Motorcycles, Post if you got em

I don't know why you hate Harleys??guns don't kill people,people kill people.Harley,except for the Cafe Racer,was built for the slow tour.Daytona used to have very few accidents reported,more reports of fights & an ocassional shooting due to some young bro. getting to feeling his beer muscles--THEN,the rice rockets started attending Bike Week--accidents went up significantly--the majority being younger kids & yuppies thinking they were on a race track--that sand will hurt you Direct your hate properly

I'm not a HD guy, either. That's why I asked the questions, because it's hard for me to understand, since I ride for the same reason I ski, for the dynamics of the turns. That puts me on bikes that can be leaned over at speed. For the same reason, I'd be pretty hesitant to climb on a trike: they can pretty easily kill you in corners.

That's why I reacted to what may have been a loss of control caused by low metal on the bike touching down hard in a corner. Not only does it make no sense to me as a "safety feature," I don't understand why anybody would choose it at all.

If we assume that some low hard piece of metal prevented the bike from negotiating that corner a week ago, can you imagine this poor father's last thought as the tires were lifted up and the bike shot, trailing sparks, across into the opposite lane?

C'mon Pocono, where are those pics showing it couldn't have been the case?

an earlier post spoke of 37 yrs experience riding--that's the bottom line.Any word on what the police determined to be the cause? I'm sure you're following that,& if your not you should be

Of course I'll be following the police investigation. And I agree that they should be pretty good at it.

But, speaking of your long experience, it shouldn't be necessary for everybody who rides to have that much experience in order to do it with reasonable safety. Besides, how would they get it?

Your right,what it takes is a lot of common sense which,unfortunatly seems to be a dieing art these days

True, Fred, we had a guy year before last who goes to the local HD dlr, buys his Harley, and kills himself in the dlr's parking lot on the way to his pick-up. Never made it to the road.

http://woodstockhog.blogspot.com/2008/04/motorcycle-death-at-moroneys.html



People need common sense. They need to take the MSF course. And bikes need to be reasonably safe.

I need to take more. My time was limited and the lighting was bad. I will take better ones after i finish the custom build ironhead and get the eagle up on the jack.

outstanding them old sporty's are worth the time--they surely don't make them like that anymore---P.E. keep us posted w/ pix on that. Pretty paint on the bagger

Nice Pocono!

Just to touch on the previous topic, common sense dictates that you don't buy a Harley to race around on ... although you can -- I have. If you want to race around, you buy a jap bike. I have owned both. I shock people when I'm on the Harley, but I know it's limits & when to back off. I don't need to cross that threshold to know I'm getting close. Common sense.

OK post some more bike pics ....... PLEASE!!

Hey, Smitty, or any of you Harley guys, does HD issue a warning that hard metal, rather than your tires, defines when you'll lose control in a corner?

I mean no disrespect at all with the question. Think of it as me asking as a grieving widow's counsel (which I'm not). What I'm trying to get at is how a rider is supposed to know, when he approaches, say, a decreasing radius corner, that the bike will ground way before the tires are used up, jack the weight off those tires and launch you on a tangent line to the outside of the turn?

Believe it or not, I think I know how this may have evolved -- or not evolved. When I first started riding, in 1970, the lean angle at which you ran out of tire was a fraction of what it is today. To be blunt, some bikes have evolved to keep pace with tires, others haven't.

Frankly, though, that's a piss poor excuse in a death case.

I am pretty sure HD does indeed stress the limits of thier vechicles in thier very comprehensive owners manual as they have the financial means to keep on staff quite efficient and intelligent lawyers.

If you buy one then you would know this....

I've got an 07 Heritage Softail and the owners manual is quite detailed in riding safety.

Rich

The question is: Are they specific about the danger of hard parts touching down and that causing loss of control? (Remember, this was a 1989 model bagger.)

stockingfull,why do you keep asking questions if you don't pay attention to the answers--I think what's been inferred is--go to a HD dealership,look at an owners manual & draw your own conclusions--if your really interested???I for one am not one of yor para-legals or researchers--get off your butt & get back to us on what you've found Also,check out one of the rider safety schools

Fred, nobody's asking you to do "free" research for me. All I'm asking is whether HD clearly warns its riders they're gonna lose the bike in a turn before the tires are used up.

Let's not forget: a rider and his son are dead here.

Either there's an clear answer or there isn't. Apparently there isn't.