Motorcycle Madness

Pauly Chase

Pauly Chase

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Do you ride Russell Street Russell Street ?

I saw a Sportster yesterday. Wasn't sure if it was an 880 or 1200, but it was matte black with chrome pipes and straight bars. Beautifully done. The only Harley I would go for.
 
Russell Street

Russell Street

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Pauly Chase said:
Do you ride Russell Street Russell Street ?

I saw a Sportster yesterday. Wasn't sure if it was an 880 or 1200, but it was matte black with chrome pipes and straight bars. Beautifully done. The only Harley I would go for.
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Yes, I do. The 2004 and later Sporsters have rubber-mounted engines so they don't shake you to death. The main thing I remember from my friend's '03 1200 Sportster Sport, besides the paint-shaker engine, was that the air cleaner was right where your knee belonged. They do have an iconic style, and if you avoid dealer mark-up they are reasonably priced. The Night Train or whatever those flat black ones are do have a more purposeful (not chrome toilet) look.
 
Pauly Chase

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If I recall, aren't you from NJ or NYC area? I would be too afraid to ride on those streets.
 
Russell Street

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I'm in a less populated suburban area now, but I used to commute on the hellacious highways in the NYC metro area where you had the deadly mix of urban congestion and freeway speeds. It was a trial by fire, but a stupid deer hopping out in front of me proved the biggest hazard thus far.
 
Pauly Chase

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The first time I visited NYC, I was surprised to see motorcycles on the street. Saw one guy who almost got t-boned weaving through heavy traffic on Broadway in Soho.
 
Monkeyface

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I've seen plenty of nice bikes in new york. Even saw a Triumph, which always makes me happy! Driving in NYC on a motorcylce seems relatively easy with all the big wide roads, and neslry all of them are in a nice square, so no real corners and you always know what to expect. Only thing you have to avoid is crazy taxi drivers.

Driving in London is something different altogether. Narrow roads with loads and loads of buses. You have all kinds of strange traffic situations, weird roundabouts that are not quite roundabouts, corners where you can't see what's coming and confusion about what lane you need to be in. I'm scared shitless driving in an SUV here, let alone riding a motorcycle.
 
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Russell Street said:
Get a Genuine Stella, the Luxire copy of a Vespa! I seriously have no idea how to ride a scooter. They intimidate me in that way.
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Skip the scooter and get a DRZ-400. Not that much more expensive, and much more fun.

I rented a scooter in Thailand once, but it was so scary to ride it that I retirnrd it after a day and rented a Yamaha 250 dirt bike instead. So much easier and safer to ride, and much more fun.
 
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OfficePants said:
Those are probably popular with the "12 O'Clock Boys" in Baltimore.
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No idea what that is, but I do know baltimore as a city should be avoided altogether. The DRZ is cheap, easy to maintain, reliable, lightweight and fun to ride around on, especially in cities. Buy a well maintained second hand one and you won't have to pay that much more compared to a brand new scooter. It's much safer to ride than a scooter as well, better suspension, brakes, etc. It's a very sensible option. Anyways, I don't think Arnathor was serious about the scooter, because who would ride around on a scooter in canada?
 
OfficePants

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Monkeyface said:
No idea what that is, but I do know baltimore as a city should be avoided altogether. The DRZ is cheap, easy to maintain, reliable, lightweight and fun to ride around on, especially in cities. Buy a well maintained second hand one and you won't have to pay that much more compared to a brand new scooter. It's much safer to ride than a scooter as well, better suspension, brakes, etc. It's a very sensible option. Anyways, I don't think Arnathor was serious about the scooter, because who would ride around on a scooter in canada?
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Russell Street

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Leitmotif said:
I still want a Yamaha V-Max, I will kill myself most likely though
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I don't really get the point of muscle bikes seeing how the power/weight ratio is usually quite favorable to begin with. I'm pretty sure the handling is ...
LelandJ said:
I used to ride a 750 Ducati with a vintage carb made it sound like a Harley, was very useful commuting from Park Slope to Midtown every day in less than 15 minutes during rush hour.
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Lane splitting, I presume. Truly as engaging and challenging as almost anything else one can do on two wheels.
 
Leitmotif

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Russell Street said:
I don't really get the point of muscle bikes seeing how the power/weight ratio is usually quite favorable to begin with. I'm pretty sure the handling is ...
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I want one, but I wouldn't buy one. Right now I'm saving little by little to buy an antique car mostly an old Lancia or Alfa Romeo. I would love to get a Lancia Delta Integrale, but they are not sold for less than 50/60K dollars. I might either get a Fulvia can be found for around 16/18K in pretty decent condition or a Alfa Romeo GTV6.
 
LelandJ

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Russell Street said:
I don't really get the point of muscle bikes seeing how the power/weight ratio is usually quite favorable to begin with. I'm pretty sure the handling is ...
Lane splitting, I presume. Truly as engaging and challenging as almost anything else one can do on two wheels.
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Not difficult when traffic's moving at 5mph on the FDR.
 
