0
AggieDave

"Ride American"

By AggieDave, in The Bonfire

Recommended Posts

kelpdiver    2

kelpdiver
Quote

Haha! Right on. You obviously have run into the attitudes I have. Folks who ride sport bikes really well impress me. I don't care for the high speeds or tricks in traffic, but being able to control the power of those bikes and ride well is very impressive.



You're giving sportbikers a lot more credit than they warrant. There's probably more harley RUBs than squids, but there's a shitload of the latter. Sit in the parking lot across from Alice's on Sunday and you'll see lots of stupid posing - usually great entertainment during lunch. Watch the endies until someone falls over! And occasionally the RUBs will go by, making as much noise as possible.

The funniest experience on the subject I've had is sitting in an ERC while two new Harley owners debating the risk of damaging the finish if they rode in the morning mist.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

kelpdiver    2

kelpdiver
Quote


Suicide shift is a short handle on the side of the bike - you have to take your hand of the handlebar to shift. San Fransisco is, well, just hellacious hilly and it sucks to drive any standard transmission when you're on hills that point you straight up at the sky.



There are a couple streets I make a point of avoiding. Fortunately there are very few that are so bad. A lot of them surround the Marc Hopkins.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

gjhdiver    0

gjhdiver
Quote


-------
All my bikes eventually ended up with jocky shifts. Man, I appluade you for riding one on those hills in SF. Do ya wanna freak folks out? Lift the front while slapping through gears and smokin' the ass all way through>
Your '45, is it a Knuck or Flattie? Chopped in any way or pure stock? Post a pic



Here you go.

It's a 1945 FL Knucklehead, one of only 681 made in the last year of the war. They has the most restrictions on any HD. No chrome, only gray paint, not even silver paint for the lifter blocks. As a civilian. you had to get special permission to buy one. It took me three years to restore it back to factory original, and it runs as good as any bike built today.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

gjhdiver    0

gjhdiver
A true suicide setup requires three things.

1. A foot clutch.

2. A hand or jockey shifter.

3. No front brake.

It's called a suicide setup because you only have a rear brake. You can't stop at intersections on hills, because you can't put your left foot down because it operates the clutch. You can't put your right front down because it's the brake holding you on the hill. Your only options tends to be to blow the intersection, hence the suicide part of the setup, especially in a nice hilly place like SF.

My 1945 isn't a true suicide setup, because I have front brake. However, it's a single leading shoe drum brake, so all it's good for is holding position on a hill anyway.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

freethefly    6

freethefly
Quote

Quote

6. Any fool can pull a wheelie. Ride suicide shift in San Francisco for real thrills.



For a non-biker that's never been in SF, what's that?




Some pics of the suicide i have set up on my Snortin'. Has been tested on the rolling chassis with the clutch set up, works great. Also some pics of the frame while down. Damn, been sanding with a wire wheel on the angle grinder. Need to sandblast and be done with her. Haven't yet decided what new skin she is going to get. Whatever color she gets, she will have looks that kill!! Got pics of the Fatgirl (all my bikes are female) and her setup somewhere. Apes and sucide...Oh Yeah, hanging high and shifting low....
"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

freethefly    6

freethefly
DAMN, that is the sled of my dreams. A bro of mine up in Ogden Utah made me a Knucklehead belt buckle of brass that is detailed to the last screw. Ya need to see it to really appreciate it. I'll post some pics of it later. It is the only one in the world. Many Knuck riders have offered good money for it but I never even considered parting with it.
Glad ya didn't cut her. Pristine rides like yours are a rarity. Great job. Ever considered putting her in a rag for the rest of the world to enjoy.
"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

gjhdiver    0

gjhdiver
Quote

Great job. Ever considered putting her in a rag for the rest of the world to enjoy.



Thanks !

I'm not big on shows and magazines and things like that, but I might be tempted if I was in the right place at the right time. I like to ride 'em if I got 'em. I still get weird looks from people who can't believe I commute to work on the Knuck in rush hour traffic and lane split on it.

BTW, there's only one color for a Norton. Black, with the motor and all alloys polished to a mirror shine IMHO. A nice shorty bobbed rear fenfer and a solo sprung seat and you're good to go.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

flyingferret    0

flyingferret
gjh, your little list of 7 is about as close as this thread has come to my feelings.

For the thread in general, HIM, HIM...you know the rest.
Aggiedave is my buddy and I have ridden many miles with him, so I understand his rant. But I don't quite have the same perspective. See in my thinking it is all about perspective.

I know plenty of HOG snobs. I know plenty of rice squids. I know plenty of asshole skydivers. Judge the person not the bike, or better yet just avoid the ones you don't like.

