Rub
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,123
Likes: 51,434
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Just mention 45 cu in to a lot of riders today, and they don't know what you're talking about. But I gotta admit, I'm running into more folks that are playing with the electronics, and I'm still just a carb guy; at my age, expect I'll never get into computer bikes, but I'll be satisfied to stick with carbs.
I've knew the guys with bikes constantly falling apart and having to stop every 50 miles or so and the group rides you didn't do without a chase truck that got used but that was the owners fault more times than not when drama happened they let little stuff turn into big things or ignored basic common sense like look the bike over a bit before a big ride or check on the weird noise it's been making for a month now .
Being self reliant is too deeply ingrained with me to do all the new wiz bang electronics and fuel injection . While it does work and well the what if bug would eat me alive , don't think I'd take one of these new ones a 1/10th of the outa the way places I went on the older bikes
Last edited by TwiZted Biker; May 14, 2012 at 07:29 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 33,718
Likes: 3,723
From: Connecticut.
Well I don't think my wife would let me date her. She is a strong woman too and a Latina so while she comes across as prissy she carries a knife knows how to use and can shoot better than most men I know, got a full ride scholarship from Stanford for archery.
You do not cheat on a woman that learned how to handle a knife from her brother who was a street roughian in Managua Nicaragua, learned how to shoot from me, and basically grew up in competitive archery.
You do not cheat on a woman that learned how to handle a knife from her brother who was a street roughian in Managua Nicaragua, learned how to shoot from me, and basically grew up in competitive archery.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 27,097
Likes: 4,676
From: Frozelandia, Minnysota
I came up through the rough old days of do it yourself or you didn't ride , dealers or shops where few and far between . Had my share of issues but nothing that ever left me stranded I couldn't fix and be one my way , never the constant drama I hear in this place all the time and I rode the bloody hell out of my bikes all over the country . You had to be confident and self sufficient if you wanted to travel .
...
Being self reliant is too deeply ingrained with me to do all the new wiz band electronics and fuel injection . While it does work and well the what if bug would eat me alive , don't think I'd take one of these new ones a 1/10th of the outa the way places I went on the older bikes
...
Being self reliant is too deeply ingrained with me to do all the new wiz band electronics and fuel injection . While it does work and well the what if bug would eat me alive , don't think I'd take one of these new ones a 1/10th of the outa the way places I went on the older bikes
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,123
Likes: 51,434
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
I'd like to be able to say I was a great mechanic in the 60's, but that was just my on the road learning period. Didn't have money to pay shop mechanics, learned as I went. Gotta admit, the early Japanese bikes I had back then weren't real reliable, but they were so darn simple, and you could almost overhaul a Honda with the little included tool kit. Usually tweaked that 305 I had every Saturday before starting weekend rides, at least check points, plugs, & fiddle the carb if it didn't seem to be running prime, and frequent valve adjusting. Eventually pulling heads and lapping valves. Lots of little things that go thousands of miles on today's bikes, lucky to get a couple thousand on those old ones without needing attention. Does wonders for your confidence when you're a few hundred miles from home, the bike sputters and you drift to the side of the road, and... you figure it out and fix it! We'd all swap tales about those aw **** moments back then, you learned to fix if you wanted to ride a long way from home. First really reliable road bike was a 78 Suzuki 850, took a 2200 mile trip, not the slightest hicup. Thought I'd gone to bike heaven. On a new computer bike, I think I'd have the what if bug, too. I know I'd probably get used to it eventually, did with cages, but as long as I can have a good carb bike, think I'll stick with it, nothing wrong with them.
Side effect of growing up broke & struggling but wanting something and not taking " No " or " you can't do that " as being the final answer . You want something bad enough you'll do it .
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 66,948
Likes: 4,573
From: TOAK western branch
Will never say I'm a great one but I am good enough to make it work when it goes **** up the hard way . Side effect of growing up broke & struggling but wanting something and not taking " No " or " you can't do that " as being the final answer . You want something bad enough you'll do it .
Side effect of growing up broke & struggling but wanting something and not taking " No " or " you can't do that " as being the final answer . You want something bad enough you'll do it .
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,123
Likes: 51,434
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Got lucky at 19 and met and old british flat track racer from the 50's & 60's , to this day reminds me of Burt Munro from the Fastest Indian movie . Doyle was just like that taught me a lot of the lost art of making it work or making another part for it , wasn't any of this pull it off the shelf stuff with him .
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,788
Likes: 1
From: Maine
I bought my shovel FXR for the price of a late pre-rubber mount 1200 sportster.
Unfortunately, I think it is going to take another sportster paydown to get it right - lol. Buying the repair manual soon. I have the parts manual, but that's a fairly dry well. Still, what a f'in ride! And TB, I look at your bike with new eyes now, wow. Funny story, I gave my wife a box of parts from the shovel to transport for me in her car. When she got home, her hands were dirty, she got grease all over her shirt and was cussing like a sailor.
All I could say was "welcome to shovel world".
Unfortunately, I think it is going to take another sportster paydown to get it right - lol. Buying the repair manual soon. I have the parts manual, but that's a fairly dry well. Still, what a f'in ride! And TB, I look at your bike with new eyes now, wow. Funny story, I gave my wife a box of parts from the shovel to transport for me in her car. When she got home, her hands were dirty, she got grease all over her shirt and was cussing like a sailor.
All I could say was "welcome to shovel world".
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Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,123
Likes: 51,434
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
I bought my shovel FXR for the price of a late pre-rubber mount 1200 sportster.
Unfortunately, I think it is going to take another sportster paydown to get it right - lol. Buying the repair manual soon. I have the parts manual, but that's a fairly dry well. Still, what a f'in ride! And TB, I look at your bike with new eyes now, wow. Funny story, I gave my wife a box of parts from the shovel to transport for me in her car. When she got home, her hands were dirty, she got grease all over her shirt and was cussing like a sailor.
All I could say was "welcome to shovel world".
Unfortunately, I think it is going to take another sportster paydown to get it right - lol. Buying the repair manual soon. I have the parts manual, but that's a fairly dry well. Still, what a f'in ride! And TB, I look at your bike with new eyes now, wow. Funny story, I gave my wife a box of parts from the shovel to transport for me in her car. When she got home, her hands were dirty, she got grease all over her shirt and was cussing like a sailor.
All I could say was "welcome to shovel world".
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,077
Likes: 2
From: Orlando
Where I grew up the only dealer around( back when there werent HD dealers everywhere) wouldnt work on your bike if it was a chopper. The old guy hated choppers. If you didnt learn to fix your own bike you were stuck with a stock bike. There wasnt a huge market for bolt on parts or suppliers for them either so choppers were the only way to go. You couldnt go on the internet and buy that chrome billet do dad that you wanted. JC whitney catalog had some parts.