Bikes

[EricJ]

My Sporty is a rubber mount and it shakes enough, I can imagine how much those older solid mounts shake. Mine is an 883 as well and i can leave any of the big boys behind on a curvy road, they do start to overtake me in the straightaways. But here in the mountains the straight stretches are mostly interstate anyhow.
@ Wingrider, we have a couple of guys that ride old Wings (80's models) We have nicknamed one Scraper cause thats what you hear when riding behind him on a curvy road, he handles that sucker like a sportbike, the other guy stripped all the fairings off his and painted it flat black, looks kind of roadwarrior, pretty cool IMO.
I kind of like the variety of the guys in our group we are a very individualized group and our bikes represent that, they're an extension of that indivuality just like our Tats and our leathers, many similarities but none the same.

 

[WingRider]

EricJ wrote:

We have nicknamed one Scraper cause thats what you hear when riding behind him on a curvy road, he handles that sucker like a sportbike,

Yeah, that was me. The foot pegs on the Wing were ground off at a 45° angle from scrapping on the Twisties.

What part of SW Virginia do you live in. I've ridden Hwy 58 between Damascus and Mouths of Wilson more times than I can count. Same for the BRP up as far as around Floyd. Love going to Chateau Morrisette and Floyd on a Friday night. I've ridden the whole Parkway as well as Skyline Drive. One of the guys in our ride group grew up near Christiansburg, and has a place not to far from there that we go to occasionally.

I also try to get up to Wayne Henderson's annual festival at Grayson Highlands as often as I can.

Beautiful country!

 

[EricJ]

WingRider,
I live between Christiansburg and Floyd in a small community called Riner, grew up here. I drive through C'burg every day to go to Blacksburg (Home of Va Tech) for work. We ride down to Mt Airy occasionally and a place called Stations Inn just off the BRP (in NC), a kind of Biker Mecca. Thats about as far south that we get on a regular basis, we ride up to Natural Bridge & Lexington, VA (North) to Smith Mt Lake (East) & out throuth West Va, most of our rides are one day rides either a Sat or Sun all day, Sometimes several get together & go to Gatlinburg or Richmond for a weekend event, in about a Month several are planning a ride to Charlotte to a big swap meet there. Next summer we want to plan a weekend to the Tail of The Dragon, down south of the Smokies. Let me know next time you come up maybe you could ride with us.

 

[WingRider]

EricJ

I've been to Station's Inn a lot. Going up 18, actually some of the back roads coming up out of Elkin and then ending up on 18, is one of my favorite ways up onto the Parkway. As my daughter went to App State, I know a lot of roads up that way, and have lead annual mountain rides for our ride group for several years. Actually I now prefer Freeborne's to Stations in. Its just a 100 feet up the road on the other side. It's the wife from Station's Inn. She and her husband fell out, and she opened this place. Gotta love it. I tell everyone that Freeborne's is the only gourmet biker bar I know.

Been on Tail of the Dragon. It's nice, but no better than a lot of other mountain roads, as I'm sure you know. Have you been to Shady Valley on 421 between Mountain City and Bristol? It's the heart of what's called The Snake. Also a biker hangout, I like it every bit as much as The Dragon.

Finally, if you get to Charlotte you all have to go to McCranies. One of the best pipe and tobacco stores in NC. I bought a pipe there the morning I crashed my bike. But that's another tale I guess I should post sometime.

Would love to meet you sometime. Let me know the next time you're heading down to Station's Inn.

Ciao

Bob

 

[WaydeG]

It's funny this topic came up, I hvenever been a "bike guy," but lately I can't get it out of my head. I started looking at "rat bikes" online because I like the style, cheapness and DIY sort of feel.

Yeah. I just turned 53 and have never ridden a bike in my life, but I have been thinking about taking a motorcycle safety course and buying a bike. I really like cruisers as opposed to sport bikes. I'll probably take the course in the spring and go out and find me a good second hand bike to ride.

I'm an on again, off again rider and happen to be a Road Glide fan. Raced many years ago - VF1000R, RM 500.

That being sad, the old Triumphs fascinate me, especially with the introduction of the new Thunderbird Storm. It's completely different animal vs the RG but still evokes an old school style.

Just can't pull the trigger on a bike as I'm the sole provider for a wife and two teens. Too much to risk, too much to lose but I'll be damned if I won't own one of the two and do a cross country venture before I leave this plane of existence!

 

[slipknor]

I'm a Royal Enfield owner.
I'm proud to have a 350cc Bullet!

 

[Stackle2]

2003 Hayabusa GSX-1300R- custom exhaust, OHLINS suspension, power commander, lots of small engine performance upgrades, hard side bags, gel seats. I set it up as a highway cruiser/touring bike that can also pull sub 9's at the track on the weekends. Absolute joy to ride.

 

[EC Outlaw]

I ride a Honda XR650L.

Got my first bike in 1966 (a Honda), have owned Bridgestone, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Triumph, Norton, Ducati, and more Honda's. Never owned a BMW. But I do like the fit and finish of Honda's, and the stone-cold reliabilty of the ones that I have owned.

