My latest experience with Harley dudes...

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Mike,

Sounds like a "Secret Harley V-twin" wave....the 2 fingers thing making a "V" !? Guess we need to hold out 4 fingers for our inline 4 machines?!
T.C.

[dmac82]

the V-twins to match a SX1100....

I was with SWMBO at the local Honda, I'm trying to get her interested in riding so I can spend more time riding, we were looking at the Silverwing Auto and I was looking at the 1300 V-twins and the older salesman came over and asked if I ride, I told how long and what I ride and he replied that I probably would not be happy going from my 1100 four to a 1300 twin if I liked the burst of speed, the twins just don't have it. He said that I could go to a croutch rocket for speed or to the very heavy 1800. He went on to say that it was too bad that the Japs only sell the fours now overseas, that they cratered to american's taste for everything to look like a Harley.

I like the ideal of the four finger wave!

[red bandit]

from now on...it's a 4 finger wave for me!! ESPECIALLY to the harley's.

GREAT idea,TC.

[xs650mike]

That's an interesting interpretation TC but the 2 fingers are together, not in a "V" and the hand is generally held parallel to the bike...have no idea why the 2 fingers. I sometimes hold my hand out so as to resemble a handshake but it hasn't caught on. I do like the 4 finger thing though. And of course the one finger salute for stupid cage drivers who cut you off. One thing I do that seems to have caught on around here is on very hot days I lose the leathers and wear jeans and vest with a long sleeve white dress shirt to ward off the sun. I started doing this several years ago and I notice many other riders around here dressing this way now. SWMBO says that when she's driving she finds herself waving at riders thinking that they're me!

[Pat Kelly]

Had a Harly pull alongside me at a redlight on my way to work today (5 am). We nodded at each other. He started revving his engine as the cross light turned yellow. in my mind I set the "rules of engagement" I will rev no higher than 5500 RPM. Light turned green........ 'nuff said. He kinda hung back there until the turns on Scenic Ave at the cemetary. Posted 35 MPH and I regularly do this at 60+ (5 am). I will admit that 3/4 a mile later I broke my "rules of engagement" when I turned from Scenic to Needham (posted 15 MPH) , but by then he was too far back there.
I would have just putted along or even let him ride in front but....
At least we nodded

[John]

What is it about under passes that make hd riders stupidly rev their engines? I was driving along side one the other day, and we both left the stop light together, got under the bridge, and it was like he was possesed.. he pulled this real long second gear just to make his bike sound off...it's rather annoying actually. And is true that if they don't keep revving them at stop lights then the bike will stall? Or is that just some kind of 'mating call' for other hd's. Is he just saying' Look at me, I'm on a harley', so other hd riders will know he's there? Or is it to intimidate other riders? Either way, they look like a fool. It reminds me of an old dog that just likes to hear himself bark.

[chevy45412001]

the wave

ha ha ha I like that one TC,to bad i don't have four middle fingers though

[MAXIMAN]

Originally posted by pggg
Someone said that V-rods are about the only V-twins to match a Yamaha XS1100. Don't underestimate these modern V-twins - the SV and older TL Suzukis have stonking crazy motors in lightweight chassis. One litre VTR's are similar, not quite as manic, but the SP2 is a complete bloody rocket. I've outdragged a TL on the open road on my tricked XS, but the TL dragged me in and spat me out at 130mph! Still, these things are hard-core performance machines - an XS11 is just a 'plodding' shaftdrive tourer no?

I don't think we're comparing apples to aples.

An SV and TL are sport bikes the last time I looked. If my '79SF weighed 407 lbs the outcome would be radically different.

I was tyring to compare an Eleven to a cruiser which is basically what an Eleven is be it Special or Standard.

The TL should've spit you out at 130+. It's geared totally different and employees a full cafe fairing.

[MAXIMAN]

Originally posted by John
What is it about under passes that make hd riders stupidly rev their engines?

