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You haven't ridden a motorcycle unless...

7K views 83 replies 24 participants last post by  Unkle Krusty 
#1 ·
I read in article about Harley Davidson, some one wrote: "You haven't ridden a motorcycle unless you've ridden a Harley."
I'd like to point out the absurdity of this statement because it has been bothering me all day. I could state the same thing about a Ducati race bike, or a BMW GS adventure, or a 60's triumph triple, or a bored out Honda Grom, or an old Indian with a suicide clutch....
All motorcycles are beautiful as long as you the rider experience true joy and freedom. Don't be bullied by fanatics that cling to a brand. Enjoy the experience.... It is yours and yours alone.
PS Oh yeah, wave to fellow cyclists when you can! It's a joy that ALL should acknowledge. Don't fall victim to name branding and belittling other riders who don't own the style of bike you or your friends ride. We are all riders.
 
#2 ·
Well I got to admit the first Harley I rode was a disappointment. At the time, I owned my '94 ZX11 Kawasaki Ninja. It was time for Bikes, Blues and BBQ and my fuel pump decided it was done.

My cousin had bought himself a new Heritage Softail Classic but he still had his 1200 Sportster. He told me I could ride his Sportster to BB&BBQ.

Great! I'm thinking this is the first Harley for me and it's their Sportster, the "sporty" one in their lineup. Naturally, riding someone else's bike, I'm taking it easy and not wanting to do anything stupid or put any kind of a mark on it.

On my Kawasaki if I wanted to go faster, well, just thinking about going faster would increase my speed about 20 MPH. After riding the Sportster awhile and getting comfortable with it, I decided to "open it up" on the highway. It just got louder and seemed to think about going faster. So I was a bit disappointed with my first Harley.

I know it's not an apples and apples comparison, and I'm not trying to bash Harley, (or Kawasaki fuel pumps) it was just the way I felt the first time I rode a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
 
#7 ·
Well a Sportster is just a Sportster but the Harley Big Twin is its own unique machine.
If you've never ridden one of the latest Big Twins (Harley) then you need to.
And that's coming from a Japaneses bike riding, died in the wool hot rod sport bike performance freak.
Nuff Said

S F

(Wait, did I just take up for Harley)???
 
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#9 ·
So I had to look up what a TD2B is, or was.
Do you still have one? I guess you raced them. That had to be a BLAST.
Ain't the rear tire toooo narrow? I bet that bike could high side a guy in about the space of a heart beat.
BTW. Not sure "opposite" is the right term for comparison... Lol

S F
 
#10 · (Edited)
Comparing a Kawasaki ZX11 to a Sportster or 99% of the bikes on the road at the time is ludicrous in itself.:oops:

My past V-max, Yoshimura 1200S Bandit, My Buell 1125R Superbike and my recently sold Triumph Rocket 3 Roadster, are/ were FASTER than most bikes but SO WHAT. :unsure:

There is still nothing like riding all day and all night on a Harley Davidson Electra Glide, totally comfortable and feeling the friendly rumble of the bike as another 1,000 mile trip soothes your mind and the worlds problems fade away for a while.(y)

Advertising and word of mouth is where it's at to market anything and 'hype,' has always been part of the equation.:rolleyes:

Sam
 
#15 ·
In the interest of accuracy I did some research. The younger folks do not have a clue when describing these bikes.
Some of the older folks have worse memory than me, and or they did not ride them. One old racer did say " I have a lot of respect for anyone who can ride one "
One guy described the front brake as useless compared to a disc. Stupid statement.
Another described it as a big old front brake. Hardly a reasonable description for a large four leading shoe unit, that could lock the front wheel with two fingers at 120.
Horsepower was around 45 or more, not 30 as quoted somewhere. 250 strokes would ultimately get more than 80 hp.The 6 speed started with the TD3. I probably had a TD2B. and later a TD3.

I should probably use another thread for old 2 stroke bikes. But they were the farthest thing from a Harley i could think of.

UK
 
#16 ·
Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!!!
For the last 50 years and over 300,000 miles, I thought I was riding motorcycles!!!
15 of 'em in fact!!!
And now I find out that since none of 'em were Harleys, I wasn't riding motorcycles at all!!!!!
(Sheesh! I wonder what I WAS doing, since I spent an awful lot of time and
money doin' it!)
 
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#18 ·
"You haven't ridden a motorcycle unless you've ridden a Harley, but you meet the nicest people on a Honda." Both advertisement slogans and shouldn't upset you.

TR - Not all Sportsters are the same, and I am sure you have proven that to many who thought otherwise.

And Krusty you are a badass and I mean that in a good way. Is there anything you haven't ridden?
 
#20 ·
The Yamaha RD 250 LC was my dream when I was 18.
I couldn’t afford the 900 pounds for one at the time.
I saved up and blew my cash. 699 pounds for a Kawasaki Z 250 instead. rode it like I stole it.
Still wish I had one of those. probably just as well I didn’t.
 
