I'm down due to some knee issues...and it is killing me I can't ride...FACK
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Haven't had a chance to get the Shadow out but been riding the 550 quite a bit. Not real good on the highway but still fun as hell. Sorry to hear about your knees man, hope you can get that straightened out.Originally Posted by Anti Federalist
"The Patriarch"
Thanks...good to see you back around
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Dust cover off...
Wheel over to workbench, knees aching, popping but working...
Battery charger on...
Fresh oil and filter...
Check coolant...
Tires and pressure checked...
Chain lube and adjust...
Cables, lube and adjust...
Grease fittings, greased...
Clean and polish...
Add fresh fuel...
Crank for two seconds...LIFE!
Scooch out of the basement door, around the front to the road...
Roll that $#@!ing throttle out and crack 100+ at top gear...
That ain't rain on my cheeks...
Stop and watch the sunset at the lake down the road from my house...
Finish up the night with a couple o' frosty adult beverages.
Life in the US of A is still pretty good brothers, and worth defending.
Take the time to enjoy what we're fighting for, whatever it may be in your life...it's worth it.
Last edited by Anti Federalist; 08-12-2020 at 10:44 PM.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Excellent photo and comment. Hoisting my pint to you. Cheers!
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”
H.L. Mencken
Right back atcha!
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Better than the POW.
Pfizer Macht Frei!
Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.
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The Federalist Papers, No. 15:
Except as to the rule of appointment, the United States have an indefinite discretion to make requisitions for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America.
Some nice bikes in this thread! I am looking to grab the new Honda CRF450L. While not exactly a "real motorcycle" as my buddies like to chide me with haha, still fun nonetheless. However, I am debating maybe getting something a little more bulletproof for the coming satanic commie hordes like the Suzuki DRZ400 or Honda XRL650.
My grandfather used to have a beautiful Moto Guzzi V7. When he passed away, my grandmother basically gave it away to someone.
Looked exactly like this one:
https://cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/...Ambassador.htm
"I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people. It is the stale artifice which has duped the world a thousand times, and yet, though detected, it is still successful."
--Fisher Ames (1789)
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
That Velocette V Twin sounds gorgeous!
But damn a Pratt and Whitney Radial V?
Outstanding...I learned to ride on British steel...I still twitch my right foot looking to shift.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
That thing is just awesome... 50 mph at 100 rpm.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
I just bought a 2020 Honda Grom today.
Yay Spring...got both mine and my daughter's bikes out and serviced for the year.
Been kind of chilly and damp though, plenty of snow still on the high mountains, not the greatest riding weather, but getting better.
I'll take it.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Gonna try and get my daughter one of these.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
Well...look what just came into my life:
This is just a facsimile, I'll get some shots of the real deal shortly.
Already started stripping and bobbing some of the excess horse$#@! off.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
The Art of the Ride
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2022...t-of-the-ride/
By
eric -
May 6, 2022
Why ride a motorcycle?
You are exposed to the elements. It requires concentration, involvement. You cannot text. You may get wet. You are fully in control of the thing, especially if it’s a bike without ABS or stability control. There are no seatbelts.
Exactly.
Riding is what driving was, once – before most of the fun was emulsified by safetyism into mere transportation. To get on a bike is to experience the elemental, again. Just you and it – even if you have a passenger. Because it’s all on you, which is good. If it has a kick-starter, all the better. Move the kicker up or down just a bit, until you feel the engine rotate to just the right spot, compression building. Then a single, perfectly timed downward stroke. It comes alive in a connected way that is as far-removed from pushing a button as looking at a Playboy when you were 13 was from the real thing, a few years later.
The pipes sing their song, the machine settles into its rhythm.
Now, you’re ready.
Hear – feel – the gravel under the tires as you roll out of the driveway, every nuance of the road. You get to know it, intimately, in ways not possible in cars. It is right there – inches away from your feet. Your eyes can pick out the individual macadam, trace the cracks. You roll with it, an unwinding ribbon of endless adventure. If you are lucky enough to live in a state that hasn’t imposed a requirement to wear a helmet – the proto Face Diaper – you will know the feel of the wind, conveying raw data about speed in a way that cannot be gauged, as by a speedometer and its anodyne numbers.
Here comes a curve. Downshift in anticipation. You do this, yourself. As most don’t, in most modern cars. There is no Lean Angle Control (I made that up). How far over? Where is my turn-in point? Maybe a little pressure on the rear brake – if they’re not linked, as they are in all modern cars – to take a little weight off the front end? There is a subtle art in this. And a satisfaction – when mastered – largely unavailable in most cars, which do most of the setting up for you. And have electronic interventions to safety-net you. Some late-model bikes have them, too – but only so much.
Thankfully so.