I guess it's like honking in a tunnel, or looking at your "endowment" under a microscope. It makes their appendage seem much larger than it really is.

Or is that just some kind of 'mating call' for other hd's. Is he just saying' Look at me, I'm on a harley', so other hd riders will know he's there? Or is it to intimidate other riders? Either way, they look like a fool. It reminds me of an old dog that just likes to hear himself bark.

By the boss. How's UR back?

[John]

Back

It's getting better...just not fast enough. I've been in therapy for five weeks now, and while there is a lot of improvement, it just seems like for ever to get back to normal. There are still so many things that I can't do.

[xs650mike]

My pet peeve about Harley riders is that they seem to think LOUD = FAST. First thing these guys do with a new bike is mount open drag pipes which actually narrow the powerband so that in the real world the bike is actually slower! Then they don't bother to re-jet so the bike idles badly (which is why they're constantly revving the engine at stops) and backfires on back-off. I'm a guitar player and there's a guitar player t-shirt that reads "Tune it or DIE!" which is how I feel about these guys. I can actually blow these fools off from a stoplight up to about 50 mph on my XS400 which is a notoriously slow bike. Hee hee hee! (BTW the 400 handles great and I've embarrassed a few sportbikers on familiar twisty roads.)

I live on a steep hill and there was a Harley rider with a horribly lean carb and open pipes who would ride down my hill popping and banging at all hours on his way down to the local bar. I mentioned this to a friend saying that I was almost on the verge of using the 9mm solution on this guy on a black Heritage Springer. He says "I know that guy!" So he mentions to the Harley guy down at the bar that he's annoying the f*** out of me and the guy starts taking a different route to the bar which is considerate. Now it's one year later and he comes down my street and lo and behold he's finally got the carb tuned!

[MAXIMAN]

Re: Back

Originally posted by John
It's getting better...just not fast enough. I've been in therapy for five weeks now, and while there is a lot of improvement, it just seems like for ever to get back to normal. There are still so many things that I can't do.

I feel your pain. 1995 I crushed my left hand in an oilfield accident. 7,000 lbs of 3/8 sucker rod flattened it like bug. After 2 intense surgeries and 4 months of therapy I regained most of the use...but I was permanently disabled in that hand (according to my surgeon) 25%.

It's very frustrating 10 years after the fact that I can't do certain things with my hand that I could before. However, in light of what happened I'm blessed to even have a hand at all. The docotor told be if it had happened just five or six years earlier he would've had to remove most of my hand. That oughta tell ya how far they came in 6 years with micro-surgery.

Hope you get better John.

[pggg]

Yeah Max, old 4 cyl musclebikes versus V twin cruisers - no contest. Old 4 cyl musclebikes versus new V twin sportbikes - still a contest up to say 110 mph - then bye-bye musclebike. Old 4 cyl musclebikes versus modern 1 litre 4 cyl sportbikes - ahh, I'd rather not talk about it...

[MAXIMAN]

Originally posted by pggg
Yeah Max, old 4 cyl musclebikes versus V twin cruisers - no contest. Old 4 cyl musclebikes versus new V twin sportbikes - still a contest up to say 110 mph - then bye-bye musclebike. Old 4 cyl musclebikes versus modern 1 litre 4 cyl sportbikes - ahh, I'd rather not talk about it...

True that bro! But like I was telling one of my friends that rides an R1...he was blowing and going about what a killer bike he had..AND HE DOES have a killer bike.

I said "One thing this old Eleven has that your 2004 R1 will never have............CHARACTER."

[Pat Kelly]

Originally posted by MAXIMAN



I said "One thing this old Eleven has that your 2004 R1 will never have............CHARACTER."

That, and a comfortable riding position. A coworker was harping how his R1 was so much better than my bike. I told him I was about to head to Canada (for Big Is Deuce), did he want to come along? "3,000 miles in a week, no way!"