Who rides motorcycles?

[neilkingent]

I don't remember when they moved to th IH35 location

 

[3930dave]

With the sub-titles, I was only going to watch "a minute or so"....

..... what I found, was something every young technical person (or anyone else taking on major projects, or a leadership role in general) should watch till the end....

Rgds, D.

 

[LFP57]

Fairly new to the forum, great to see there's discussions on motorcycles as well. I ride motorcycles, have had over 40 of them in my life time, have 5 now. I was a lead instructor for the motorcycle safety program in my state for over 10 years, taught at nearly every community college in the South East part of the state. For over 25 years, I averaged 15k to 20k miles per year riding my bike, often during the colder months as well.

Worked for Indian Motorcycle for a short time back in the early 2000s, They'd fly us around the country to do demo rides, the last was to a Bikers & Balloons festival in Plano Texas, we went, set up a 20 minute ride route and take a group of riders out to try the bikes. What could better than riding a motorcycle and get paid for it!

 

[LHF2019]

Fairly new to the forum, great to see there's discussions on motorcycles as well. I ride motorcycles, have had over 40 of them in my life time, have 5 now. I was a lead instructor for the motorcycle safety program in my state for over 10 years, taught at nearly every community college in the South East part of the state. For over 25 years, I averaged 15k to 20k miles per year riding my bike, often during the colder months as well.

Worked for Indian Motorcycle for a short time back in the early 2000s, They'd fly us around the country to do demo rides, the last was to a Bikers & Balloons festival in Plano Texas, we went, set up a 20 minute ride route and take a group of riders out to try the bikes. What could better than riding a motorcycle and get paid for it!

My criteria when riding was the road had to be bare even if I had to "walk" the motorcycle across my driveway of ice. I have had to turn around on a forest road that's closed for winter because it went from road to 4 tracks to 3 tracks down to 2 tracks. At that point no place to go if I met a vehicle. The rest of the road was 12+ in. of hard pack from snowmobiles. The last year I rode I cleaned snow from my helmet couple times. Working 3rd shift I would memorize where water was running across road because on the way home it would be ice/black ice.

 

[LFP57]

My criteria when riding was the road had to be bare even if I had to "walk" the motorcycle across my driveway of ice. I have had to turn around on a forest road that's closed for winter because it went from road to 4 tracks to 3 tracks down to 2 tracks. At that point no place to go if I met a vehicle. The rest of the road was 12+ in. of hard pack from snowmobiles. The last year I rode I cleaned snow from my helmet couple times. Working 3rd shift I would memorize where water was running across road because on the way home it would be ice/black ice.

Yes, when I was sure the road was dry, I rode with a snowmobile suit/helmet with heated visor, on a older Honda I had, but for the days that may not be so good, I had an old Harley Servi-Car (had two of them) and once I sold them, I rode a Harley Tour Glide with a side car.

 

[3930dave]

You guys are hardcore !

Rgds, D.

 

[Cycledude]

Fairly new to the forum, great to see there's discussions on motorcycles as well. I ride motorcycles, have had over 40 of them in my life time, have 5 now. I was a lead instructor for the motorcycle safety program in my state for over 10 years, taught at nearly every community college in the South East part of the state. For over 25 years, I averaged 15k to 20k miles per year riding my bike, often during the colder months as well.

Worked for Indian Motorcycle for a short time back in the early 2000s, They'd fly us around the country to do demo rides, the last was to a Bikers & Balloons festival in Plano Texas, we went, set up a 20 minute ride route and take a group of riders out to try the bikes. What could better than riding a motorcycle and get paid for it!

Hard to imagine owning 40 motorcycles !
I have only owned 12 so far and here is a picture of the odometer of one taken after a ride last week

attended one of those Indian demo days last summer and was very impressed with how they handled things !

I have taken the MSF classes three different times and only wish they would of had those classes available when I first started riding.
When I started riding it was only the second year that Wisconsin required a motorcycle license , all I had to do was pass a written test then ride to the courthouse to take a riding test in the parking lot, I was pretty worried about the test but all I had to do was ride up to a stop sign stop and do a u turn and return to the police officer and he said you passed.

 

[LHF2019]

Yes, when I was sure the road was dry, I rode with a snowmobile suit/helmet with heated visor, on a older Honda I had, but for the days that may not be so good, I had an old Harley Servi-Car (had two of them) and once I sold them, I rode a Harley Tour Glide with a side car.

I never got to the heated items. Did use a snowmobile visor though. Gets cold leaving the regular visor cracked to clear the condensation. Always said my next motorcycle would be fully outfitted for winter traveling. That day never came.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I guess Woods was on North Lamar close to the Yellow Rose at that time..

Yes, and through a friend of a friend, I have one of the original Yamaha signs that was made to be a street sign. It is plastic formed, about 3' x 4'. I need to make a frame for it and backlight it for the barn.

Hard to imagine owning 40 motorcycles !
I have only owned 12 so far and here is a picture of the odometer of one taken after a ride last week
View attachment 730170
attended one of those Indian demo days last summer and was very impressed with how they handled things !

I have taken the MSF classes three different times and only wish they would of had those classes available when I first started riding.
When I started riding it was only the second year that Wisconsin required a motorcycle license , all I had to do was pass a written test then ride to the courthouse to take a riding test in the parking lot, I was pretty worried about the test but all I had to do was ride up to a stop sign stop and do a u turn and return to the police officer and he said you passed.

Is that 579600 actually over half a million miles correct? Like to hear more about that. Commute? how often maintained? Could almost be in a thread by itself LOL.

 

[Cycledude]

Yes, and through a friend of a friend, I have one of the original Yamaha signs that was made to be a street sign. It is plastic formed, about 3' x 4'. I need to make a frame for it and backlight it for the barn.

