Topic: Harley-Humour Thread: My First

[merc2dogs]

 I agree. The group I used to ride with had all kinds of bikes, japs, brit, german italian american, it didn't matter what you rode.
The only thing that mattered is that you left your attitude at home because everyone was out to enjoy the day.

 
   With me it's not the bike they ride that governs my feelings towards them, it's the attitude they have and that only effects the way I feel about -them- not the type of bike they ride.
 
 I've owned harley, and plan to get another one soon, and the way the prices are coming down it may be sooner than expected.

Ken.
 

[mmtsquid]

I live and ride in the St. Louis metro area, and I haven't met a rude Harley guy yet!

EVERYONE waves here - its kind of nice!

[fuzzybutt]

here's my harley story. i was down in daytona in 2005 to go to school at AMI, i was on the way home when, at a light i grenaded the clutch in my 74 750k cafe. it was 4 miles or so to the nearest payphone/gas station, and i wasnt about to leave my bike sitting there for anybody and their brother to take so i started pushing the bike along the side of the road. i got about a mile or so down when i heard a group of bikes coming up behind me. it was a p ack of harley riders and thought "cool, maybe someone will have a cellphone that'll call aaa for me" well they started to slow down when i heard "oh! it's only a honda" and they all sped up and rode off leaving me there. i dont give a rats ass WHAT you ride, if your'e in trouble on the side of the road i'll help you no matter what.oh yeah..........till recently i rode an ironhead sportster chopper, till my back wouldnt take the rigid anymore.

[nickjtc]

This whole Harley thing is rather like the whole dog thing. There aren't any really bad dogs (not counting psychopathic pitbulls and the like, that is), just bad dog owners. They know who they are. Harleys are not 'bad' bikes, but the whole mystique thing is what brings them into disrepute.

On one level HD have done a brilliant job of marketing the image, and they did help kickstart (sorry about the pun) the resurgence in popularity of motorcycling after the doldrums of the mid-'80s. (Albeit with a lot of help of the federal government and their taxation of 'competing' imports.)

But as an instructor and examiner I also see the downside. People 'forced' into riding the brand because their peers will not have anything to do with them if they ride anything else. This means that small people immediately face the challenge that the smallest bike available to them (883 Sportster) is still a very large motorcycle and in many cases just too big to handle. If HD stuck the HD name on the Buell Blast they might sell a few more of them, and this is much more novice-friendly.

I make no secret of the fact that I like riding bikes that are 'different'. Would I ever own a HD? Probably not, simply on the basis that as a brand they are so common. Having said that I wouldn't own any other cruiser either, just because they fail to stir my soul.

[DammitDan]

they did help kickstart (sorry about the pun) the resurgence in popularity of motorcycling after the doldrums of the mid-'80s

Funny you should say that Nick...  I've noticed recently that NONE of the new Harleys (or any bikes for that matter) have kickstarters anymore.

It's kinda sad, really.  I think the kickstarter is the most macho part of the motorcycle, and it's what I love about the old CBs and my XS850.  I mean, how manly is it to kick a bike over, versus pushing a button?

I love my kickstarter and will never buy a bike without one again.

[burmashave]

Funny you should say that Nick...  I've noticed recently that NONE of the new Harleys (or any bikes for that matter) have kickstarters anymore.

It's kinda sad, really.  I think the kickstarter is the most macho part of the motorcycle, and it's what I love about the old CBs and my XS850.  I mean, how manly is it to kick a bike over, versus pushing a button?

I love my kickstarter and will never buy a bike without one again.

Recently, I was part of a bike ride that attracted well over 1,000 bikes. The vast majority were newer Harley's, and if you added in the Goldwings, there were just a few of us riding other bikes.

Anyhoo, I thought it was very cool that I had a kick start every time we mounted up. There were a few other very cool bikes there, but you had to look. I had a great chat with a guy who had a Turbo 650 Seca in very good condition that he had since new. Another guy had a great old wing.

The thing that was interesting to me was that I spent some time checking out the other bikes after they were all parked up. I was wondering when I'd next see over 1,000 bikes parked up in rows. Very few other riders spent time looking at bikes, and as far as I could see, none of the Harley riders spent time checking out other Harley's.

I rode away thinking that mebbe part of the Harley thing is about customizing "your own" bike rather than spending time seeing what others have done to theirs. There were a few, but not many, Harley's there worth looking at, and I was interested in looking at them, too.

By the way, most of these folks were in **dire** need of a motorcycle safety course. I was annoyed at times and horrified at others. The guy on a Harley in front of me (with a vanity motorcycle license plate -- something new to me) nearly put his head (not bike) into a wall twice without noticing. But he was able to ride with that cool HD stance.

[nickjtc]

But he was able to ride with that cool HD stance.

Let's not even go there!

