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mcmurray

By mcmurray
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NeoConMan

NeoConMan

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Kawasaki KLR 650

 

1112637690_d825f0e0f2.jpg

 

Street legal, tops out around 100 mph so it will do freeway speeds if you flog it a little.

 

Plenty of suspension travel and a 5 gallon tank for off-road exploring and light hill climbing.

As long as you stay away from sand - it weighs 400 pounds...

 

 

 

Since I don't have one of those darling little girls consuming my toy money, next might be any of these;

 

KTM 990 Adventure - 100+ horsepower in the dirt!

 

 

Kawasaki ZX-14 (video clip from Kawasaki website)

 

 

Victory Hammer S - 1700 cc's and 100+ horsepower in a long, low, lean cruiser...

 

 

Problem is, they all three cost triple what I paid for the slow, boring, ugly KLR....

 

 

I did the Crotch Rocket thing in the early eighties when those bikes first hit the US market.

I survived it, and figured I'd never own another hot bike but the fever never goes away.....

 

:-k/

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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I've ridden for 47 years. I long ago lost track of the bikes and the miles. Speaking not only for myself but for most other riders of cruisers, it's not just a motorcycle. It's a statement. This is mine.

 

Here's my Dad on his 24th birthday. He would spend 36 years in the uniform of his country.

 

IMG_0755.jpg

 

These are the buttons from his last dress uniform, as I mount them on my saddle and pillion.

 

IMG_0893.jpg

 

This is where they ride, every time I do. An indescribable honor.

 

IMG_0896.jpg

 

And this is my riding partner and best friend, the only one who gets up behind me other than my Grand-daughters.

 

IMG_0909.jpg

 

Ride safe, brothers and sisters, and ride long!

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mcmurray

mcmurray

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That's an awesome story. Your dad was in the German army in WW2? Or was it Austria or Switzerland? Those buttons on the seat look great mate.

 

Have you had any close calls and/or hospital time in those 47 years of riding?

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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That's an awesome story. Your dad was in the German army in WW2? Those buttons on the seat look great mate.

 

Have you had any close calls and/or hospital time in those 47 years of riding?

 

My Dad went ashore in Normandy with the U.S. 2d Infantry division on D+1. He became a guest of the German Army a few months later and spent the last of the war as a POW. He was an awesome guy and is (obviously) my hero. He passed away on Memorial Day' date=' 1998. I miss him every day. Having his buttons with me when I ride is just another way of keeping his memory alive. I get a lot of comments/questions about them and am always happy to talk about him and my Ma. Great folks, the both of 'em. Thanks for you compliment. [biggrin

 

Close calls are too numerous to count. NO ONE SEES US!!!! But, knowing that, that's how you ride...as if you're invisible. NOT invincible. :- I drive my vehicles with the same mentality as when I ride and it's saved me many a mishap. But in all those years I've never been down on the pavement....never wrecked a bike.

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EVOL!

EVOL!

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I don't have a motorcycle, but I want to say it is good to see you cats sporting helmets. Here in IL we do not have helmet laws so I see a lot of crazy people burning up and down Lake Shore Drive on those crotch rocket bikes with only a pair of goggles on their head. Makes me shake my head. All it takes is one yuppie in a luxury SUV to turn you into a vegetable.

 

Ride safe.

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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I don't have a motorcycle' date=' but I want to say it is good to see you cats sporting helmets. Here in IL we do not have helmet laws so I see a lot of crazy people burning up and down Lake Shore Drive on those crotch rocket bikes with only a pair of goggles on their head. Makes me shake my head. All it takes is one yuppie in a luxury SUV to turn you into a vegetable.

 

Ride safe.[/quote']

 

Helmet laws SUCK!! They are always passed by non-riders so they won't feel guilty for running over a biker because they weren't paying attention. Same friggin' idiots that pass helmet laws are the ones texting as they drive.

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mcmurray

mcmurray

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I know what you mean about driving with the same mentality as riding, it's saved me a few times as well.

 

If everyone had to get their bike licence before their car licence, the roads would be a much safer place imo.

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EVOL!

EVOL!

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Helmet laws SUCK!! They are always passed by non-riders so they won't feel guilty for running over a biker because they weren't paying attention. Same friggin' idiots that pass helmet laws are the ones texting as they drive.

 

I wasn't advocating for or against helmet laws, just saying it is *crazy* to ride here without one; motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle. Hey, its your life.

 

I ride a bicycle in the city so I am well aware of the dangers of sharing the road with dopes in big cars that do not pay attention.

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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I wasn't advocating for or against helmet laws' date=' just saying it is *crazy* to ride here without one; motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle. Hey, its your life.

