Motorcycle vs car

[Night Train]

On my test it was the only time I managed a U turn without putting a foot down. I passed first time and then nearly crashed on the way back to base after leaving the test centre.

 

[col]

The examiner still stepped off the kerb to check your emergency stop when I did mine in 1976.... happy days.

He appeared from an alley trying to take me by surprise on mine, but being prewarned by others that this is what this particular tester did, I wasnt surprised

 

[col]

I did the full, big bike test back in 2001 passing first time. I then bought a new Harley Davidson FXSTB Night Train, hence the forum name. It cost about £13k and the insurance was £2k for the first year, £1.8k the year after. 1450cc so it only did about 30mpg, it wasn't cheaper then running a big car. Worse then that I seem to have got a Friday afternoon bike from a useless dealer and then Harley wouldn't honour repairing the faults, some potentially lethal, under warrenty.

I should have bought motorbike instead.

My sis and her hubby did stuff for Harlies, called Trojan horse I think, now called adrenalin moto. I used to use a buell often from their garage, but alas they werent the most reliable, nippy though. They used to travel to races and had kenny roberts son I believe riding for them, did quiet well too.

 

[gavintc]

My wife runs a Honda 300cc scooter. It is quite excellent as the scooter design keeps you pretty clean and dry, it can cruise on the motorway at 110kph (about 70mph) and it is so easy to park in a busy city.

 

[Night Train]

My sis and her hubby did stuff for Harlies, called Trojan horse I think, now called adrenalin moto. I used to use a buell often from their garage, but alas they werent the most reliable, nippy though. They used to travel to races and had kenny roberts son I believe riding for them, did quiet well too.

I'm sure that my bike would have been ok had it been from a sensible dealer. I got it from Bauer Millet in Manchester and they were so bad that the bike went out missing parts and badly assembled. I hadn't a clue as it was my first ever bike and I thought the wobbliness was down to me.
It was only when Bauer Millet closed and I had to take it to Chapel Ash that they found a long list of faults and missing parts that Harley then refused to fix under warrenty.

After I paid for it to be fixed properly it was really quite a good bike and great fun to drive. I never realised they were fast, powerful, torquey and handled well. I had lost faith by then and put it up for sale.

 

[col]

I'm sure that my bike would have been ok had it been from a sensible dealer. I got it from Bauer Millet in Manchester and they were so bad that the bike went out missing parts and badly assembled. I hadn't a clue as it was my first ever bike and I thought the wobbliness was down to me.
It was only when Bauer Millet closed and I had to take it to Chapel Ash that they found a long list of faults and missing parts that Harley then refused to fix under warrenty.

After I paid for it to be fixed properly it was really quite a good bike and great fun to drive. I never realised they were fast, powerful, torquey and handled well. I had lost faith by then and put it up for sale.

Thats shocking, even harley acted shockingly especially if they knew the circumstances? Nice looking bike by the way, but I much prefer British or japanese now, if I was going to get one that is.

 

[Linford]

Before I went over the to dark side and bought a Kawasaki sports bike, I owned this 900 Triumph (Adventurer) for a couple of years (about 10 years ago) It was a nice bike to ride, handled very well for what it was, and could cruise at 90 all day. My kids loved going on the back and I must have done about 5k miles with the eldest as pillion over that time.

 

[col]

Before I went over the to dark side and bought a Kawasaki sports bike, I owned this 900 Triumph (Adventurer) for a couple of years (about 10 years ago) It was a nice bike to ride, handled very well for what it was, and could cruise at 90 all day. My kids lived going on the back and I must have done about 5k miles with the eldest as pillion over that time.

As a kid I drooled and dreamed of a bonny, it was the pin up of bikes at the time.

 

[Archie_tect]

Ditto for me in 1981. I couldn't master the emergency stop without locking my back wheel, so on the day of my test I slackened the cable operated rear drum brake on my CB200 off so much that it barely worked I passed!

I had a CB 200 too! Green or red? [mine was green...]

 

[col]

I had a CB 200 too! Green or red? [mine was green...]

I had a CB 175 for a short while.

 

[Archie_tect]

Nearly got a CB500T... the one with a big brown tank... but got knocked off my 200 by an artic and had to claim on their insurance. Took so long to sort out I missed buying it.

 

[blockend]

Kettle:

KH750:

(P.S. Apologies to the OP for derailing the thread, but thanks for prompting me to spend the last 1/2 hour looking at photos and re-living my youth)

The Kawasaki pictured is a 900 4-stroke Z1, not a 2-stroke KH. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_triple

 

[Night Train]

Thats shocking, even harley acted shockingly especially if they knew the circumstances? Nice looking bike by the way, but I much prefer British or japanese now, if I was going to get one that is.

I wrote to Harley to explain and the only reply I had was 'Here's the details of the UK chapters and a pin badge.'. When I wrote to the UK base I got 'Here's a membership form and a pin badge.'. That is all I could get out of them, membership forms and pin badges. They wouldn't talk to me at all.

 

[col]

I wrote to Harley to explain and the only reply I had was 'Here's the details of the UK chapters and a pin badge.'. When I wrote to the UK base I got 'Here's a membership form and a pin badge.'. That is all I could get out of them, membership forms and pin badges. They wouldn't talk to me at all.

Great aftersales service eh, made worse by the fact it was supplied in a substandard condition. Glad Im not a fan, no offence.

 

[simon.r]

I had a CB 200 too! Green or red? [mine was green...]

Red, with black padding on the tank. Electric start as well, which was unusual at the time.