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**dfrooney** · 04-29-2004, 10:26 AM

I have a buddy looking to buy an XS 1100...anybody leaving?

I'm leaving...but I'm pretty far away. If distance is not a consideration, check out the bike at

http://rooney.dyndns.org:81/yamaha/index.htm

**John** · 04-29-2004, 01:44 PM

That's a nice looking bike. Seems a shame to be selling it. I noticed in the description of the bike that you were usure of the brand of header. It looks exactly like the Jardine that I have on my bike. Crossed pipes in the front, #1+4 on the right, and #2+3 on the left. Look on the mounting tab where the muffler mounts to the footpeg bracket. It should say Jardine there.

**dfrooney** · 04-29-2004, 02:20 PM

thanks for the compliment...and thanks for the info on the header. I'll take a look at it.

It's been a great bike (puts on flame suit) but I grew up in Milwaukee...if it's not a Harley, it's not a real motorcycle. This is my new baby:
http://rooney.dyndns.org:81/hd/images/

**Jerry** · 04-29-2004, 02:34 PM

Why not keep them both? Two very different riding experiences!

**rover** · 04-29-2004, 03:39 PM

if it's not a Harley, it's not a real motorcycle. This is my new baby:

What a lousy attitude. I'll bet you are one of the guys on a Harley that elevates his middle finger when he meets me on the road. I have owned 9 Harleys in my lifetime, and I would not hesitate to trade them ALL for a good jap bike.

**dfrooney** · 04-29-2004, 03:55 PM

What a lousy attitude. I'll bet you are one of the guys on a Harley that elevates his middle finger when he meets me on the road. I have owned 9 Harleys in my lifetime, and I would not hesitate to trade them ALL for a good jap bike.

wow...that was a little harsh...good thing I still have my flame suit on. I think the fact that I still actively participate on this board speaks to my attitude. I was merely speaking for myself in reference to my own dreams and preferences. Any other meaning you read into it was unintentional. If I passed you on a road and didn't wave it would be because I was in the middle of a shift...in which case I would at least give a nod or some other form of acknowledgment. The only people that see my middle finger are people that cut me off which is generally cagers.

It's funny, I run into more pro-jap riders that are anti-harley than harley owners that are anti-jap.

**rover** · 04-29-2004, 04:29 PM

Yes, Dan, that was a little harsh, but I never thought I would see a statement such as that on this web site. I am not predjudice against ANY motorcycle, or the person that rides it. What I am against is the statement that I replied to. A few years ago, I came upon a Canadian fellow that had a nice new Harley, and it was obvious that he had broken down in the middle of Wyoming, far from the nearest town. I stopped to see if I could help him, and found that he had just fried his second battery on a bike with just under 4,000 miles. Since I had a friend who had this same problem with his Harley the year before, I showed him that the positve post of his battery was about 3/8ths of an inch from the frame, and showed him the arc marks where the battery had contacted the frame and shorted it out. I offered to tow him to a place where he could get help, and he very reluctantly agreed, since he did not want to leave his almost new bike where it was. I towed him 43 miles, and when we arrived, he was very grateful, and I was happy that I could help a fellow biker. I grew up in Butler and Hartford WI, not far from Milwaukee. I now live in central WI, and get a lot of flak from Harley riders. I love to ride a smooth running and riding motorcycle, one that handles good, and is dependable. My main XS will see 100,000 miles in the next few weeks, and NEVER had a breakdown on the road. The Harley riders around here think that they are the only ones that should be allowed to ride motorcycles. There is only one of them that I would care to ride with, I worked with him for seven years, but even he will not acknowledge me when he is with the other Harley men. Ride what ever you choose, but don't be one of the Harley men who think that if you don't ride a hog, you ain't sxxt.Thank you for sharing.

**John** · 04-29-2004, 06:01 PM

Dan, I'm not going to douse you with fire, but when I was restoring my 80SG, I had a roommate who owned an h-d. Most of his h-d buddies gave me such a ration of $#it for wasting my time and money on that 'Jap crap'. Well, 13 years later, I'm still riding it, and I will never own an h-d just because of the attitude of most of the h-d riders. I also work with quite a few h-d riders, and most of them started on Japanese bikes, but wouldn't have anything to do with them now. One of them even gets pi$$ed if I park next to his h-d. If I ever buy a V-Twin cruiser, it will be metric. I don't know you personally, you may be a great guy, so I don't mean anything personal by it.

**dfrooney** · 04-29-2004, 06:43 PM

I wasn't trying to poke at XS owners...I wasn't trying to be high and mighty and try and say my cycle is better. Motorcycle riding is a personal passion for me and for most people. For ME, a harley adds to that soul and passion and the entire experience. I don't doubt that the metrics are built with better quality and they cost less as well, but passion has nothing to do with practicality. My choice of words was admittedly not very good...that's why I'm an IT guy and not an English major. It should probably read "if it's not a harley it's not my ideal bike." The comment was meant to convey my personal feelings, not dig at others.