Of course, they are working to do to motorcycles what has already been done to cars. They haven’t been able to go as far – or as fast – because people who ride are a different demographic than those who “drive,” in air-fingers-quotes to emphasis the difference. Driving having been gelded by safetyism – the latter made into a sickly fetish object now generally worshipped by those who close doors and push buttons and do not want to be involved in the former activity of driving.
This was easily managed because almost everyone “drives,” in the sense that almost everyone needs to. This includes many who don’t like having to and who for that reason like a car that does as much of the driving for them as is technically feasible.
Including the parking.
Let go of the wheel. Just push another button. In you go. All done for you.
The inevitable elaboration of this being the elimination of driving, altogether. In its place, transportation – “automated” and “self driving.” Windows rolled up, cell phone turned on.
Sensory connection to the world outside, off.
Many want this – and why not? Most cars made since about 2015 or so are already almost there. Lane Keep Assist. Park Assist. Brake Assist. Trailer Back-Up Assist. Speed Limit Assist.
Why not seal the deal?
It has been harder to get motorcycle people to come along for this ride because they are a self-selected crew that wants to ride. There is no need to ride. Especially when almost any can “drive.” It is analogous to choosing to learn how to weld, or to frame a wall. It takes active interest, for the sake of the thing, itself.
You don’t have to – but you want to.
Most riders do not want safetyism. It is a much harder sell, being contrary to the point. Something like Lean Angle Assist – should such an imagined atrocity ever become actuality – would go over with most riders as well as Advanced Rappeling Assist would find love among rock climbers.
Riding a bike is practical in some ways. A bike is generally much less expensive than a car – and always easier on gas. The thirstiest of them use less gas than the typical economy car. They fit where cars do not – including the smallest economy cars. Some can tote more cargo than some cars, too.
But these are incidentals – perks. Nice to have but not the essential thing. Those who know this already do. If you’d like to know, there’s only one way to.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
I was being sarcastic. I'm just repeating liberal talking points.
I don't drive a crotch rocket. Today I was driving a Honda CB300R. I also have a Honda Grom. If I had to pick between the two bikes I would pick the Grom.
My old ride which is now my daughter's.
And my new one...this pic is from the spring, I've nicely bobbed it since then, that goofy rear seat, lights, mirrors and bags are all gone.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
SaweeetMy old ride which is now my daughter's.
And my new one...this pic is from the spring, I've nicely bobbed it since then, that goofy rear seat, lights, mirrors and bags are all gone.
Ya dropped the bags?! Chicken wing hopper or do you still cruise?
____________
An Agorist Primer ~ Samuel Edward Konkin III (free PDF download)
The End of All Evil ~ Jeremy Locke (free PDF download)
Self post move to prevent thread derail:Saweeet
Ya dropped the bags?! Chicken wing hopper or do you still cruise?
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post7135075
Last edited by Anti Federalist; 09-19-2022 at 04:16 AM.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
@PAF
I do, I still have the bags and could re mount them with no problem. I usually use a backpack and duffel bag that I ratchet strap to the rear fender when going any distance. Easy peasy.Saweeet
Ya dropped the bags?! Chicken wing hopper or do you still cruise?
In fact, I'm kicking around the idea of a cruise down to the Jersey Shore before cold weather shuts me down, go and visit a childhood buddy of mine.
One of the previous owners installed that Mustang seat system. I ordered a low profile seat from Dennis Kirk along with a set of Cobra pipes, but the fool thing was on backorder for months, so I kept the Mustang front seat as a solo seat, and mounted a removable slim line $#@! pad right behind it. From the few people that have ridden on it, (two daughters and a DiL) I'd say it's good for maybe twenty miles or so before ya go numb. Good enough for me...Mrs AF won't ride with me so I'm by myself most of the time.
Took the rear pillion footboards off and replaced them with lightweight flip up pegs.
Took off the crash bar and highway pegs mounted on it.
Took off the sidelights and the hoods.
Took off the goofy aftermarket mirrors with turn signals in them and replaced with stock rectangular mirrors.
Took off the stock exhaust, resonator, pre muffler and mufflers, replaced with Cobra baffled drags.
Took off all that radio, communications and speaker crap.
Took off the windscreen and all it's hardware.
All in all I must have removed about 150 pounds of crap off of that bike, made it faster and more nimble.
I've got an idea in my head for this bike, which would be something I have yet to see on a Jap bike (outside of a 70s vintage CB 750 chopper anyways) : a springer front fork.
Something along these lines:
It will require some tricky machine work on the front neck bearings, to adapt an American fork dimesion to a metric bike.
But I've always loved the simplicity of a springer/girder fork.
Fits my whole "zen" of what a motorcycle should be, two wheels, a seat and an engine.
Last edited by Anti Federalist; 09-19-2022 at 04:55 AM.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee
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