The Bikers thread

[Dajjal]

I figure there are a number of bikers here and they can tell their stories here.

I am not really a biker any longer as I sold my last bike in 1993, but I rode bikes continuously from 1962 to 1993. I have had a:

cycle master (early moped)
BSA Bantam
BSA 250cc
Triumph tiger cub
Honda 90cc
Honda CB500
Honda CB650
Suzuki 400cc
Yamaha 250cc

The best bikes were the BSA bantam and the Honda CB500. I did a lot of miles on them.
I used to go to the south coast on my bantam in the sixties during the mods and rockers craze. Later I did a lot of miles on the Honda CB500.

I used to ride the CB650 at 120 miles per hour on a regular basis all the year round.
My closest brush with death was when I made a mistake by overtaking a lorry when there
was a bus coming the other way. It was a snap decision between slowing down or speeding up, but I came so close to a headlong crash into the front of the bus that I could see the whites of the drivers eyes, and the look of apprehension on his face, but I just made it.

 

[PredFan]

I rode bikes as well, but my riding days were ended by carpal tunnel syndrome. From 1st bike to last:

1. Bridgestone 100cc
2. Honda 175 "Enduro"
3. Honda 750
4. Harley Davidson Sportster

 

[The Professor]

Until a few years ago, I drove a Suzuki Savage (650). I loved the belt drive and the air-cooled engine.

Only had one near mishap. A car ran a red light in front of me and instead of hitting the rear brake hard, I put too much pressure on the front brake. I almost went down, but I learned my lesson.

When I went to classes to learn to ride, students had to get up to 25-30 mph and jam the rear brakes to come to a controlled skid-stop. I was apprehensive at first, but when I tried it there were no problems. We were warned the the front brake had more braking power, but too much pressure to quickly could make the rider lose control. I found out the hard way that it was true.

 

[Dajjal]

Until a few years ago, I drove a Suzuki Savage (650). I loved the belt drive and the air-cooled engine.

Only had one near mishap. A car ran a red light in front of me and instead of hitting the rear brake hard, I put too much pressure on the front brake. I almost went down, but I learned my lesson.

When I went to classes to learn to ride, students had to get up to 25-30 mph and jam the rear brakes to come to a controlled skid-stop. I was apprehensive at first, but when I tried it there were no problems. We were warned the the front brake had more braking power, but too much pressure to quickly could make the rider lose control. I found out the hard way that it was true.

Yea, the braking thing is tricky. I came off my early bikes a couple of times but learned to read the road ahead so that I usually did not have to brake hard. I had S tread avon roadrunner tyres on both the front and back wheels on my big bikes, because I felt more comfortable cornering with an S tread tyre on the back rather than a cross tread. But I once had to brake hard when some silly cow stopped suddenly in the middle of the road, and I have to admit I locked the back wheel. That probably would not have happened if I had a cross tread tyre on the back wheel.

 

[007]

 

[Ernie S.]

My avatar is my current ride. I have owned one BSA (1968 Lightning 650 S) a 440 cc Kawasaki and 7 Harley Davidsons. 4 Sportsters, a Superglide my current '04 FLHRP and my first bike, a 1949 FLHP. I've been riding since '67 (bought the pan in 69) and figure I'm pushing 800,000 miles on 2 wheels.

It's in my blood, I suppose, My grandfather rode Harley Davidsons. My dad rode and raced Harley Davidsons. I've been riding them for 44 years. My current wife rides a Sportster and my 3 kids own 5 more. My daughter rides a Sportster. Greg owns a FatBoy, a Dyna wideglide and a Sporty and Josh owns a FatBoy.