 

[mark]

Gave my XR650L to a friend last year ,,,,I enjoyed every mile I put on that bear,,,one helluva machine.

 

[old_salt]

My current ride.

84 FXST; with a few mods
S&S Super Sidewinder 107" long block
S&S Super "G" carb.
Rivera Engineering "Pro Clutch"
PM 4 piston calipers on the front.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Ok, i'm not Skeered. I'll show off my fire-breathing monsters. This is absolute RAW horsepower now. Actually, they all get 80-100 mpg and in Missouri no License or Insurance is required. Helmets are optional on anything under 50cc's, but I wear one for good measure.

I don't have a good pic of my Honda Metropolitan, but i'll show my Honda Elite SA50 and a Honda Clone chinese 50cc Moped. As soon as the rain stops, i'll get a better pic of the 2009 Metropolitan.

2009 Honda Metropolitan

1993 Honda Elite SA50

2010 Chinese 50cc Moped

Also, a good friend of mine on his Original Indian Moped! He's done a partial restoration on it and has it running great. The cosmetics will be dealt with this winter.

 

[TCnBham]

Currently, I ride a Harley Davidson 2011 CVO Road Glide Ultra (CVO stands for Custom Vehicle Operations). It's basically a completely decked out HD from the factory. I've owned Honda, Ducati, other HD, Yamaha.

 

[PipeGeek]

2011 Victory Cross Roads. Traded in my 2003 Suzuki Volusia for it last summer.

 

[Sean68]

I currently ride a 2010 Triumph Speed Triple, the ultimate hooligan motorcycle! I love this machine.

It was my first motorcycle in five years. Financial troubles left me bikeless for those five years.

I have owned several other motorcycles in the past, including a Harley Road King (1996) and two Sportsters (1995 and 2001). The Sportsters are by far some of the most enjoyable motorcycles to ride. Folks who chose to label your motorcycle a "girls bike" have some serious security issues of their own (since when is 883 cc's something to sneeze at?). I have also owned a 1996 Honda CBR600, 1998 Triumph Daytona 1200, and a 2000 Aprilia RSV Mille.

I love my Speed Triple and plan to own it forever. As I pay it off I am planning the next machine. I have been debating a Harley Road King or a Triumph Rocket III. However, I have a neighbor who wants to sell me his Harley Dyna Super Glide for a very fair price. He has not put it on the market as I am deployed, so hopefully it will still be available when I get home in the fall. That being the case, the fair price leaves me primed for a not too distant future purchase of an early 2000's Ducati ST4. A sweet, exotic sport tourer for daddy to escape on...

 

[Sean68]

I'm a Royal Enfield owner.
I'm proud to have a 350cc Bullet!

Sir, these motorcycles are very cool. Enjoy!

 

[Growley]

I can't believe I'm just now seeing this thread. I'm a huge motorcycle fan.

My first bike was a 1990 Yamaha V-Max 1200. That's a lot of bike for your first bike. It's basically a drag bike made to go ridiculously fast....in a straight line. She didn't do so well in the corners. I got this when I lived in Colorado and rode it so much that I sold my car. I even rode it on occasion in the snow....very stupid. In fact, the lowest temperature I ever rode her in was 8 degrees. Now that's commitment. I had her tweaked out to get more performance and she'd go through rear tires like mad.

Here she is. Her name was "Mr. Sir!"

After I rode the daylights out of Mr. Sir, I decided to pick up my dream bike, a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa 1300. I couldn't have asked for anything more. This bike was everything I wanted it to be.

I write in past tense, because I sold her a few years back. I decided that I had ridden long enough and had come out unscathed, so it was probably a good time to quit tempting my fate sell it. My family was all very relieved to see "Lucy" go. While I think it was a wise decision, it was really hard to watch someone else ride off on her, and to this day I wish I were still riding.

 

[Sean68]

I write in past tense, because I sold her a few years back. I decided that I had ridden long enough and had come out unscathed, so it was probably a good time to quit tempting my fate sell it. My family was all very relieved to see "Lucy" go. While I think it was a wise decision, it was really hard to watch someone else ride off on her, and to this day I wish I were still riding. [/quote]

Growley, my good Sir! You must return to the road! I was without a motorcycle for five years and it was down right depressing. I can understand the time comes to put away the fast bikes. But that is the time to find a comfortable cruiser to put around on! I am researching Harley Dyna models right now. A more reasonable option from Harley.

Cheers!

 

[Sean68]

My Triumph Speed Triple. It is a 2010 model I bought brand new in December 2011 when I returned from my last deployment to Afghanistan. I love this little beast! I was only able to put around 600 miles on her before redeploying. I am looking forward to many years and many miles of fun in my Trumpet!

 

[Dutch]

Couple pics of my Road King Custom.

 

[Sean68]

Dutch, I love the Road Kings! I had one I bought in 1995, probably had it for six or seven years. It was a good bike.

I might be buying a 2009 Dyna Super Glide Custom when I get home. A neighbor is trying to sell me his (it only has 600 miles, the missus didn't approve...). I hope to find some good riding roads around Huntsville when I get there!