Go Buy a REAL Motorcycle!!!

[blueman]

I wonder how many pages this thread will be. And when it will be thrust into the neadless pointless posts. NOT YET. From reading these posts its interesting to not that I have learned A Real Motorcycle is a HD. And that this thinking trans-sends from Bubbu in the Osarks, to the Hells Angels, and white collar professionals. Thats an interesting cross section of folks. And I still profess to each their own. And its always fun to ride up next to a Real Motorcyle and watch it disappear in my rear view. Then I pull into a parking lot the guy on the Real Motorcycle asks me whats that. I reply THIS IS A REAL MOTORCYCLE.

 

[radman]

I don't care now what someone rides. Time was, I did, and that was when I rode HD. It was customary for the the bunch I was with to deride Rice, so I did. This was a loooong time ago, the 750 Honda was fairly new, and was deemed by many to be the first of a wave of foreign junk attempting to take over the US market. We were right, and we were wrong. I've since come to fully believe it's not the machine, it's the rider. It took a long time to overcome those old ingrained prejudices, you have to remember, this was when Harley was on the ropes, AMF owned them and a once proud machine and company had turned to real shit. Indian was long gone, the Brits had given up, it was fairly popular to hate japanese stuff if you were a motorhead. And, there was good reason-how many classic 72 Civics do you see on the road? The foriegners were cutting off our gas, taking over our auto and motorcycle industry, it was not all fun and games. So keep in mind here, a lot of us here are older, remember those days well, and still bristle sometimes when Japanese products are held supreme, while domestics are ridiculed. For some, the sadness of those days will never be forgotten, as the motoring world changed around us, and not always for what we thought was the good.

 

[FJRski]

A Horse, A Chicken & A Harley

On the farm lived a chicken and a horse, both of whom loved to play together. One day the two were playing, when the horse fell into a bog and began to sink. Scared for his life, the horse whinnied for the chicken to go get the farmer for help!

Off the chicken ran, back to the farm. Arriving at the farm, he searched and searched for the farmer, but to no avail, for he had gone to town with the only tractor. Running around, the chicken spied the farmer's new Harley. Finding the keys in the ignition, the chicken sped off with a length of rope hoping he still had time to save his friend's life.

Back at the bog, the horse was surprised, but happy, to see the chicken arrive on the shiny Harley, and he managed to get a hold of the loop of rope the chicken tossed to him. After tying the other end to the rear bumper of the farmer's bike, the chicken then drove slowly forward and, with the aid of the powerful bike, rescued the horse! Happy and proud, the chicken rode the Harley back to the farmhouse, and the farmer was none the wiser when he returned. The friendship between the two animals was cemented:

Best Buddies,

Best Pals.

A few weeks later, the chicken fell into a mud pit, and soon, he too, began to sink and cried out to the horse to save his life! The horse thought a moment, walked over, and straddled the large puddle. Looking underneath, he told the chicken to grab his hangy-down thing and he would then lift him out of the pit. The chicken got a good grip, and the horse pulled him up and out, saving his life.

The moral of the story? (yep, you betcha, there IS a moral!)

"When You're Hung Like A Horse, You Don't Need A Harley To Pick Up Chicks!

:haha: :haha: :haha:

 

[RadioHowie]

[snippage]
And, there was good reason-how many classic 72 Civics do you see on the road? 

[more snippage]

Honda didn't bring the Civic to the US 'til '74. Before that, it was the Honda 600 series:

Cute cars, but nowhere near the sophistication (for their cost) of the Civic line, although the 'S' model was a screamin' little machine...57hp from 600cc, DOHC, 4 carbs, 8500rpm. Quite the little beast.

Bought a Civic in August 75, middle of Gas Crisis #2, trading in a 454 SS Monte Carlo. Paid $2700. Drove it 12 years, 242,000 miles and traded it in on a used Chevy Blazer. Needed something to pull a bass boat. The dealer game me $2750 trade.

12 years, almost a quarter million miles, made $50.

 

[Fallen Jim Rides again]

I don't care now what someone rides. Time was, I did, and that was when I rode HD. It was customary for the the bunch I was with to deride Rice, so I did. This was a loooong time ago, the 750 Honda was fairly new, and was deemed by many to be the first of a wave of foreign junk attempting to take over the US market. We were right, and we were wrong. I've since come to fully believe it's not the machine, it's the rider. It took a long time to overcome those old ingrained prejudices, you have to remember, this was when Harley was on the ropes, AMF owned them and a once proud machine and company had turned to real shit. Indian was long gone, the Brits had given up, it was fairly popular to hate japanese stuff if you were a motorhead. And, there was good reason-how many classic 72 Civics do you see on the road? The foriegners were cutting off our gas, taking over our auto and motorcycle industry, it was not all fun and games. So keep in mind here, a lot of us here are older, remember those days well, and still bristle sometimes when Japanese products are held supreme, while domestics are ridiculed. For some, the sadness of those days will never be forgotten, as the motoring world changed around us, and not always for what we thought was the good.

I have always ridden Jap bikes, usually Yamahas starting with a '68 TwinJet100.

But.

I was once a major motorhead and I understand exactly what Rad is saying.

Worse. I was and forever will be a MoPar kinda guy.

