (especially 80 year old designs.)

I'm not saying someone shouldn't make their choice of motorcycles more personal, but don't act like they are the ultimate hot-rod, 2-wheeler if they are not. In the performance world - it is apples and apples.

If watching a street-legal motorcycle go 230mph doesn't turn you on, then you probably are not into performance.

Who doesn't think that a bike that can spin the rear tire in 4th gear at well over 150 isn't cool? Radical power !!
 
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Originally Posted By: ZGRider
Who doesn't think that a bike that can spin the rear tire in 4th gear at well over 150 isn't cool? Radical power !!


I don't. If that same bike got 100 mpg with that kind of performance, then THAT would be cool.
 
"Who doesn't think that a bike that can spin the rear tire in 4th gear at well over 150 isn't cool?"

Probably those who think that making 150 decibels of obnoxious noise while sitting at a set of lights is cool.

Don't take much nerve or courage to make noise. Going 230 mph on a motorcycle takes guts.
 
Hey - making noise is fun. Didn't you hammer on stuff when you were a little kid?

I STILL hammer on stuff. It's strangely satisfying.

And the baseball cards stuck into the spokes on our bicycles with clothes pins....

Loud pipes?

OH YEAH BABY !!!!

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled program.
 
Originally Posted By: ZGRider

Everybody gets on an ego trip and so egos clash. However, if you are not into performance through your choice of motorcycle be aware of the mindset of those who are and vice-versa.

Even though you can "hop-up" a non-performance motorcycle, it is counter-intuitive to the performance set that believe the path to ultimate performance comes from taking the factory "hot-rods" and then juicing them up more. Not starting with a low-performance motorcycle and trying to make it something it was not intended to be (especially 80 year old designs.)

I'm not saying someone shouldn't make their choice of motorcycles more personal, but don't act like they are the ultimate hot-rod, 2-wheeler if they are not. In the performance world - it is apples and apples.



This is just your opinion...and while I respect your opinion as I was once into fast metric bikes....I now don't care to go 100-200mph on the highways of America. When I modify my motorcycle it is never intended to compete with yours. It is never intended to compete with any motorcycle...it is intended to be mine alone. It is intended to run the way I like it to run. I don't race other people for I have found that the toughest but most rewarding race you can run is the one where you are measured against yourself. So your definition of performance is very different than mine. Faster is not always better to me. As Indian Larry once said " A motorcycle is a spiritual object...when I am riding I am in the flow". So I never condsider myself for or against other motorcyclists...which is why I started this thread.
 
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