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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 28, 2019 20:41:38 GMT -5
I was on the 70 Kawasaki 250 one afternoon and 2 women pulled out of an infamous bar for married cheaters right in front of me. I was riding beside them kicking their door and side window. They went in the ditch, but weren't hurt. I am so glad that I grew up. 😨🤠
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 28, 2019 21:34:12 GMT -5
I was on the 70 Kawasaki 250 one afternoon and 2 women pulled out of an infamous bar for married cheaters right in front of me. I was riding beside them kicking their door and side window. They went in the ditch, but weren't hurt. I am so glad that I grew up. 😨🤠 A car pulled out in front of me one night when riding my RD250 (350 by then) It started moving, stopped, then pulled out. I barely missed the car. If the oncoming lane wasn't free off traffic I would have had nowhere to go. The fright in those situation often turns to anger. I followed this car for miles until it eventually pulled over. It was then that I realised that it was a female driver with a female passenger. The poor things were so frightened. I was shouting 'you nearly killed me!' I told them if they had had a male in the car I'd be taking it out on him. The driver was extremely apologetic & they quickly calmed when they realised that I was angry, not violent. (Not towards females at least, lol) To be fair I was going way too fast. One fact that came out when legislation requiring motorbikes to have lights on during daytime was being debated, was that it's much harder for other road users to judge the speed of a motorbike with it's lights on than when not. That's why I submitted a letter saying that a couple of smaller lights would be safer. A reply said my submission was considered impractical for manufacturers to comply. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 28, 2019 21:44:20 GMT -5
elric , yes, 90 mph cruise with the fairing, top speed was about 104. Stripped with me laying on the tank it made 114,eventually. A single front wheel trike feels a lot like a bike going straight. Steering is like a car instead of counterstearing. I have seen trikes leave 2 wheelers in their dust. More rubber on the road. You can shift your weight like you would with a sidecar. I am not saying that a trike would be able to keep up with a 999 ridden by someone who knows what they are doing, but I haven't been passed on any curves by a two wheeler that I didn't let by. Steering takes a lot more effort, but with a little rake and the new special trike tires it's not bad. I have taken a 25 mph curve at 78mph with my wife on the back, a full load in both trunks and the top rack, and pulling a trailer. Very stable at all speeds, dirt roads no problem. I have ridden it on flooded roads when everyone else has pulled off while standing on the pegs with the cruise control set at 30 mph. Most of the people in our Gold Wing chapter ride trikes and say they wish they had converted sooner. A few of them who really should convert are letting their pride get in the way. There are a lot of choices in trikes these days, but the Wing conversion is still the best overall, and the most expensive to buy new. Luckily, a used one with a hundred thousand miles is just broken in. That's really good to know. My love for Ducati's, amongst other things, was their handling ability. Whenever I found myself entering a corner way too fast or when having to take evasive maneuvers in an emergency situation, a Ducati would always 'keep it's head'. As stable, as dependable & as predictable as could be. (By comparison, Jap bikes back then had the bad habit of shaking &/or bucking in those situations) If I do buy a trike, I'll be joining a trike club to learn from those with experience. Never too old to learn new skills. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 28, 2019 21:51:14 GMT -5
Forgot to add; that incident on the RD was basically my fault. Young & stupid.
It taught me one of the basic rules that I applied to my riding from then on & that is never put myself in that position.
To never go fast around corners that have a side street not far from it's exit. Never to go fast over blind crescents or unfamiliar bends.
It's just plain commonsense really.
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 8:42:04 GMT -5
I ought to mention that I ride a Motor Trike conversion. Other brands are focused more on the luxury ride and may not handle quite as well. Probably well enough though.
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 8:46:36 GMT -5
Probably why most Harley road bikes ride with 4 headlights on. I have 6 on all the time on the trike. It doesn't seem to help as much as you would like.
