BS: So how many of you are bikers?

Subject: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 05:10 AM

How many of you 'Catters are bikers then? I was greasy biker chick when I was 17 (about 20 years ago - my present instructor was yet to be born....), rode a Suzuki 500 then, not legally, but fast.... and have been encouraged (by rising travel costs and death of car) to relearn how to ride again. I have my theory test next Tuesday 12th (please don't ask me about stopping distances.....) and the Compulsory Bike training in the first week of July. I'm totally hooked again....!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 05:30 AM

I've not ridden one in years but I used to enjoy it and covered a few thousand miles. One of my favourite runs used to be from Llandudno to St Davids and back on a Sunday. The biggest bike I ever owned was a Honda 250 (before the change in the law for engine size without passing your test) but I have ridden bigger bikes and even driven a trike a few times.

Good luck with the test.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: lady penelope
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 05:47 AM

Good Luck Liz! Personally I'm bund by the thrill of lycra! Push them pedals....

TTFN M'Lady P.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: catspaw49
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 06:21 AM

Over the years, I've put about half a million miles on bikes, starting in 1964. There were no separate license laws and all you needed were temps, available to 15 year olds. I had my money saved and went right out and bought a BSA 250 Starfire which I hid from my parents for several months. Inevitably, they found out and there was one helluva' blow-up! My Dad had the best line...."Boy, I'd just as soon you bought yourself a coffin."

The toothpaste was out of the tube though and they gave up. Over the next five years I traded bikes about every 6-8 months and rode as much year around as I could. I had a series of Brit bikes including Lightnings and Bonnevilles and one Commando. I hated Harleys even then and in big bore bikes, there wasn't much option so I put up with the oil leaks, vibrations, and the perverse elctrical systems of the evil Dr. Lucas ("Joe Lucas say, Don't go out after dark") until 1970, the second year of the Honda 750. Even then I opted for a Kawasaki 750 first (a straightline rocket of the first order) before buying the superb Honda. It had really taken the cycling world by storm and I rode it til '73 when the Kawasaki 903 Z-1 came out and I bought the first one in the city. This was a really fine machine, fast, quick, and a good handler and we were mates for many years. Since then, I've had several others including a blazingly fast and very fine Suzuki 1100.

I haven't bought a new bike in many years being very satisfied with the one I currently own, a Honda Sabre 1100. It is a beautifully refined version of the classic all-round sport bike, capable of covering miles at an alarming rate while also easy to hop on for a quick ride to the store. The Sabre always reminded me of a great combination of refined high society lady and two dollar whore. Its a great bike.

I also got into dirt riding in the early 70's and had a couple of good enduro machines (Penton), a motocrosser (Honda Elsinore), and a trials bike (Bultaco Sherpa T). After breaking my collarbone twice and racking up a few other injuries and broken bones, I quit dirt riding. actually, I moved and dirt riding had been a group sport thing with me and I wasn't that interested anymore without my friends.

So Liz, yeah.....I'm a biker, although the past few years I've ridden very little. I'm hoping that might change after this month. There is a certain feeling of freedom and control you get on a motorcycle that's not like anything else and blasting down a country road on a warm summer night is a high I still enjoy. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: mooman
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 06:28 AM

Yes as you already know Liz! Black and chrome Virago V-twin which I use most days! The other days I cycle to work for the much-needed exercise!

I missed you at the Yorkshire gathering and you HAD PROMISED to turn up in leather for me ("...black leather and red hair, my favourite colour scheme..." (Richard Thompson))!!!

mooman

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: MudGuard
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 08:05 AM

What a disappointment - I thought this thread was about bikers, but it is only about motor-bikers...

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Banjer
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 08:26 AM

I used to ride..Hondas...first the dirt bikes. had a HOnda CL125 and a CL250, both four stroke machines. Never did like the twostroke bikes. Then I had a Honda CL450 and after that one was knocked out from under me by one of our senior citizens I got CB450. I rode for about 15 years. I decided that I had cheated lady Luck long enough and the average was stacking against me, so I sold all four bikes. I now ride either my 5 speed or the 18 speed pedal power machines for the excercise my doctor wants me to have. If I lived someplace like our wide open western states I would probably have another motorcycle, but in our part of the country where (in my opinion) drivers license tests can be taken in Braille I just do not feel ssafe anymore!

