Motorcycles. Who has (had) what?

[Redthies]

I’m thinking about getting a bike again. Looking at “adventure” bikes. One of my old friends and my brother in law both have BMW GS 1250s and have been going on a lot of great rides together. My wife has suggested I buy one and go along. (I wonder if she’s trying to get rid of me??). I don’t want a GS as I think they are bloated pigs. 559 lbs before any accessories or gear are added. Yikes.

I’ve been looking at Ducati Desert X models and Yamaha Ténéré 700s. Both are considerably lighter, and cheaper than the BMWs. Both are much more capable off pavement too, which is very important to me as I live where I can roll out the door and after 1/4 mile, not touch pavement again for a very long time.

Pics of the contenders:





I’ve owned Harleys, Ducatis Hondas, Kawasakis, Betas and Gas Gas before. Everything from Trials bikes to big street bikes.

What’s your moto story?

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Had a '72 XLH Sportster that I had for over 8 years. It was Black and had long Chrome Straight Pipes.

[Vaquero]

It all started with a mini-bike way back.
Had a few Hondas, then didn't ride for a long time.
Then it was horses.
Seven and a half years ago I got a new desire to ride the two wheels again and found this '99 Road King. Not exactly what I was thinking, but it was reasonable enough.
And now we've have a lot of good times.
A friend snapped this a few weeks ago while a dozen of us were out for a day of cruzing.

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RP

[Redthies]

I almost bought a Road King back in 2003. I waited a year and traded my 2001 XLH in on my first Ducati. Anything on 2 wheels can be fun. Horses too, but I prefer my “investments” to be where I parked them when I need them next

[John M]

I have two 1982 Kawasaki and 2019 Royal Enfield.

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[Vaquero]

I almost bought a Road King back in 2003. I waited a year and traded my 2001 XLH in on my first Ducati. Anything on 2 wheels can be fun. Horses too, but I prefer my “investments” to be where I parked them when I need them next

Good one.

RP

[BrokenolMarine]

I belonged to a tight knit group of friends who swapped vehicles around to meet our needs. My friends all had a lot more money than I. (Okay, let me rephrase.) My friends parents all had a lot more money than mine.

I drove a 1963 Econoline Van that was the Stepfather's Construction Company Work Van until the Slow down in the mid 70s for Construction in our area. Lowe's created a department for HIM, and made him the head. Custom Woodwork. I had worked all thru school Sophomore and Junior year at Minimum Wage, helping keep the company afloat. He gave me the van he no longer needed. IT needed, help. I fixed it up, and it turned out pretty nice. Windowless work van became a mini-mystery machine. Let's say it was Popular with my friends. They borrowed the van on the weekends, I drove their rides.


New Mid 70s Dodge Ram Crew Cab Truck
65 T-Bird
68 Formula Firebird with a Custom 396 V8.
68 Camaro.
and...
Custom KZ400 Race Bike...

I never took the KZ400 to town, only drove it out into horse country where the roads only had numbers, two lanes and no lines. Open 'er up and avoid traffic. I'd leave town hit the interstate, tool out into the country and ride a big loop out thru the horse and cow pastures on the lane and a half roads enjoying the weather. Stop for lunch then loop back and park the bike and wait to make the swap. What a way to spend a day.

I was tooling along a back country two lane, at about 85mph when I saw a flash of movement just ahead. I started to reach for the brake, and BAM, a pheasant flushed from the ditch on the right side of the road, made a hard left bank and struck me right between my nipples head on.

ALL the air left my body.


ALL
THE
AIR.

I felt my toenails pull in.

I couldn't breathe.
I felt like I had been hit by a major league fastball in the chest and I wasn't wearing pads.
My vision started to blur and I tried to slow but I realized I couldn't ...
... well, twist the throttle or work the brakes. I needed air.

I wiggled my fingers and the throttle spring pressure rolled the throttle back. The bike slowed and I dropped my feet.
We Came to a stop, and I leaned forward and put my head on the gauge cluster. I still hadn't drawn a full breath.


When it came, it was deep, long, and painful. I took off the full face helmet, and feathers flew everywhere. That bird had exploded. Every Breath Hurt. I was wearing an Exxon Racing overall with Tony The Tiger on the Chest, in heavy embroidery. Tony looked like he had slaughtered an ostritch, he had a mouth full of blood and feathers.

