Did You Check Out the Bike Show?!

[scorpa]

Well I just got back from the bike show and it was great! I just thought I'd post a few pics here, hopefully some of you will be interested, at least I know Turbo will be

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

Even though I am not a huge bike fan, that last one is really really beautiful.

 

[scorpa]

Yeah that is one of Victory's Arlen Ness bikes...I believe it is a Vegas. There are lots of cool details on it you can't really see from the pic unfortunately.

 

[scorpa]

 

[scorpa]

 

[scorpa]

Here is the last set of pictures I will post, I have a ton more but I won't flood this thread with to many huge pics. Unfortunately my cameras battery died just as I got to the vintage section, I managed to get a pic of an old vincent with an indian in the background as well as a BSA with a panther in the background but missed out on all the cool old nortons, triumphs, beemers...ect.

Edit: It appears the Vincent does not have the Indian in the background...to bad.

 

[turbo]

Thanks for the pix, Scorpa! Though I am a Harley guy at heart, I wouldn't mind owning one of the sport bikes - the Ducati in the first pic, the BMW in the 5th pic of the 2nd set, or maybe the snazzy Buell in the last pic. I can get in enough trouble with my cruiser, though, so a sport bike is probably not a good idea.

I would probably have spent most of my time drooling over the vintage stuff, like the Vincent. A number of years ago, I had the chance to buy a Manx Norton (500cc one-lunger), but it needed some work and I would have needed to sell my very reliable Honda CL450 street scrambler to afford it. Ah, the follies of youth. I should have sold the Honda. That Norton was a screamer.

 

[scorpa]

I fell in love with the Street Bob and the Yellow Metal flaked Wide Glide...both beautiful bikes. I also really liked that BMW 650 on/offroad bike, it fit me really well. I sat on a few sport bikes and I could never ride them, I was on them for about 2 minutes and I actually hurt after haha...the FZ1 was the worst. My biggest problem with bikes is my height, lots of cool bikes out there but at only 5'8 I have trouble touching the ground on lots...good thing I like cruisers the best anyway haha!

I could not believe my camera died at the vintage stuff! The other stuff I had pics of you could just as easily have seen on the manufacturers website...but the vintage stuff was unique. So many cool bikes, I think the oldest was a 1930 AGS or something...up to a 77 electraglide.

To bad you didnt decide to go for the norton. My dad said he had a chopped norton back in the day and that it was quite the bike. But that's the way it always happens...I would imagine my grandpa must be sick about the 1940 Indian he traded for a grain truck haha.

 

[3trQN]

The new DUCATI is pure sex!

 

[verty]

I'd probably choose that kawasaki (pic 3), the others look like ornaments.

 

[turbo]

To bad you didnt decide to go for the norton. My dad said he had a chopped norton back in the day and that it was quite the bike.

Yeah the 500 Manx was a real road-racing machine with lots of power and a low center of gravity. Being a single, it would vibrate the heck out of you at low rpms, but open it up and it would smooth out nicely. I didn't have a good place to work on bikes, nor adequate storage at my apartment, so I figured that restoring the Manx was too big a project. Also, I had friends with old BSAs, Triumphs, and Nortons, and none of them was as reliable and easy to work on as my CL450, and I used the bike to commute to construction jobs to save gas. Just bad timing - I'd jump at that Manx if it were available now. My neighbor had a CL450, too. We'd get together on a weekend and I would static-time them, synchronize the carbs, and set the cam-follower clearances, etc, then we'd take them out and run 'em hard to see if the tweaks helped or hurt.

BTW, it really stinks that your battery died as you got to the good stuff. When I would go to Schott's HD, I would maybe spend 10-15 minutes looking at the new bikes, then I would spend at least an hour or more looking at their collection of H-D flat-track racing bikes. Just like a kid in a candy store.

 

[ray b]

norton manx requires a chase vehical
to pick up all the parts that vibrate off

a buddy had one back in the 60's
when its was just a old racebike

and yes that's with saftywire and locktite
bits still rain off the manx

 

[scorpa]

I'd probably choose that kawasaki (pic 3), the others look like ornaments.

Yah the KLR 650 is a great bike, especially for the price. I used to ride one a few years back, I really liked it.

 

[turbo]

norton manx requires a chase vehical
to pick up all the parts that vibrate off

a buddy had one back in the 60's
when its was just a old racebike

and yes that's with saftywire and locktite
bits still rain off the manx

Yeah, like I said, the vibration at low RPMs is significant. The bike would have required a tear-down and a thorough restoration to be reasonably reliable. Those rascals are scary-strong for an old 500, though, and the roar of the exhaust is quite satisfying. I perhaps failed to mention that the vertical shaft driving the OHC was not properly sealed, so your right pant leg could get kind of oily.

 

[larkspur]

I like the blue three wheeler. Would my feet have to touch the ground to ride that one since it has three wheels? If Scorpa is too short at 5ft8 then I doubt I could ride many of them at 5ft2.

 

[turbo]

I like the blue three wheeler. Would my feet have to touch the ground to ride that one since it has three wheels? If Scorpa is too short at 5ft8 then I doubt I could ride many of them at 5ft2.

