Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Dictionary on June 12, 2012, 04:42:06 pm
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What do you ride?
I'm on a yamaha v-star 650. Its my first bike. been on it for 8 months, owe my pops 5 grand for it :laugh: . I'm interested in getting a Standard bike such as a honda cb750. Also i'm interested in learning to do most of my own maintenance like adjusting valves and syncing the carbs so i can save some cash. I want to hear from others how difficult this type of stuff is. I do oil changes, oil and air filters, lubricate pedals and levers but not much else.
Oh yea, from Tennessee, err lived in Georgia but rode down here to Alabama for the summer. Nice riding down here.
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I ride a kawasaki vulcan 1500 classic, I do all my own work including tranny and engine rebuild suspension electrical. It's only as hard as you let it be. I love it so it's a piece of cake.Nothing more rewarding that running down a gremlin and fixing it. Ron
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I just got a 1980 Goldwing GL1100 trike conversion a month ago. It's the first motorcycle I've ever owned. My wife wanted a trike, so we got a trike. It only has around 45,000 original miles on it. It's nice.
I don't know how to do anything on it. I'll eventually learn the basic stuff, but I'm not real big on mechanic work. This one runs good. It's mostly one to learn on so we can buy a new one later for retirement.
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I ride a kawasaki vulcan 1500 classic, I do all my own work including tranny and engine rebuild suspension electrical. It's only as hard as you let it be. I love it so it's a piece of cake.Nothing more rewarding that running down a gremlin and fixing it. Ron
I want to start at the beginning. Aquiring some tools and a Clymers manual. Now money is quite tight so i'm thinking about getting some wrenches and a ratchet or two with various sprockets at a pawn shop. Would this be a bad idea?
Also i feel like such an idiot when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've been reading over how the transmission works on a bike from like 3 different sources and i still can't understand it. I'm determined though
PepeLep, I've seen quite a few of those Goldwing trikes, especially when i was down in florida the past week. Err i'm pretty sure they were Honda Goldwings
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I live in this little suburb of Sturgis, South Dakota called Rapid City. As far as I am concerned I would be fine if every last morotcycle in the world suddenly evaporated or turned to dust. While a select few of you have been to the Sturgis Motorhome Rally and Trailer Park, most of you have only seen photos and short videos. Back in the day when it was a biker hangout it was actually fairly safe. Nowadays it is almost exclusively the domain of the brand new bike owning rapidly greying segment of society trying to regain their youth. Few, if any, of them have much experience on bikes with far too much power for their skill level. Worse yet, so many of them get "Sturgis-itis" and all good sense and caution flees their minds. They all rail against "cages" (a.k.a. cars), but then ignore the most basic rules of the roads.
I can't tell you how many times I have nearly hit a bike rider (note I did not say biker) pulling a stupid stunt. Don't blame motorists when you follow a line of bikes thru a yellow light that actually turned red about 5 bikes ahead of you. It's gotten so bad at the Sturgis Rally that the real bikers just don't go anymore, I know a Bandito that claims it "just ain't safe anymore". One week of "Born To Be Wild" does not make up for 51 weeks sitting behind a desk pushing a pencil being "Born To Be Mild".
Dictionary, ride cautious. Ride safe. Ride long. And avoid Sturgis.
(Definition of Sturgis: World's Largest Theme Costume Party)
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Hey D good for you!!!been riding 40 years (holy crap) I've owed them all,,,,,,,you are on the right track,,,a HAYNES or aCLYMERS manual is the first thing to do, good tools a must, some things are best left to pros most you can do your self there are allways factory specific tools to do a job but I have gotten around most of them ,,,,also learn to use a voltohm meter!!!! I think the jap bikes are a great place to start,,, read those manuals good and try what you dare to,,,I promise some day you'll be giving advise too!!! and my big brother advise is " BE FRIGGIN CAREFUL!!!" JeffW
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i have been riding for about 10 years, the first bike i had was a sport bike(yamaha 750) but switched to a 1200 custom sportster pretty quick. i don't go on alot of long rides,my bike is my only transportation (besides a work truck i drive during work hours) and usually just ride in town .have fun but be safe your attention to other drivers needs to turn up ten fold on a bike ;)
i have never been to sturgis and don't really have any desire to go , looks way to crowded for me :) think i will stick with trips to thunderbird lake and local bike nights ;D
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I ride a 07 Electra Glide. This was my first Harley and i love it. My wife loves the queen seat. I have been riding since i was 14 and still love to ride
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What part of Tennessee ? Haven't road in years,I had been married 2 weeks and had a wreck [39 years ago] broke both arms in several places [left in 7] sold my bike and even tho she don't say much about what I do ,she would be very un happy if I came in on another. :( Still love them,just don't ride them. ;) :)
Pappy
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On the subject of riding I have ridden all my life my dad used to have an old ancient harly and would sit me on the tank and tie a rope around me and him so I wouldn't fall off I was like 2 at the time. As I got older I rode my own bikes, I have always lived by this rule "Everyone is going to make a left in front of you, everyone is going to pull out in front of you, everyone in front of you is going to jam on brakes and no one behind you is going to put on brakes at all, This may sound like paranoia but it has kept my ass alive and unbroken for a lot of years. One more piece of advice when you are sitting at a stop light always leave room for a quick escape have you're escape rout identified you never know when someone will come up behind you talking or texting and hit you or the car behind you and drive it into you. Ronnie
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What part of Tennessee ? Haven't road in years,I had been married 2 weeks and had a wreck [39 years ago] broke both arms in several places [left in 7] sold my bike and even tho she don't say much about what I do ,she would be very un happy if I came in on another. :( Still love them,just don't ride them. ;) :)
Pappy
I was born in Chattanooga. Got family in Harriman, oak ridge, knoxville, and other places in Tennessee.
