Motorcycle riders on here?

[tsubaki]

Gotta story from my father.
My fathers teen years were spent on motor cycles and street drag cars.
Living with my Grandmother and Grandfather (in the house I now reside), he came home one afternoon and decided to ride down to the dock. The ramp and floating dock was removed for repairs. At the end of the stationary portion, he stopped and decided to smoke a cigarette. Forgetting the bike was in gear, he released the clutch. The bike jumps from between his legs and dives the 10 foot or so into the water!
Now he has to go home and get Granddaddy for help.
Granddaddy was no advocate of motorcycles, his response was "we'll have to wait till low tide to get it".
At low tide they tie a rope on it and eventually get it back to flat level ground.
Daddy will quote Granddaddy every time the same way as they were retrieving it. "Only two kind of people ride these damn things, policemen and damn fools! And you ain't got a badge!!"
Some reason I never got the bike bug.

[lumberslinger178]

I used to I had a 1975 sportster when I was a ute.

I will post up a few old pics..

[spareparts]

I drove a VF750 Honda Saber as my only transportation for two years, had the bike for 7, My nephew "borrowed it" and let it slide into a brick wall(he had never ridden a shaft drive bike). I keep wanting another one, I would like to build a Harley(xr style) just to show every one that its not that hard to do(unlike the TV idiots make it seem). Keep catching myself looking at Ducati's(they break down enough to keep me safe, but I love the new hyper motards). But with two kids and a wife(and enough health issues in the family for ten families), I have to keep looking the other way and appling myself to boats. BTW, WIlly, the gs1100 is one of my favorites also, allways wanted the G model. My brother in law is big into Harleys, he's got a Fat Boy thats tricked out. About two months ago, he was riding with a group, turned the corner and saw his best friend going head over heels in a cloud of dust. His wife is a RN, they tried CPR, but it was a done deal. They still don't know what happened, they know he got together with another bike(that guy was still in and out of the hospital last I heard), but no one really knows. The guy had years of experiance riding, he was sober, no other influences, I guess its was just his time, who knows? He left behind a wife and two kids. It just hit a little too close to home for me. I'll have to pass on the two wheels and stick to boats.

[phester]

I used to ride years ago. Numerous dirtbikes and when I was 17/18 years old I bought my first road bike...a Kawasaki 500 3 cylinder 2 stroker. Man, what a pocket rocket that was. Traded up to the same bike but a 750cc....it didn't handle to well, but in a straight line there was nothing faster on the street. I did some mods. and upgrades to make it handle better but it was still a suicide machine. Eventually graduated to a Kawie Z1-R [1000 cc]....great "superbike" in its day. No more bikes for me.....to much traffic and inconsiderate morons on their cellphones nowadays. If I lived somewhere other than suburbia Long Island, maybe. Good luck w/ the new ride Stink, be careful.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Good stories....have rode since old enough to ride a bicycle. The main thing is respect em and WATCH for cages (cars) and be careful. Just got back into it because of a sweet deal that came along. otherwise it would be years from now. Im loving it again though.,..been riding to work most everyday.


Dress for the slide and not the ride!!

[phatdaddy]

i rode small dirt bikes in high school, nothin bigger than a 450, but i always thought all drivers should be required to ride a motorcycle for at least a week. it would make every body a better driver.

[willy]

Ferm that GS1100 Suzuki was the most incredible bike. Stone reliable, handled incredible, especialy after my upgrade tire and shock wise from stock. It was incredibly smooth with so much torque and horsepower it did everything so effortlessly it was a dream machine. Would load up the bike with me, the CEO, all our camping gear and supplies and cruised all over New England on several trips with her. Would go off road in the mountains, cruise like a caddy on the highway and when I wanted to get frisky in the hills it made no difference all the weight on it at all.
When it was just me and the bike, OMG. Someone once suggested I put a set of Vance and hines pipes on it, I said why? could not use the power it had, would launch my front wheel off the ground in third gear and scare the crap out of me as it was.
It is an incredible feeling I admit missing. But dangerous as all H@ll, all three of my accidents in probably close to 80thousand miles, or more, were not my fault.

[Hammerhead]

Yeah,..I ride. Always keep a couple motos around. Right now my fav is this Honda VTX 1800C model. Top pic is setup for touring up around Asheville, NC. Bottom pic is for around town here in Florida.

All my Harley buds absolutely HATE it. Especially after I let'm take it for a spin.