Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/8/2018 10:44 AM, Its Me wrote:
On Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 9:47:43 AM UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/8/2018 9:24 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/8/18 9:14 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/8/2018 8:39 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/8/18 7:07 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/7/2018 7:53 PM, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 7 Aug 2018 19:37:16 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 8/7/2018 1:51 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 07 Aug 2018 06:26:32 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Mon, 6 Aug 2018 16:42:55 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

On Monday, August 6, 2018 at 5:53:59 PM UTC-5, John H wrote:
...wish I'd seen this video a few years back when I dropped
the Mille at a MacDonalds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyWpIKC_Br8

I saw a guy do that once because the kick stand collapsed, so
he picked it up just to have it keel over the other side.....

I posted a video of that here a while back. Funny as hell, but I
think the guy must have been drunk.

When I dropped mine, it dropped on the kickstand side. Whoops!

Harleys have a real bad habit of going over on the kickstand side if
you park in the grass. That is why guys carry a little block of wood
to put under the kick stand..



Any bike will tip over if the kickstand pushes through soft soil,
even
my little 150 cc scooter.

The scooter gave me the itch though.Â* Bought a used Suzuki C50T to
ride
(drive?) :-}Â* around on.Â* Decent bike ... not anywhere near as
heavy as
the last two Harleys that I had.Â* This one weighs in at just about
600
lbs wet.Â* The Harley's were about 900 lbs.Â* It also has a lower CG.

Congrats! Looks like a mean machine. Not wild about the style, but
I'm just not a cruiser guy. What
year, how many miles...got a picture?

Should we open up the 'countersteering' discussion again?



It's a 2008 with 16,000 miles on it.Â* 805 cc.Â* Not as big and heavy
as the two Harley Ultra Classics I had and the biggest thing I noticed
right away (besides the lighter weight) was the lower center of
gravity. Looks just like the image at the link (below) except it's a
metallic charcoal with black trim instead of all black.Â* I also
removed the driver backrest which I didn't like.Â* Mrs.E likes it
because she can go for rides with me once in a while.Â*Â* My brother
has owned an older version of the C50 (2004) and it has been trouble
free in the 14 years
that he has had it.

https://latelifebiker.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/the-black-beauty-med.jpg


It doesn't have the "balls" that the Harleys had but it has more
than enough for me with my wife on board.Â* Of course the Harley
engines were almost twice the size at 1584 cc and my last one was a
6 speed whereas
the Suzuki has 5.Â* It's water cooled as well which I like.

I really didn't have any intention of buying another motorcycle but the
day I went to the dealer to pick up the little scooter I happened to
see
this one sitting in the shop and it caught my attention.Â* Went home,
rode the scooter around for a couple of weeks and decided to go back
and
try out the Suzuki.Â* They made me a offer that I couldn't refuse
so now I have both the scooter and the bike.

It's history is kinda funny.Â* It was purchased new in 2008 by a guy
in his mid 40's.Â* He recently moved to an apartment in Boston and
didn't
have a place to easily store it so he traded it in on a scooter
identical to the one I bought for commuting in the city.




How does your wife get up on that passenger seat? It looks pretty
high up...

I had a Mini Cooper S with a smaller engine than the 1584 cc's in
your Harley...it was a 1275 cc and I think the entire car weighed
about 1300 pounds...four speed tranny.Â*



It's not difficult for her.Â* Like everyone does, I sit on the bike and
stabilize it with my legs and feet.Â* She just steps on the passenger
foot rest peg and climbs on, swinging her leg over the back rest.Â* Not
unlike mounting a horse.Â* :-)

The rear seat on this one is actually lower than the rear seat the
Ultra Classics had.

The Mini Cooper SÂ* I had (a 2008) had the 1.6L turbo engine (1600 cc).
Six speed manual but weighed considerably more than yours.Â*Â* It was a
fun car (made by BMW) but a little too small for longer range driving.
It also had an mild but annoying torque steer
when you accelerated quickly.Â* I bought it in 2010, drove it around for
a year or so but decided to get rid of it before it started needing
parts or service.Â* The closest dealership that worked on Mini's was in
Boston and I didn't feel like having to drive there just to have
service done on it.Â*Â* Not many garages work on them so you are stuck
with dealerships for anything other than oil and filter changes.



The BMC dealer in KC handled Minis in the 1960s, when I had mine. MGs.
Healeys, Minis...et cetera. Mine had pull cords in the doors instead of
door handles on the inside. It was a pretty simple and sturdy little car.


The original Mini Cooper is cool but it's a death trap, especially for
rear seat passengers, much like the original split window VW buses were
for the driver and front seat passenger. Vehicles like them could never
be produced today.

I had a lady coworker ask me about older muscle cars. Her son was going
to get his licence soon, and wanted to get a 60's to 70's "muscle car"
to drive. My advice to her was get him a late model Corolla or similar.
That old car wouldn't have ABS, airbags, crumple zones, door beams, etc.
Maybe not even shoulder belts. Plus the brakes and handling aren't
very good unless you do some resto-modding.

I like my old Torino, but I also respect it and its shortcomings. No way
a 17 year old should be driving something like that for a daily.



No question. The classics are stylish (something new cars lack) but
they don't come close to the handling and safety of new cars. Plus,
the "muscle" car is a bit of a misnomer today. The
old rule of "there's no replacement for displacement" really doesn't
apply anymore. Some of the new cars with small, turbocharged engines
can out perform some of the old muscle cars of yesterday.

That said though, the low RPM torque of a GM 454 ci engine and
some of the Ford and MOPAR big blocks just has to be experienced to
appreciate.


The new “muscle�cars are impressive. On our latest trip, had a rear tire
blowout on the truck. AAA driver could not get the spare down. So while
waiting for another tow guy, Montana highway patrol guy waited with us.
They drive Chargers. He said the last one he had up to 155 mph, but was a
2 wheel drive. Present Charger was also fast but 4x4 car.