I went to lowes today and tried to take advantage of the father's day sales. I'm looking at Kobalt tools. They have a cheap brand called Task Force but looking at their tool set i could tell it was cheap.
I could buy a metric wrench set for like 25$ and then buy the ratchet and socket set for something like 35$. I'm really tight on money so i don't know if i'm making the right decision on tools.
The local pawn shop didn't have a thing
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Two things,,,Cracker I'll ride with you any time!!!! I say the very same thing!!!! D I got a set of tools by Thornsen cheap good stuff! came in a nice case too had about everything,,,you'll need an impact wrench (the kind you hit w\a hammer) too. like I said I've owned a bunch of bikes the one thing I learned was to forget all about brand loyalty ::) and just ride! they all have their own problems,,,I would rather ride my bike instead of worry about the fashion show,,, and not plan my trips riding from one dealer to the next looking at the same black tee shirts ;) good luck ride safe JeffW
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If I need tools I try to catch sears tools on sale you can often buy craftsman tools on sale pretty cheap. They aint what they used to be but they are still pretty good tools. Ron
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2001 Heritage Softail Classic.
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These days I ride a KTM950 Supermoto in the summer, and an old Kawasaki ZZR600 (called ZX600 in the USA) in the winter, so as to keep the road salt off of the KTM. I have been through a fair few bikes in the past 30 years or so, and although the price of petrol in the UK (aargh!!!!! ) has seen my annual mileage drop, I'd hate to be without one.
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I have an old battle axe that I bought cheap. It was a frame and seven boxes of parts when I bought it. Its an '87 Kawasaki vn1500a Vulcan. After I put it back together I found out why they tore it apart in the first place. Motor and tranny were both shot. With a fresh motor and tranny it ended up being a pretty decent ride. You would be amazed how many die hard Harley guys have walked around my bike trying to figure out what model of Harley it is. The rest of the guys that have all fell for the tank lettering all stand there like vultures waiting to see if another gets suckered. Anyway, like has been said, be very careful when your riding. Things go bad quick on a bike. My personal opinion on the tools are that it doesn't pay to go cheap. Mid range is probably good enough though for what your doing. The cheap tools just round off the bolts and then you have big problems(not to mention busted knuckles). Have a good one young man, Josh
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that's a mean trick to play on a dude, the left side does look a lot like sporty cases.Ron
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i think i'll ride on out to sears later today to take a look at their craftsman tools. Has anyone here owned a honda nighthawk cb750 before? I think they discontinued it sometime in 2001 or around there.
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Gun doc thats the coolest thing I've seen!!!!! I'll ride with you too!!!! hey Bob,,,can you post a picture of the KTM??? I love those!! JeffW
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My second bike was a 1980 CB650. It ran great until a gas leak caught on fire on me on the freeway. That was an exciting ride... luckily for me there was a construction crew nearby where I pulled over and one of the guys came running over with a fire extinguisher. If it wasn't for him it probably would have been a write-off. The fire was in front of the carbs, right under the gas tank.
After that episode I tore the engine down to repair a leaky head gasket, but after dealing with stripped out head bolts and all kinds of other issues from the previous owner, it ended up costing me more than it was worth, so it's been sitting in my garage ever since. Maybe some day I'll get the bug to tinker some more. I sure miss riding it though.
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Iv seen doc's scooter in person makes you smile and shake your head
I also live by cracker's motto live to ride brother
Myself im on a 1998 dyna wide glide the old cl360 honda took a dump on me, fixed her 1done to many times...any swinging d can buy and ride but when you wrench on her your self you become one with your ride and a stupid grin appears ;)
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I've owned several shovel sporties couple electraglides couple of home brewed choppers few jappers got a japper now. I've wrenched on all my stuff first thing I buy after the bike is a manual. Ron
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thinking about selling the v-star soon. I'm tossing the idea of buying a 2001 honda cb750, I'd like a more later model. I really want a sport touring bike in the 600-750cc range. Something i can take on like 3 hr rides without killing my wrists..
I'm looking at the fz6 or the kawasaki ninja 650.
I really just need to sell this vstar first
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;D I was reading back on this and its kind of funny now i think about it. I ended up selling the v-star and buying a 1991 Honda Nighthawk 750 just like i wanted. I rebuilt the carbs, set up relays for the coils, other simple maintenace things, and hit the road. I did get low compression in one cylinder and was afraid id have to replace the rings and possibly bore out the cylinder and replace the piston $$$$, but some oil in the spark plug hole loosened up the rings and im rolling with good compression >:D
Sadly enough i dont have another picture of it than this. ??? I'll try to find a camera to get a better picture. But im sure a lot of you guys remember these cb750s. Honestly the encouragement i got from this thread gave me the confidence to buy this old honda that needed just a bit of work to get going, but i did and im pleased with my machine.
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll235/Jayrock205_photos/2012-09-01114530.jpg)
Oh funny thing actually Cameroo, i hit a huge bump in the road like 2 days ago and my carb bowls must have been loose or something because gas just started leaking out. I was 100 miles from home. I pulled alongside the road and had a small tool kit. I pulled the carbs and figured it must be the drain screw being loose. It wasnt loose. Little did i know the float bowl was just ever so slightly loose and the gasket wasnt sealing in the fuel. I leaked gas 100 miles home till i figured out it was just the float bowl. Im glad i didnt catch fire......stupid mistakes.