I want the good weekend weather to finally hit our area so I can get out on the #motorcycle and clear out all of this cabin fever and wanderlust with a day-long ride. >:(
If Harley Davidson is the Titanic, the pandemic might just be that one big iceberg. Worse still, it had a hole in the hull and sputtering engines before all this even began. Damn. Is HD done for?
I have been on two wheels for 57 years now, my Pop had me on his Harley when I was one year old for the first time. I'll never forget when he called me while I was working for a Harley-Davidson dealership in California, and he asked me: "Son, what's the best bike in the world?" (expecting me to name one of several Harley-Davidson models) I replied with, "BMW R 1150 GSA." In shock, he asked: "Why's that?" I replied, "It's all day comfortable, will run forever, and then some. It will go over or through most obstacles – what more could you want?" he went out and bought a BMW immediately after, and road that bike until the day he died...
I just bought a '23 CBR650R and would like maybe 1-2" more height to the seat for my long legs. Any suggestions on what to do here on a budget?
(I already have put on adjustable rearsets that move the pegs as far down and back as they'll allow. The 1-2" is what I'd like with that adjustment to the rearsets.)
Had some ADV-style tires put on my CRF450RL since I'll be spending a lot of time on pavement just getting to the mountains. Now I just need a windshield and maybe a Cyclops headlight. 👍 #motorcycle #dirtbike #dualsport
I also asked them to set the idle since it was way too high previously. That, combined with my adding tension to the throttle cable, really transformed the bike!
I probably couldn't ride a Ducati 916/996 or a Britten V1000 very long, but I would absolutely park one of those in my house as art if I had that kind of space or disposable income.
I'm celebrating the return of Spring with a new Honda CBR650R! (Album)
After selling my Ninja 1000SX because I realized that it wasn't the right bike, I did a test ride on this exact bike at The Brothers Powersports in Bremerton on a stormy day a couple weeks back, then later that night I put a deposit on it. I had the shop put some comfort mods on the bike (heated grips, quickshifter, top case rack, frame sliders) over the past week and then took the bus and ferry last Friday to pick it up, which took forever because I had to wait an hour for the ferry! I did have to ride home with a backpack on, which wasn't fun, but I got it safely home and then spent all of Saturday started putting more mods on it (GPS charging mount and adjustable rearsets because my long legs were cramped). It was kind of a bummer missing out on the nice weather Saturday, but with the bike all buttoned up, I'll be able to any upcoming warm weather! Even better is that I bought it out of pocket and don't have to deal with financing!
On the ferry ride home Friday, I ran into the same lady I saw when I headed home from Bremerton after test riding the bike. Her name was Loki and she was headed with her partner Isaac from her home on the Olympic Peninsula to Seattle to teach circus performers.
(I realize my eyes were closed in the photos. Bummer!)
Really glad I went with a faired naked bike instead of a supersport. Still has plenty of performance for the freeway at the top, but still has decent enough torque further down and the ergonomics are far better. 👍 #motorcycle
Been seeing a number of videos talking about how these big, heavy, and powerful ADV bikes aren’t super great at riding off-road despite what the marketing is pushing. Glad I ended up with a 450 dual-sport instead. :3 #motorcycle
I'm guessing RC45/RVF750 based on the small air intake? As far as I can remember both RC30 and RC45 has double round headlights in their street ready configuration? Is this an endurance rigged racebike?
I think there's a multi-dimensional spectrum of how much of which sort of EMP a device can withstand, like anything with wires that could be overloaded from induced current or other effects would be toast, depending on the scale of attack vs over-engineeredness of the copper thickness, shielding, etc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse#Lightning
Why are newer pickup trucks killing so many pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists? We set aside politics and emotional attachment to look at the data underpinning the issue.
My wife was negging me because I'm selling my Ninja 1000SX to buy a sportier #motorcycle that matches my skills and what I'm looking for. I've only had the Ninja for two years, but I became more experienced (at least partially by riding the bike) rider over that time. My target bike lists for a little less than what I'm selling the Ninja for, too
She was saying that "you shouldn't get something when you're just going to get rid of it." How in the world had I known that when I bought the thing?! I thought it was going to be a bike I'd have for a lot longer when I bought it! People change as they do something a lot and learn new skills, and their preferences change accordingly.
we buy textbooks not for the book but for what we learn using it. I just got a learner bicycle and am selling it again in June because I learned what I wanted.
I did the same thing. I bought 2 different bikes within 2 years until I figured out the best one for me and the style of riding and the distance I needed to cover. Kept going bigger and bigger to a big cruiser. It is my favorite and I have had it 20 years.
Anyone have any recommendations on portable tire changers? Portable as in "I can take this down to the garage", not as in "I can take this with me on the bike." #motorcycle
Well, the most portable tire changing set up is a couple pieces of 4x4 to rest your wheel on, a can of silicone spray lube, and 2 or 3 decent tire irons/spoons. Anything like a machine or fixture will need something to hold it in place against the leverage you would need to exert. I've seen a lot of people raving about the Rabaconda, but I'm not sure how it breaks down for portability.
Had a great time at the MSF three-wheeler course I took with my dad yesterday! I even got a perfect score on the skills test (missed 3 questions on the knowledge test) and was one of the faster riders taking the course once I learned how to move on the bike in corners.