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: MarkS
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 09:12 AM

Not a biker, but I do drag race cars from time to time. Does this count as a motorsport enthusiasm?
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 10:00 AM

Hey Mudguard, you know we cycle tour on bicycles. But I also have a Yamaha XS750 with a big chair(outfit). Over the years I've had; Ariel Arrow, Ariel Arrow supersport Triumph Bonneville, Yamaha XS 250, Yam XS400. I'm qualified as a trials riding instructer. I teach motorcycle riding on and off road skills to my kids at school, both in school and at a training centre.Ridden outfits. Was Yam club area rep, Motorcycle action group member, Famous last words MCC member and a long time ago, many of my friends down south were in the H.A. UK.I guess that's a reasonable pedigree-OOh when I was younger (much and many years ago), went down the swnaley bypass tons, did the ton up to Birmingham on the new M1 !! and had many exciting moments at Brighton, Margate, Box hill, the salt box cafe,The mad mile at Battersea. Regularly at the I o M TT etc.Squires coffee bar. Most of the big bikers parties and raves. MAG farmyard, etc. KENT. Rock and Blues. Liz, we probably passed each other or were in the same spot at sometime.Always wanted to do the Elephant run. never got round to it.

Ride free

Eric

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Homeless
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 10:40 AM

Like 'Spaw, the number of miles that I've ridden with a bike under my ass number in the hundreds of thousands. And I had the requisite long hair, beard, tattoos, and attitude to go with the bikes.

My first bike was a stripped '76 Bonneville with 6 over forks. I rode that for many years, and throughout my college career it was the only vehicle I owned. There were many winters I'd ride up decked in leather from top to toe and have to peel off the layer of ice that had frozen over my jacket as I was riding. And I used to use the old rope-around-the-wheels trick in order to ride in the snow.

Then I was given a fully dressed '78 Suzuki 750. While I ownded a car during those years, I didn't drive it much. Only once snow had hit the ground until spring thaw. I made many cross country trips on that thing. And while it did have more get up and go, that monotonous bumblebee hum was just to annoying for me to enjoy the ride.

So my next bike was a '66 Harley XLCH. Bought in Atlanta, GA, in April, and it snowed the day I went to pick it up. This one was chopped and had 6 over forks too. I don't know why, but I find stretched tubes make the bike so much easier to handle. But one ride on that creature and I was in love. If you don't want to support a massage therapist, buy an old sporty. Ride that baby 20 miles and it will work all the knots out of your back and shoulders. I even once had a Hell's Angel talking to me at a party and he saluted me for still riding "the last of the shakers."
I was working as a computer programmer when I had this bike and would go to work daily on my sporty wearing a suit and tie. I used to get asked at stoplights all the time what I was going to court for. But, alas, she was a casualty of marriage.
But lately I've been feeling the pull of old iron again. As soon as I recover from this divorce I'll probably be seen with a thousand pounds of steel between my legs again.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: harpgirl
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 11:19 AM

...a period in my life which is just a dim memory, but I rode Kawasakis, both dirt bikes and a 750. Maybe I'll send catspaw49 pictures of me in leathers when I was twenty to go with the Folk Festival tee shirt...nah, we want to keep him around as long as possible...hg

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Justa Picker
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 12:01 PM

Years ago, I was into bikes, my last one being a Kawasaki 1300 with shaft drive (when shaft drive first came out). I eventually gave it up after one too many close scrapes with vehicles on the road who paid no attention nor treated me as another vehicle on the road. In the end I decided I wanted to keep my legs. I also figured if I blew a rear tire in a car at 70 miles an hour, I'd get to live and just have to pull over to change that tire.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 12:16 PM

I'm a biker in spirit... and maybe one day I'll make it a reality...

