The Harleys? Really?

[Minnesota Flats]

Wouldn't you have expected them to go after the Indians, instead?

 

[adorshki]

The world needs a better buffalo bike.

 

[davidbeinct]

The world needs a better buffalo bike.

 

[GGJaguar]

The venerable Suzuki Water Buffalo!

 

[lungimsam]

You would think tacking it up would scare off the bison, as loud as those Harleys are. I hope the lady was ok.

 

[gjmalcyon]

The venerable Suzuki Water Buffalo!

If one were to calculate fatalities per miles driven, I suspect this bike would be up near the top. Notwithstanding my 40+ years of motorcycle piloting, I would be terrified of that thing.

 

[GGJaguar]

If one were to calculate fatalities per miles driven, I suspect this bike would be up near the top. Notwithstanding my 40+ years of motorcycle piloting, I would be terrified of that thing.

Yes, but they still have a cult following. I'd be more afraid of a Kawasaki Mach IV 750.

 

[West R Lee]

Finally taking their revenge after 170 years or so, ha? Magnificent animals.

West

 

[West R Lee]

Yes, but they still have a cult following. I'd be more afraid of a Kawasaki Mach IV 750.

Now that was my bike. Fastest production motorcycle at the time, according to the Guinness Book. That much HP in a two stroke.....just incredible fast for it's day. Then I graduated to the Z1 900.

West

 

[GGJaguar]

Then I graduated to the Z1 900.

Ah yes, the first model to usher in the Super Bike era!

 

[Westerly Wood]

I owned a '77 GS 750 and rode it from Denver to Lynchburg VA in February '91. Mostly stuck to blue highways and went south as fast as I could, that first day from Denver to Oklahoma City was really really cold...

It was a great trip. The gas gauge was broken, so I had stop every 3 hrs to fill up. There were a few critical tense moments, when I couldn't find a gas station and I had no idea how much was left in tank. I think driving thru the Blue Ridge mountains towards Ashville NC was tops.

 

[Opsimath]

If one were to calculate fatalities per miles driven, I suspect this bike would be up near the top. Notwithstanding my 40+ years of motorcycle piloting, I would be terrified of that thing.

Terrified why? Looks like a regular motorcycle to me.

 

[gjmalcyon]

Terrified why? Looks like a regular motorcycle to me.

Quick-revving two-stroke engine; marginal drum brakes front and rear on the early models, and suspect handling.

A recipe that spells doom for inexperienced and other riders who arrive at corners with too much speed and not enough brakes.

 

[lungimsam]

West,
You coulda worked out some readings before your trip with a rolled up piece of newspaper as a gas tank dip stick

 

[adorshki]

If one were to calculate fatalities per miles driven, I suspect this bike would be up near the top. Notwithstanding my 40+ years of motorcycle piloting, I would be terrified of that thing.

In '77 I worked with a Dutchman who'd been into cafe racing. He wanted one of the brand new Kamikazi KZ1100's.

 

[West R Lee]

West,
You coulda worked out some readings before your trip with a rolled up piece of newspaper as a gas tank dip stick

As a 19 year old, on Interstate 20, doing 137 MPH, and a friend of mine passed me. To be alive and soon to be 66 years old is pretty surprising really. A front blowout, a dog, a bird, a piece of trash in the road.......it's all it would have taken.



Not mine, but identical. I never topped out the Z1, never had the courage (stupidity). But the little green bike above was just shy of 140 (I was that stupid). I gather there are production bikes today that will do close to 200 mph.

West

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

As a 19 year old, on Interstate 20, doing 137 MPH, and a friend of mine passed me. To be alive and soon to be 66 years old is pretty surprising really. A front blowout, a dog, a bird, a piece of trash in the road.......it's all it would have taken.



Not mine, but identical. I never topped out the Z1, never had the courage (stupidity). But the little green bike above was just shy of 140 (I was that stupid). I gather there are production bikes today that will do close to 200 mph.

West

Awesome! I love stories of young people doing crazy things. You're really living at 137 on two wheels. Of course you never think about how short that could last!

 

[Opsimath]

Awesome! I love stories of young people doing crazy things. You're really living at 137 on two wheels. Of course you never think about how short that could last!

My brother-in-law took me "over 100" on back of his new motorcycle along 2 lane Alabama roads. I had to hold the chin of my Darth Vader helmet to keep my head up straight.

I did not feel like I was really living. I felt I was surely going to die at any moment.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

I don't ride anymore and haven't since the mid 1980s. My two most lasting impressions of "up over 100" (we're talkin' no faring or face shield, here) are:

•sure gets quiet. Actually, it only seems that way because the sound of the wind tearing at you at that speed blots out all else, like white noise.

•the road starts lookin' like a belt sander.

 

[adorshki]

My brother-in-law took me "over 100" on back of his new motorcycle along 2 lane Alabama roads. I had to hold the chin of my Darth Vader helmet to keep my head up straight.

I did not feel like I was really living. I felt I was surely going to die at any moment.

Right. The "Joy of life" thing comes right afterward.