Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Harley-Davidson Livewire

Of all the dealerships to walk into I find the Honda product line to be the most interesting and diverse. They’re all Hondas too so they’ll run forever. I don’t care for their cartoonish big v-twins with the fat rear times and weirdly arching gas tanks, can’t believe anyone buys ‘em. But everything else in their product line is good.

In particular I think they hit it out of the ballpark whith their inexpensive 400lb wet wt Rebel 500 twin. I could have a lot of fun flogging that thing down backroads in the Hill Country.

Yeah, I've thought about that Rebel 500 ABS for my daughter. I plan to go test ride one sometime soon when she's home. Pretty sure it's the same motor as in the CBR500 detuned.

My first Street bike was an H1B Kawasaki. Fun city!

C'lymescale, Rick put you in charge?

They felt they had to have an "answer" to Harley Davidson.

(They didn't).

Those uber-fat rear tires prob’ly seem real cool unless you actually ride enough to wear one out, and then ya find out the cost of a replacement.

A silent motorcycle seems like the wrong way to go. I'm thinking the noise some bikes make is the only reason non-cyclists ever see a motorcycle.

Those fat rear tires are over $300. Never saw the need.

The most fun I’ve had on backroads was on smaller-displacement motorcycles running with the fast boys on full-on repli-racers. There’s very few curves worth hitting on legal highways that can be taken at faster than 80, so all ya really need is a motorcycle that pulls useful acceleration through 80 mph.

Except if ya don’t got that many horses on tap, you have to hit every gear and braking point exactly right to stay in the powerband Great fun.

One time during my 750 Ninja period I was out riding with a guy on an actual 250cc KLR dirtbike. To keep it fair I didn’t go faster than 70mph even tho the bike would do 140 easy. Still, for the roads we were on 70 was plenty fast. That guy just left that little 250cc thumper flat out pegged the whole time.

Much I tried I could NOT shake that SOB , every time I checked my mirrors there he was, right on my tail. ‘ Course, places where the road straightened out I coulda just twisted the throttle and left him behind, but straight lines don’t count, cornering is everything.

A friend of mine, former Navy flier and retired commercial pilot with more money than he can spend, used to keep a couple of those Rebels in his garage just so friends and acquaintances who didn't have bikes could go riding with him. I rode one. They're easy to ride.

Haven't seen him in a while. Not sure if he still does.

“Practical” is in the eye of the beholder.

Fer example any $14,000 motorcycle versus any compact four-door sedan.

First thing is driving the compact sedan doesn’t require putting on a special and very expensive suit of clothes every friggin’ morning, even when you’re running late, to bring your compact sedan. Add yet another layer of time-consuming expensive clothing when it’s wet and/or cold out. If it’s below 27 degrees or so and there’s ice you can still drive the sedan.

Speaking of expense, your four compact sedan tires will last anywhere from five to ten times as long as the back tire and chain on your motorcycle yet cost only 50% more to replace all four on the rare intervals they do need replacing. Likewise depending on the bike, the compact sedan will require half as many oil changes and far fewer factory-recommended service intervals..

With a sedan you can drop off the kids at school on your way to work even with all their backpacks, science projects, sports bags and musical instruments.

On days you gotta wear a suit you can wear it to work while driving your sedan.

At work or anywhere else, your parked sedan is far less likely to attract the attention of casual vandals, probably no one will sit on your car, and your car cannot fall over, nor are your cars seats gonna get brittle and split over time from the sun.

To prevent the above from happening, you do not need to bring along a cover to cover your unattended car, which is good because putting on the cover adds even more time required to get to work, even when you are already running late.

If you DO cover your compact sedan, in the event of a thunderstorm it ain’t gonna act like a sail to tip your car over anyway, no will you ever be obliged to sit on a soaking wet seat after said thunderstorm

If you still have a wife and she asks you to pick up some milk and other groceries after you pick up the kids, you can easily do this in your compact sedan.

Of course a compact sedan is not nearly as entertaining to operate as is a motorcycle, but for a close second you can move the kid’s booster seat to the middle of the back seat, wind down all the windows, crank up the radio, and PRETEND yer on a motorcycle, livin’ in the wind

Deep thinker.

As always.

That makes a lot of sense.

Yeah those are a sharp looking bike. Price is right too.

Actually, it very much does, depending on how much seat time you actually have on motorcycles and how you rode ‘em during that time.

I must be getting old, with all this talk of visiting I plumb forgot our esteemed and much-missed Boggy Creek Ranger AKA James and his lovely and gracious wife actually did stop by and pick me up at work six or seven years ago, we went out and ate local and took a look around.

After that he got on here and pronounced my AO as “being like Nuevo Laredo”, I thought that was a bit harsh, Nuevo Laredo is flat scary, besides which, most people around here don’t speak Spanish.......

That also, makes tons of sense.

I wouldn't have one.

Yep. Bout as queer as a 3 dollar bill.

LOL!

Well, just in case yer laughing WITH me......


I forgot the parts about how your compact sedan does not come with a sidestand, and therefore cannot punch through hot asphalt in the summertime and fall over.

Neither is your compact sedan gonna have an air-cooled motor, so will not over heat when snarled in stop and go traffic, thereby significantly shortening the service life of the motor.

Also, when the thermostat triggers the radiator cooling fan, in a compact sedan, said cooling fan will not blast hot air on your already hot legs while you are sitting out in full sun in that uncomfortably hot very expensive clothing which will soon acquire a rank odor of stale sweat. Instead you will be sitting in air-conditioned comfort, and any bare skin you have exposed will not be burned, aged and damaged by the sun.