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Gervase
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 12:58 PM

Hah Liz - so you've succumbed. Ye're doomed, d'ye hear! Doomed to pick insects out of the back of your throat and to have your farts rise up to meet you whenever you unzip your leathers...
Like most old farts who've just passed 40, I'm getting a yearning for a motorbike. Must resist it. Must resi...
Used to do a heck of a lot of cycling in my younger days, though. I didn't learn to drive until I was 25, so two wheels was the only way of getting around. For some time I'd go from Lowestoft to Norwich and back ever day, and would think nothing of a 50-mile run.
Then some thieving evil bastard stole my hand-built bespoke Mercian (with its 40-spoke Campagnolo rear hub, Brooks copper-rivetted saddle and double-butted 531 everything. God, sad anorak that I am...) and I reluctantly turned to four wheels.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: wildlone
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 03:46 PM

I started riding at 16,33 years ago and have got the BMW 650 single at the moment. I bought it a tear ago last march with 5000 miles on the clock and have added 30,000 since. Alot of those miles have been done with Mother on pillion. Not bad for an old dear who had her 75th birthday last month.
Liz, the best way to see Dorset is on a bike I have now been to every town and village in Dorset and I am now exploring Somerset.
Ride safe, dave

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: wildlone
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 03:49 PM

That should be YEAR. I will have to clean this key board one day. But the sun is just going down aand you can see great sunsets up on bullbarrow.
dave

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Rollo
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 04:50 PM

I had a bycicle once, but it broke due my enormous weight.

Now I am pedestrian.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Sorcha
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 04:56 PM

One of the EastCoast a's is a biker nut--can't remember if it's annamil or animaterra. Mr. and Bubba both have Harleys. Mr.s' is a 1980 FLT with a brand new royal blue paint job. Bubbas' is a '96 (I think) Sportster; maroon with a custom paint job--his backpiece tatoo is copied onto the gas tank and fenders. Looks cool. I hate to ride. Don't like bugs, wind, sunburn, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: little john cameron
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 05:25 PM

Ah the thing that makes life worthwhile.94 c.u.--1540 c.c. tae you brits.I just got back from a trip around the bay.Brilliant,and i am only 57.
http://lw7fd.law7.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg?curmbox=F000000001&a=98af667f5b132c9a65ffb72ab2cc3e50&msg=MSG989596086.30&start=246422&len=62725&msgread=1&mfs=403

C'mon Pat let's go.A big aorta buster. john

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Gaz
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 06:37 PM

Hi Liz,

Good luck with the test.

Mine's the usual story of having bikes in my 'youf' (Triumph Tiger Cub at the innocent age of 16, then a 500 Norton ES2 followed by 500 Triumph T100A). Then the marriage came along ....

So a few years ago, with the divorce looming, I got back into bikes again. Didn't want to kill myself on the first bend, so got a little Suzuki GSX250 to ease myself back into it. Currently I have a Yamaha 600 Divvy, which is nice but not terribly exciting. Wouldn't mind a Fazer or a Honda VFR, but finances are a bit stretched at the moment!

Going to the Clecky FF next month, staying with my best mate Eric the Viking. So maybe see you there, or at Fylde in September?

Happy riding,

Gaz.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: vectis
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 06:54 PM

Best of luck Liz. I started off wiv a lickle Honda sloped. Graduated to a Honda 125 then a Suzuki 500. My last bike was a Moto Guzzi 850 T3. My husband wrote it off and I havn't had the wherewithal to replace it.
One day... Oh! Yes! One day...
I'll sell him and buy a new bike. YESSSSSS!!

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 07:08 PM

Eric - you aren't coming down to the Kent Bike show (Paddock Wood) next weekend are you?? If so, see you there..... hopefully!

I used to ride a bicycle too - big matt black and chrome thingy, circa 1945. Good wide seat.... just like mine own. Lycra never did it for me though....

And I don't have red hair, that's the fair Lady P you need for that. I do have a thing about leather though.....

I like the look of the Fazer, if only it didn't come in that vile shade of Kawasaki green. I really want a Suzuki Bandit, they come in a range of sizes but I don't think they go as low as 125. Besides, I couldn't afford one yet..... have to do in family member for the insurance! Have friend who is lusting after a Yamaha FJR1300, very nice, took me for a test drive on it, back end is spongy but moves like natural fertilizer off a digging implement.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Jun 01 - 10:07 PM

Now here's something to upset the bikers... The first "bike" I owned (and learned to ride on) was a Lambretta LD150 scooter (used to ride it round fields).

