[23063]

I have been riding since 1970, on a 175 BSA.



What model BSA had 175cc?

 

[23063]

Listen. Harleys are very easy to ride!! Get on a big old FL and you will notice how easy they are to ride in parking lots and ease into traffic. They also motor along at 70+ speeds with no vibration - at least not my rubber FL EVO.



What makes them so easy to ride is their low seat height, massive weight at and below the axle line, the long stroke motor, which has usable torque and no top end to frighten you and finally a great clutch with a perfect friction band.



I don't know how well other bikes do those things (I haven't ridden any), but those things are rarely, if ever mentioned, because they aren't exactly selling points, but it's what makes Harley's great road bikes! They're perfect for beginners with the exception that they are heavy and a true beginner would like a very light weight bike to start on. With a little experience, I believe you can move right on up to a Harley.



I think the 600s are very challenging to ride in comparison. Mine is top heavy, has imprecise throttle control up to 4,000rpm and if you whack it open above 6,000rpm it could scare the hell out of you, because it goes faster the faster you go. It has 1/3 more power and 2/3 the weight of my Harley. This is not a bike for a beginner or even a second move up bike.

 

[2061]

My first ride was 1/2 day with a moto cop in Baltimore when I was 4. My second was with a mechanic friend of my fathers on a brand new 1959 big harley. I remember lookin down at that speedo and seeing 90 mph-wow. I was seven and I was hooked. People I haven't seen in a while ask when I started ridding again. Never stopped. I put 13,000 on a s4r Ducati last year and I guess pretty much about the same mileage every year before. Motorcycling is not so much a sport for me as it is a great way to get where I'm going. All of us over 40 aren't "returning to the sport".

 

[2061]

Oh yea I forgot to mention in the above post. My favorite rider over 40 was a real neat old guy, Roland Pike of BSA fame. He retired to my town and rode until he was well over 80. He came to our cycle get togethers drank beers and bench raced with all the young whipper snappers. You should have seen him with that London fog flapping in wind and rain on a hot rod 250 Kaw. He was too cool - and a REAL motorcyclist. Party on dudes.

 

[17416]

You've got a year on me, and I have a Ducati, not a rice rocket, but I have to agree that there are a lot of lousy riders out there.



I sort of favor the tiered licensing system that makes you develop a smidgeon of bike handling skill befor getting on the latest and greatest.



Somehow I doubt that you take many 2000 mile trips on your Yammie (well, I do that kind of thing on my BMW, not the Duc) but.. to each his own, as long as you recall that all cage drivers are either indifferent or hostile, and that it's only a matter of time until you come around a blind curve to encounter a fallen refrigerator.

 

[17416]

Those group riders should park their Hogs, and repeat the mantra of us old Beemer riders.



"I ride fast, I ride far, and I ride alone."



Of course that slogan is just as applicable to H-D riders, if they choose to practice it. Notice that there is no explicit mention of BMW in the above quote.



Just so you don't fall asleep while riding, of course.

 

[Hutchinator]

Re: I'm sick of this issue

Arrg, apparently I hit the wrong button earlier when I was called away. Well I guess I should finish the thought...

Last I heard I was in the top 10 in potential risk in my unit due to the fact I ride and I fly. (Then you can add hunting, sport shooting, running with sissors, it adds up). They don't have me doing anything like phoning in every weekend to say I'm still alive (sorry, that sucks), but I did have to justify to my supervisor (and supposedly my commander at a yet to be determined date) why I'm such a high risk.

Hopefully, when you get to your next unit (or next commander, whichever comes first) they'll be more reasonable.

 

[Maturin]

BSA Bantam. I had it in London, Eng.

 

[davidhaner]

Re: Glory be!

Hey, I'm a frigging liberal and I couldn't agree with you more about laws saving me from my own idiocy.

Conservatives are just as likely to pass laws taking away your freedoms. The difference is liberals take your freedoms in the name of saving you from yourself, and conservatives take your freedoms in the name of preserving your freedoms. Patriot act anyone?

 

[52944]

600's aren't all like that. Yea the ZX6 and CBR600RR and god.. that new R6... etc. are all not exactly beginner bikes... but if riden correctly they're all safer than any harley, just because they're more manuverable, have better brakes, lighter, etc. and... occationaly better acceleration can save you.



But, as far as beginners there are plenty of 600's that could work pretty well, a lot better than a harley... like a SV650, a Seca 600, a FZR 600, etc. They won't have the crazy power bands the new line of hot 600's have. I'm sure there are a lot more 600's out there than could make good beginner bikes as well.



I'm not saying a harley isn't easyer to ride, I'm saying it's not as safe, there is a difference.



light weight in my opinion should be the number one requirement of a beginners motorcycle because it influences so much. With a lower weight it can stop quicker, turn quicker, and will be easyer to handle in general. Yes it will also accelerate faster, but it still won't go any faster.

 

[52944]

"I bought the biggest, baddest most expensive Harley that they make"



"which weighs about 800 pounds and produces about 90 horsepower"



What the f ? the baddest harley made makes 90 hpr? from how big an engine? I thought they were supposted to be 'big bad bikes' ? more like big fat and slow.

 

[52944]

Here here... my dad will turn 70 soon, and guess what he rides to work..... a street legal aprila RS250. Actualy I just went to the track with him last month.



Guess which bike he rode all the way up to Laguna seca for the GP races, 8 hours, along PCH leaving me in the dust... the same little RS250. I only hope I can ride as cool a bike as fast as him when I'm 50..

 

[23063]

Fair enough.