How many motorcycle riders here?
- Thread starter Rattlehead
- Start date
Rattlehead
Forum Supporter
Very nice. Love the Valkerie. 
Duckhunter811
Elite Member
2000 V-Star 1100 custom and hopefully this summer a 2014 victory cross country
Rattlehead
Forum Supporter
mpgandfun
Senior Member
I've been to 30 states so far. Gonna cover the remaining 18 in the continental U.S. this year. Alaska is on tap for 2015. A tent, sleeping bag, and a few other amenities are all I use on my travels. Its the only way to go for me!
Took this last summer just after leaving Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
Took this last summer just after leaving Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
Dirt Nuker
Elite Member
You 100% deserve to be a road pizza. That's plain stupidity right there. Any responsible rider would know better than to do something as stupid as that.
As for the thread: Currently restoring a '53 Panhead Harley.
Longhair
Elite Member
BensJamming
Senior Member
I've had a few more than I have pics of too.
Very nice! I always had a soft spot for the GS line. They just seem to be bullet proof motors and go forever. Keep the valves adjusted, oil changed, gas in it and your good to go!
Would LOVE to get an original Cooley some day!!!!
Also the blue suzuki in the first picture, is that one of those twin cylinder 2 strokes? Was it a 500cc?
young gun
Full Member
This was my 81' GS450. She was quite a beauty. Bought her for $800 and with a little tinkering and a good carb cleaning, got her running again. I had to sell her last year though for the $. It breaks my heart 
Riffmeister
Forum Supporter
sporty 01'
this is my 2001' 1200 sportster custom- balanced and blueprinted at dudly perkins in san fran, andrews n4 cams, beull thunderstorm heads & pistons, mikuni carb, screamin eagle ignition. This is not a toy. extremly fast money taker. fastest harley ive road to date..... even faster/quicker than my dads niterod special!
my buddys family owns a harley shop and i raced his "ringer " frankenstein bike and spanked him! wicked sporty~
this is my 2001' 1200 sportster custom- balanced and blueprinted at dudly perkins in san fran, andrews n4 cams, beull thunderstorm heads & pistons, mikuni carb, screamin eagle ignition. This is not a toy. extremly fast money taker. fastest harley ive road to date..... even faster/quicker than my dads niterod special!
my buddys family owns a harley shop and i raced his "ringer " frankenstein bike and spanked him! wicked sporty~Attachments
Longhair
Elite Member
A Cooley replica would be neat, but I'd rather have an original Katana myself.
I've had three somewhat modified 1100's, and I put a Yoshimura 850 kit in the '78 750E as well as a welded crank and other minor engine tweaks.
The Blue one is a GT-350 twin 2-stroke 6-speed that I rebuilt and repainted.
coin chaser
Forum Supporter
Hahaha! Some have it and some will never understand........ Standing on the pegs riding a wheelie for miles on end shifting through the gears. Watching your stopped front tire roll out smoke like a plane landing when you set a wheelie down at 120+. White lining it down 55 south from Chicago between cars at 160+. Out running the cops more times than I care to remember. Me responsible? Maybe not. Deserve to die? Maybe. But it's in my bones and I miss every minute of it. To each their own.
As for my bike. I had a 03 Yamaha R6. Sold it when I became a father. It's not possible for me to "cruise" so it had to go for now. Can't even look at one on the road with out wanting to get on it and show the owner what it can really do in the right hands!
Riffmeister
Forum Supporter
same here... have a family, so every time i put my gloves on to go for a ride i have to remind myself that. Passing highway traffic on the back wheel will make you shakey! , now i start shaking before i even start my bike.... crazy wreckless, but have to think of loved ones first
Ice Scratcher
Elite Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2012
- Messages
- 18,347
Does this count? Its not done yet, but its American...
If anyone knows/likes Harley history, this is the badge for it...
<*)))>{
If anyone knows/likes Harley history, this is the badge for it...
<*)))>{
Walker614
Full Member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
- Messages
- 194
Your right some won't understand! I for one don't want to try! Stupid shyt like this is what gives the rest of us the bad reputations we are trying to live down! Pisses me off when I see idiots like you roaring between traffic and endangering others! Riding wheelies at 120+?? Just once you need to see the aftermath of a crash from a soccer mom changing lanes in front of you and you crushing the side of her car!! I have pulled injured kids out of cars the idiots like you have busted into. You say your a father now imaging if it's your wife and kids someone careens into busting through traffic at 160 mph and your kids in ICU!! I been a firefighter and EMT and seen the aftermath and the parents of kids crying their eyes out because some dip shyt on a crotch rocket thought it was cool to "white line it" and kill a kid!! You daym right you need to be road pizza!!
Chris W.
Dirt Nuker
Elite Member
I'm not going to bother trying to talk people out of riding like an ass. It's a waste of time. So read this instead. Here's why I will NEVER ride irresponsibly.
1. Carbondale, IL, 1990. A guy and his girlfriend were going down a large straight road at what was estimated around 105mph. What the rider forgot was there were speed bumps (and many warning signs) in place to slow down traffic due to large pedestrian traffic. The rider and his girlfriend were launched. He landed in the opposite lane and slid into the curb. Dead. She landed on her face but I hear she lived. Her face was mangled. It was a bloody, bloody scene.
