1st time on a harley

[Gossamer_in_FLL]

I saw one of these last night at a vintage motorcycle meetup in Ft. Lauderdale.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my own pic because it was too dark.  But it was just like this: 100% stock and freakin' cool.



1979 Harley XLCR by AMF

I would DEFINITELY consider one of these for my collection.  The owner said he bought it through CL in Winsconsin for around $3000.  Lucky bastard!

[Grampa]

made from salvaged bowling ball return parts.

[Ducatamount]

I heard Urals are made from salvaged Chernobyl pieces.

[Speedbag]

I saw one of these last night at a vintage motorcycle meetup in Ft. Lauderdale.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my own pic because it was too dark.  But it was just like this: 100% stock and freakin' cool.



1979 Harley XLCR by AMF

I would DEFINITELY consider one of these for my collection.  The owner said he bought it through CL in Winsconsin for around $3000.  Lucky bastard!

He STOLE that XLCR....

Me, I REALLY want an XR1000.... 

[Grampa]

I heard Urals are made from salvaged Chernobyl pieces.

so that's why my ass glows

[Speedbag]

so that's why my ass glows

So that's not due to the rotorootering.....

[SpikeC]

He STOLE that XLCR....

Me, I REALLY want an XR1000.... 

 I've always loved that bike, the only problem with it is the frame, the suspension, and the motor.........

[nllm_oo_mlln]

Wow the dmf is getting old. However I too recently acquired my first Hog...

I come from HD folk. Mostly white, indian, and or black scooter trash. My sister has a lowered sporty that once had the lipstick graphic on the tank until she dumped it and got it painted a subtle dark blue metal flake. while it was at the shop she got the saddle re-upolstered in natural ostrich I think--it wasn't cow or vinyl. I met up with a HS buddy a few years ago on my 620 and rode to a greasy spoon. He revved his pan-head bobber as we went under an overpass. I just felt inadequate with my stock pipes. My step dad had a metal flake blue 75th anniversary bagger/dresser that he rode to work early and late season (it inevitably broke down every summer and my mom needed our four wheeled ride.) I still remember him riding in on one cylinder for a week one brisk spring in the 80's. 

Most us were just hardcore admirers back then including my mom. She went to Bike Week in '84 where she saw her first Harley trike... mind you she had a gnarly coffin tank yamaha chopper at home. She piloted it out of a near-miss with her boyfriend who was riding cupcake on the way home from... from church. But she always wanted a Harley and stopped riding after she traded the bike for a van.

As the brand got diluted with officially licensed crap peddled at K-mart I remembered that I always liked the emerging sport bikes. I uttered to myself "Naw, I aint gonna be the sellout honda-loving jerk like Grandpa Bob." In the early 90's I secretly gazed at magazines in a local bookstore. I pulled the trigger on one when I saw the Monster in either Cycle World or Sport Rider. I can have my cake and eat it?! V-twin/ L-twin, air cooled and a veritably old school marque. It would be a good fifteen years until I pulled the trigger on the actual bike.

My truck broke down two Saturdays ago and I had to fix the Monster. First time I rode when it was below freezing.  My Harley is a white 2004 Road King converted into a trike that's on consignment at Sandy's Harley in Freemont, MI. My mother picked it up a few months before she was diagnosed with gastric cancer. I'm back home where I grew up; where my step dad pulled in on his hobbled bike, where my mom pulled in on her trike in the summer of 2012 and where I finally pull in to ogle motorcycles from afar again. 

I get Harley. I guess I always understood. It's like the way my buddy and his bobber looked  lower than a semi's tires on our ride back from lunch. The way my sister's bike gets complements for her "custom" lowered sporty. The way I felt when I first rode on public roads astride my spanking-new 695.

footnote: I only encountered one biker in the cold wet conditions. He half-heartidly waved back from his Goldwing. 

[koko64]

He STOLE that XLCR....

Me, I REALLY want an XR1000.... 

Remember the film "Black Rain"?

Yes an XR1000 streetbike and XR750 (or even KR750) for the track.

[Travman]

Wow the dmf is getting old. However I too recently acquired my first Hog...

I come from HD folk. Mostly white, indian, and or black scooter trash. My sister has a lowered sporty that once had the lipstick graphic on the tank until she dumped it and got it painted a subtle dark blue metal flake. while it was at the shop she got the saddle re-upolstered in natural ostrich I think--it wasn't cow or vinyl. I met up with a HS buddy a few years ago on my 620 and rode to a greasy spoon. He revved his pan-head bobber as we went under an overpass. I just felt inadequate with my stock pipes. My step dad had a metal flake blue 75th anniversary bagger/dresser that he rode to work early and late season (it inevitably broke down every summer and my mom needed our four wheeled ride.) I still remember him riding in on one cylinder for a week one brisk spring in the 80's. 