Russell Street

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Like 10+ years ago, when Harley came out with their liquid-cooled VRSC (Vaguely Resembles Something Contemporary), aka V-Rod, it was rightfully mocked as being a 1980s V-Max....
LelandJ said:
Not difficult when traffic's moving at 5mph on the FDR.
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I seem to recall oddly staggered cars, awful road cracks where not wanted, random lane-jumpers and too many wide truck mirrors and cigarette-holding hands out windows. I'm hoping you were comfortable with it and not oblivious to the hazards. It especially sucked if you came to a point where you could not proceed, and then traffic picked up while you were stuck in the middle.
 
LelandJ

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When cars are bumper to bumper there's not much danger although I never went faster than 35mph in gridlock. Most dangerous is just riding in the city in regular traffic, I once had a cab driver change into my left lane on 9th ave and 'attach' the side of his cab to my right handlebar going about 40mph. At first I was surprised it didn't knock me over, and moreso I was able to ride glued to his cab for about ten seconds since I had nowhere else to go with parked cars to my left. I was right next to the driver looking at him whether he were for real and he just looked at me like nothing were out of the ordinary.

Another time Saturday night 1am on Broadway before 4th street some drinking driver decides to make a left turn from middle lane while I'm going straight in the left. I had less than one second to decide whether I were taking the impact or jumping over the car, enough time to realize if I jumped I might've broken my neck on landing so I took the hard chester. My Ducati's totaled in the middle of Broadway blocking traffic, I can't even talk with the wind knocked out of me, and the asshole driver had the balls to put his arms around me and say "you're ok right? we don't have to call the cops right?" As if we could just hide a collision in the middle of Broadway. I look at him like he's crazy as the cops pull up shortly after and call the ambulance for me. Luckily no broken ribs.

Can't remember if I mentioned before but I used to ride with a couple huge Russians I considered honorary kamikazes. Crazy stuff my younger years.
 
Russell Street

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LelandJ said:
Luckily no broken ribs.
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This is true. They hurt like hell and medical staff will be all concerned about the possibility of a punctured lung and stuff. Anyway, everybody should really get into riding, a splendid time is guaranteed for all!
 
Russell Street

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12 o'clock reached!
I rode behind guys that seriously sustained wheelies for about five miles on the NJ Turnpike. Try not to think about how much oil was getting picked up and circulated at that position.
I don't even like disturbing the suspension too much with sharp inputs, so I have never intentionally had any wheel leave pavement.
 
OfficePants

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Russell Street said:
12 o'clock reached!
I rode behind guys that seriously sustained wheelies for about five miles on the NJ Turnpike. Try not to think about how much oil was getting picked up and circulated at that position.
I don't even like disturbing the suspension too much with sharp inputs, so I have never intentionally had any wheel leave pavement.
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I think secondarily, but perhaps primarily, you are the white.
 
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pan51

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Russell Street said:
I never thought of Harley Davidsons as motorcycles. I guess in some technical way they are.
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Dude, be careful or I'll come by and run over you...

pan2010.jpg


BTW, this is the motorbike my nick comes from, 1951 Panhead, slightly modified.
 
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pan51

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LOL. Also the helmet is disagreeable.

But ... the jacket is accident approved. About three years ago a girl with a small jap car took my right of way and I crashed into her.
I had no injuries on any area covered by the jacket. Old, thick and heavy HD quality, not the chinese crap they sell nowadays.
The jap car was completely damaged, since then I have a small jap flag on my tank.
 
OfficePants

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pan51 said:
LOL. Also the helmet is disagreeable.

But ... the jacket is accident approved. About three years ago a girl with a small jap car took my right of way and I crashed into her.
I had no injuries on any area covered by the jacket. Old, thick and heavy HD quality, not the chinese crap they sell nowadays.
The jap car was completely damaged, since then I have a small jap flag on my tank.
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Ya, that Korean leather would never survive a slide. I definitely agree, thick leather on a bike is a life saver.
 
Russell Street

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Those are some wide handlebars. My friend loves the crazy adventure bike ergonomics, but it's not for me.
Good to see knee armor, although a chin bar would be nice.

I have a steerhide Schott Perfecto in the closet collecting dust. It suffered scuffing from one unintentional offroading that led to the demise of my first bike. Leather just sucks all around IME. It's hot when it's hot, cold when it's cold, sucks up water like a sponge and takes forever to dry.
OfficePants said:
That jacket is not ToJ approved
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Yeah, too loose.
 
Russell Street

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It shows that I haven't been hanging with sport riders in a while, as the old "your speeding is unsafe so Imma try to kill you" trope is one I haven't seen in a few years. I presume these two dopes were too lazy to go a few miles out of town to blitz around on distinctive colorful bikes. And of course every "safety" pretense is usually thinly veiled envy about others having more fun.

And get some gear, you two. Chinese armored mesh jackets can be had all day for under $100, are cooler than nothing, and will do much to keep bones and skin unbroken.
 
Russell Street

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Um, why was his foot off the peg, where he could use the rear brake pedal? Oh, because he was too cool for turn signal stalks...
I totally agree with the assessment that this guy wasn't anticipating the vehicle ahead being there and either chopped the throttle or grabbed a bunch of front brake at a slight lean, and obviously no rear brake for stability...
 
Russell Street

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oh 1:30.
Dude in flip flops taking swings at helmeted heads.
bwahaha, guy chuck taylors and cargo shorts rolls up on the ape-hanger bike to assist!
 
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