My first motorbike, again before I was old enough to ride on the roads was a James - don't know the model but it had the Villiers (?sp) 200 engine (?6E).

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 11 Jun 01 - 01:52 PM

Grief Jon-I nearly didn't talk to you ever again-LAMBRETTA!! How could you say such things ????

I suppose that's all over now. Those little James bikes, I always thought them a bit unreliable, now a little Grieves was a better prospect.

Sorry Liz, won't be at Kent. Playing at Skip's session next weekend.

However will be at the CTC York Rally the weekend after next. Cycling up with trailer and tent.

Gaz didn't tell you he had his bike done up as in easy rider did he......

Ride free

Eric

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: gnu
Date: 11 Jun 01 - 04:43 PM

KH-500, twenty-five years ago. Exciting in a straight line. Not so good handling. Dumped it at about 125 kph and gave it up shortly thereafter in favour of a Bug.

But the real thrill was yet to come. Yeah, I'm still a biker. Bought a Honda 200ME, three wheeler, in 1983 and I've still got it, with original rubber. I've been eight feet in the air at fifty miles an hour, hanging on to the handle bars for dear life, sailing like "superman" - another nickname of mine, for just that reason - but I've calmed down (immediate threat of death will do that) and usually roll through the woods at about five miles an hour, enjoying the flora and fauna. My newest Kent County nicknames are "second gear" and "surfer dude"... I'll let you picture that last one ! It's the ultimate challenge in three wheeling.... or should that be boating ?

Guess that's not what you meant by "biker", but it works for me.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 11 Jun 01 - 05:07 PM

vectis, I never like to hear about a Guzzi going down the road. I had a T3 myself for some years. An effortless, comfy thing to ride, where haste and racing were not the top priorities - but what a disappointment after the 850T, and nothing like the power and performance that many claimed for it. Always liked the Guzzi shaft drive though.

Got rid of an Egli-Vincent a year or two ago and haven't got anything but pushbike wheels these days. Keep wondering whether to do something about it, but my eyesight isn't great, so maybe not.

Spaw & co, I take my hat off to you, because biking in the US seems to be quite a big statement, unlike in Europe, where it's widely accepted without a thought.

The pushbike, if anyone's interested, is a Trek 850 with 4,700 miles on the clock since 1996 (previously a Moulton AM7 until it was nicked and I got rich from the claim). I've done quite a few long-distance pedalling expeditions, including Lands End to John O'Groats in 1990.

Mind how you go!

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jun 01 - 05:13 PM

Hey Gnu - I know a couple of people who'd love to have a play with that trike..... You aren't going to be at the Kent bike show are you??

LTS

Jon, I'm still in two minds whether I'm talking to you. At least it wasn't a foreign wasp....

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 11 Jun 01 - 05:21 PM

Started on a Yamaha Enduro 250 back in '72 which I bought in mint condition, then proceeded to bend the handlebars, brakelever, fender, etc riding offroad. Had a friend who was a pro Enduro Rider, and through him got to experience the big offroad racers of the 70s...CZ, Maico, Bultaco. These dominated the Enduro circuit until the Japanese started supplying pit crews for their riders.

Gave up riding until the midlife crisis struck about '93, when I bought a Yamaha Virago V-twin 750, which is one sleek machine. There's nothing like desert riding in my opinion...just you and the cactus and creosote bushes for miles and miles.

Happy cruising to all of y'all, and watch out for the idiots!

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 02:29 AM

Well, here we go. Theory test in 2 hours. Am I nervous? What is that smell??!!

AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!

And THEN comes the actual relearning how to ride the darned things..... ah well, a girl can dream. At least I have my own lid now so if any of you Virago owners want to drop by one weekend.......?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Owlkat
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 04:06 AM

My first ride was a mint condition 84 Honda twin 250. Now I'm working on refurbishing a beat-up '82 650 Nighthawk. Have to hurry it up though. The riding season in the Yukon is only about three or four months at best. Riding is more than fun. What can I say?

