TC Bros

[fredintoon]

- - - Top 10 silliest things done to motorcycles: - - - Boss Hoss

Hi Craz,
gotta call you on this one, A Boss Hoss is the silliest thing done to a Chevy V8.

[cywelchjr]

If you want to voice your opinion thats fine but insulting people who happen to like the hardtail/bobber look isnt cool. Its their bike they paid for it so they can do whatever they please with it. Just because you dont like it dosent mean they are "twits". Variety makes things interesting and people who like hardtails should be able to share information too. I dont have a hardtail or intend to hardtail I just think you are rude for insulting people because they like a style of motorcycle.

Many of us think that they are rude for destroying a rare (and getting rarer all the time classic motorcycle. Hardtailing is undoable, this means that one more classic machine is destroyed forever. So yes, some of us get quite upset about it. So those who want to hardtail their bikes have no right to expect us to ignore that they are going to destroy something we love, and yes we get a little bit upset over it.

[latexeses]

When you see someone with a chopped top Packard with a blown Chevy in it or a 34 Ford Victoria all hot rodded out you won't see a bunch of "before" pictures a complete, clean, original vehicle. It is a rusted out POS pasture queen.
Ever see a "Rat Rod" built from an original, complete 32 Ford pickup????

You won't. It wouldn't happen.

Even the guys that are into that stuff wouldn't tear up an original car.

When thay are gone, they are gone.

Next guy with a complete, clean, running 79SF with a title that they want to chop up, give me a call. I trade you one you can beat on and cut up all you want.

[prometheus578]

While all these opinions are valid, in the end, it's always the owner's discretion as to what he wants to do with his property: change it or keep it the same.

Several people here have fuel injection, hydraulic clutches, front ends from different bikes, chain drive conversions, final drive swaps, modified swing arms for wider tires... so why the fuss over lack of rear suspension?
Makin' a hard tail is no more anyone else's business than if someone wants to paint their tanks a different color, install after-market pipes and put in LED lights.

Paintin' a moustache on the Mona Lisa....?
A far-fetched example maybe, but unless you're the guy who owns the painting, you've got little to say about what someone does with it.

[crazy steve]

When you see someone with a chopped top Packard with a blown Chevy in it or a 34 Ford Victoria all hot rodded out you won't see a bunch of "before" pictures a complete, clean, original vehicle. It is a rusted out POS pasture queen.

You won't. It wouldn't happen.

Even the guys that are into that stuff wouldn't tear up an original car.

...If only that were true. It's unfortunate, but some of the rodders do buy restored cars to rod, particularly if they're doing a 'resto-rod'. Metal repair, paint, chrome, etc are all expensive, and many restored cars sell for less than the cost to buy and fix a similar rust bucket. In terms of money, it makes sense; I personally know several guys who did just that.

But it still make me cringe when somebody takes a nice XS (or any other nice, complete 'vintage' whatever) and hacks it up into something that will have very limited appeal and makes restoration all but impossible. Don't want to go to the bother of doing a ground-up on a non-runner? Then buy a dead one, and use that as the donor for any mods. That way you still have the stock bits, plus spare parts. That's the method I use, and I'm doing that right now. I'm modifying my '78, but using parts off the donor for mods and keeping all the stock bits if I ever decide to restore.

So everytime somebody chops another one, mine is worth just bit more...

[cywelchjr]

And pretty much all of those other mods are reversible. Hard tailing is one of the few mods (or bobbing) that is not reversible. Now, if someone takes a junkyard dog of a bike and does that, more power to them, what I have a problem with are those who takes bikes in better or the same shape as mine, and makes changes that can never be undone. I forget who it was that did "the unchopped bobber" and did the bobber look without actually cutting anything off the frame, I think that is cool, because it can be put back to stock again if desired. Just like the guys who do the hotrods, they don't do it to stock vehicles in good condition, they do it to rusted hulks found rotting in the fields, and the few who do something like that get the same kind of flack that the hardtail guys get here.

Once again the difference, if you cut up a junk, trashed bike to hardtail it, I'll still think your stupid, but won't be upset about it. If someone wanted a hardtail and did it by replacing the shots with struts (which someone on here did) I have no problem with it, because it can be reversed. Same with most of the other stuff that's done on these bikes, because they don't cut up the frame to do it, but rather mount other parts in place of the originals, and some of them involve making it run and/or handle better, got no problem with that, just please don't destroy an nice classic bike forever (don't care what you do with an already trashed bike).

[Fix]

I don't understand why anyone cares what I do to my bike, especially whether or not it can be put back to stock. You're not getting my bike even when I'm done with it, my son is.

[fredintoon]

I don't understand why anyone cares what I do to my bike, especially whether or not it can be put back to stock. You're not getting my bike even when I'm done with it, my son is.