Most us were just hardcore admirers back then including my mom. She went to Bike Week in '84 where she saw her first Harley trike... mind you she had a gnarly coffin tank yamaha chopper at home. She piloted it out of a near-miss with her boyfriend who was riding cupcake on the way home from... from church. But she always wanted a Harley and stopped riding after she traded the bike for a van.

As the brand got diluted with officially licensed crap peddled at K-mart I remembered that I always liked the emerging sport bikes. I uttered to myself "Naw, I aint gonna be the sellout honda-loving jerk like Grandpa Bob." In the early 90's I secretly gazed at magazines in a local bookstore. I pulled the trigger on one when I saw the Monster in either Cycle World or Sport Rider. I can have my cake and eat it?! V-twin/ L-twin, air cooled and a veritably old school marque. It would be a good fifteen years until I pulled the trigger on the actual bike.

My truck broke down two Saturdays ago and I had to fix the Monster. First time I rode when it was below freezing.  My Harley is a white 2004 Road King converted into a trike that's on consignment at Sandy's Harley in Freemont, MI. My mother picked it up a few months before she was diagnosed with gastric cancer. I'm back home where I grew up; where my step dad pulled in on his hobbled bike, where my mom pulled in on her trike in the summer of 2012 and where I finally pull in to ogle motorcycles from afar again. 

I get Harley. I guess I always understood. It's like the way my buddy and his bobber looked  lower than a semi's tires on our ride back from lunch. The way my sister's bike gets complements for her "custom" lowered sporty. The way I felt when I first rode on public roads astride my spanking-new 695.

footnote: I only encountered one biker in the cold wet conditions. He half-heartidly waved back from his Goldwing. 

Dude, that was one long, boring, pointless story.

[kopfjäger]

Dude, that was one long, boring, pointless story.

 

[nllm_oo_mlln]

duh-- my mother died last april 15 days before her 66th birthday and waited too long to ride.

[Ducatamount]

Dude, that was one long, boring, pointless story.

Dude, that was cold.

[DrScooter]

Grew up on Brit bikes in my High School Daze, in the 1980 I picked up my first and until now only Ducati. As odd as it sounds to many, in the 90's I wanted a Scooter and picked up a nice Honda CH250 and yes, I had grown up making fun of "Rice Grinders". Keeping the Scoot, I purchased my first and only Harley a 2005 883 Sportster XL and must say I love this bike. It is what it is, however with the fancy "rubber" mount engine one can actually use the mirrors and for the most part, well Harley parts don't just fall off. It's not fast, handling is solid but it ain't no sports bike, yes and the brakes pretty much suck. Still, slap on a shorty helmet for the sound effects and go out bombing the backroads and it is one fun bike. Mind you, I just picked up a Monster, knowing well that this new Ducati will trounce the Sportster, I don't care. Not planning on selling the 883, I really enjoy riding and owning what I consider real classics. I now own a Vespa GTS 250ie, again a classic that I love to ride. Soon I will round out the old stable with yet another, what I consider true classic a Ducati S2R 800. I should note I did sell my Honda CH 250 Elite when I purchased my Vespa, now the old Honda is not to my mind a classic, still that is after some 20,000 trouble free  miles that 27 year old scoot was still running. I just like riding motorbikes and having been doing just that since 1972, I'm excited to be getting my second Duc although I really hope the electric are a bit more consistent then the old 750 ..........

[SDRider]

08 sporster with the 1200 conversion.  whoa.  i never wouldve considered a harley, but a buddy of mine picked this little gem up the other day and I got to rip around on it for a few miles this afternoon. i dont know why, maybe because it felt like sitting on a dining room chair with 90hp and wheels, but i was literally hysterically laughing every time I twisted the loud handle.  what a fun little bike! made me feel like a little kid on a new bmx. the brakes absolutely sucked, the shifting was kind of sloppy, the clutch felt like a wet sponge, but it was a blast. handling was better than I expected and it was tons of fun to lean it over! it kind of felt like you needed to be strapped in, especially at highway speeds. im guessing that's because i'm used to being able to hold on to the bike with my legs, not my ams and hands, plus there's nowhere at all to hide from the wind.

last but not least, self canceling signals should be standard on every bike.

This is everything I hate about cruisers... and you already covered why I hate Harley's with the crappy brakes and sloppy shifting (except you forgot about the weight, horrible suspension and lack of power).  I've ridden the Diavel and the riding position is why I'll never own one.  Otherwise, it is a fun bike.  Tons of power, great chassis and brakes, handles well but that riding position... and the faster you go the worse it gets and this is a fast bike.  Makes no sense whatsoever.