I had to sit on the side of the road for a half hour and practice breathing. To this day I say it was a large pheasant, others have said it was likely some other bird, best guess was a young vulture to have enough weight to do what it did. No ribs were broken, but I was bruised from nipple to nipple and diaphram to the center of my collar bone. I felt every breath for a couple months, and for a week, I took really shallow breaths.

Yeah, I can laugh about it now.

The bike didn't get a scratch.
When my buddy called to borrow the van, I'd tell him to bring the Tbird.

[CT_Shooter]

The bike didn't get a scratch.

Wow. Captain Sully on two wheels. Great driving. Great story.

[Vaquero]

Marine, that reminds me.
Had a friend with a Honda 400 Super Sport, he offered let me ride it one day.
I took it out for a short ride and on the way back I'm coming across a long bottom close to the house.
Was long and straight, it was back then sometimes used as a drag strip by some us local youngsters.
Anyway, I'm coming across it at a good pace, if ya know what I mean.
Like you I catch a slight glimpse of a bird off to the right.
Yes came right at me, but low and with a little luck for me somehow came between the front tire and the motor which he splattered itself all over.
Realizing what had happened, I slow down and got on back to the house.
When he saw me pull up he got all big eyed and asked what the heck.
There was blood and red feathers all over the bike and me. A Cardinal.
He's looking and asking. I said no I didn't lay it down or anything and told him about the bird.
I was sure glad it hit there rather than me.

I had forgotten about that til you mentioned your story.

RP

[Cofisher]

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Redthies, I am a big believer in the 'adventure ' bikes. I still own a Honda Transalp, though it is with my son now. I swore I would never sell it. My back convinced me to stop riding.
The bikes you mentioned will get er done.
I packed luggage for multi day trips, and rode mountain fire roads to wonderful places.

As you can see, this is not a garage bike.

I think Honda is producing an up dated version of the Transalp. Bigger, better. Highly recommended.

Marine, I was going to work one day, on a very familiar road. Checked out something over my left shoulder. When I looked back ahead, a hen pheasant was clearing the windshield by 2" and over my helmet by 1". Took miles for my heart to settle. Glad you made it OK.

[BrokenolMarine]

received_1936493550192473.jpegRedthies, I am a big believer in the 'adventure ' bikes. I still own a Honda Transalp, though it is with my son now. I swore I would never sell it. My back convinced me to stop riding.
The bikes you mentioned will get er done.
I packed luggage for multi day trips, and rode mountain fire roads to wonderful places.

As you can see, this is not a garage bike.

I think Honda is producing an up dated version of the Transalp. Bigger, better. Highly recommended.

Marine, I was going to work one day, on a very familiar road. Checked out something over my left shoulder. When I looked back ahead, a hen pheasant was clearing the windshield by 2" and over my helmet by 1". Took miles for my heart to settle. Glad you made it OK.

I rode a couple times with friends afterwards. But I guess I hadn't taken the hint. Someone gave me one more. I was headed home after an afternoon group ride in the country, coming down a short section of four lane, running under the speed limit. It had started to rain, hard. I had about a mile to go. This section had a wide grass center median, with a deep ditch, and deep ditches on both sides of the road. The businesses sat higher than the highway, and there was a golf course and a huge cemetery on the road. Lot's of runoff from the ran, but it ran into the fifteen foot ditches.

As I approached the red light and started to slow, I saw a nine hundred year old woman in a brand new cadi look directly at me. I know the cadi was new, she left the peeling stickers on the rear windows so all her zombie old lady friends would know the car was new, what options she had gotten, and the list price. Not what SHE paid of course, WHO pays sticker?

She looked me dead in the eye, I'm four car lengths away in a driving rain, and... She pulls out in front of me. Remember, its a mid 70s cadi, it's a yacht. I'm in the left lane, she wants to make a u turn at the light. She pulls across both travel lanes and noses partially into the left turn lane and stops, not enough room to pull into the lane. Her door is directly in line with the path of the bike.

I touch the rear brake, the rear tire shoots out to the left. I'm now a tripod, sliding on the drip strip straight at her door. Eyes locked, I SEE her say, "Not my car."

I'm thinking, "Not my bones!"

I hit a dry spot, and shoot into the right lane at the last second. I felt my left boot clip her rear bumper. Just a kiss. I stop on the roadside, and put the kickstand down. Get off the bike and sit on a oversize curb by the ditch. Ground is soaked. Bike falls over.