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 10:37:07 GMT -5
I ought to mention that I ride a Motor Trike conversion. Other brands are focused more on the luxury ride and may not handle quite as well. Probably well enough though. I'd join a trike club before I bought a trike. Club members are usually the best source of good advice & only happy to share. I'm a boy racer at heart so any choice would be based on handling ability first & foremost. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 10:45:36 GMT -5
Probably why most Harley road bikes ride with 4 headlights on. I have 6 on all the time on the trike. It doesn't seem to help as much as you would like. Night riding has more risks than daytime. Especially when riding in the Aussie bush. Way outback one doesn't drive a car at night unless one can't avoid it. Too many animals. If one can't avoid it, the more lights the better. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 11:02:30 GMT -5
Probably why most Harley road bikes ride with 4 headlights on. I have 6 on all the time on the trike. It doesn't seem to help as much as you would like. Night riding has more risks than daytime. Especially when riding in the Aussie bush. Way outback one doesn't drive a car at night unless one can't avoid it. Too many animals. If one can't avoid it, the more lights the better. Same here. Deer are like rats but not as smart. I used to love riding at night, but no more. The lights don't help when the deer you see jump into you, and the others jump directly from the woods onto the road. Armadillos are better on three wheels, but still dangerous to hit. The Wing will flatten anything smaller. The lights do help with cattle which are pretty easy to get around if you see them in time. One reason I prefer the Wing to a Spider or a Slingshot is that you sit much higher and can see much further down the road. I run all lights day and night. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 11:03:21 GMT -5
I ought to mention that I ride a Motor Trike conversion. Other brands are focused more on the luxury ride and may not handle quite as well. Probably well enough though. I'd join a trike club before I bought a trike. Club members are usually the best source of good advice & only happy to share. I'm a boy racer at heart so any choice would be based on handling ability first & foremost. We rented one twice before we decided to buy. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 18:14:55 GMT -5
Night riding has more risks than daytime. Especially when riding in the Aussie bush. Way outback one doesn't drive a car at night unless one can't avoid it. Too many animals. If one can't avoid it, the more lights the better. Same here. Deer are like rats but not as smart. I used to love riding at night, but no more. The lights don't help when the deer you see jump into you, and the others jump directly from the woods onto the road. Armadillos are better on three wheels, but still dangerous to hit. The Wing will flatten anything smaller. The lights do help with cattle which are pretty easy to get around if you see them in time. One reason I prefer the Wing to a Spider or a Slingshot is that you sit much higher and can see much further down the road. I run all lights day and night. Roos will just sit up & stare at lights at night. Feral pigs aren't fun to hit but the wombat causes the most damage to a car (and then waddles off) Hitting one on a bike usually sends a rider flying. Then there's all sorts of other marsupials, feral animals & lizards. Monitor lizards like the goanna can grow huge. Snakes often curl up on asphalt at night for the heat. They often look like a bit of shredded tyre. Avoid at all costs as they often flick up & will bite. The most common snakes here are the brown & black snakes. Both deadly, the common brown snake is the worlds #2 most deadly. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 18:16:06 GMT -5
I'd join a trike club before I bought a trike. Club members are usually the best source of good advice & only happy to share. I'm a boy racer at heart so any choice would be based on handling ability first & foremost. We rented one twice before we decided to buy. Excellent idea. Not sure if trikes are available to rent here in Oz. I'll have to check it out. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 18:41:38 GMT -5
Same here. Deer are like rats but not as smart. I used to love riding at night, but no more. The lights don't help when the deer you see jump into you, and the others jump directly from the woods onto the road. Armadillos are better on three wheels, but still dangerous to hit. The Wing will flatten anything smaller. The lights do help with cattle which are pretty easy to get around if you see them in time. One reason I prefer the Wing to a Spider or a Slingshot is that you sit much higher and can see much further down the road. I run all lights day and night. Roos will just sit up & stare at lights at night. Feral pigs aren't fun to hit but the wombat causes the most damage to a car (and then waddles off) Hitting one on a bike usually sends a rider flying. Then there's all sorts of other marsupials, feral animals & lizards. Monitor lizards like the goanna can grow huge. Snakes often curl up on asphalt at night for the heat. They often look like a bit of shredded tyre. Avoid at all costs as they often flick up & will bite. The most common snakes here are the brown & black snakes. Both deadly, the common brown snake is the worlds #2 most deadly. Can't argue that Australia has Texas beat when it comes to dangerous critters. We have a lot of other mobile road hazards, but the unmentioned four legged ones are usually smart enough to to get off the road, at least to the point that they are below the level of danger posed by the 2 legged critters. And I don't mean the roadrunners. I would hate to hit it javalina, but they run from approaching danger. The deer are the biggest hazard by a wide margin. In Maine, they are superseded by moose. If you hit one of those your number is up. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 18:43:58 GMT -5