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Terry K
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 08:05 AM

Got my first bike when I was 11. It was a 1930 model 98cc Coventry Eagle and it cost £1 - and before you suggest it, NO, I didn't get it brand new! Then I had a 250cc two stroke, single cylinder, twin exhaust (really) Excelsior 1935 model which was more expensive at £3.10.0d. Both of these were only used in our fairly lage garden.

Like many, at 16 I graduated to the 197cc James Captain which was my first road bike. My last one was a Honda 350cc twin "Street Scrambler" which I had in Australia in the 60s. Trouble there was the motorists there seemed to have it in for anyone on a bike so it was tough going.

Still resisting getting a Harley or something - didn't somebody say there's a new Indian being produced? I'd get one from the States but apparently they're all left hand drive.

Cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 08:18 AM

Eric, a friend of mine got a Greeves Griffon 250 on the day I was due to take an O Level music exam - needless to say, I didn't turn up for the exam.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 08:48 AM

LTS... that's Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada. The nearest they have to a bike show, far as I know, is when a bunch get together at a gravel pit to see who can come closest to death on the pit walls. I definitely don't do that any more. Them suckers are heavy when they're on top of you and if your feet come off the footrests when you flip over, there's no telling what's gonna happen. Nope, I only "play" in shallow water, no more than than I can jump off and "push" in.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 09:09 AM

When I was a little lad of 18 or so I worked for a time at Norton-Villiers-Triumph in Wolverhampton--does that count? I didn't make any bikes, but I learned how to grind the head off a match on a grindstone without setting fire to it, and how to sharpen a brazing rod and throw it into the ceiling just hard enough so it would drop out when somebody slammed the door--accomplishments which have served me well in my working and social life in the years since. I also learned what happens when some idiot (not me!) puts a 24" face-plate on a lathe and starts it up without locking it up first. That was fun: when it got up a bit of speed, it dropped off the shaft and onto the floor, rolled all down the length of the apprentice shop, through the double doors, across the landing, through the next double doors and into the shop next door; from the exited shouts I think they had a lot of fun with it in there!

All the apprentices were bike-mad, but none of them could afford one. They were all "foot-greasers"--all the leathers and a bus-pass.

My grandad was a deepatch rider in the ARP in the war. He rode a chrome-plated Harley (painted olive green) that had once belonged to some Indian worthy. It didn't like cornering very much, and he often had to jump off while it ran into a handy ditch or field. I remember in the 50s, before he bought a car (a Reliant 3-wheeler), he had an Arial square-4, with a radiator and a hand-brake, which were almost unheard of in those days.

Dad did a bit of speedway riding before he married Mom (and she sang with a band a few times before she married him). He used to have a BSA when I was very small, but swapped it for a shaft-drive Sunbeam with a Swallow sidecar so he could transport the three of us at once. When my bro came along, he got an A30 instead. I remember in 1957, we went overnight to Cornwall for a holiday, about two hundred miles. Mom and Auntie Mu and I went by train, but Dad took the luggage in the sidecar; and Uncle Al did the journey on he BSA Bantam, which must have been an experience!

Much as I've been tempted over the years, I've never quite got around to a motorbike. I've got a push-bike, does that count, as well?

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 03:50 PM

Oh, I passed the theory... Theoretically I'm safe enough to be on the roads.....

Roll on July!!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: NH Dave
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 04:35 PM

I started out riding motorcycles on a '65 BMW, R-50, the slow 500 cc machine, and rode it until I was posted to England. Custome problems kept me from riding it much while I was there, so I had a Triumph Saint, ex-police bike copy of a Bonneville with only one carb. Having gotten used to riding the Beemer, with its solid frame, the flex in the Triumph frame put me off riding for a while until a local fellow offered a Honda Goldwing at a price too good to turn down.

Seems he's been playing silly buggers with it one night, and gone adrift; so his dad, who owned the local Honda agency, put it back into shape and gave him three weeks to come up with the cost of repairs, or sell the bike. I rode that bike for about four more years, until I was sent to Alaska, and then up here in New Hampshire, where I sold it.