Here's an analogy that might clear it up a bit. If I grew up in Boston I might think New England style clam chowder is the only way to have chowder. I might try new york style or english style, but in my heart, I know new england style is the only way for me. If someone else thinks new york style is better that's fine...I'm still gonna eat dinner with him...we both still like chowder.

If I had my choice, I would have my Harley for cruising and a Yamaha YZF for speed runs. That's why I liked the XS so much since it's kind of half way between the two styles.

I've learned a lot and talked to many people on this board over the last 2 years. If not for this board, my XS would probably be in junk yard by now. I would hope we can all still get along.

Again, I'm sorry I offended anyone.

**Steve Linderman** · 04-30-2004, 03:36 AM

Show me the LOVE...

WOW...
Back to that 'age old debate' again...HUH?

Has anybody looked at it this way?
Since the beginning of time man has 'assimilitated' (look it up, kiddies)

Which (simply) means this...
People "group" themselves together with people LIKE THEMSELVES!!! (big suprise, HUH?)
When you popped into the Chess Club meetings in High School who was there? MMM-HMMM

The guys in leather jackets with slicked back hair...didn't wanna hang out with the guy with the football jersey on...the guys in the Chess Club were usually excused from most P.E. (for their own safety)
And the Guys on the Football team, NEVER took Home Economics, starting to get the picture?
So with that in mind... Sit back and enjoy another yarn...

Not long ago...in a land not far away...(Aberdeen, WA.) I was 'invited' to attend a two day"Poker Run" by some friends in the local Harley 'Club' (it was for charity).
The morning started out at the registration table where most of the 'Harley Guys' started right in on me about my "Jap" bike
Some of the remarks revolved around the fact that during the evenings' bon-fire they were going to burn a "JAP" Bike...and wouldn't I like to 'donate' mine...for the cause.

There were only three "Jap" bikes on the Run...I was with a group of about 6 bikes (all Harleys).
While waiting for the rest of our group to show, a Big crowd of Harleys roared off through Cosmopolis, Wa. down the Blue Slough road towards Montesano, Wa...after about 5 minutes the others arrived, then someone in our group pondered " if we hurry, do you think we can catch up with the pack?"
Six of us took off (1 XS 1100 & 5 Harleys)
Try and guess which motorcycle (with TWO passengers) caught the pack BEFORE they crossed the tracks at Highway 12 (outside Montesano, WA)

YEP !!! You guessed it!!!
Now here's the KICKER...one of my buddies had just 'finished' his scoot the night before...and OF COURSE

it had a "FEW problems"
They called it the "Ricky Racer" after my friend "Rick" who was some sort of a 'racing legend' in and around Harleys.
When we get to the first stop...the 'Ricky Racer' won't start

Imagine that!!!
After (what seemed like) hours of kicking it...NO luck!!! Problem

Dead Battery

So out from under my seat comes the $1.99 set of homemade 'jumper cables' I made and haul around (for fun)
And my ol' "Jap" bike charges up the battery enought to start, and run her to the next stop.
So then for ALL that day, AND the next... every time we stopped my "Jap" bike had to sit at IDLE and charge the battery of that Harley...while the parking lot FULL of Harleys did NOTHING to help their 'BRO'.
Beginning to sound familiar?

Now get this...after camping for the night we started out again...doing the same thing...(charge & go...charge & go)

The 'final leg' was a pretty long one...and the 'RICKETY Racer' would begin to 'cut out' if we ran her for to long (no battery = no spark) so with about 3 (or so) miles to go the "RICKETY Racer" FALLS OUT

(can you imagine! a HARLEY breakin' down!

)
So as I'm pulling out the cables for another re-charge...a bunch from the Run in a pick up truck pull up to help "their Bro" so they load it in the truck, and take off...

At the "Awards Ceremony" my buddy got one for "breaking down"
(I bet they give out lots of those

)
The way I saw it...without that "Jap" bike...that Harley would have made the ENTIRE run in the back of that truck...(not just the last three miles)
I point that out to Rick...every time he starts to 'open his blow hole' about the 'Glory of Harleys'
The ONLY way he made that run was with "Jap electricity" flowing through the wires of that Harley.

Oh...and by the way...where is the (Villian) 'Ricky Racer' today??? SOLD, and GONE!!
Where is that XS 1100 (the Hero) Sittin' out there waiting for me to ride her

Which I'm gonna' do...tomorrow...maybe I'll ride by Ricks' and see what he's fixin' on his newest Harley...:rolleyes

" I don't wanna pickle, I just wanna ride my motorsickle"
ARLO GUTHRIE cir. 1977

**John** · 04-30-2004, 07:32 AM

My comments:

The only reason that the other h-d guys wouldn't help their 'bro' was that he was hangin' with a rice rider. You know, kinda like the guy the who befriends the high school wierdo. They wanted to burn a 'Jap" bike only to eliminate the threat. Did you know that an h-d's home away from home is the back of a pick up, or on a trailer? I can think of about 20k better things to do with $20k. And why do people capitalize the h & d? I don't, just to return the same amount of respect that I get from the h-d riders. Whe there is a bike discussion at work, it always centers aroun h-d's If I say anthing about my bike, they just look at me with that 'what the f*&k are you talking about look. They don't want to hear about all the work I'm doing on my big bore project. They think it's a waste of time and money. I could blow them all away before, and now I'll be able to humiliate them.
Can you tell them apart? Where is the individuality? It's not hard to find my bike in a crowd. It's about as individual at it comes. A 24 year old 'Jap'bike that still looks good. I thought they were all called: superwidehydraelectradynafatglide. Unless they have touring bags on them they all look alike to me.
Well now, I feel better after that.