 

I ride a bicycle in the city so I am well aware of the dangers of sharing the road with dopes in big cars that do not pay attention.[/quote']

 

Beggin yer pardon. I advocate against helmet laws, not against the use of helmets. No worries. But if it were not for the law in my own state I'd ride with no helmet most of the time.

 

I'd far rather see more attention paid to the piss-poor driver's training received by most American drivers. And I'd like to see a tiered licensing program in the US for motorcyclists, as they have in England, that would keep inexperienced riders off of machines they're not ready for.

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mcmurray

mcmurray

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I've heard that in Alabama one can get a motorcycle licence just by completing a written test. No practical test necessary! What a joke.

 

Here we have to pass a practical and are restricted to 250cc for 12 months, then another practical test is required to upgrade.

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Cruznolfart

Cruznolfart

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I've heard that in Alabama one can get a motorcycle licence just by completing a written test. No practical test necessary! What a joke.

 

Here we have to pass a practical and are restricted to 250cc for 12 months' date=' then another practical test is required to upgrade.[/quote']

 

That makes so much more sense than many of our states where there's one test for an endorsement to ride ANY displacement bike, regardless of the actual time-in-saddle on the part of the rider. Some states are beginning to require an actual rider's safety course before you can apply. But it's a long way from your tiered system. Selling the bikes is much more important here than keeping the riders alive.

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Stew

Stew

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Here in Florida we don't have the helmet law which I like. I am one lucky son of a gun though. My ex-wife insisted on me wearing a helmet when we were married. I was involved in a hit and run and was unconscious for about 12 hours with massive head trauma. After being given the blood I desperately needed and stapling the back of my head together and weeks of recovery I was back on the road. The helmet probably saved me but now divorced and like before I was married, I'm riding free without helmet. Lets just blame it on brain damage but I hate wearing helmet... cups the wind and I feel is more dangerous. I like to hear and feel all that is around me. You can all come and visit me when I'm a vegetable and say... "you just can't fix dumb" but until then... I'm riding free and know that I just don't give a ****! Plus I have a deal with a friend... if either of us are ever bedridden, things will be taken care of and put to an end. All this talk has me wanting to get out and ride! HAPPY FRIDAY!

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L5Larry

L5Larry

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Here in Missouri we do have a helmet law. Last year our legislature did repealed it but the Govenor vetoed it. So we still have to cross the ole Mississippi river into Illinois to be able to get those buckets off our heads.

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NeoConMan

NeoConMan

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Here in IL .... I see a lot of crazy people burning up and down Lake Shore Drive on

those crotch rocket bikes with only a pair of goggles on their head.

My initial reaction is a bit like Cruzn.

It's not the LAW that saves people.

It's not the helmet that saves people, nor the skull it's supposed to protect.

It's the brain inside it.

 

Can't fix stupid.

Can't legislate morality.

Can't stop "squids" from owning the bike of their choice and then acting like 5 year olds on a sugar binge.

 

After age 18, anybody choosing not to wear a helmet is responsible for his own actions.

Darwin is a m@ther-fxcker.

 

I've lost several friends and co-workers to motorcycles since 1980, even a couple to Jeeps.

Some were the fault of a car that just didn't..... whatever.

Several were completely of their own making.

Then there those that were freaky, unforeseen, random acts of God - nothing else could explain it.

 

 

I usually wear a helmet, I learned as a kid trying to be a SuperCross Star after taking some hard falls.

Luckily a broken sternum was my worst injury.

After getting my head slammed into the ground, and eating enough dirt, I went to a full face helmet.

It's on me 95% of the time, and considering how hard I hit the ground now in my 40's that's a good thing.

 

:-)

 

But to think that some fxcking texting bureaucrat with a lobbyists agenda will speak for me, well...

 

 

I tell people that motorcycles are not "dangerous" in the conventional knee-jerk sense.

But like aviation (another love of mine) or watersports/maritime employment, it is terribly unforgiving.

Carelessness brings about reckoning in a most certain way.

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tbonesullivan

tbonesullivan

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Helmet laws SUCK!! They are always passed by non-riders so they won't feel guilty for running over a biker because they weren't paying attention. Same friggin' idiots that pass helmet laws are the ones texting as they drive.
Well' date=' I hope you have your organ donor card filled out so you'll be of some use to society. The people who pass the helmet laws are ones who have statistics to back them up, and are the same people who are passing laws to ban texting while driving and being on a non hands-free cell phone while driving.

 

Helmets save lives, and reduce the burden on the health industry, end of story. Riding without a helmet is like riding in shorts and riding without gloves.

 

And yes, I ride.

 

[img']http://www.tbonesullivan.com/davebike1.jpg[/img]

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