<NA> Motorcycle photo thread

[FastEddieB]

Parenthetically, my weapon of choice when just puttering around is still my TW200!

Here we have Karen practicing the right way to handle a traffic stop!

 

[Bill]

Like flying, motorcycling is fun and challenging, but can be pretty unforgiving of mistakes..

This is why I don't relate to many normal people. My wife used to drag me to her cow-orker parties and such, and the guys would stand around and talk golf. "I had such a bad day on the course yesterday, I lost four balls in the woods!" BFD! In flying and motorcycling, a bad day means YOU'RE lost in the woods...

 

[wrbix]

Parenthetically, my weapon of choice when just puttering around is still my TW200!

!

Just last week took ownership of my own ‘06 T-Dub……puttering indeed, but raucous fun off road!
Got tired of riding motos that I couldn’t easily pick up.

 

[Jim K]

This is why I don't relate to many normal people. My wife used to drag me to her cow-orker parties and such, and the guys would stand around and talk golf. "I had such a bad day on the course yesterday, I lost four balls in the woods!" BFD! In flying and motorcycling, a bad day means YOU'RE lost in the woods...

100%...the one I hate most is sports.

"Didja watch the Bears game?"

No. I was busy trying to not get killed by the most dangerous machines I could find to play with.

I will never understand the desire to sit on your a** for three hours and watch other people play with balls. At least the golfers are out doing something and there's some challenge to it.

My favorite is "we really beat up the Cubs last night"

Oh really? You're on the team? Are you tired?

 

[wrbix]

100%...the one I hate most is sports.

"Didja watch the Bears game?"

No. I was busy trying to not get killed by the most dangerous machines I could find to play with.

I will never understand the desire to sit on your a** for three hours and watch other people play with balls. At least the golfers are out doing something and there's some challenge to it.

My favorite is "we really beat up the Cubs last night"

Oh really? You're on the team? Are you tired?

I have to use this handy little guide to help me figure out what the hell sports followers are talking about:

I also just cannot fathom the dedication and fascination that many ‘Mericans have to their Alma Maters sports teams decades after leaving that school.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I have to use this handy little guide to help me figure out what the hell sports followers are talking about:View attachment 99618

I also just cannot fathom the dedication and fascination that many ‘Mericans have to their Alma Maters sports teams decades after leaving that school.

Well, if you spent 4+ years and tens of thousands of dollars at an institution (and likely have some great memories/experiences there) it shouldn't be that hard to fathom, lol. It creates a sense of identity/common cause with other members of that school. It surely makes more sense than rooting for any pro sports team which shares nothing with most people other than happening to be located in their city of residence or has players on the team you admire. Tons of Chelsea/Man U fans that have never set foot on English soil.

 

[Jim K]

Well, if you spent 4+ years and tens of thousands of dollars at an institution

Yep. Did all that. Still bitter about it.

 

[Half Fast]

I also just cannot fathom the dedication and fascination that many ‘Mericans have to their Alma Maters sports teams decades after leaving that school.

You must be from up Nawth. Down here in the South, there are three religious denominations: the Southern Baptist Convention, the Southeastern Conference, and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

I've spent plenty of time with machines that can kill me, and I've spent a fair amount of time diving in underwater caves and in shipwrecks, so I'm hardly the butt-sitting type. But I still love a good college football game.

 

[Half Fast]

I took a tired, long in storage ‘81 Moto Guzzi V50 III, stripped it down and cafe’d it into this.
It’s now too cramped for my old joints. Recently offered it for listing on Bring A Trailer (hoping, of course, to get BaT bids, HA)….but they weren’t interested. Oh well, guess I’ll have to deal with tire kicking time-wasters.
View attachment 99613

That's a gorgeous Guzzi, and I love cafe racers.

 

[steingar]

Got tired of riding motos that I couldn’t easily pick up.

I used to pick up my Goldwing, and were I any shorter I think I'd be syndromic. I've seen Wings picked up by girls.

 

[wrbix]

I used to pick up my Goldwing, and were I any shorter I think I'd be syndromic. I've seen Wings picked up by girls.

Key word having been EASILY.

 

[wrbix]

Well, if you spent 4+ years and tens of thousands of dollars at an institution (and likely have some great memories/experiences there) it shouldn't be that hard to fathom, lol. It creates a sense of identity/common cause with other members of that school. It surely makes more sense than rooting for any pro sports team which shares nothing with most people other than happening to be located in their city of residence or has players on the team you admire. Tons of Chelsea/Man U fans that have never set foot on English soil.

Well, I guess if my four years of undergraduate and nine years of postgraduate university association wasn’t enough to indoctrinate me into the “identity/common cause” then nothing is likely to do so.
Besides, we all have to admit that college spectator sports is nothing more than a fund raiser from the loyal alumni.
…..but this thread has been 7500’d enough, back to motorbikes shall we?