Currently I am looking at some older Honda CX 500s, either the full dressed GL500, or perhaps one of the less expensive ones with a fairing and travel boxes.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 04:47 PM

I've done riding on both bicycles and motor bikes. Both have their advantages. The worst thing about taking a motor bike somewhere is finding out that there is not a level place to park it. Bugs in your face? Get a full windshield fairing or a full face helmet or just be comtent knowing that MOST bugs are not poisionous and will add much needed protein to your diet!

As for bicycles, I use a bike on campus where I work. Saves walking miles and I just leave it in the library after work.

I had a BMW R100 RT and liked it. A devil of a thing to pull up on it's center stand for a woman though. Heavy! As anything with 1000ccs would be. I've got my eye on those Hondas that you don't have to 'boot' to change gears. I still like BMWs best though. There used to be a T-shirt that said 'Real BMWs have TWO wheels.' Can't agree more!

Happy trails and ride safe!

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Sourdough
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 12:50 AM

Walking Eagle: I was in a BMW shop in Utica, NY a couple of weeks ago. One of the mechanics was wearing a T-shirt that said, "I didn't know there were BMW cars until I passed one."

I just got back from a cross US round trip on my BMW. Rather than reposting the story, I'll say that anyone intersted can read a bit about it in the thread with the descriptive name, "My 8080 mile motorcycle trip"

Liz: Congratulations!

Sourdough

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: mooman
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 03:37 AM

Well done Liz!

I'll see you in the leathers with the Virago one of these days!

Just remember the old maxim:

"There are old bikers and there are bold bikers but there are no old, bold bikers!"

mooman

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: alison
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 03:59 AM

Well done Liz......

I'm a mountain biker.. does that count? and I've been know to chase the kids on their bikes on one of those scooter things.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: John J
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:39 AM

Good luck Liz! I used to ride motorcycles, but not any more. A buddy has just bought an old GS750.....I'm tempted. I've owned all sorts: Triumph twins, BSA singles & twins, Hondas, MZs (loads of them, wonderful machines. Been all round Europe on them) BMW boxers, the list could go on and on and.... Eric: did you used to do rallies? When I saw you at the Jug your face was vaguely familiar. I may see you at York Rally, fancy meeting up for a sing / load of beer? John

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 08:31 AM

Just let us know when your'e in our area, Liz, OK? Then we can stay inddors and keep death off the roads!,

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 11:23 AM

I had two friends who rode bikes....one had a van turn in front of him, slid under it...serious brain injury and almost died...changed his entire personality..*sigh*

The other fellow had several machines, including a Harley Sportster that he had modified to keep it just 'barely' street legal (made extra $$$ in illegal drag races).....he did crazy things like going out and jumping ditches and hills and racing up & down ramps in deserted parking garages...Figured he'd do himself in on some wild stunt, but no----he was riding home from work one night...stopped at a stop sign, and a truck ran over him from the rear. BOOM!...

I do see the lure and freedom and adreneline rush, but......

You folks who DO ride, please take care, two wheels have their advantages, but hazards abound.....

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 11:57 AM

As a sailor, there is the old joke that there are two types of small sailboats........Ones that have been on their sides and ones that are about to. With road riders it's also true that there are two types......Ones that have been down and ones that will be. Riding defensively is a must, but even then the odd thing happens and you're in the grinder.

I am no longer as "bold" as I once was, but even now friends tell me that I ride too aggressively. If you don't ride, there is no way of explaining the mindset that takes over when you straddle a bike. I appreciate the concern that people have for bikers but if you love the things, they are alomost unexplainable in their power to take you somewhere else, both in distance and mind. A quick proficiency run on a summer's eve can clear the cobwebs, anxieties, and troubles that are bothering you and let you attack them with a new mindset. The same is true for me of a sail on a day with a fresh breeze and conditions just slightly above the capabilities of the boat and yourself.

