Motorcycle People

[Dictionary]

What do you ride?


I'm on a yamaha v-star 650. Its my first bike. been on it for 8 months, owe my pops 5 grand for it  . I'm interested in getting a Standard bike such as a honda cb750.  Also i'm interested in learning to do most of my own maintenance like adjusting valves and syncing the carbs so i can save some cash. I want to hear from others how difficult this type of stuff is. I do oil changes, oil and air filters, lubricate pedals and levers but not much else.

Oh yea, from Tennessee, err lived in Georgia but rode down here to Alabama for the summer. Nice riding down here.

[cracker]

I ride a kawasaki vulcan 1500 classic, I do all my own work including tranny and engine rebuild suspension electrical. It's only as hard as you let it be. I love it so it's a piece of cake.Nothing more rewarding that running down a gremlin and fixing it. Ron

[PepeLep]

I just got a 1980 Goldwing GL1100 trike conversion a month ago. It's the first motorcycle I've ever owned. My wife wanted a trike, so we got a trike. It only has around 45,000 original miles on it. It's nice.

I don't know how to do anything on it. I'll eventually learn the basic stuff, but I'm not real big on mechanic work. This one runs good. It's mostly one to learn on so we can buy a new one later for retirement.

[Dictionary]

I ride a kawasaki vulcan 1500 classic, I do all my own work including tranny and engine rebuild suspension electrical. It's only as hard as you let it be. I love it so it's a piece of cake.Nothing more rewarding that running down a gremlin and fixing it. Ron

I want to start at the beginning. Aquiring some tools and a Clymers manual. Now money is quite tight so i'm thinking about getting some wrenches and a ratchet or two with various sprockets at a pawn shop. Would this be a bad idea?


Also i feel like such an idiot when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've been reading over how the transmission works on a bike from like 3 different sources and i still can't understand it. I'm determined though


PepeLep, I've seen quite a few of those Goldwing trikes, especially when i was down in florida the past week. Err i'm pretty sure they were Honda Goldwings   

[JW_Halverson]

I live in this little suburb of Sturgis, South Dakota called Rapid City.  As far as I am concerned I would be fine if every last morotcycle in the world suddenly evaporated or turned to dust.  While a select few of you have been to the Sturgis Motorhome Rally and Trailer Park, most of you have only seen photos and short videos.  Back in the day when it was a biker hangout it was actually fairly safe.  Nowadays it is almost exclusively the domain of the brand new bike owning rapidly greying segment of society trying to regain their youth.  Few, if any, of them have much experience on bikes with far too much power for their skill level.  Worse yet, so many of them get "Sturgis-itis" and all good sense and caution flees their minds.  They all rail against "cages" (a.k.a. cars), but then ignore the most basic rules of the roads. 

I can't tell you how many times I have nearly hit a bike rider (note I did not say biker) pulling a stupid stunt.  Don't blame motorists when you follow a line of bikes thru a yellow light that actually turned red about 5 bikes ahead of you.  It's gotten so bad at the Sturgis Rally that the real bikers just don't go anymore, I know a Bandito that claims it "just ain't safe anymore".  One week of "Born To Be Wild" does not make up for 51 weeks sitting behind a desk pushing a pencil being "Born To Be Mild".

Dictionary, ride cautious.  Ride safe.  Ride long.  And avoid Sturgis. 

(Definition of Sturgis:  World's Largest Theme Costume Party)

[jeffhalfrack]

Hey D  good  for you!!!been  riding 40 years (holy crap)  I've  owed  them  all,,,,,,,you  are on the right track,,,a  HAYNES    or aCLYMERS   manual  is  the first  thing  to  do, good  tools  a  must,  some things are best  left to  pros most  you  can  do  your self  there are  allways  factory specific tools to do a  job  but I have gotten around  most of them  ,,,,also  learn  to  use  a  voltohm  meter!!!!   I  think   the jap  bikes  are  a  great place to  start,,, read  those manuals  good  and try what you  dare to,,,I  promise  some day you'll  be  giving advise too!!!   and  my  big  brother  advise  is  "  BE  FRIGGIN  CAREFUL!!!"  JeffW