1969 Dodge charger pulls up. Bearded driver yells, "You okay brother?" The
"Yeah man."
"Anything I can do? "
"Whip up on a 900 year old lady?"
" Cool. "
I hadn't noticed the harley wings in the back window til he pulled away...
I hope he really didn't...
... He wouldn't?

[BrokenolMarine]

Yes, I took the hint.
Hadn't ridden since.

[Redthies]

Yes, Honda is doing a new Transalp, but it’s like 70-30 street-dirt and I’m looking for more like 70-30 dirt-street. The Yamaha Tenere is looking like where I’ll go if I buy one. The new ones come in old school blue up here in Canada. I kind of dig it…

Braaaappp!

[Headhog]

Up until May of this year this was my ride. A 2017 Harley Road Glide Ultra. This was a great bike and I really enjoyed it, but it was a 900+ pound behemoth. Considering I live on a gravel road about 250 yards to the main paved road that ends on a downhill merge. At 75 it's been a white knuckle ride down to the main county road and not much better coming home. So I decided to sell the Harley and go with something a little lighter and easier to manage at low speeds.

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Having previous experience with sport touring bikes from BMW I decided to look at what good used bikes might be available. My first thought was a dual sport BMW R1250GS. I ruled that out since I'm just too old to do off road riding. So I found a great deal on a 2011 BMW R1200RT with less that 12,000 miles. The bike has all the comforts of the Harley (radio, GPS, storage, cruise control, custom Day-Long seat...) but at 300 pounds less. I just realized I don't have any pictures so I just grabbed a stock picture from the net. My RT has a tour pack and BMW (Garmin) GPS not in this picture.

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Paul

[Redthies]

Nice bikes Paul. My brother is currently working for Legend Suspension out of Sturgis, and has a long history of work for and with Harley Davidson, so I’ve been around them and ridden them quite a bit. They do have the Panamerica now, which I have some time on, but it’s not for me. I am heading towards the Yamaha as it’s only 440 lbs full of fuel, and is apparently a phenomenal bike for my use.

I’d post some pics of my bikes, but the few I have are on slides. I haven’t owned my own bike for more than 10 years. I’ve just ridden my brothers spares. This is his new project bike below (well, it’s a pic from the website), and it will have its warranty voided about 8 mins after he takes possession. He builds custom bikes for the bike events (Daytona, Sturgis etc), so they get a TON of stuff done. I can’t fathom the spending, but I guess I do have an Airstream for my business that is close to $90,000 worth…

[rickhem]

Long and storied history with bikes for me. Had some friends that had mini-bikes growing up, and that bug bit way back then. I bought a 1975 Yamaha DT125 as soon as I got my driver's license, and owned that before I owned a car. Used to ride that all around the Hackensack meadowlands, the areas where Giants Stadium, and now Metlife Stadium are now, along with that whole Meadowlands Sports Complex. Mostly out on the access roads through the tidal flats, and it was a blast. My buddy and I even took our bikes to the Jersey shore after a hurricane hit back in the late 1970s, and rode up and down the beaches for a few hours. We figured the cops would be preoccupied with other things, and we took advantage of the conditions. Riding south was hard since all the jettys were like three or four foot walls, and we had to go up into the soft sand to get around them. The storm come up from the south and pushed sand up against the south side of each one. But after a couple miles of riding around them, we turned back around and would ride the wet sand waterline, wide open, going up and off each jetty, using it like a ramp, and jumping off each one.

Took a hiatus from riding until 1999 when I bought a 2000 Yamaha V-Star Classic. Really nice shaft driven bike that looks a lot like a Fatboy, which I just couldn't afford then. I still have that, but don't ride it as much these days. It's nice for riding the roads that used to be the main roads before all the interstates went in. We can still ride comfortably at 55-60 mph, but hardly anyone rides these roads anymore, they're all out doing 75-80 on the interstates. I've also owned a 1986 Sportster, bought it with less than 3000 miles on it and that thing was mint. Ended up selling that to buy my daughter her first car.

Shortly after moving to upstate NY, and realizing that I needed to get to know how to get around in this new area, I bought a 2009 Yamaha TW200. For you guys that are looking at the adventure bikes, this is the tiny little baby brother to those bikes. It is amazingly capable, and brings back all those same feelings from riding the minibikes in our youth. It sits low, and I can flatfoot both feet with my butt on the saddle, and has these giant fat tires that power through any terrain I've ridden it through. He's a pic of it in front of my Echo after a ride through some seasonal roads and snowmobile trails by me.