I don't know why this is true for some of us and not others. It has nothing to do with a death wish or a desire to injure ourselves. It has everything to do with the ability to focus and become so singleminded in the doing that all other thoughts are washed away. And yet I know many folks with minds far more facile and multi-leveled/tasked than mine who do quite well without all this silliness. For me it seems a "need" as strong as any.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 12:35 PM

Quite right, Richard, very few old bold bikers! there are though some of us who were pretty stupid and survived to become "sensible-ish"!!! Many of my riends died on their machines. Kinda slows you up a bit, but then so does life-still amnaged to flick myself off the peddle cycle in Holland last year racing my son at 26mph, broke 2 ribs, split knee and elbow badly. Ddin't go to hospital, coughed up blood-a little, wore my wife's "always or whatever with wings for bandages !!!!! till did another 4 weeks cycling and over 400 miles.(Bleeding hurt!) John- I am on a lightweight pitch with Mrs woman and 2 rats- all cyclists. at York next weekend, will post number when I get it out of the envelope. Doubt I'll take a guitar though.But will be pleased to see you. I think I,m number near the 40's. you can't miss the tent. It's quite big, OUTWELL, there will be 4 bikes. A Blue Dawes Kalahari-post-the mrs, A multi coloured Diamond back with flash paint job, a green Emmelle and a Raliegh-brownish (little girls bike)

Cheers.

Eric

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 12:37 PM

Excuse me- I think my keyboard or the brain cell is playing up. Missed out a lot of letters just then.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Homeless
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 01:39 PM

I'll throw another story in.
It's kind of scary, but possibly also telling of the mindset.

I was on a solo, straight-thru ride from Chicago to Charleston, SC - about 900 miles, or 16 hours, depending on how you want to measure it. Toward the end of run the scenery gets pretty boring. Nothing but pine trees right up next to the highway, exits 15-20 miles apart, and not another vehicle in sight. I'd been riding since before dawn, and it was hitting sundown about the time I was going thru the boring stretch. I'd noticed an exit I was passing and figured out in my head the mileage left to go - about 40 more miles. A few seconds later I looked up and was 2 miles from my destination.

I was still in my lane, going the same speed, but had lost about 35 minutes of time. Was I asleep at the bars? "In the Zone"? Lost in thought? I don't know, but I do know that I'm comfortable enough on a bike for my body to go on automatic and still get me thru safely.
I don't get that in a car. I have to concentrate on my driving when I'm in a car - if I start to get lost in thought too deeply, my speed wavers or I drift within my lane or something. There no feedback in a car, other than visual.

A car is something you fight and manipulate - press this pedal to change speed, move this wheel to turn. Go around a corner fast and you have to fight to keep your seat. Roll up the windows and you are isolated from the world.
A bike is something to control, not manipulate. It is more an extension of yourself. To speed up, you roll your arm/wrist. If you want to change direction, you lean your body and the bike follows. Go around a corner fast, and you are pressed more solidly into the seat. When you stop, you have to put your feet down and support the bike. And you are totally immersed in the environment - sunlight, wind, air temperature and humidity, rain, snow - all of these are an integral part of riding a bike. The sounds and smells of the road tell you much more than you ever get when trapped inside a car. Going somewhere on a bike is more of an experience than a ride.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 02:07 PM

Homeless and all

I ride horses as well and get the same feeling. I think that horse/bike and rider become one as we are physically connected to what we are riding. It's not like a bicycle as we have to move our legs to pedal. Also, as everyone knows, we have to fight the brain that says 'counter balance' when we go into a curve on our bikes. We actually defy physics as we lean with our bikes at speed. I agree with the old/bold thing. It applies to riding horses as well. Most other folks think that that bikers, by the fact that we ride motorcycles, are too bold anyway.

Scariest thing I've ever seen on a bike? Bikers coming out of a biker bar and mounting up and taking off. You know they didn't dring iced tea in there. One even had a child with him and no helmet on him. We have helmet laws in PA. U.S.A.

Happy trails and ride safe.

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 05:40 PM

Spaw - you can fail your Compulsory Bike training by not riding offensively here - it's taken as a bad sign when you don't actively move ahead at crossings, roundabouts or junctions..... and they advise a white helmet for safety - can I buy a white helmet? Can I buggery. Just had to stick with a blue one and maybe customise it with a few white dragons here and there....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: So how many of you are bikers?
From: vectis
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 06:18 PM

Congratulations Liz. I'm glad I passed my test all those years ago and don't have to take the new test.