My latest crazy venture

OK, I'm looking at a Harley, a smaller one, 1985 1000 Sportster with only 5000 miles.

Buy

They don't call it a "donor"cycle for no reason. Makesure your Guilds will have a good home.

Actually, I've always wanted one but I know with certainty, I would do myself grave bodily harm.

Use to ride all time. Still keep my license but doubt I will ride anymore.

You'll shoot your eye out!

richardp69 said:

They don't call it a "donor"cycle for no reason. Makesure your Guilds will have a good home.

Actually, I've always wanted one but I know with certainty, I would do myself grave bodily harm.

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Stuball48 said:

Use to ride all time. Still keep my license but doubt I will ride anymore.

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I used to have (and adore) a BMW K75C just like this one, and rode it a lot, putting over 70,000 miles on it.



Ever since the widespread use of smartphones, especially in areas of high population density like where I live on Long Island, I believe that you have to have a death wish to keep riding these days. My last ride was about eight years ago, and not far from my house. I set up nicely for a rather difficult decreasing radius turn, and everything was fine until an SUV with its operator buried in the screen blew the turn, and all I could see was grill. I got run off the road, and was very lucky to low side, and also very luck that I had all my gear on, and a full face helmet. Even despite all the body armor, I still ended up with a rather large hematoma my hip that took three weeks to heal. Almost had to have it surgically removed.

The bike's fiberglass bits were trashed, which was enough to total it. I miss riding that bike like crazy sometimes, but it's just not worth dying for.

I've wanted a motorcycle from time to time, usually when weather is nice but not so much when it's cold or wet. If I got one I would absolutely not ride on the road because I don't trust the drivers out there. I've heard too many stories that don't end well. If I got one it would be off road only.

I wish you good luck with your decision, Dread, and if you decide to get it, even better luck when you ride.

No issue with looking. Look all you like. Just keep looking, then look some more. Don't forget to look at your loved ones along the way. My grandkids' father nearly died earlier this year in a bike wreck. Nearly killed his passenger. I know plenty of people who ride, and nothing bad has happened to them. Bad stuff happens to good people though, and bikes make that more likely. I ride bicycles, but not on public roads anymore. I wish I could, but the risk is too great now.

Marty

Yeah, too many fools out on the roads. And not many alternatives when you're on two wheels.

dreadnut said:

Yeah, too many fools out on the roads. And not many alternatives when you're on two wheels.

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Indeed there are many fools, but I'm sure there are some sweet country treks you could go on in your neck of the woods. I live in Cluster****ville! In a landlocked traffic puzzle surrounded by water, squeezed right in between Wash D.C. And Baltimore. It's NUTS driving anything here. Despite that, I know a lot of people w/ bikes. They choose their riding times very wisely. Like getting up early on a sat or sun morning and heading to rural western Md. Hitting a diner for a meal along the way. Spending the day riding visually stunning dream roads, seeing some gorgeous sites....then coming home in time for a late dinner when traffic is light. They do it every other weekend or so for 6-7 months of the year. No incidents I've ever heard of besides the occasional old bike breaking down.

Just think of it the same way you would a snowmobile. You don't drive it to work, you don't drive it to the mall, you don't drive it anywhere near traffic. It might even seem like a complete waste having it sit in the garage most of the time. But, when you get comfortable enough to do a day trip through scenic rural MI, I bet you'll quickly learn to love that machine!

Motorcyle would be fun in the summer - if it were Triumph 350

Enough power and speed.

I learned too young that four wheels are better than two.

Nuuska said:

Motorcyle would be fun in the summer - if it were Triumph 350

Enough power and speed.

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650 is better:

I sold my 1980 BMW R100RT last year after developing the "yips" about riding it in a world full of inattentive drivers. It was a BIG motorcycle - full fairing (uppers and lowers), saddlebags, landing-light bright halogen headlight, but I would still have people making left turns in front of me, blowing through stop signs, drifting across center lines while answering that text message. I drove it for 40,000+miles and 40 years, but gave it up after increasingly-frequent close calls.

I'm with tc & gj - I was attentive, armored, maintained the bike well, chose the riding times and routes carefully, and
just stayed lucky - once texting took off like it did, that was the end of street riding for me.
Track days with a buddy (#51 below) who also had a Bonneville were fun during the last few years before I called it quits,
had fun out there - we were an odd pair among the ubiquitous sport bikes - and the modestly-prepped Bonnies held their own
surprisingly well in the infield.

Bonneville88 said:

I'm with tc & gj - I was attentive, armored, maintained the bike well, chose the riding times and routes carefully, and
just stayed lucky - once texting took off like it did, that was the end of street riding for me.
Track days with a buddy (#51 below) who also had a Bonneville were fun during the last few years before I called it quits,
had fun out there - we were a oddity among the ubiquitous sport bikes - and the modestly-prepped Bonnies held their own
surprisingly well in the infield.

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I never owned a Triumph (the four wheeler I had was enough!), but their bikes were probably better than their cars for sure. My particular BMW definitely wasn't a track kind of bike, more a favorite of the iron butt set, and at that it was really good. I've had a few track days in four wheelers, but never two.

This was the last motorcycle in the family here. Learned to ride on that shitty Yamaha something with a kick start that almost killed me and then I laid it down over some street sheet steel on a rainy day. Oh to be young again!! This bike was smooth and sophisticated. Push a button, and it started!! I loved it. We lived in a beach town in LA (Mar Vista) and I'd take it to the beach and park next to a dumpster on non-trash pickup days. Everyone else was going crazy for parking. Then we kinda grew up and someone stole my 1963 Caddy CDV and I was wrecked!! So then I bought a 1978 Caddy CDV and Don got a 1979 Corvette. Then we moved up into the Hollywood Hills. I miss that bike.... I felt free. But in today's world, maybe not so much free as vulnerable. People try to kill me when I'm out riding my bicycle. I'm just okay with memories.....

My motorcycles. I’m the motor!!!

My last bike, Husqvarna 510 6 speed 4 stroke before the 1987 Barstow to Vegas race.

Never had any interest in street bikes.

Like Tom said, memories are enough for me. I rode street bikes from 1969 to 1983. Long trips throughout the western US, daily commutes, rainy days with tons of gear, cold days with tons of gear. Constantly scanning for idiot drivers. Constantly avoiding idiot drivers. Occasionally becoming the idiot, and thankfully being bailed out by a non-idiot driver.

Dumped the bike only twice - once in a slow turn on a bunch of leaves, but the other time on Hwy 1 north of San Francisco at about 50 miles an hour due to a rock in the road being hidden by the cars in front of me. Mountain on one side, cliff down to the beach on the other side, and only wearing a helmet that day because it was so cold out. The bike and I slid together almost straight down the road until we came to a stop, with that helmet making a horrific sound as it dug into the pavement. Good thing it was cold that day, or I probably wouldn't be here. Always wore a helmet from that day on, and can remember that helmet-scraping-pavement sound like it was yesterday.

So nowadays, every time a bike goes by with someone all bundled up from the cold and/or rain, I just smile as I drive along with just a T-shirt, windows up or down to suit my comfort level, sunroof possibly open, and occasionally considering the purchase of a Mazda Miata!