Motorcycles

[bruceride]

Tell me about it! I think the most I’ve ever had is 4 at one time. The 2008 is the only one I have now, and rarely have time to ride it. The only time I had it out this year was a short ride just to warm it up so I could change the oil.

Yup, that one is still in my garage I figured after I bought it back the third time, I better keep it. It's a 1975 T140D Bonnieville Special. I put a square British tank on it from a Trident, flatter bars, rearsets from a guy in New England who made them for racers and a Corbin Gunfighter seat. A friend of mine and @mmc45414 showed us how to modify the airbox and jet it for more open pipes. It's not wearing this exhaust now, but has a classic peashooter on it. I like the ones in the photo better tho, and will go back to them.

Hasn't been on the road in several years, but I hope to rectify that soon!

[mmc45414]

@bruceride and I and a few other friends gathered in Marietta, OH this weekend and farted around down in WV a bit. Despite the hurricane remnants I think we only got actively rained on for about forty seconds. Lots of mud puddles in the corners kept me off the pace, but I haven't lost all of my mojo.

Rode the ferry in Sistersville, WV. The locals think this is a tourist thing to do but it was fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistersville_Ferry


Beautify ride home today, but got up early so I could still meet my friends for our normal pistol shooting and it was COLD this morning, I needed another layer or two under the gear that had me sweating all day yesterday.

[orionz06]

@bruceride and I and a few other friends gathered in Marietta, OH this weekend and farted around down in WV a bit. Despite the hurricane remnants I think we only got actively rained on for about forty seconds. Lots of mud puddles in the corners kept me off the pace, but I haven't lost all of my mojo.

Rode the ferry in Sistersville, WV. The locals think this is a tourist thing to do but it was fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistersville_Ferry


Beautify ride home today, but got up early so I could still meet my friends for our normal pistol shooting and it was COLD this morning, I needed another layer or two under the gear that had me sweating all day yesterday.

Ha! That's not far from Ft. Harmar range where Ken Hackathorn and Rob Haught shoot.

[mmc45414]

Ha! That's not far from Ft. Harmar range where Ken Hackathorn and Rob Haught shoot.

Yup, I shot there once, way back a looooong time ago. Like about the time that avatar photo was taken (that was at Butler County).

[Welder]

Somehow I missed the Triumph talk earlier. I had an '01 Speed Triple back in '06, it was a hoot. Had a Scorpion exhaust, K&N, and was retuned...it was a fun bike and I love the sound of the triple. I racked up 7k miles on it in a year and then traded it off for a V-Strom 650 because there was no luggage available for the Triumph and I thought I wanted to travel.

Later on I realized a person should have more than one bike. And I replaced the Speed Triple in spirit with an '09 Aprilia Tuono which is absolutely the most power in a bike that I need...and it's a rolling piece of art. If we ever switch over to pure electric vehicles and you can't even get gas anymore, I'm going to bring it inside and turn it into a room decoration.

Right now I've got a few bikes hanging around. The Tuono is still hanging on my engine crane with it's leaking forks on the workbench not getting rebuilt. The Concours is sitting in the shop dead after one of the needle and seats started leaking and overflowed the entire gas tank out onto the garage floor. So carb rebuild needed. Until yesterday there was a Goldwing here that I never really wanted in the first place; was a basket case I bought as a favor to a friend and then yesterday I sold it on CL, a personal victory for me. There's my brother-in-law's Virago 1100 that he bought out of a storage unit sale; it doesn't have a key and he wants me to fix it and get it running again for him. It was last inspected in '05 I think. Then there's a Ninja 250, it's running fine and has been on loan to a friend of mine for a year or more; she's putting it to more use than I did; of course, all my bikes ran fine a year ago LOL. Finally, a '79 Suzuki GS425E is literally the only running bike I have in my possession.

I guess I need to get to work on some of these!

[OlongJohnson]

Time to wake this one back up after more than a year.