Is that 579600 actually over half a million miles correct? Like to hear more about that. Commute? how often maintained? Could almost be in a thread by itself LOL.

Yes 579,600 is correct but With stock rear tire the odometer reads about 4% higher than actual miles. I bought the 2002 Goldwing brandnew shortly after the 2003’s came out and have been riding year round ever since, I did miss January and February one year because the road I live on just had to much ice that year. The driveshaft went bad at 199,000 miles and it was still under warranty so Honda replaced it for free , it went bad again at 450,000 but no warranty so I replaced it myself with a cheap leftover driveshaft from a trike conversion. The alternator has needed replacing 4 times fortunately the first two were under warranty, I’ve been hauling around a spare alternator ever since the warranty ran out. I’ve killed three deer with this bike and two with other Goldwings. My current plan is to hopefully ride it to 600,000 then park it and maybe buy a new Goldwing with the 7 speed DCT transmission . Over the years I’ve had to replace a lot of stuff but the engine is 100% original and still runs like new, it does use 1-2 quarts of oil in 8,000 miles.
Here is a picture of when it only had 535,000 miles

 

[Gem99ultra]

Yes 579,600 is correct but With stock rear tire the odometer reads about 4% higher than actual miles. I bought the 2002 Goldwing brandnew shortly after the 2003’s came out and have been riding year round ever since, I did miss January and February one year because the road I live on just had to much ice that year. The driveshaft went bad at 199,000 miles and it was still under warranty so Honda replaced it for free , it went bad again at 450,000 but no warranty so I replaced it myself with a cheap leftover driveshaft from a trike conversion. The alternator has needed replacing 4 times fortunately the first two were under warranty, I’ve been hauling around a spare alternator ever since the warranty ran out. I’ve killed three deer with this bike and two with other Goldwings. My current plan is to hopefully ride it to 600,000 then park it and maybe buy a new Goldwing with the 7 speed DCT transmission . Over the years I’ve had to replace a lot of stuff but the engine is 100% original and still runs like new, it does use 1-2 quarts of oil in 8,000 miles.
Here is a picture of when it only had 535,000 miles
View attachment 730313

Congrats on the '02 Wing. You've proven to be a real, dedicated rider, as opposed to most of the Wing riders that I've met in the past. Keep it up - it's good for your mental health, as you already know. And considering the beating you've given to this Wing, it has also served you very well.

I've had a couple of Wings, a '88 "1500cc" and an "02 1800cc. The '02 gave me nothing but grief. It stayed in the shop far much more than I had it available for riding. (I've also had a number of Honda's in the past, but currently only have a Pioneer SxS.)

All the while when owning the Wings, I also had Hawgs. Yeah sure, the Hawgs have a reputation. And it's probably true, if I'm honest about it. On the other hand, my last Hawg, a '99 Ultra Classic, I rode 200K and pulling a Bushtec trailer. I've passed that rig on to my son, who is currently riding it still.

Bottom line is, there are no 'bad' motorcycles. There are some bad riders, bad wanna-be's, and lots of bad people that simply hate all biker riders. I'm just not one of 'em. You've done well - keep it up.

 

[macdoesit]

I ride a Valkyrie Interstate, 6 n2 6

also a Valkyrie trike

 

[the old grind]

A bit of racing history.

 

[MoPops]

With retirement I settled down to two reliable easy to take care of bikes, that get me where I want to go. Honda CTX 1300 and a Yamaha Tenere 700. I don’t think I’ve got another Alaska trip in me, but did get all over CO, WY, MT, and SD last summer.

 

[3930dave]

With retirement I settled down to two reliable easy to take care of bikes, that get me where I want to go. Honda CTX 1300 and a Yamaha Tenere 700. I don’t think I’ve got another Alaska trip in me, but did get all over CO, WY, MT, and SD last summer.

Mo - how do you find the Cg (weight balance) of the Tenere off-road ? (Asking, not trolling ).

Rgds, D.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

With retirement I settled down to two reliable easy to take care of bikes, that get me where I want to go. Honda CTX 1300 and a Yamaha Tenere 700. I don’t think I’ve got another Alaska trip in me, but did get all over CO, WY, MT, and SD last summer.

A buddy took his wife (2 up) on his tenere to Alaska last August/Sept.
August 2021 | 2 Ride The Globe

 

[sd455dan]

Had to sell my 1978 Kawasaki z1000 when times got a bit rough.

With gas and diesel being so expensive now figured the time was right to replace my old Z.

New to me 2018 Z900 RS
Love the heated grips and other amenities. Haven't even cleaned it up yet still has the dust from storage at the PO. MPG cruising at 55 shows about 55-65 MPG if it gets 40 I will be a Happy camper.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Had to sell my 1978 Kawasaki z1000 when times got a bit rough.

With gas and diesel being so expensive now figured the time was right to replace my old Z.

New to me 2018 Z900 RS
Love the heated grips and other amenities. Haven't even cleaned it up yet still has the dust from storage at the PO. MPG cruising at 55 shows about 55-65 MPG if it gets 40 I will be a Happy camper.

Nice, how much lighter than the oldie?

 

[TractorTYMe]

I got disgusted with all the covid refugees movin to Montana last year making motorcycle riding not very enjoyable. Sold my 2013 Ducati Mutlistrada 1200S GT. Now I only have a Chinese Hawk 250 dual sport for occasional puttin in the woods.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My 16 yo daughter asked me a tough question a couple of weeks ago...

If money wasn't a problem, and you could only own 1 motorcycle, which one would you get? (and it has to be brand new)

Compromises, compromises. Maybe one of these? I can dream big.

Here is my Hypermotard 950 SP