 

[Notrub]

 

[Bill]

 

[Bill]

The above was over the holiday weekend, same corner Saturday on the GS:

 

[Ted]

Decided to take the Triumph out for a ride over lunch.

 

[Ted]

 

[Half Fast]

Sweet bike, Ted! What year?

 

[Ted]

Sweet bike, Ted! What year?

That's Laurie's 2009 Triumph Daytona 675. 11 years ago for Christmas/her birthday I'd bought her one of those (a few years older, I forget the exact year) and then we sold it when the kids came along. She's regretted selling it every since, so I bought her another one for Valentine's Day this year - identical.

Yesterday I rode the Harley over lunch - the weather here has been fantastic for riding and so I've wanted to take advantage of it. The air around 70 or so with the big bore 110" engine was very nice. And today, the air around the same temperature with the revvy little 3-cylinder engine was also very nice.

 

[Half Fast]

Mine’s a 2013 and I absolutely love it. That thing steers by telekinesis. As soon as the love bugs disappear I need to take it out again and commit some high-speed traffic felonies.

Surprised she lent it to you. Or didn’t you tell her?

 

[Bill]

Mine’s a 2013 and I absolutely love it. That thing steers by telekinesis. As soon as the love bugs disappear I need to take it out again and commit some high-speed traffic felonies.

Surprised she lent it to you. Or didn’t you tell her?

I used to have it's more upright brother, the 675 Street Triple R, it was a sweet bike that I should not have sold.

 

[Bill]

 

[Ted]

Mine’s a 2013 and I absolutely love it. That thing steers by telekinesis. As soon as the love bugs disappear I need to take it out again and commit some high-speed traffic felonies.

Surprised she lent it to you. Or didn’t you tell her?

As director of maintenance, I always have to do test drives/rides on vehicles. You know, to make sure they work right and are safe for her.

They are great bikes. Tons of personality, ride wonderfully, a great engine sound.

 

[Ted]

Rode these old 1950s BMWs today, along with an R9t, and also my friend’s G310GS and R1200GSA that I’ve ridden before.

They are all a ton of fun. I really, really liked the R9t. The old BMWs have a lot of character. What’s funny to me is how similar the overall feel is of that old single cylinder BMW to the new G310GS. The engines feel about the same, all a lot of fun. It was a good weekend.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

The nicest toy I’ve ever bought. Early Christmas at my house

 

[FastEddieB]

Once the morning fog lifted, it was a gorgeous fall day for a ride.

I’m really proud of Karen. We rode to Tellico Plains, then climbed the Cherohala Skyway to about the 4,000’ level.

We don’t ride aggressively, but do maintain a nice, sane pace. You can see she got her Ryker “wrapped” with a flame motif - she calls it “Caliente”!

Life is good!

 

[Ted]

Not a motorcycle photo, but maybe something that will produce a motorcycle photo.

On the RV trips I find myself more and more wishing for a motorcycle along. While the R1150GS is under my care, that's a logical one for a lot of these. That's about 600 lbs. There are trails where I would likely ride it if I had it. We also have the Triumph and Guzzi (both at roughly 400 lbs) and of course the Harleys, which tip the scales at closer to 800. Any such option would need a pass-through hitch so I could then hook up the Land Rover to it and still tow that behind.

It seems that there are options out there in the $200 range that would work for the Triumph and Guzzi, $300 range that would work for the BMW on down, and then it jumps up to around $1k for something that would work for the Harleys (and thus everything else). All are only one motorcycle at a time, which would be fine. I know I've asked it (and it's been discussed) in my RV thread previously, but curious if folks on the motorcycle thread who are smart enough to avoid my normal threads have ideas for things they use. We have a motorcycle trailer, but to use that would require the "triple tow" option, of towing it behind the Land Rover. While that would be feasible, it limits the states where it can be done legally, and adds to logistical setup/take down issues moreso.

 

[Bill]

While heavy, if you wanted both a 4 wheel vehicle and a motorcycle on a trip you could load a bike in the back of the RAM and tow that behind the bus.

 

[Ted]

While heavy, if you wanted both a 4 wheel vehicle and a motorcycle on a trip you could load a bike in the back of the RAM and tow that behind the bus.

That would be the logical solution in many ways, but ultimately not what I want. I've never liked putting motorcycles in the back of the truck (more that I've never been very comfortable with the act of getting them in and out). Then I would have to set the Ram up to be towed behind (I don't have a tow bar setup for it, and the tow bar I have isn't rated for that weight). Also the Ram isn't set up for the bus to drive the lights of the vehicle itself. With the Land Rover, I have a dedicated 6-pin connector and all I do is hook that up, and it's ready to go, with its own lights being driven by the RV.