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The TW has remained basically unchanged since being introduced in 1987, and it fills a tiny notch in the world of motorcycling, but it fills it perfectly. I've spent entire days out exploring on this bike and it's become my favorite go-to for an adventure. I've ridden up to a couple abandoned fire towers, ridden to ponds for fishing at the end of some Jeep trails, and explored as many seasonal roads as I could find. Back in 2020, in the midst of the whole Covid lockdown, I did a ride up and down the Erie Canal. Since the keepers at the locks were all home on lockdown, they just left the gates all open and the canal never filled for navigation. That left it as just a trickling stream in some areas, with an expansive shoreline to ride, which I did. Here is a picture of my bike on a gravel bar just upstream from the gates and Lock 12 in Fort Hunter. The lock is on the left side of the gates, and is practically dry. My bike would be under 25 to 30 feet of water under normal conditions, so you get a sense of how cool that day was.

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I did a write-up about the day on a TW specific forum if anyone is interested, I can send a link.

[clovishound]

I started out with a Honda 50 Super Sport. That was the one that was more of a motorcycle and less like a scooter, unlike the Honda 50 Cub. I bought it a couple days before turning 14, and camped out on the DMV door the day of the my 14th birthday. I had the handbook practically memorized, and aced the test. I worked my way up to Honda 350 until my dad pushed me into a car when I turned 18.

I've always wanted another bike, but between the expense, and current traffic conditions, I've never given in.

[BrokenolMarine]

When I got close to retirement, I got the bike bug again, but would only have ridden in the country, again, the two lane roads away from traffic. Miss T used to ride dirt bikes in the gravel pits behind her house as a kid, and rode a bike to work as a young woman, so if "I" bought ONE, I'd have to buy two, she wasn't going to ride in the B seat behind me. I went to the local Harley Dealer and due to my physical challenges, I spent some time with the lead salesman, discussing my options. Being a bigger guy, I wasn't going to get the "Sportster" as it wouldn't be enough bike. We settled on a FatBob and they would lower the rear for me to accommodate the shattered femur rebuild and fake right knee. Seat swap would accommodate the lower back issues. 1200 Sportster would work for Miss T, and an enclosed trailer to store them in and lock them up while in hotels on the road cross country to ride around the country. Hauling them to far reaches to ride.
(Yeah yeah, too old to ride cross country)

Then I started talking about a package deal. "What deal, this is the price, you pay it."
"So you toss in a couple helmets and a Couple jackets for a package this large."
"Nope. We don't have to make deals, Harley's and Harley Gear Sells."

How about that.
I told him to have a nice day.

[Redthies]

Yes, the attitude at some of the dealers I’ve been talking to is shocking. They don’t seem interested in selling bikes.

[BrokenolMarine]

Yes, the attitude at some of the dealers I’ve been talking to is shocking. They don’t seem interested in selling bikes.

To be fair, I ran into the same attitude at the Dodge/Jeep dealer in 2012 when we were looking to trade in a Subaru Forester we had. It was less than a year old, and we had owned FIVE Subies. The new one though was a huge disappointment. The cabin had shrunk, and the seats were substandard. Confidentially, one of the Salespeople from another dealership told us that Subaru had subtlety reduced the comfort of the Forester to move people UP into the Outback.

I had always wanted a Jeep... Friends had them when I was in High School. So, When Tina decided she didn't want to keep the Forester, I went to look at a Jeep. I am NOT one for flash and they had a Black Wrangler with NO chrome, Black wheels, black hardtop and soft top, bully bar and winch... V6. No garrish graphics. Just what I wanted. I asked them what kind of deal could we work up. The salesman pointed to the sticker price. "That will do 'er. Oh, we can give you the $500 Veteran's incentive. We don't discount Jeeps, we don't have to. We will sell every Jeep on the lot before the model year end, and be Jeepless for a couple months. No Discounts, no special financing, nada." Then he kind of smirked and shrugged his shoulders, like... hey, that's the way it is.

Okay then....

I looked at the Challenger and the Dodge Chargers.... During the test drive of the Charger, which I liked... he looked over and said, "Before you ask, we don't have to discount these either. The only thing you can get a break on are the small economy cars, they aren't selling right now."

We left.
I drove to the Nissan Dealer and bought the 2015 Nissan Frontier Pro4x.
We won't be buying another new vehicle. I HATE buying cars... always have.