#21 ·
Yamaha made street versions of their race bikes. Orthe other way around. Look up Don Vesco and that should lead to the 350 activities. The earliest 250 was the TD1. Every year they made more power.
750 production bikes like the CB750, or the Triumph Trident, were slow in comparison, around a tight track.
The RD350 was one of the street versions. One is listed up here for $5,800. My XS400 is a better bike and I paid $250 for it. The TZ was the start of liquid cooling. Power was about the same, but it did not fade. The TZ designation was also the start of the 4 cylinder 700cc and soon the 750cc 2 stroke bikes. The 750 made about 95hp, about the same as a 900 Kawasaki with all the right gear. I ran a 750 Norton against both of those, and beat them. The 900 was in a Rickman frame.
To get a 250 off the line, while waiting we would run them between 3 and 8 thousand RPM. When the guy brought out the flag we would set them to about 10,000, and when he was about to drop the flag we turned them WOT and gingerly eased out the clutch. They would bog in a heart beat if the clutch was eased too soon. Once underway it was easy enough to keep them screaming. We would gear for a maximum of 12,000 down the longest straight.

Critter. My first ride was a late fourties 350 side valve Triumph.
Back in the day one of the more interesting rides was a 750 Kawasaki triple, especially with Buffy on the back.
My favourite around town bikes, were a 500 BMW with Earls forks, and a 400 4 cylinder Honda. Another really sweet bike was the 1970 750 Moto Guzzi Sport. The prettiest bike from yesteryear was the CB550 Honda.
Just as well I have been on a Harley, or all of that would not count.
If you have not riden a tough 50 mile cross country race, you have not really riden a bike. How about that?
My first event had 142 starters, and 39 finishers.

UK
 
#30 ·
The RD350 was one of the street versions. One is listed up here for $5,800.
I still have my heavily modified RD350 race bike sitting in the corner of the shop with a fractured frame.
Over 20 years ago I bartered with a customer to weld and brace the frame... Haven't gotten around to taking it to him yet.
I'm sure a bone stock RD would be worth a lot more than mine that I've spent all of that $$$ on. Hum.

It was a fun ride but when I raced the FZR750 then went back out on the RD I had to remember the RD would not handle the near top speed BUMPY turn one at Texas World like my 750 would. "Flexing" thru that corner was a real pucker tucker on the RD.

S F
 
#27 ·
I had a CB550 Krusty, a great bike. Mine was this brown color.

View attachment 60868


I had 4-in-1's on mine
Yeah, a 4 into 1 exhaust probably took around forty pounds off the thing.

In 1979 we were waiting in gas lines to get gas so I went from hot rod cars back to motorcycles then waited in that line to buy a new Kawasaki KZ650.
It had a 4 into 2 exhaust that I modified (opened the outlet) then re-tuned the carbs.
I can still hear my family, girlfriend at the time, and most of my non gear head friends saying ... "you're going to ruin that bike because how can you expect to improve something that is brand new"?
It had nearly 90,000 miles on when I sold it 10 ~ 15 years ago, still purring like a kitten. I'd still have it today except electrical parts availability became a problem.

S F
 
#25 ·
They were loved by many, and many spent extra $$ to get them going faster. I must have had one because I have a torsion rod in my tool box. Now and then I put it in the vice to twist it. Would have to be a bit bored for that.
They were the first engine we opened up that had hardened valve seats in them. Way before the non leaded fuel, that was supposed to be the death of non hardened valve seats. Honda was experimenting before it happened. We had to get harder grinding tools.

UK
 
#26 ·
What can I say UK, for me it was nothing but problems. Points would not stay adjusted longer than 20 miles, and that was just one of the many problems. I kept it long enough to find anything reasonable to ride. Fortunately I went back on the road and didn't need any transportation so I gave it to someone I didn't like so much...It all worked out.
 
#28 ·
What can I say UK, for me it was nothing but problems. Points would not stay adjusted longer than 20 miles, and that was just one of the many problems. I kept it long enough to find anything reasonable to ride. Fortunately I went back on the road and didn't need any transportation so I gave it to someone I didn't like so much...It all worked out.
There was a knack/trick to adjusting the ign points in those old bikes.
I didn't know about it back then so my KZ got a new fancy electronic ignition system.

S F
 
#32 ·
I rode a Yamaha TD-1 road racer a few times in the past and it was fun but good for nothing but track work.

I do believe the stock Suzuki X6 Hustler , 250cc, 2 stroke street bike would have blown it away in the quarter mile.

My new Yamaha 1978 RD400 that I bought to ride on my 70 mile round trip commute was a fast little guy and that front end loved to claw the sky, especially with 50 lbs of tools on the luggage rack:)

The Harley experience is largely a 'Fraternal' one of inclusivity brought about by membership in a HOG chapter and active participation with those of a common interest.

You do meet the nicest people on a Harley----if you are one of them:)

"Ride 'em if ya got 'em !!!!!!!!!

Sam
 
#33 ·
"You haven't ridden a motorcycle unless you've ridden a Harley."
Well I started on an EL, so I guess I checked that box... have about 130K miles on Harleys, maybe more but long ago until my Ultra which I put about 90K on -- never did understand the the fetish thing, but that goes for other brands as well... Am partial to Kawa and Harley; have about 260-270K total between them, and another 100 ot so K on assorted Nortons, and five miles on a BSA and about the same on an Allstate (Sears). Harley is a good bike (at least the pre-twinkie ones -- no experiences on anything that didn't have a carb), but not the only one...
 
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