2. Rockford, IL, 1996. I went to the store during work to get a bunch of stuff to us to grill on break. As I was leaving the store five riders had it wound up pretty high going past me at the stoplight. One rider was doing a wheelie at 75mph through a very busy intersection and skirting the white line. While the front wheel was up, he failed to see the minivan in the turn lane. He caved in the right half of the minivan to the back seat. I pulled over and got my gloves and first aid kit out but I knew what I was going to find. No helmet but it wouldn't have done any good. He was bleeding from the ears and mouth but was still alive. As his friends started to come back after noticing him missing it hit the fan. His friend freaked out on me. Said he was never going to ride again. Judging by the look on his face I'll bet he kept his word. An aside to all, stop rubbernecking. I went into traffic and kicked the door of a stopped car because he didn't notice the ambulance stopped behind him. It got worse. The guy's father happened to be driving by and saw his own son as a mangled mess before he died. I went back to work (in TV news) with blood on my pants and shoes and had to watch the story two more times that night.
3. My neighborhood, 2013. There is a one mile stretch of very tempting road next to my house. No stoplights, a clear view and a decent hill. I was in my backyard. when I heard some guy wind it up pretty good followed by silence. The sirens happened soon after. What happened was the guy didn't see the car stopped and was making a turn onto a side street. When he hit the car he hit it so hard it spun completely around. Helmet was attached to the side of the bike but it wouldn't have helped. The bike was split in two. This time the rider seriously hurt the passenger in the car, but both people in the car lived.
One near miss I had was when my family was returning from a day at the movies. We were doing the speed limit (45) and had just changed lanes at the top of a hill on a 4-land divided highway. No sooner had I completed the lane change two guys doing at least 100mph blew past me and just missing my driver's side door. That was especially scary because if I was still in the other lane, a whole lot of people would be dead. I'd also like to add the fact that my dad was t-boned on his motorcycle by a car who missed a stop sign. Leg crushed but survived. Some pretty bad scars though.
I get the adrenaline addiction. What I don't get is why it has to be acquired when it endangers innocent people no matter how careful you think you might be. Like I said, nothing I say will change the mind of a reckless rider, stupidity can't be reversed......neither can death.
Be safe.
1. Carbondale, IL, 1990. A guy and his girlfriend were going down a large straight road at what was estimated around 105mph. What the rider forgot was there were speed bumps (and many warning signs) in place to slow down traffic due to large pedestrian traffic. The rider and his girlfriend were launched. He landed in the opposite lane and slid into the curb. Dead. She landed on her face but I hear she lived. Her face was mangled. It was a bloody, bloody scene.
2. Rockford, IL, 1996. I went to the store during work to get a bunch of stuff to us to grill on break. As I was leaving the store five riders had it wound up pretty high going past me at the stoplight. One rider was doing a wheelie at 75mph through a very busy intersection and skirting the white line. While the front wheel was up, he failed to see the minivan in the turn lane. He caved in the right half of the minivan to the back seat. I pulled over and got my gloves and first aid kit out but I knew what I was going to find. No helmet but it wouldn't have done any good. He was bleeding from the ears and mouth but was still alive. As his friends started to come back after noticing him missing it hit the fan. His friend freaked out on me. Said he was never going to ride again. Judging by the look on his face I'll bet he kept his word. An aside to all, stop rubbernecking. I went into traffic and kicked the door of a stopped car because he didn't notice the ambulance stopped behind him. It got worse. The guy's father happened to be driving by and saw his own son as a mangled mess before he died. I went back to work (in TV news) with blood on my pants and shoes and had to watch the story two more times that night.
3. My neighborhood, 2013. There is a one mile stretch of very tempting road next to my house. No stoplights, a clear view and a decent hill. I was in my backyard. when I heard some guy wind it up pretty good followed by silence. The sirens happened soon after. What happened was the guy didn't see the car stopped and was making a turn onto a side street. When he hit the car he hit it so hard it spun completely around. Helmet was attached to the side of the bike but it wouldn't have helped. The bike was split in two. This time the rider seriously hurt the passenger in the car, but both people in the car lived.
One near miss I had was when my family was returning from a day at the movies. We were doing the speed limit (45) and had just changed lanes at the top of a hill on a 4-land divided highway. No sooner had I completed the lane change two guys doing at least 100mph blew past me and just missing my driver's side door. That was especially scary because if I was still in the other lane, a whole lot of people would be dead. I'd also like to add the fact that my dad was t-boned on his motorcycle by a car who missed a stop sign. Leg crushed but survived. Some pretty bad scars though.
I get the adrenaline addiction. What I don't get is why it has to be acquired when it endangers innocent people no matter how careful you think you might be. Like I said, nothing I say will change the mind of a reckless rider, stupidity can't be reversed......neither can death.
Be safe.
Longhair
Elite Member
I've been street racing for over forty years. Started in cars, then went to bikes. My secret to survival is pretty simple. There's a time and a place....and in traffic is neither. Crashing sucks badly enough when nobody else is involved, and there are plenty of inanimate objects out there waiting to provide the sudden stop that can easily kill you. Add animate objects to the mix, and the outcome changes quickly to even worse odds.....for everyone.
IMO, splitting lanes is stupid, even where it's legal. Someone sneezes or twitches and it's over. In my state it's not legal, but even if it were I wouldn't do it in any other situation than nearly stand still traffic, and even then I'd be super nervous.
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from poor judgment.
If you're lucky (and not an idiot), gaining experience doesn't kill you or anyone else.
SalemScott
Forum Supporter
I just saw this video on another non-md forum and thought of this thread. Stay safe out there and keep yours eyes on the road ahead. 