I can see both sides, and how it could get annoying for someone riding a Kawaski to get comments from riders of 'american' HDs. I also know firsthand how assinine it is to hear the drivel from all these non HD riders who think they know everything about my bike, including why I ride. The mistake start when you even begin to label by bike brand. You ride yours, I will ride mine. If you can't ever get past that, I probalby won't be riding with you.

Because riding is about riding. It is about the individuality of converging with the road and the world around you. You ride because you want to. Period. Now that is my opinion, but the beauty of the theory is that it allows everyone elses. You wanna ride because you like running with a club, go for it, you wanna ride because you like sunday afternoon trips with the old lady, go for it. Do what you like and leave other people's reasons alone.

freethefly, I respect you, but fuck that. I have no desire to be a 1%. Your definition of biker is probably correct, if so I am not a biker, I am a rider. I have a buddy interested in getting me in the Gypsy, I have almost no interest. Becuase my riding is about my desire to ride. I don't ride for someone else or at the expense of my job, or because someone needs me to.

If I want to ride I will, weather, etc not withstanding, and I have. If I don't want to ride for whatever reason, I won't. And I am ok with that. Just like POPS jumpers looking at 50 jump wonders...there comes a time where you have the wisdom to sit it out based on YOUR OWN personal limits. Someone else can push it much futher, and I am with with that. I won't say don't ride, but they sure as hell better return the favor and not pester me about my choices.

The way I see it the first step in respect if giving it to others. I respect their choices so stop qunatifying and whining about my choices. You don't know me, and you don't know my bike. So I wave at every other rider I see, unless my hands are busy, or unless I am t a rally. And if they dont wave back, fine, their loss. If they get it and they understand why share the road, and the choose to wave back, cool.

So shut the hell up and ride. And if you don't care for a group of people then dont associate with them. Anyone going to rally thinking they are gonna meet more people like than not like them is a bit foolish anyway. Most rallys are too broad these days for that.

Because riding is about freedom, and if your mind is concerned with brands, whether or not to wave, etc. you aren't riding free, bro.

gjh, props on the knuck, airtwardo, very nice BSA, freethefly, very nice bikes on both counts.

As a bit of a ps, my dad rode through central america on the way back from the peace corp in 1968 on a triumph bonneville. He probably has seen more and has more stories that most riders I know. And you know what....he nevers says anything about it. There is something to be learned there.
--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

airtwardo    7

airtwardo
Because riding is about riding. It is about the individuality of converging with the road and the world around you. You ride because you want to. Period. Now that is my opinion, but the beauty of the theory is that it allows everyone elses. You wanna ride because you like running with a club, go for it, you wanna ride because you like sunday afternoon trips with the old lady, go for it. Do what you like and leave other people's reasons alone


***

And that about sums it up....:)

I made a couple of references to the old TV show "Then Came Bronson" in this thread. That was one of the neatest shows ever IMHO.

THAT to me is what riding is about...at least now anyway.
"Where ya headed?"
"Anywhere I end UP I guess"

I've come full circle, stared out on dirt bikes, then raced Pro Motocross, after High School, I wanted to take my "Bronson" trip...see the country. My 'mentor' was a guy back home that did engine work on top Indy cars...he helped / made me build a Triumph Trident from the ground up. I knew every inch of that bike inside out.

He taught me a lesson I forgot for a while...
That riding is an individual thing, we all do it for our own reasons. And that the point is to get through it
with your individually intact.
He didn't mean 'riding alone', but instead riding for yourself.
The bike isn't important...it's the rider!:)

He told me before I left on my 'pilgrimage' that if ya need a Dr. to set a bone, or a mechanic to tweak a carb...then ya don't get it.

I was 18...took off with 500.00 bucks and spent almost a year on the road, it wasn't until years later, when I read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' that I truly understood how much that bike & that trip prepared me for life.

Decided to go to college...got a great job and moved to the west coast, got a Harley because all my friends had Harleys. Went through the crotch rocket phase because everyone after 'Top Gun' had a Ninja. (I had a Hurricane)
Riding was status...bigger, better, faster, shiny er...

But as I 'matured' I realized I wasn't getting the same thing from riding that I once did. It was all about the bike. So, I quit riding for years.

A friend I worked with was having some serious financial problems. To help him out I bought his old used Honda 900...It was dirty, greasy, had been dropped a few times....a real embarrassment, not worth putting any money into, just got it to help out a friend. :$

Pretty soon I noticed I was riding it more & more...

The 'circle' was complete.:)
These days, I don't ride often, but when I want to I do...and like you said.
~THAT'S all that really matters!B|



...and to add, I don't wave~ I nod!

If I were a snob, and only gave recognition to others with a bike like mine...I'd do VERY little of either!;)

Go ~ 'ALL THE WAY'...on your BSA!!!:ph34r:













** Dirt bike 'Rice Burner'
But I'd HATE to get it .....DIRTY!:P










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
0
Go To Topic Listing