OT: Motorcycles

avatar for conan_mac_morna
conan_mac_morna
An ounce of perception, a pound of obscure
In the interest of avoiding necroposting, a new thread:

Where my bros at?

I picked up my 11th bike a couple weeks ago, a 2023 (yep, already) Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT. My previous bike, also a Vulc, died in February and I'd not ridden since then. Not a huge loss since riding in Phoenix during summer is not generally advisable, but still. Being in the wind again is fucking amazing.

My regulars' reactions to me getting a(nother) bike have been mixed. One is all "OMG WHEN ARE YOU GONNA TAKE ME FOR A RIDE," the others are "Please be careful on that beast" (because a 900cc cruiser is so over the top, lulz). I reassured them that I always wear my gear and have taken every available rider course, done hundreds of thousands of miles in all weather with very few incidents.

So tell me about your scoots.

12 comments

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avatar for Warrior15
Warrior15
2 years ago
I grew up in the country with a lot of land around me. I had dirt bikes since I was a little kid. Loved going up and down trails and hills. But I have never wanted a street bike. The bikes themselves are not dangerous. But other drivers not seeing the bikes on a highway IS dangerous.
avatar for conan_mac_morna
conan_mac_morna
2 years ago
^One of my faves told me about the incident that put an end to her modeling career and damn near her life: riding with her squid bf, too fast, surface street, sun behind them, got left-turned by a fucking minivan. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. I made the appropriate sympathetic noises.
avatar for twentyfive
twentyfive
2 years ago
Rode bikes all my from the time I was 19, all my bikes, except my first were HD, the first was a Triumph.
never had an incident until I was 62, stopped for a light an older lady never saw me it was dusk, hit me from behind flew through the intersection landed on the dirt of the median, triple fractured my left arm, I was lucky that I went up in the air, my bike was run over by a guy in a work van making a left turn. Haven't ridden since then.
avatar for CJKent_band
CJKent_band
2 years ago
@conan_mac_morna

First bike my older brother got, I was in my teens and rode it, was a 1948 Panhead Chopper like the Billy bike in the classic movie Easy Rider, I wanted us to get another and do the ride from Los Angeles to the annual New Orleans Mardi Gras like in the movie, but without the cocaine deal.

I got my own in my twenties a Captain American inspired 1949 Panhead chopper (my current ride to the end) and went all 1% biker leather look, and I was invited to join a couple of the larger Motorcycle Clubs in California, I decided because of my work and lifestyle.


avatar for HannibalSmith
HannibalSmith
2 years ago
2010 Harley-Davidson Sportster. Got it back in 2015. Thinking about buying another bike, just not sure what I want yet…
avatar for bubba267
bubba267
2 years ago
Been riding since 1974. 3 Kawasakis 2 Hondas-various dirt and street bikes. I'm a fair weather rider now on a Honda Sports Tour bike. As far as accidents, none except a dirt bike vs pine tree stump. I ride like everyone is trying to kill me....
avatar for conan_mac_morna
conan_mac_morna
2 years ago
@Bubba because they are. Cagers, man, IDK.
avatar for tuskular
tuskular
2 years ago
Question for all you motorcycle guys....


Is Sturgis fun? What happens there? I happened to pass by for work like a week before it started and I'm just curious what they do there.
avatar for conan_mac_morna
conan_mac_morna
2 years ago
*shrug* I don't do group things as a rule, and Sturgis is absolutely not my jam. Mesa (two towns over from Phoenix) does Motorcycles On Main in the less-nuclear-hot months, that's about as groupy as I get.
avatar for captainfun
captainfun
2 years ago
I am a late bloomer when it comes to motorcycles.

Got a 250cc Suzuki to learn on three years ago. Got bored with it quickly and have been riding a 2019 Triumph Bonneville T100 for two years. Considered a Kawasaki z900rs for a minute this summer for more oomph while still looking like bikes of days gone by but I rode it decided that what I have now was a more better ride.
avatar for misterorange
misterorange
2 years ago
Learned on a used Kawasaki EX500 in late 90's. A few years later traded that in for a Yamaha R6. Eventually got rid of it when I moved to a condo with no garage. Didn't ride for a long time like 12 years.

FF to 2017, I'm 50 years old with back problems and a pretty good sized beer belly. Went to look at Ducati. Didn't even bother sitting on one - I knew I'd never be comfortable just by looking at them. Stopped by Harley dealer, test rode a '17 Fatboy, and bought it immediately.

What a pleasure to ride, but I often ride alone. My old fart buddies still have sport bikes and start crying after two hours they wanna go home.
avatar for iknowbetter
iknowbetter
2 years ago
We rode dirt bikes as kids, back before SW Miami-Dade county became overdeveloped. Honda CR’s and Yamaha YZ’s.
I had a Yamaha FJ in college, where I rarely got out of 2nd gear tooling around campus.
I still love bikes, and have religiously renewed my Florida Class E, thinking that someday I might need it, but using a motorcycle for transportation in hot, humid, rainy south Florida is far from ideal. Not to mention, our roads are dangerous AF (go ahead and call me a pussy, but I’m still alive).
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