We rented one twice before we decided to buy. Excellent idea. Not sure if trikes are available to rent here in Oz. I'll have to check it out. The shop we bought from actually let us borrow one a couple of times for a couple of hours. Doesn't hurt to ask. Be sure to spend a decent amount of time on the parking lot before hitting the highway. Do you ride now? If not, how long? |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 22:34:10 GMT -5
Excellent idea. Not sure if trikes are available to rent here in Oz. I'll have to check it out. The shop we bought from actually let us borrow one a couple of times for a couple of hours. Doesn't hurt to ask. Be sure to spend a decent amount of time on the parking lot before hitting the highway. Do you ride now? If not, how long? Since losing my leg over 19 years ago I've only had a couple of short rides to see if it was possible. As I have no feeling in that leg, I can't ride as quick through corners so I gave up on the idea. Seeing a couple of Can-Am Spyders sparked an interest. After reading of their reliability issues I then considered a trike. There seems to be mainly two styles of trikes; those with an engine behind the rider (often a VW boxer motor) or those that are a conversion like yours. The conversion type is more to my liking. It will definitely be a big learning curve for me & I understand I'll need to gain a bit of experience before I start pushing to find a trikes limits through corners. |
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elric
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Post by elric on Apr 29, 2019 22:41:37 GMT -5
Roos will just sit up & stare at lights at night. Feral pigs aren't fun to hit but the wombat causes the most damage to a car (and then waddles off) Hitting one on a bike usually sends a rider flying. Then there's all sorts of other marsupials, feral animals & lizards. Monitor lizards like the goanna can grow huge. Snakes often curl up on asphalt at night for the heat. They often look like a bit of shredded tyre. Avoid at all costs as they often flick up & will bite. The most common snakes here are the brown & black snakes. Both deadly, the common brown snake is the worlds #2 most deadly. Can't argue that Australia has Texas beat when it comes to dangerous critters. We have a lot of other mobile road hazards, but the unmentioned four legged ones are usually smart enough to to get off the road, at least to the point that they are below the level of danger posed by the 2 legged critters. And I don't mean the roadrunners. I would hate to hit it javalina, but they run from approaching danger. The deer are the biggest hazard by a wide margin. In Maine, they are superseded by moose. If you hit one of those your number is up. A moose? Gee, hitting one with a car would be bad enough. Due to the heat here, most marsupials will sleep during the day. Emus are the only animal stupid enough to run around during the heat of the day. So one learns to avoid riding around dusk & dawn when they're most active. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 23:01:55 GMT -5
Can't argue that Australia has Texas beat when it comes to dangerous critters. We have a lot of other mobile road hazards, but the unmentioned four legged ones are usually smart enough to to get off the road, at least to the point that they are below the level of danger posed by the 2 legged critters. And I don't mean the roadrunners. I would hate to hit it javalina, but they run from approaching danger. The deer are the biggest hazard by a wide margin. In Maine, they are superseded by moose. If you hit one of those your number is up. A moose? Gee, hitting one with a car would be bad enough. Due to the heat here, most marsupials will sleep during the day. Emus are the only animal stupid enough to run around during the heat of the day. So one learns to avoid riding around dusk & dawn when they're most active. I forgot about the emus. We had a big emu ranching boom about 20 years ago and when they didn't get rich they just turned a bunch loose. It has been a long time since I have seen one on the road. Maybe they are too stupid to survive in the wild here. A lot of ranches keep zebras, giraffes and exotic game animals. Be just my luck to rear - end a zebra. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 29, 2019 23:05:23 GMT -5
The shop we bought from actually let us borrow one a couple of times for a couple of hours. Doesn't hurt to ask. Be sure to spend a decent amount of time on the parking lot before hitting the highway. Do you ride now? If not, how long? Since losing my leg over 19 years ago I've only had a couple of short rides to see if it was possible. As I have no feeling in that leg, I can't ride as quick through corners so I gave up on the idea. Seeing a couple of Can-Am Spyders sparked an interest. After reading of their reliability issues I then considered a trike. There seems to be mainly two styles of trikes; those with an engine behind the rider (often a VW boxer motor) or those that are a conversion like yours. The conversion type is more to my liking. It will definitely be a big learning curve for me & I understand I'll need to gain a bit of experience before I start pushing to find a trikes limits through corners. We have friend from Baltimore who rides to the Texas Trike Reunion near San Antonio every year. He has no legs and carries a wheelchair on a special rack. He's worn out 2 Wings in the 6 years I've known him. |
