Three things I dislike when riding....

[Ohioan]

... freshly (within the past 2 months) tar'd and chipped roads, people who think they're better than you because they ride a harley, and deer.


I stopped by a little gas station in the neighborhood, and was just getting ready to get back on my bike and take off when a gang of OLD harley riders pulled in. They LAUGHED at me. I was aggrivated... perhaps it was my bright yellow full face helmet and jacket to match.. or the bike. I don't know. But I guess when you're that old, your skin just isn't worth what it used to be.

I took off down the road and was heading down a road that had been tar and pitched about 2 months ago. The ruts were terrible, and the middle of the lane was worse. I passed a guy on a crotch rocket on this road. I gave a friendly low wave... and he gave me.. a DOUBLE hand wave.. He sat straight up, took both hands off the bars and put them straight out. CRAZY.

Then as I was heading home, two deer jumped out in front of me. I was able to get stopped safely. but it scared the pee out of me.

This was my evening ride on Saturday. Went to DQ for dinner since the wife was out of town.

[seuadr]

a gang of OLD harley riders pulled in. They LAUGHED at me. I was aggrivated...

when you paid as much as they have for a bike, you have to laugh so you don't cry

[terrylee2u]

Just remember.. "It's not what you ride.. it's that you ride".
Some people just don't get it. That group are called "posers".
Just ride what makes you happy and forget that group. Real motorcyclists that get it will appreciate your bike

[marvinsc]

I was riding with a couple of guys yesterday when one of the bikes (a Shadow 650) developed fuel delivery problems, eventually stalling out on the Highway 79 bridge across Kentucky lake at Paris landing Tennessee. Here are 3 bikes parked on the Right apron, the seat is off my bike where I got my tool kit out, the seat and tank are off the Shadow and we were passed by at least 30 Harleys, one group of 15 or so and the rest in twos and threes and not One slowed down, much less stopped. Once we got the Honda running again we decided that they were so shocked that it wasn't a Harley on the side of the road that they didn't know how to react.

[67fire]

In Reno during the Street Vibrations gig, the tow truck driver's are not allowed to take time off. Too much business with the broken down bikes.
It MUST be a coincidence that they are Harley's.

Eric

[don_gibb6512]

I stopped by a little gas station in the neighborhood, and was just getting ready to get back on my bike and take off when a gang of OLD harley riders pulled in. They LAUGHED at me. I was aggrivated... perhaps it was my bright yellow full face helmet and jacket to match.. or the bike. I don't know. But I guess when you're that old, your skin just isn't worth what it used to be.

There were some guys helping my neighbor from 2 houses down, roof his house. I don't have a garage so I have to back my bike down the driveway and this time, I pushed it on the sidewalk because the asphalt was real hot and I didn't want to sink a hole in my driveway with the centerstand. I'm putting my gear on and one of the guys hollers "does that even have a motor in it?". Yeah, they were Hardly riders and I've got an '80 GS1100ET, something that will smoke their bikes but I simply said "yeah, actually it does" and left it at that.

Consider the source and forget about it. Doesn't matter in the long run anyway.

Don

[Griffin]

Last summer I was tooling along down the road when I saw a motorcycle up ahead pulled over on the shoulder by a bridge. I pulled over when I arrived, and found a 55ish year old man (looked and talked like a white collar, lawyerly kind of guy) leaning up against the concrete edge barrier of the bridge, staring at his obviously nonfunctional Harley.

It looked pretty darned new, only had about 5,000 miles on it too. He said that he stopped to take a picture, and when he tried to restart it, nothing, dead battery. I asked him if he tried to bump start it, he said he didn't know how and probably couldn't get it going by himself anyway.

I told him to put it in second, and let the clutch out when I got him going. The bike started on the first try, but he killed it by not pulling in the clutch qickly enough or goosing the throttle. Tried again, same deal.

He then suggested we swap assignments, because I was sweating my butt off by now and he felt really bad about it. We got it started first try, I rode about 50 yards down the shoulder, did a u-turn, and came back. He thanked me profusely, and said he was staying at a motel in Bloomington (about 30 miles away). I told him I'd follow him back to make sure he got home ok. He made it without incident, and bought me a pop at the motel. There's a large H-D dealer in Bloomington, so he assured me he'd be ok the next day.

During the whole production at the bridge, at least ten motorcycles passed us, and not one of them stopped. Most were H-Ds, but not all.


I think it's more a sign of the times than an H-D thing.