Bad ride

Logoman

Yesterday, I rode with four harley guys/gals. I kept yawning. I couldn't believe how slow we were going and I was on my ST1100. I got to thinking that the reason Harley people have loud pipes is to keep from dozing off. It's just strange to be passed by every car on the road instead of passing every car on the road. Man, they truly don't get it.

The worst part came when I cycled to the back of the group 3/4 of the way into the ride and saw the poor riding skills ahead of me. Scary stuff. I was sooooo relieved when it came time to peal off and go my own way. I set the cruise control at a speed I will not disclose and rode the next hour home in quiet bliss.

I'm making it a personal rule not to ride with Harley people again. And these are my friends. Too bad they can't have more fun on the road than just holding their bikes upright.

airborneXX

I know exactly what you mean. We went on a parade type ride last year, and to this day I have no idea why I stayed with them the entire day. My wife still says it was the most stressful ride she had ever been on.

Poker runs are fun though when you get a good group together.

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Logoman

Stressful, yes, that's it. It WAS stressful. Who would have thought riding slow would be stressful. But when I'm not moving at the normal speed of traffic it stresses me out. I'm constantly worried about being passed by disgruntled drivers. Add to that the deafening noise level. That in itself is stressful. I was sitting behind a fully faired motorcycle wearing a full helmet and earplugs and the noise was still just incredible.

Then there's the stress of riding with people you KNOW couldn't make a well executed emergency maneuver if their lives depended on it. And these people are BEHIND you. During the entire ride, the one husband and wife team had a non-stop conversation with eachother mostly centered around her disasterously crappy riding skills. She could not maintain a steady throttle while riding or back up the bike by herself when we stopped. Even HE nearly ran his bike into another one of the Harleys when he was backing it up. Unbelievable.

And to top it off...they had a WONDERFUL time. Yep, loved every minute of it. Never had a clue they didn't have a clue and can't wait to do it again.

Like I said, next time they'll be going without me.

ConqSoft

Ignorance is bliss.

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Dion

The only way to really ride with a group like that is either in front of or behind.

Just let them know you'll passing and falling back all day. The nice thing is when you stop for lunch you can stay and have dessert while they leave.

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Logoman

I was number two man most of the time, but the straight pipes on the lead Road King just got the better of me. I guarantee you couldn't get a louder Harley unless it had no pipes at all.

Sliding to the back to get away from the din is when I noticed what a circus I was with. And I got queasy because there were these two husband and wife riders swerving and lurching parade style several feet behind the lead riders also riding parade style - one of whom was, himself, behaving irratically. Sometimes, the gal was actually in the middle of the road poked up between the two riders in front. Cue the NASCAR Three-Wide Big One video. Add an extremely rough road to the mix that even had my ST bottoming out at times. I thought I was going to be a witness.

I've ridden with two of the Harley guys that were on this ride, but I'm always with one or two other guys on faster bikes so we can ride our ride and then wait at the stop signs for the lifestyle products to waddle up. This time, there was no one to do that with and I wasn't sure where/when we'd be stopping. So I was anchored to the group. Otherwise, buh bye. I would've been paying my lunch tab around the time they pulled into the parking lot.

BrianR

Ah yes, group rides - "please give the the long/lat of the dinner stop and I will see you all there"

That's my approach...

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Involute

When I crashed earlier this year I was riding with 2 Harleys and 2 Honda Cruisers. The first corner I hit after I decided to enjoy myself for a bit is where I wiped out. I should have stayed on their Pace. I have a hard time switching between smelling the roses and having fun I guess. I’ve found that when I decide to enjoy scenery I make more mistakes and get caught off guard. When I run a Pace that is exciting I don’t have many pucker moments at all. If it’s just me and the road I do fine. If it’s me, the road and the pretty frickin trees, streams and mountains things catch me off guard.

I will say however that one of life’s finer moments is when you get to blow past and scare the crap out of a group of “Individuals” that see you behind them, slow down in the corners and give it hell on the straights in order to keep you from passing. Stuffing those guys in a corner is great! I had a group of about 40 of those bastards all bunched up on a canyon this year refuse to let us pass. They even went out of their way to spread out and use Passing Lanes in order give us no room to get around. I was on my FZ-1 with an Akropovic Pipe on it. By the time I was passing the last 10 or so I was bouncing off the rev-limiter and the pipe was emitting the most God awful scream. As I looked in the mirrors when I passed the leader, those morons were all over the road after jumping out of their skin in fright. If they weren’t such pricks I’d have nicely passed them in an appropriate place and given them the friendly Biker Wave. It's too bad the Leaders had to pay the price for the idiots they were leading.

