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Motorcycles

20K views 156 replies 15 participants last post by  Johnny b 
#1 ·
This is a thread simply about motorcycles.
What you own.
What you've owned in the past.
What you like the best.
The style and type of riding you do and have done.
Where you've ridden, trips you've taken.
Tips and recommendation.
What's new of interest.

Anything of interest about motorcycles.

My latest ride is a 2014 KTM Duke 690.
Great handling and a good power to weight ratio.
Best as a track bike, but I use it mostly for afternoon rides in the countryside.
The more elevation changes and twisty roads the better :D

This is a stock photo, but I'll post an image of it later:

 
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#2 ·
OK so don't laugh (OK, you can laugh) I owned this, a 1972 Honda C70:

Tire Wheel Automotive lighting Automotive tire Automotive parking light


So I'm officially a biker gal. :D I actually bought it to go to work because it took less than ten minutes and cost me something like 4 cents a day in gas whereas I had to take three different buses and it took me an hour to get to work before.

P.S. Also a stock photo. I'm not going digging for any of my own pictures of it.
 
#3 · (Edited)
In my area, those early Hondas sell for quite a bit, some approaching $2000.

My first motorcycle was a used (correction must have been a '64 or 65) Honda S90
Also a stock photo:



Worst gas milage was 130mpg
Best, and was common, 180 mpg

It only had a 1.9 gallon tank, but it seemed like I could drive 'forever' on a full tank.

I commuted to college and it was incredibly inexpensive to use :)
 
#4 ·
I love motorcycles, but have never owned one. Given that the fatality rate is something like 35 times higher than cars (oddly, DUE to cars) I have always passed on them.

Had a buddy with a 72 or so Bultaco, had fun tooling that around Black Forest. :)

And Karen, I never would have pegged as a biker girl. :D
 
#13 ·
It is a real effort to remember all the motorbikes I had when I was young 1935 Matchless 250 (sloper) hand gear change, coil ignition. 1934 BSA250 Maglita ignition hand gear change. Velocette KSS 500 OHC. BSA500 side valve (ex dispatch rider bike) Triumph 600side valve with sidecar (I was married by this time 1953) Triumph Thunderbird. All second hand, and all maintained by me. Dirty hands and clothes.
 
#20 ·
Zip tie trick for mounting a radial tubeless tire.
It's that easy, I do mine this way.
I do have a zip tie tool for tightening up the zip tie, but merely putting a knee to the tire and tightening the tie by hand works . Just a little more effort.

 
#21 ·
Tube type tires are relatively easy to dismount.
Radials not so much unless you follow a drill something like this:



I do like the looks of those tire irons. I'll be getting a pair.
 
#25 ·
One of my early motorcycles was this.
A 1972 Suzuki TS 90
Stock photo of a similar bike. Mine was this color green but had no stripe on the tank.
There were 2 versions. Mine was a 5 speed and there was a 4 speed with a dual range option for trail riding. A friend from high school bought the 4 speed model, but it turned out the 5 speed worked better for street and trail.
They cost the same.
I rode it frequently for 5 years and sold it to another friend so his son had something to ride. It lasted almost 4 years before the engine expired. It had a hard life :D and wasn't repairable.



I had a lot of fun on that little bike :)
I could beat a Vega to 40mph lol!
If a trail got too tough, I could usually walk it through a bad spot.
I did a lot of that. lol
 
#26 ·
Here it is, winter is outside my window with almost 2 inches of snowfall over night.

It's moments like this I remember riding off road and regret all the missed chances in the past, to ride more often.

Getting older and motorcycling in adverse weather isn't working out anymore and I'm not interested in moving south out of Ohio.

lol. But I'm glad for the time I did spend outdoors riding on two wheels :)
Spring, summer, fall and winter :up:
 
#29 ·
There was that and the cost of film and processing.
I wish low cost digital cameras had existed several decades earlier.
I would have taken many more photos.
 
#30 ·
It's been interesting seeing how the sport of motorcycling has changed over the years as have the motorcycles, too.

Just like autos, there are the elites, the super bikes and the exotic.
And of course, pricing to match.

This showed up recently at TopSpeed.com.

For those who seek life-bending experiences on two wheels
https://www.topspeed.com/motorcycle...rcycles-currently-in-production-ar186986.html

From the $55K Kawasaki Ninja H2R to the $Million dollar Tamburini T12 Massimo.

Enjoy the eye candy.
 
#31 ·
#32 ·
Another new H-D model.
The $19,000 Pan America

https://www.topspeed.com/motorcycle...020-harley-davidson-pan-america-ar187010.html

Tire Wheel Vehicle Helmet Motorcycle


I'm familiar with this style bike.
I own a lighter DL 1000 Suzuki.
They can make decent travel bikes for adventures in areas of poor roads, but for off roading, nope. Too heavy and tiring.
IMO, for off roading and light carry travel, better a mid size dual sport bike like a Suzuki DR Z400.
I have ridden with friends that owned heavier bikes like Kawasaki KLR 650's and Suzuki DR 650's and they worked well, but much heavier than my 350 and probably at the upper end of realistic weight limitations for most guys off roading.

I still own an old Suzuki DR 350S that has served me well.
From riding in the greasy root infested clay of south eastern Ohio forests to the sands of Michigan to deserts out west, imo, it's the perfect 'do all' motorcycle. Not perfect in any one thing, but overall, good enough for just about everything.

IMO, the H-D with less aggressive off road tires would make a decent street scrambler. If you can justify that $19K buy in price.
 
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