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Post by bonanzadriver on May 7, 2019 20:39:27 GMT -5
This month Blondie and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary. So, I decided to treat her, and myself, to a cruise last week. We are fortunate enough to have some great family friends that are very experienced "Cruisers", that helped us arrange it all and even went along to kinda show us the ropes. Before we left I dropped the Fat Boy off at a custom bike shop and asked em to do a little work while we were cruising. They replaced the brushed finish lower forks with chrome ones. Lowered the suspension 2" front and back. Replaced the OEM kickstand with a shorter one (to accommodate the lower stance). And replaced the older straight pipes with some large radius turndowns. When we got home Friday night, I couldn't wait for Saturday morning to come, so I could pick up the bike. Gotta tell ya'll, I'm stoked with the way it turned out. It handles better with the center of gravity lowered. It definitely looks better to me. And Blondie likes that it's a little easier for her to climb onto. This evening we went out for a ride and met friends for a quick drink. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, this evening it was superb. Cool with low humidity. As we were leaving the pub I snapped a quick pic...  |
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2019 21:14:26 GMT -5
As we were leaving the pub I snapped a quick pic... Looks great, Dino! 👍 |
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Post by isett2860 on May 8, 2019 8:13:42 GMT -5
Dino the bike looks great. I’d say there will be a few fun filled days this summer!
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stone
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Post by stone on May 8, 2019 9:00:14 GMT -5
I miss my days of riding! When I was in the service and rode a bike primarily I installed an air-horn and I always flashed my headlights When approaching an intersection. A snot-nosed civilian cop gave me a ticket one morning for riding without my headlight on!
I told him when he grew up he would understand. He was older than me LOL
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voyager
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Post by voyager on May 11, 2019 5:43:11 GMT -5
hi all .
I have had
rd250.rd350.xs650d.ty250.duc450single.wl75042.2015x1200 sportster48 & now 2018flslslim m8
love my rides but should not have sold the walla
when on a ride I just give way to every one now.
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Post by monbla256 on May 11, 2019 15:00:53 GMT -5
Just be careful guys, I road many years and kept my distance from other vehicles. All it takes is one asshole’s mistake NOT on your part and you might become road pizza. Only time I’ve ever been down was on my ‘87 Aspencade, I was intentionally cut off on a parkway exit on Long Island. The bike had more damage than myself. I jumped clear enough off the bike so it would not fall near me. Idiots just laughed and drove away. Six other vehicles drove by without stopping to help, many others finally gave me a hand and called police. My bike had to be towed.
The only 3 wheel experience was with my '66 BMW R60/2 that I hooked up to a '56 Stieb hack. The /2s were the last Beemers that came with mounts for a hack though BMW never made one. It's a different way of riding especially left hand turns with no passenger in the hack!  |
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Post by Darin on May 11, 2019 15:17:28 GMT -5
Let's talk helmets!
I've just finished a bunch of research and decided on the HJC RPHA 90 for my next lid.
It's by far the best bang for the buck.
What do you guys ride with?
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voyager
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Post by voyager on May 18, 2019 5:28:47 GMT -5
I have three, it depends on what the weather is like.
over here in AUS it pays to have a visor on most of the time ."bugs,rocks,hot wind etc
1/2 face for spring/summer
full face the rest
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voyager
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Post by voyager on May 18, 2019 5:31:18 GMT -5
forgot to say how much is your head worth.
buy the best you can afford.
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Post by Darin on May 18, 2019 7:26:38 GMT -5
I have three, it depends on what the weather is like. over here in AUS it pays to have a visor on most of the time ."bugs,rocks,hot wind etc 1/2 face for spring/summer full face the rest It's always full-face for me which is why I like the modular design. Flipping up the front shell rather than having to remove the whole thing is great. We have similar issues here in Arizona as far as the heat, wind and rocks. |
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Post by isett2860 on May 18, 2019 10:37:07 GMT -5
I’ve been using a Shoei Neotec the past 2 years.
It’s modular. I have ridden over 10K with it and still like it!
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Post by Darin on May 18, 2019 10:50:38 GMT -5
I’ve been using a Shoei Neotec the past 2 years. It’s modular. I have ridden over 10K with it and still like it! That's a nice helmet! It was down to Shoei, Arai or HJC in my final decision.
Today I had a fun little "run" against an older Crown Vic … actually had to come out of OD to pull away. 
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