Don't buy a trike - you lose the essence of a bike. You might want to visit your local H-D dealership and check out the used "huggers" (lowered Sportsters). You can sometimes get good deals on the used ones, since soon after the smaller ladies realize that they can handle low cruisers, they often upgrade, and most H-D guys wouldn't be seen dead on one. I'm just short of 5'7" with a short inseam so I love cruisers and after a butt-busting 80 mile ride years ago on a borrowed XLCH I got "out of love" with H-D pretty quick. When the cushy feel and security of the big FL series got combined with the lighter Sportster front-ends (Superglides), I fell back in love quite quickly. Reduced weight, snappy handling, very torquey engines with a solid, steady feel through the turns, hell yeah! These cruisers with the light front ends and the weighty rear ends are very throttle-responsive. I love 'em!

 

[scorpa]

Yeah I would never go for a trike, not only are they not a bike anymore but they are so expensive, the one in the pic was over 60 000. Like Turbo said a sportster would be a great bike for you larkspur, I sat on a few 883 and 1200's at the bike show and found they were comfortable, but maybe a bit on the smallish side for me. The Street Bob fits me very well. When I said my height was a problem, I wasn't meaning for cruisers, it is the enduro, on-offroad bikes, and dirtbikes I was referring to. Shorter people are at a bit of a disadvantage but there is always a bike out there for everyone.

 

[larkspur]

Wow! $60,000...how much do mopeds go for?

 

[Cyrus]

Nice pictures scorpa.

 

[turbo]

Yeah I would never go for a trike, not only are they not a bike anymore but they are so expensive, the one in the pic was over 60 000. Like Turbo said a sportster would be a great bike for you larkspur, I sat on a few 883 and 1200's at the bike show and found they were comfortable, but maybe a bit on the smallish side for me. The Street Bob fits me very well. When I said my height was a problem, I wasn't meaning for cruisers, it is the enduro, on-offroad bikes, and dirtbikes I was referring to. Shorter people are at a bit of a disadvantage but there is always a bike out there for everyone.

Yeah, there are compact bikes for short riders, and the Hugger is a good one that is often available at very low prices used, because it is seen as a "women's bike" and often men won't buy them unless they are really short guys. The 883s are quite capable machines and may even be a bit over-powered for a beginner, though someone who is mature and cautious would find them find them solid, reliable, and fun. A guy I know bought his wife a Shadow. Why? He is a died-in-the-wool H-D guy and he went cheap on his wife's bike. He could have picked up a Hugger at a pretty reasonable price, but now he is going to take a big depreciation on the Shadow when she finally gets her Sportster. I have a friend whose wife owns an 883, and when his bike was in for paint, he showed up at my blues jam with his wife's bike. I took it for a short run, and it was a pretty snappy machine. For a small person who wants to cruise, the Huggers are a good choice.

larkspur, if you really want to ride, a H-D Hugger is a good choice. You can sit on any of the low cruisers at the H-D place to see what fits you, but as a novice I would advise you to buy a Hugger and sign up for a motorcycle skills/safety course. H-D dealerships often over-price their used machines, so if you have a friend who is capable of evaluating your potential purchase, buy from someone who is selling theirs privately. The trade-in value of a Hugger is very poor at H-D dealerships, so you can easily offer more than trade-in for a used machine and still get a good deal.

 

[scorpa]

A bike I was very impressed with was the BMW F650 GS. It is probably the only on/offroad bike other than the KLR 650 fits me well. It was light, perfect seat height, and just seemed like it would be a very capable machine. I would love to be able to try one out. To bad beemers are so pricey, hard to justify paying over 10 grand for a 650.

Another bike that might be good for larkspur is a Triumph America, 862 cc and supposed to be great bikes. Only problem with a triumph is the resale and lack of dealers. There is the possibility that if you buy a triumph you may lose a lot of money when you sell it as they are not as common, and if you ever need service you may be traveling pretty far to get to a dealership. Really to begin you cannot beat the sportster, Harley's are awesome bikes! Personally the japanese cruisers just do not do it for me, they look like big unproportioned plastic toys. I don't know how yamaha manages to sell any cruisers at all, they all look terrible!

I'm starting to regret making this thread, it is depressing to think how many years it will be before i can afford a bike of my own. At least this summer I will have my dirtbike again. Maybe over the summer I will try to scrape up enough money to buy a used streetbike...not being able to ride any more is killing me! For now I will just have to content myself with dreaming of the day I can walk into the HD dealership and get myself a brand new Street Bob or Wide Glide!

 

[turbo]

For now I will just have to content myself with dreaming of the day I can walk into the HD dealership and get myself a brand new Street Bob or Wide Glide!

A lady with good taste. I bought my first new Harley (a FatBob) in 1985. I paid $6500 for it, rode it for 10 years and sold it for $8500. H-Ds are not appreciating now like they did in the 80s and 90s, but they still hold their value better than the foreign bikes.

One of the old family-owned H-D dealerships in this area was gobbled up last year. Too bad. In 2005, I decided to buy a new Softail, and called the nearest dealership and asked if they had a base model with EFI in stock. The salesman said they did, so I drove down to look it over. Yep, the old bait-and-switch ploy. The only Softails they had were sporting "custom" paint, smooth wheels, alarm systems, etc, and they wouldn't back down off the list price on any of them, either. I got out my cell phone and called Schott's in Lewiston and asked if they had a base model EFI Softail and they said that they had a black one on the floor. I told them to put a tag on it and I would be right down. I looked it over, negotiated a price reduction and paid the owner with a personal check. He never even asked to see an ID.