[SA]

i have been riding for about 10 years, the first bike i had was a sport bike(yamaha 750) but switched to a 1200 custom sportster pretty quick. i don't go on alot of long rides,my bike is my only transportation (besides a work truck i drive during work hours) and usually just ride  in town .have fun but be safe your attention to other drivers needs to turn up ten fold on a bike
 i have never been to sturgis and don't really have any desire to go , looks way to crowded for me think i will stick with trips to thunderbird lake and local bike nights

[Kullas]

I ride a 07 Electra Glide. This was my first Harley and i love it. My wife loves the queen seat. I have been riding since i was 14 and still love to ride

[Pappy]

What part of Tennessee ? Haven't road in years,I had been married 2 weeks and had a wreck [39 years ago] broke both arms in several places [left in 7] sold my bike and even tho she don't say much about what I do ,she would be very un happy if I came in on another. Still love them,just don't ride them.
   Pappy

[cracker]

On the subject of riding I have ridden all my life my dad used to have an old ancient harly and would sit me on the tank and tie a rope around me and him so I wouldn't fall off I was like 2 at the time. As I got older I rode my own bikes, I have always lived by this rule "Everyone is going to make a left in front of you, everyone is going to pull out in front of you, everyone in front of you is going to jam on brakes and no one behind you is going to put on brakes at all, This may sound like paranoia but it has kept my ass alive and unbroken for a lot of years. One more piece of advice when you are sitting at a stop light always leave room for a quick escape have you're escape rout identified you never know when someone will come up behind you talking or texting and hit you or the car behind you and drive it into you. Ronnie

[Dictionary]

What part of Tennessee ? Haven't road in years,I had been married 2 weeks and had a wreck [39 years ago] broke both arms in several places [left in 7] sold my bike and even tho she don't say much about what I do ,she would be very un happy if I came in on another. Still love them,just don't ride them.
   Pappy

I was born in Chattanooga. Got family in Harriman, oak ridge, knoxville, and other places in Tennessee.


I went to lowes today and tried to take advantage of the father's day sales. I'm looking at Kobalt tools. They have a cheap brand called Task Force but looking at their tool set i could tell it was cheap.

I could buy a metric wrench set for like 25$ and then buy the ratchet and socket set for something like 35$. I'm really tight on money so i don't know if i'm making the right decision on tools.

The local pawn shop didn't have a thing

[jeffhalfrack]

Two  things,,,Cracker   I'll  ride  with   you  any  time!!!!  I  say  the very same thing!!!!  D  I  got a  set  of  tools  by  Thornsen cheap good stuff! came in a nice case too had about  everything,,,you'll  need  an impact wrench (the kind you hit w\a hammer)  too.  like I  said  I've owned a  bunch of  bikes  the  one thing I  learned  was  to  forget  all  about  brand  loyalty    and  just  ride!  they  all  have  their  own problems,,,I would  rather  ride my  bike instead  of  worry  about the  fashion  show,,,  and  not  plan  my  trips  riding  from one  dealer  to  the  next  looking  at  the  same  black  tee shirts    good luck  ride safe  JeffW

[cracker]

If I need tools I try to catch sears tools on sale you can often buy craftsman tools on sale pretty cheap. They aint what they used to be but they are still pretty good tools. Ron

[MWirwicki]

2001 Heritage Softail Classic. 

[bobnewboy]

These days I ride a KTM950 Supermoto in the summer, and an old Kawasaki ZZR600 (called ZX600 in the USA) in the winter, so as to keep the road salt off of the KTM.  I have been through a fair few bikes in the past 30 years or so, and although the price of petrol in the UK (aargh!!!!! ) has seen my annual mileage drop, I'd hate to be without one.