Hi Fix,
hardtailing a bike is like drawing granny glasses and a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Which would be a bad thing even if you don't own the painting.

[prometheus578]

The kid down the street was selling an old Jaguar, cheap. (some would consider it a classic, but it needed some electrical work, as most of that model did).

I was gonna buy it... give it shark's teeth, "zoomie" pipes and a flame paint job with a grinnin' skull on the hood just to piss off some of the 'elites' in the neighborhood.
I've been known to do stuff like that before: Behold... "The Landshark"




Your bike, ya can modify it any way ya want.



.

[cywelchjr]

I don't understand why anyone cares what I do to my bike, especially whether or not it can be put back to stock. You're not getting my bike even when I'm done with it, my son is.

I agree with you, but don't come shove it in my face when you do something I consider an abomination, and expect me to praise you for it.

Anybody who comes in and says "look what I did" to a bunch of people who for the most part try to resurrect and restore classic machines and what you did is butcher one of them, has NO RIGHT to complain when they get the negative feedback from those purists. If you notice, we often admire those who do things that don't destroy the bike. Those folks who put on other forks, even chain drive etc, all that is reversible, because stock parts can be put back in and it can be right back stock. Chopping and bobbing and hardtailing is forever, and that is what offends us. So, I don't care what you do to you bike, but I don't want to hear about it, and you WILL get my honest opinion when you ask for it, so if you don't want to hear it, don't ask.

Meaning, if you can't take the heat (the negative responses) then get out of the kitchen.

[malber]

Your bike, ya can modify it any way ya want.

Of course you're right Prom, an owner has the right to do whatever they want to their bike. But when I see some of these chopped monstrosities on ebay or craigslist I want to cry, "Why?"

Hell, I thought some of Bob Jones's jobs were butt ugly. Guy had no concept of color coordination, rest his soul.

[prometheus578]

I want to cry, "Why?"

The answer is, Malber...
"Because I can." (I can conceive change and implement it)

Most people who make radical changes to something do so themselves. Gives a sense of accomplishment... an expression of originality of style or thought.

I used to go to the Toy Runs here. Not because I enjoyed riding in freezing drizzle, but just to look at the other bikes, the modifications made and various points expressing attention to detail.
Chopped, bobbed, bikes covered in rabbit fur or astro-turf...
(One had the speedo mounted directly to the speedo-drive at the front wheel. Not a particularly practical application, but I applauded the owner's ability to channel his abstract thinking)

"Hard-tail"-ing a bike is no different. It's the owner's discretion what he chooses to do, just as it's at my discretion whether I choose to stand there and "ohh and ahh" or just walk away.

Ya know... sort of like here.
If'in ya read a thread and it contains something that you don't agree with... hey, go ahead and post 'a' comment. ("a" being singular)

Like me at the Toy Run:
"Gee, pal... that's an ugly paint job."
"Thank you for your input, Sir... please kindly move on."
(At which point I would walk away)

What would break norms of good, social interaction would be for me to continue to stand there and voice my opinion... questioning the owner's cognitive abilities, grasp of aesthetic "form over function" or pointing out that it looks like his girlfriend owns stock in McDonalds.
I'm sure at some point the owner would reach into his tool bag, grab a large wrench and step forward to "tighten my nuts".

Let's try to avoid confrontations of that sort, shall we?

If'in ya gots an opposing opinion...hey, go ahead and post it. Nuttin' wrong with that, but post it and move on.

[mysticrider]

Hey Prom. The picture of the shark car at Ft Benning is in my neighborhood?? Who's at "Camp Benning"???

[Crazcnuk]

"While all these opinions are valid, in the end, it's always the owner's discretion as to what he wants to do with his property"

But you are still missing the point.

YES you can do whatever you want. But by posting on a site like this you are ASKING for opinions. Many will try and say they didn't ask, but then why post?

Don't be angry when you don't get the opinions you want to hear.

If you want pats on the back go find a 'classic mutilation forum' and ask thier opinions.

No matter what you do, 10% will love it, 10% will hate it, and the other 80% don't care.

[prometheus578]

Home of the Infantry

Mysticrider...
No one currently at Benning that I know of.
I was sent down there for school... oh, back in '96 I believe... and didn't feel like walkin' everywhere for two months, so I bought a cheap car.


Crazcnuk...
Most of your points are valid.
Others...
"But by posting on a site like this..." and "...go find a 'classic mutilation forum..." may be seen as a little misleading.

This site is about XS/XJ motorcycles. It's not just for "purists" or dedicated "restorers", though they have their place, but also for people who want to keep their bike in whatever shape it currently is (nice or ratty) or wish to modify it a little bit(or radically)

Nothing wrong with differing opinions. My only concern is the manner and spirit in which they are expressed