Drives me nuts when a student listens to suggestions as to how to ride safely and then blurts out that he/she won't be doing it that way because when you ride a you-know-what you ride according to their rules. So, for example, you will always see a herd of HD riders riding side by side down the road, instead of in a safety stagger.

[burmashave]

But he was able to ride with that cool HD stance.

Let's not even go there!

Drives me nuts when a student listens to suggestions as to how to ride safely and then blurts out that he/she won't be doing it that way because when you ride a you-know-what you ride according to their rules. So, for example, you will always see a herd of HD riders riding side by side down the road, instead of in a safety stagger.

Well, let's go there. ;-) I said "annoying." While we were riding across a bridge with a center wall, the guy ahead of me split his time shouting at the guy to his right while twice reaching down to adjust something on the lower left of his bike. Both times he did this, he drifted to the left, and his wheels crossed the yellow line. His head got perilously close to the wall, but I don't think he noticed. I only noticed the vanity plate because when I got a chance, I creeped up on him to try to figure out if he was a new 1D10T, or an old mofo. I think the vanity plate was a giveaway. By the way, this happened during the portion of the ride that included all 1,000+ riders.

We started from different areas in the state of New York, and my group rode in with about 60 riders. Most of these folks were able to stagger, but mebbe stagger too well. I don't ride with large groups a lot, but it seems to me that keeping an even distance is the key to preventing the group from transforming from a chain into a slinky.

Now here's my biker etiquette kestions. While riding in this line of about 60 riders, the rider ahead of me would casually slow down and then speed up, creating a big gap. Kestion 1: I was the rider behind her (noting cool HD stance), and I wondered should I speed up and slow down with her, or should I try to moderate the gap so the gaps behind me would remain even? I tried to moderate the gap.

Kestion 2: On several occasions, the rider ahead of me switched sides in the stagger (left side to right or vice versa). Should I switch to maintain the proper stagger, thereby compelling riders behind me to switch (I was near the front)? I kept my side and waited for her to switch back in another 15 minutes.

I'm serious about answers for my questions. While I was pondering on these things, I was reminiscing about the biker gangs we'd rarely see when I was growing up during the '60s. Those guys rode in a solid formation, eyes ahead, and no constant revving of the engine.

Gosh, I just can't stop. That was another thing that intrigued me that day. Why does a stop require constant revving of an engine?

[Gordon]

Kestion 2: On several occasions, the rider ahead of me switched sides in the stagger (left side to right or vice versa). Should I switch to maintain the proper stagger, thereby compelling riders behind me to switch (I was near the front)? I kept my side and waited for her to switch back in another 15 minutes.

I'm serious about answers for my questions. While I was pondering on these things, I was reminiscing about the biker gangs we'd rarely see when I was growing up during the '60s. Those guys rode in a solid formation, eyes ahead, and no constant revving of the engine.

Gosh, I just can't stop. That was another thing that intrigued me that day. Why does a stop require constant revving of an engine?

Those same things bug me on the Old Bike Ride every year.
I do pretty much exactly the same as you where questions 1 and 2 are concerned.  Just try to maintain my lane position and keep a steady pace. 

For the third question:  I think it's for the same reasons that when you see an insecure guy in public who managed to snag an attractive woman, he always has his hand on her somewhere.  Either in her back pocket, on her waist or on the back of her neck, just reassuring himself that she is his and making sure everybody else in the vicinity knows it, too. 

[DarkRider]

Alright heres me throwin my 2 cents in here...

Most of the sport bike riders around here wave to every other rider they see. Just a common thing here...usually when a wave is not returned its usually a harley rider..now this brings up an interesting point...the exception to the rule is the harley owner that rides with the group i ride with. he started on a Honda Shadow and got the harley to replace it. he waves to all riders as well.

now to the two questions that were asked...

Try to maintain the gap if at all possable...if needed back off very slightly to keep it a reasonable size (think 2-3 second rule here)

As for stagger...switch to the opposite lane to the rider that just switched ahead of you which in turn should occur through out the pack behind you as well...the reason for this and for staggering itself is to give you somewhere to go incase the bike in front of you has problems and goes down. you do not want to be directly behind the bike ahead of you otherwise you will wind up being in some serious trouble if that bike ahead suddenly becomes a large obsticle in your path of travel.

[nickjtc]

Outlaw hit the nail on the head.

Group riding is an art unto itself. First of all there should ideally not be more than 4 or 5 bikes together in a group...it becomes too unwieldy and takes up too much space on the road. If there is a larger group they should ideally split themselves up and ride with sufficient gap between the groups to allow other traffic to safely pass.

If a rider (in the stagger) doesn't want to be changing lane position to remain staggered-off the rider in front then all he/she has to do is to drop back so that he/she is at least 2 seconds behind the. The he/she is now riding his/her own ride and maintains the appropriate lane position for conditions at that point.