Everyone else was cold, but because of my Winter motorcycle experience, I knew to wear an extra sweater layer and was plenty warm the whole time. #motorcycle
did they have any sidecar setups? That was a cool part of my three-wheel course. It was nice having the option to pick a setup as well. I was the only one who tested on a standard rig, everyone else went reverse, my GF ended up buying the trike she tested on she liked it so much.
I dig the color of that off white blacked out HD did last year.
@leerayl Riding a Spyder has similarities to sidecar when cornering fast in that you tend to move around a bit like a racing sidecar passenger to stop the inside front wheel from lifting. If it does lift the 'nanny' kicks in and slows things down.
Of course I'm not sure they'd want to teach you that on that course
Did they have any Spyders or was it just Rykers and the HD trikes?
@pistonblown the weight shifting is really important with the sidecar, on my Freewheeler, I shift weight mostly on grade at highway speeds.
Passes mostly but a few slower mountain roads. I think most modern trikes are more balanced and the Can-Am front end can be magical and forgiving. The ride difference between the Spyder RT Limited and the FLRT are night and day.
I think she wants to put some miles on this season and look at an RG3 now that she is a bit more comfortable. To find a toy hauler for 2 full size trikes!
@leerayl I've never seen a Freelander or RG3 in the flesh and don't think they are available in NZ. The only trikes I've seen sold here new are Canam's and Boom's. You also get the usual assortment of home made ones of course, mainly powered with v8's.
I had an Spyder RS, the 'sports' model, for 9 years but when I wore that out it was covid time so the only replacement I could find was a 2nd hand F3L. A bit tour focused for me but it's been great for the iron butt rides.
When I was attending the press launch of the Harley-Davidson Street Glide and Road Glide recently, I was in an after-hours conversation with a long-time Harley-Davidson employee who was noting — "complaining" is too strong a word for the good-natured comments — that whenever the Motor Company introduces new models, the immediate response from a certain segment of riders is always, "But what about the Bronx?"
It's understandable that some people inside Harley-Davidson are tired of hearing it. We hear it here, too, just about every time Common Tread posts a story on anything related to Harley-Davidson. It even came up in Zack's recent Daily Rider review of the Harley-Davidson Nightster.
I get it. Lots of people want Harley-Davidson to build the Bronx. Here's the deal, though. It's not going to happen. You might as well get over it.
Under Zeitz, Harley-Davidson is selling fewer motorcycles but making more profit on each one. In the financial report recently released, Harley-Davidson shipped 7% fewer motorcycles globally (10% fewer in the main North American market) in 2023 than in 2022, but revenue was down just 1%. Zeitz brags about how many models have been eliminated from the lineup. And what did Zeitz brag about most on the conference call about the financial results? Profitability. He noted that in 2019 Harley-Davidson made a profit of $1,300 per motorcycle sold. In 2023, that figure was $3,700 per motorcycle sold.
This is exactly the kind of competitive, lower margin segment Zeitz dislikes. It's the same reason that a Pan America 975 that some of us half expected to see this year did not materialize. In fact, Harley-Davidson went the other direction. Instead of adding a Pan America 975 at the lower end of the range to the Pan America 1250 and 1250 Special, Harley-Davidson went the opposite direction, eliminating the base 1250 and adding the $28,399 CVO Pan America. So $20,000 is now the starting point for a Harley-Davidson adventure-tourer. That's the prevailing wind in the company: not toward more affordable and more accessible, but toward more premium and more profitable.
Swappable traction batteries are far more practical for motorcycles than cars because of how exposed the power components typically are in the former (outside of sportbikes). #motorcycle #EV #BEV
I was considering getting a sports car for a while, but after driving our RAV4 for a few hours last week, I realized that I don't enjoy driving enough for that.
yah, this is a classic scam; even after a cashiers check clears it can be recalled. They just claim the bike never showed up or whatever, get the money back, then run off with your bike.
Actually, I just noticed the "plus the shipping fee" so they're probably not even going after your bike. In this variation they'll give instructions to wire the shipping fee to their helper in the U.S. so that they can show up and ship the bike. That person will never show up, but you've just wired the scammer the shipping fee which you're now responsible for. A few days later the bank realizes it was a fake check and takes the money out of your account, you're now out the shipping fee.
These old "cashier's cheques" scams were common some years ago. Your bank accepts it and says it looks okay, puts the money in your account, you deliver the goods and then the cheque is refused at the issuing bank weeks later and they return it to your bank, who delete the money from your account and bill you a $35 return fee.
Tell em to bring cash or use Interac e-transfer with automatic deposit enabled on your end, payed in advance.
Rode up to Index to get photos for selling my Ninja 1000SX. It was super cold and I almost gave up when I got to Monroe, but after some hot coffee and putting on my warm winter gloves, it was more or less fine. (Album (10 photos), 6 photos attached) #photography #photog #photos #photo #motorcycle #mywork
If you ride, your brain knows how motorcycles work intuitively, but we bet you'll struggle to explain it accurately. We're trading opinions for science in a pursuit to understand how motorcycles really steer.
These dynamics also apply to #bicycle riding, obviously.
Had an awesome time at the California Superbike Class I went to last weekend! While I was one of the bigger weenies on track as far as speed is concerned, I learned a lot of good handling skills for two wheels. The BMW S1000RR was pretty cool, too, aside from the maintenance alert coming up every time the bike was booted up. #motorcycle (Albums (59 photos total), 14 photos attached)
To get there, my dad and I did a road trip with an overnight stop halfway between home and Willows, CA, where this session was taking place.
João Pinheiro
in reply to Neil E. Hodges • • •Neil E. Hodges likes this.