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RodeRash

Do you have any idea just how hard it is to go around a corner without leaning?

These people are not without skills

Logoman

Maybe you crashed because you were so happy to get away that you forgot to pay attention. It's like escaping from prison and then stepping on a rake.

Don't get me started on the Harley packs. They don't understand that blocking is one of the leading stimulants of road rage. How'd you like to be coming the other way on your bike, when some driver decides he's had enough of them and tries to execute a pass - into your lane? I've seen it done.

I personally love strafing cruisers in much the same way a fighter pilot loves coming out of the sun and ripping up a lumbering bomber with tracers. Bogey at 12.

That's funny and kinda true. I had one Harley rider tell me years ago that cornering a Harley was really just a controlled fall.

Involute

[quote=Logoman;2184]

I personally love strafing cruisers in much the same way a fighter pilot loves coming out of the sun and ripping up a lumbering bomber with tracers. Bogey at 12.
quote]

If you're going to do it, do it right. Mount an swivel to the top clamp and put an SKS on that bad boy!

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BDAZXX

I run across asshats like that once a year or so in the Sierras. Most of the time all riders around here are preatty cool and wave me by. But this one instance, I used them as a rolling slalom course. Passing inbetween ponch and john and his relatives, on the outside, on the inside then gave once I got to the front I slowed back down to there pace, turned around and I gave them all a one finger salute!...........Man it was fun, but alittle scarey.

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Logoman

[quote=involute;2190]I was thinking of something more along the lines of a Barrett.

Too funny. Bet they just wet themselves. Couldn't do much more than that, though. The minute they leave the parking lot they are the little bitches of the motorcycling world.

smoothmotion

Last summer bf and I were out riding he on his fjr, me on the bb.
We came up on this harley double up towing a trailer, bf passed and I stayed behind a bit, the harley rider then decided to keep up with bf.
Well....the road was full of twisties and bumps with the odd hole that would swallow a small car. Poor guy was all over the road (both sides of the road sometimes) trying to hang on with the trailer learching sometimes 6 - 8 inches in the air and then it would jerk the bike at the same time. I truly thought I was going to be witness to see him sailing on out there in the boonies. I give the man credit for hanging on to a piece of machinery like that for so long, he had to have muscles in his s@#t when he was finished.
Was truly wild to watch.
Oh, guy had american plates!

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Logoman

Later, this guy bragged to his buddies about how he outran a crotch rocket. Bet on it. This is their favorite tall tale.

When we first met (at a bar dontchaknow), one of my Harley riding friends was bragging about some 130 mph trouncing of a crotch rocket he'd done. He didn't know what I rode at the time and figured I was on a Harley like everyone else. The stories dried up quickly the first time we went riding together. Yesterday, this same guy told me he'd just had his Road King dynoed and it was putting out 77 hp and 80 foot pounds of torque. He was proud of that. I almost hate to go to the john at the same time as this guy for fear he may look over and get depressed.

sfarson

Not sure I follow this.

Warp11XX

Is your other bike a Harley?

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SGTSkiXX

I used to ride with Harley riders all the time they were my neighbors. I was on an FZR600 at the time and they kept the ride rolling pretty well. I have to say though these weren't your typical I bought a harley to be cool people. These were the zz top look alikes that lived for riding the hog.

Oh and Hi everyone

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sfarson

Other horses... a Harley for cruising, a Duc Superbike for the canyons, a BMW GS for all the Rocky Mountain forest roads, the BMW KS for curves far away. The XX? It is the faithful one, with sentimental value far exceeding the monetary value.

Until one gets bikes have different purposes for different kinds of roads and riding, they live in a small spectrum of the sport.

Logoman

+1. As long as the cruiser guys are in town, they do fine. Put 'em on rough little 2-lane sugar cane roads and they start pissing everyone off around them. Cruisers are just way too limiting for me to consider riding one and I don't need to be cool.

Maybe it's just me, but I do like to get out and relax on the bike. With the Harley guys I ride with, I can't do that. I'm not able to go a normal speed, I can't hear for all the noise, and their overall lack of riding skills makes me nervous.

Our days of riding together are over.

rosanne

After thirty five or so years licenced, I now always ride at the back, just way too many fools up their.

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Logoman

I hear ya. I either want to be in front or waaaay in back. I don't like running over large pieces of metal.

And I want to clarify that I am not talking about real riders on cruisers. The bike's may still be limited compared to the 'Bird, but there are some extremely experienced riders aboard those things at times. We all know that, though.

sfarson