billgreenman1

My dumb ass ran out into 1+in. hail to throw cardboard onto my windshield. It clipped my ear and drew blood. 2007. I'll just wait and watch from now on...

I had a '91 K100RS 4-valve for a little over two years and, with nostalgia kicking in I could question why I got rid of it, but with reality kicking in I remember why. Now, if an R65 with twin front brakes came around.....

RIP Tom Lehrer; look him up if you haven't heard of him...

Terrifying. I've done The Mackinac bridge going to the UP on a Triumph Bonnie and a similar bridge over the Hudson on a GS and checked my shorts after each. Trucks, crossswinds, etc. Definitely picture worthy.

Also replacing the bolts with nicer hex-head equivalents as described in one of the posts ("decent tune-up" maybe? )

The time and hassle saved is well worth the price, especially with something as "fiddly" as the TPS...

I was either smart or lucky (or both) and, through the advice of other riders, went through the ABATE riders course, which also passed me for the riding portion of the motorcycle license testing. 250cc bikes in a parking lot over two weekends in beautiful Bloomington Indiana. Upon graduation we slalomed the columns of the IU football stadium. My first bike was an '81 BMW R65, a good size for me, not too powerful but not a slouch either. Learning to ride in the hills of southern Indiana was a wonderful thing, and even 35+ years later, I can hear my instructors voices in my head:"Smooth on the throttle progressive on the brakes, LOOK THROUGH THE TURN!" I always advise the rider course to anyone who is interested in riding.

Yep. Had a 122 2-door I should have kept and drove all the 140 series. Two things I truly miss are the size of the doors and the seats. Made for "normal sized" people like me!😁

Grew up driving Volvos. My dad taught my brother and me to drive manual transmission by putting a pack of cigarettes on the dash and making us start on a hill without knocking down the cigs. Ist car: 1962 Volvo PV 544. Still have dreams of driving her..

I'm interested, but I also have some trepidation about another "project" I might never complete...

A little straying from the conversation, but it is-3F right now and I walk into my local watering hole (they see me in the summer on my bike not drinking),and they ask "are you on the bike tonight?" And attempt at humor I'm sure, but after 14 bazillionth time I'm like; "Yep ".

If "a picture is worth a thousand words", then we "sinners" are way ahead!🙃

Yep I put it together wrong once also, thinking "what is wrong?" Then feeling both silly and victorious once it went together properly. The rear fender also was a bit of a struggle too.

Straying slightly from the topic, I recall from some kind of click-bait, that overall, sales and registration of motorcycles in the U.S. have declined & there are fewer new riders coming up from "the youths". Even considering the shaky economy and the deadly increase of mindless 4-wheel cages on the roads, there seems to me less interest in motorcycles and riding and it even felt that way strolling into dealerships. I know that I'm probably not their target demo, but even observing other customers I didn't get that vibe of adventure romance and excitement that existed even 5 or 6 years ago. Maybe it is just me getting older and more cynical, but I feel like motorcycling and even motor sports in general really are on the path to eventual extinction, soon to be seen more in videos, game simulations, and glam commercials than in real life. "The kids riding in Mom's 'Musk-blob' hear a growl outside their windows. Looking up from their screens they see a man dressed kinda like an astronaut filtering by on a vibrating 2 wheeled beast. One asks 'What's that Mommy?' She just sighs 'The past'. The others don't even look up, their eyes locked up in their games. The auto pilot clicks and moves on..."

Not going to watch the video, but I'm kinda surprised about the Kawi. That model seemed stupidity overpriced in my neck of the woods (Indiana), and they didn't seem to budge until the season was over...Same thing with its bigger sister. Could have scored a BMW F900R for 2k less....