Who rides motorcycles?

[the old grind]

Will be riding the '89 FXSTS (soft-tail springer) again this year. Sure miss the 4-speed trans & kick start of the AMF era HDs. My favorite, '80 FSEF (fat bob), is down for a stripped r exhaust stud. One '75 Sportster (XLCH) is rtr, but the other (XLH) is down for starter & because the carb has been on the Panhead for decades. ('64 motor, '72 frame, 8"-over girder fork)

Always wanted a Polaris Victory and a Moto Guzzi 1100(?) Sport but neither will happen now that I'm 65 and getting wimpier by the month. A nice Royal Enfield (500 single) beckons me from the sales floor at Reinbold's in Caro. As I get older I'm tempted to fire up the '75 Yam 650 twin for short hops. Used to ride weekly from Mar thru Nov, now just May thru Aug cuz' I don't handle cold well anymore and hate to put on snowmobile suits to go across town for shop tooling or a haircut.

btw, One doesn't push the inside handle bar to steer as much as they just keep the front end from jack-knifing (xs understeer). Tire pressure up front is critical to steering ease. If it takes a lot of pressure on the inside bar the front tire pressure is likely too low. Conversely, if you inflate the rear tire to 'max' & don't carry max load it will skip & skid when braking and wear square. My default is 30psi front, 20psi rear (180lb rider, no passenger) and 4 of 6 bikes steer neutral that way and/or are ok no-handed on the freeway (a rare road for this shun-piker).

Oh, and those 5 ribs I broke riding someone else's Suzi in '11 might wouldn't have happened if I'd ever learned to use a rear brake :ashamed: in 45+ yrs of riding street & in the boonies ('73 TM-400 & '75 TM-125.) No injuries in 15 yrs of tractoring, tho' ... :laughing:

 

[Sodo]

('73 TM-400 & '75 TM-125.) No injuries in 15 yrs of tractoring, tho' ... :laughing:

TM-400 - rumored to be the most evil-handling machine known to man. Consider yourself lucky.

 

[the old grind]

TM-400 - rumored to be the most evil-handling machine known to man. Consider yourself lucky.

Lucky? as it to have survived riding it? :laughing: All power, no frame to speak of.

Power band was narrow, say 1k rpm wide, so easier to keep the TM-125 in proper gear. Came (pre-owned) with 38mm carb and body for the OEM 34mm. Replaced missing slide, needle, and top cover/ring to spec, and the 38mm was tried on the XLH (w/proper needle & slide, good mid-range power vs OEM Bendix.)

Rubbery single-downtube frame, 6.5" front susp travel was upped 1" with damper rod extensions (now on XLCH's Showas), 4" rear travel, shocks replaced with Cerianis, 2 1/2lb flywheel add-on vs perhaps-better 4lb didn't help much. Saw a how-to for making .125" jug top 'ring' (mill same from cyl base) to lower main ports w/typical raising of transfers. Said to widen PB, but didn't have machine shop then to produce such. (sure do now ...)

Had just replaced OEM with Maico-style poly tank (in '76) and added then-new hex grips. Stiil a bowser o'all, and while trying a wheelie (never could do proper on any bike) near a light pole the rt grip's glue let go and slid off. Front dropped with forks turned and as I played Superman (~25mph). It landed hard and flipped into the pole. (coulda killed me, easy) Frame & swing-arm bent, clutch cover crushed and basket fingers stripped off. Can you say 'total'? Oil stain on pole for a decade+ to show friends where I almost 'bought it"

btw, Later TMs ('74-'75) weren't much better. Should have bought RM vs TM-125, as they just came out. Honda Elsinores ruled for several years in 125 and 250 'till Yam mono-shock and others closed the gap. By '78 I'd had a career job for a while and bought the used XLCH, pretty much ended my trail riding but not the learning. I long for the days when I had 'somewhere to ride to' but 10+ ac and 3+ ac pond keeps me on other seats now. Mr Lucky

 

[cartod]

My current bike is a 650 dual sport.

 

[Sodo]

I had a 74 Elsinore 125 and '78 RM125. The Elsinore was a game-changer back then wasn't it? By '78 the RM was king.

cartod that DR650 is a fine machine.

 

[the old grind]

We had our days, didn't we? I guess what matters is what we get to ride now.

btw, Sucks that what I plate & insure anymore is the heaviest and has the highest CG of all. It's not so easy yet to be sure which of 5 gears I'm in vs 4, and somehow in my mind I guess not starting by human power makes a bike like a two wheeled car. (btw, never use(d) face/wind shields, always helmet, earplugs, & eyewear)

Oh, and my pet helmet is a candy red Arthrur Fulmer F-glass with blow-dot on silver panel paint job to testify to its early '70s heritage. Nothing left of it but the shell, straps, and thick S-foam 'cushion'. Doesn't look like it would ever have met federal safety specs, but the paint is in good shape and it does draw attention/questions. Shows my age, huh?

 

[SouthernSooner]

View attachment 424578

One of my coffee cups

That is great!

 

[caver]

My current bike is a 650 dual sport.

I had a 650 for many years but the carburation/modern gas main jet always plugging up if it sat more than a few weeks was driving me nuts. I do miss the snap of that 650 motor but enjoy the WR250r's fuel injection.

 

[Sodo]

I had a 650 for many years but the carburation/modern gas main jet always plugging up if it sat more than a few weeks was driving me nuts. I do miss the snap of that 650 motor but enjoy the WR250r's fuel injection.

Certainly it could be the jet plugging but not likely in a few weeks or few months. I think the gas stratifies, where the stuff at the top is less volatile while cold and harder to get it to fire.

Fuel injection has the benefit of the pump stirring up the gas & returning it to the tank for some better mixed stuff. You should still give the FI bike's tank a shake first before turning on the key (& thus the fuelpump) as motorcycle batteries are often crud.

If you have a carbureted bike with a float bowl it can be difficult to shake up the fuel in the bowl. If you can lay the bike on the ground until it pees a little then lift back up that's a good way for a light bike. Kinda hard for a heavy bike, in that case shake the bike back and forth then drain at least one of the carbs to get some shaken/stirred gas into one carb and it will start easier. In the old days bikes had a drain (tickler) but people were doing it every time they start not just when it's sitting, and that was bad for the 'varmint.

A pimply high-school kid "schooled" me on this a few years ago after I ran my battery down, and then flogged the kickstarter until I was worn out. Luckily there were no spectators but it sure drove the point home when the kid started my bike on the 3rd kick after laying it on the ground. I got the impression his dad knew his ****. But now I do too and I am ever thankful.

There was a gap in the years since the "tickler" was discontinued and the introduction of ethanol. It's possible that this trick became more important after the introduction of ethanol (has it been 20 years?) but I think people had forgotten about ticklers by then.

 

[wawajake]

Between my ages of 16 to 35 had a couple small street bikes , and also a 1978 250 Canam Enduro (Bombardier) That bike was a moose , could go thru anything and wheelie for miles on the trail /roads ...........as retirement nears I am considering picking the sport back up with a project bike maybe ...thinking of a older Honda or Kawasaki 500 -650 range , hopefully parts are still available.