**Snow** · 04-30-2004, 09:25 AM

(Supre flame-retardant suit on)
My Triumph is better than your H-D will ever be! Nyah!

I am of the belief that anyone who chooses to ride on two wheels with a motor between their legs has joined a fraternal order, whether they want to or not. I also believe that since we are all in the same fraternal order that must dodge cell-phone totin' soccer moms and 4 foot tall land yacht driving grandmothers that we all share some common bonds that should not be thrown aside simply because of the origin of our rides.

I ride a Triumph and a Yamaha. My girlfriend rides a Yamaha. My brother rides a Harley and my other brother rides a Honda.

When riding on the weekends (I ride pretty much every day, to and from work and school), I see a lot of "weekend warriors" on shiny harleys. Usually, my girlfriend is in the lead on her '98 Vstar 650 and I am following on my 2003 Triumph Speed4. About 1/3 the time, these guys that I only see riding one or two days out of the week end up waving to the girl on the cruiser and quickly pull back thier hands or even flick the bird at me because I am on a "Jap Bike"... (note: Even Brando in "The Wild One" knows Triumphs are made in England).

You know who I see on my really long rides out of town and on the weekdays? I see BMW riders and Jap riders. How many Harley riders do I see? About 1/30th-1/50th of that I see in town on Sunday or at Bike night at hooters.

/me thinks me just got off on a tangent

**Robert Haller** · 04-30-2004, 12:57 PM

Originally posted by Snow

I am of the belief that anyone who chooses to ride on two wheels with a motor between their legs has joined a fraternal order, whether they want to or not. I also believe that since we are all in the same fraternal order that must dodge cell-phone totin' soccer moms and 4 foot tall land yacht driving grandmothers that we all share some common bonds that should not be thrown aside simply because of the origin of our rides.

I agree. A couple of my best riding buddies are full blown, custom Harley riders. They've done Sturgis, Daytona, and ridden across the country. They have never given me any grief or attitude about my bike. I think that real riders don't care what you're on as long as it's two wheels. It's the poseurs that tend to have an attitude.

**tommystinson** · 05-01-2004, 07:05 AM

I guess it all depends on the reasons behind buying a particular motorcycle. Were I to win a free Harley of my choice, I would make it a V-Rod. The motor for the most part was designed by Porsche, it has a great torque/power curve, along with Nissin calipers if I am not mistaken, and is liquid cooled. I have issues with any longitudinal mounted air cooled v-twin (that isn't 90 degrees and has one cylinder almost horizontal, like an old Ducati.) Any Harley (actually Indian) style engine has the first cylinder blocking ambient air from the second one. It just doesn't make any sense. But Harley's stated design requirements include that the engine look a certain way, and even sound a certain way. Hell, Harley tried to trademark the "sound" of their engines! To me, it is the opposite of engineering. It seems to be a styling exercise, and a tired one at that. What I get a kick out of is are the old photos of the founders weaing three piece tweed suits while on their bikes. Where the hell did the whole tattoo and German WWI helmet thing come from? When did they become a fashion accessory for so many? Oh, you've got a springer and a tattoo? How nonconformist! How original! Gosh, a 101 inch S and S motor and a 200 MM rear tire, where did you come up with that great idea? Perhaps I have a different perspective because I'm of Irish descent. Irish men may be well endowed in wit, but no one would describe anything else about an Irishman like that! After denial, depression and anger comes eventual acceptance and even happiness because God made me Irish. What this all means is that I have no need for a genital compensation device, be it a Harley, a Hummer, a Land Rover Defender that will never see mud, etc. If you're riding a Harley because you like to ride, and you like their bikes, than you probably won't be dishing out crap to another rider because of what they ride. If you're lashing out at people because you haven't learned to accept your small package, than it's probably not limited to motorcycles. It is far too easy to recognize that particular behavior. I usually respond with a slight, ironic smile, and a sense of pity for the limitations of so many men. If they persist after my polite attempts to guide the discourse to a shared enjoyment of riding, then I may choose to expose their insecurity in particularly brutal fashion, right in front of their girlfriend/wife Barbie with her fake boobs, fake nails and fake tan. (No offense intended to those named Barbie!) I apologize for my rambling, and if my monologue was somewhat boorish today. I have become weary of the (lack of) character displayed by so many today. End of sermon. I've been going on so long, I don't even know if I replied to the right thread...

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