I've kind of gone down the rabbit hole with nMAS (new Motorcycle Acquisition Syndrome) since the local Husky shop had some very interesting pricing for Memorial Day weekend. Have finally arrived at the realization that the motorcycles I have are the motorcycles I want. Even in this market, to replace the expensive ones with something different that I want, I'd have to take what I could get by selling them and put a "1" in front of (not added to) the first digit in order to get to the same point of everything being set up and dialed in for me. For each machine. The "inexpensive" one would just be replaced with a little bit lighter version of the same thing. Down to the point that I'd unbolt the built engine from the one I have now and bolt it into the new frame. And frankly, I'm not really capable of using the difference in available performance that would result in any of the case studies.

Replacing any of them would be a mixed bag: pluses, as well as some serious minuses in most cases. There just isn't anything (except for the "inexpensive" one) that really checks all the boxes that the old ones check. It's kinda like looking at all the new striker-fired plastic people poppers and deciding to stay with a USP or classic Sig. (Nothing I have on two wheels is quite analogous to a 1911.) Maybe if I was racing, I'd need a fancy new P320 of some variety, but I'm not.

Cleaning out the garage and getting parts for old/abandoned projects sold is the first step. Buying a few parts here and there to get everything squared away and ready to go.

[RoyGBiv]

Finally finished changing the oil on my mid-90's BMW oil-head. I had overfilled it by a half pint and didn't have the gumption to fiddle with the drain plug for a few weeks. No way to get a tube through the filler hole and suction it out, so, crack the drain plug and pray you don't let it ALL out. Got it inspected and registration renewed, so, ready for the upcoming riding season. Still in the upper 90's here, but, October is just around the corner.

[mmc45414]

Have finally arrived at the realization that the motorcycles I have are the motorcycles I want.

I just picked up a 2104 DR650, want it mainly for local use, and coupled with my 2005 FZ-1 (that is perfectly setup for me) I too got what I need, and I must admit, that I want for now. Probably something like an FJR will replace the FZ-1 when I retire in a few years, I have some friends in Oregon I would like to visit., but for now I am good.

[OlongJohnson]

Imagine if DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita and Ryobi got all their battery stuff together and standardized on swappable packs.

https://advrider.com/manufacturers-c...ry-consortium/

Four major motorcycle manufacturing groups have signed an agreement creating the Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC). The agreement follows an initial letter of intent signed on March 1, 2021.

[Welder]

A year has seen me get the Tuono back on the road and get another thousand or so miles on it so far. At just under 140 hp, it's no slouch but isn't a "fast bike" by today's standards. But also, no nannies on it like ABS, etc. Probably a 10-sec bike with the right rider, I'd guess. Still a keeper, and another year hasn't seen the general public have any more of a clue... "Who makes Aprilia? Honda?" Which means prices are still low for the performance if you're willing to work on it yourself in lieu of having a nearby dealership.

Sold another couple of bikes. The 450 is gone, the 250 is gone.

The Concours is apart in the shop now with it's carbs on the workbench, new needles in them. Been apart for 3 months; who knows where all the parts go. I know these bikes have a big following....but I'm not really that impressed. Nothing particularly easy about working on it, the fuel mileage stinks even when it's properly in tune. I bought it as a test case for sport touring; I'm finding I'm not much of a fan. Probably go back to a V-Strom for that; maybe a 1000 this time instead of the 650.

Have a new 250. This one's an 09, 17k miles. Took it on trade, no title. Fighting back and forth with MD DMV to give me the last owner's name and address so I can contact them to be sure it's not stolen, then title it using the Abandoned Vehicle option. Even though one of my LE buddies already sneaked a peek at MD's records to be sure it wasn't stolen. Trying to do it the "semi-right" way.

I went riding last Sat over to Monterey and back; great riding weather. I think every Harley on the road was out, and they were all doing exactly the speed limit. I think it was Peter Egan who wrote that no self-respecting motorcyclist would hold up traffic. Crack down on the throttle, boys!