Another option would be towing my trailer behind the RV, and that would have enough room on it for everything. But then we'd have to unhook it, find a place to put it, etc.

Really, I'm all about doing work at home so that when we travel, it's easy.

 

[Half Fast]

Really, I'm all about doing work at home so that when we travel, it's easy.

Trailers, tow bars, tow vehicles,.....

Ted, you're thinking inside the box. You need a more creative solution.

1) Work at home at something that earns a few extra bucks.
2) With those extra bucks, buy whatever kind of bike you want when you reach your destination.
3) When you depart, donate the motorcycle to a needy biker.

Not only does this avoid towing a bike back and forth, it satisfies your charitable urges. Heck, you could even set up a new NPO....

 

[Ted]

Trailers, tow bars, tow vehicles,.....

Ted, you're thinking inside the box. You need a more creative solution.

1) Work at home at something that earns a few extra bucks.
2) With those extra bucks, buy whatever kind of bike you want when you reach your destination.
3) When you depart, donate the motorcycle to a needy biker.

Your solution sounds like way more work than mine.

Not only does this avoid towing a bike back and forth, it satisfies your charitable urges. Heck, you could even set up a new NPO....

You're going to give me PTSD flashbacks. I'm not starting another non-profit.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Can you mount the motorcycle hitch to the back of the Land Rover to avoid a double-tow/thru tow? Just depends on if the hitch on the LR is rated for 1K lbs (probably isn't).

 

[Ted]

Can you mount the motorcycle hitch to the back of the Land Rover to avoid a double-tow/thru tow? Just depends on if the hitch on the LR is rated for 1K lbs (probably isn't).

I'd rather attach it to the bus than the Land Rover. The weight on the back of the LR wouldn't be particularly good for it (ratings or not) and then we'd have to unhook that hitch or remove the motorcycle wherever we went. One of the modifications we made before 6Y9 was attaching the bicycle rack to the front of the bus instead of the back of the LR, and that's made a huge improvement.

 

[Vance Breese]

Digging up bones.

I recently came across this picture of my XRTT at the Isle of Man in 1982 at Quarter Bridge.

It was a great adventure and a team effort.

I finished 38th in the classic.

The Isle of Mann is a British Protectorate in the Irish Sea and every year since 1907 they shut down the public roads and have a motorcycle race around the island.

The course is 37.4 miles of winding two lane road.

The picture is from TT Race Pics in the UK.

 

[Bill]

Digging up bones.

I recently came across this picture of my XRTT at the Isle of Man in 1982 at Quarter Bridge.

It was a great adventure and a team effort.

I finished 38th in the classic.

The Isle of Mann is a British Protectorate in the Irish Sea and every year since 1907 they shut down the public roads and have a motorcycle race around the island.

The course is 37.4 miles of winding two lane road.

OK, congrats to you for running what is, in my opinion, the craziest nuttiest event in all of motorsports. I want to go there just to watch the races.

You sir have some serious stones.

For those who don't know what the IoM TT is:

 

[Ted]

The IoM TT is absolutely the craziest race in the world of motorsport, as Bill said.

And that's even crazy by Ted standards.

 

[Vance Breese]

Despite my lack of success in the race; I found racing at the Isle of Man TT to be one of the most memorable events of my 24 years of road racing.

Getting two racers, two motorcycles and a friend to the Island required great effort and resulted in a colorful adventure where I made lots of interesting friends. Learning the course was delightful after reading about it for so many years.

It does not meet my definition of crazy.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Despite my lack of success in the race; I found racing at the Isle of Man TT to be one of the most memorable events of my 24 years of road racing.

Getting two racers, two motorcycles and a friend to the Island required great effort and resulted in a colorful adventure where I made lots of interesting friends. Learning the course was delightful after reading about it for so many years.

It does not meet my definition of crazy.

The amount of injury/death at the IoM TT compared to other venues is what qualifies it for crazy in my book, lol.

 

[Morgan3820]

Going to the The Isle of Mann TT is definitely on my bucket list

 

[Vance Breese]

Going to the The Isle of Mann TT is definitely on my bucket list

It is not a race as we know it because the course is so long and it is timed (the riders don’t all start at the same time).

You sit on a hill and listen to the Manx radio. They will tell you who is leading on the road and who is where in the race or you would never know.

There are over a hundred motorcycles spread out over 37 miles of road in so there is always something to see no matter where you are. There are seven races.

Spectating at the IoM is an active sport and the spectators treat it as such.

It is sort of a weeklong motorcycle festival with lots going on the whole time.

It is best if you have a motorcycle there.

If you are going to camp expect to get wet.