The good news is, I can buy a brand new Hemi powered Charger (But waiting for the Challenger, I will never forget my '74)

The bad news is, it took a German company to make it happen. I guess that is better than the company that built the Zero. I guess.

Sometimes I just shake my head. The only constant is change. Get used to it. Or not.

A cynical, rational anarchist, zen, christian native of Texas remembering glory days.

I guess you can't really blame the rest of the world for looking at America in the 50s and 60s and wanting some of that for themselves.

And the only thing the Japanese ever did better than the USA was manage their work force more efficently.

And Rad, 'Classic `72 Civic' is an oxymoron.

 

[Mike-H]

Radman...I think I owe you an apology...we're not that different in age..but I just realized what seemed off....because I'm a Canadian, we tend to take a more European view or outlook than our brothers south of the border....the apology isn't for what I said...but for what I was thinking...sorry.... :blink: Mike

 

[Scab]

Before we hail the almighty japanese, remember that after WWII, it was an AMERICAN that taught them modern industrial production. So ultimately, the jap stuff is good because WE showed 'em how to do it.

( I forget the guys name. He is like a mythic figure in japan. I am sure someone here knows who I am speaking of...)

 

[JimLor]

Denning?

 

[Pepperell]

Deming.

Those early Civics weren't that great; I remember watching them rust out within a couple of years, not that American cars were much better. I think maybe the Japaneses didn't use salt on their roads at the time.

Pepperell

 

[radman]

Whatever. How many remember the early Mazda Rotarys, and what disasters they were, and how they almost killed the marque here for good? And RH helps make my point-I had a 72 Lesabre I just got rid of, 282,000 miles, got nothing for it (please post the paperwork showing the trade in and the cost of the Blazer, we all need to buy from this moron). The fact is, except for the Lada, most vehicles that are half ass maintained will last a good while. What torqued us was the attitude that began then, and is still widely seen today-that anything foreign is superior, that US made is junk. Still pisses me off. Radio-Howies response is exactly why the 1%'ers unzip and inform us what they think of Rice, no better here, the HD bashing is ridiculous. You clowns deserve each other. <_<

 

[S76]

Working at a car garage / used car lot in the 70's, I stated to the boss that alot people say they don't make cars as good as they used to, and I think that's a good thing because these newer cars can easily last almost 200K miles without much work. He looked at me and said, "They have always lasted that long, it's just that we set the speedometers back so often nobody knew it!"

And as for the noise issue, I have ordered and extra set of factory mufflers for the 06. I'm gonna bolt them on right behind the first set. Yes, it will make the bike a little on the long side, but all I wanna hear when I ride is the gentle whine of the transmission gears and that thing that makes the clicky noise when you turn a corner.

I spent a month riding in FL this past summer with a friend with an open pipe Harley. Hated it. However, idling at a stop light it did sound sweet. If I bought a Harley with open pipes it would be to start it up in the driveway and let it idle while I drink a beer sitting in the lawn chair and then shut it off and put it away.

 

[RadioHowie]

Ra-d, you are a Weapon of Mass Misinterpretation...

I had to re-read my "Civic" post to see what I had written that implied "that US made is junk" and triggered your latest rant. Didn't find anything that indicated that sentiment. My response was simply a correction to your "72 Civic" statement. There weren't any 72 Civics.

Then a friendly anecdote about my purchase of a 75 Civic, containing absolutely NO America bashing. I traded a 10mpg monster motor Chevy for a 35mpg gas sipper. My motive was economy, not superiority. (and like I have the paperwork on a car swap 24 years after the fact. Sheesh!)

Funny you mention the Mazda rotaries. That's what I was driving, an RX-3, BEFORE I bought the SS Monte Carlo I traded for the Civic. Bad rotor seals, tissue paper clutch, interior fabric made of asbestos and cat hides. Whadda nightmare.

Got run off the road into a tree, smashed the front end REAL good and after an earlier 3 month wait for a clutch, knew it would take forever to get the parts needed to fix it, so traded the corpse in on the Monte Carlo.

That RX-3 wasn't good, but at least it sucked. And it wasn't as ugly as most of the early Datsun and Toyota offereings. (not counting the fugly Cosmo)

 

[krashdragon]

Anybody besides me remember the first Hondas?

They were very tiny 3 cyls... the salesman said... oh, dont' bother looking at Honda, there only going to be good for running aorund towns, theywont' amount to much ...<G>

Mary

 

[RadioHowie]

I remember them being 360cc, then 600cc vertical twins. Don't recall 3 cylinder models.

A friend of mine had one of these...

...painted up to look just like a Tampa Bay Bucaneers helmet.

Just like the early Bucs, the car sucked as bad as the team.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

RadioHowie

Posted: Mar 8 2006, 11:18 PM

Honda didn't bring the Civic to the US 'til '74. Before that, it was the Honda 600 series:

RH, thanks for the nice pics. Brought back memories -- I owned (2) S600 Roadsters. 600cc in-line fours w/4carbs, dohc, liquid-cooled, rear drive (chaindrive irs by swing-arms w/enclosed, oil-bath chain & sprockets). The (later) 800 coupe had regular live-axle. But, they were never sold in the U.S. (a few in Canada I'm told) -- most (and then only a few) were brought back from the Pacific Rim by returning servicemen. Altho, "krashdragon" may have seen a few in Hawaii -- but, it wasn't a state then.

As for the N600s: they were twin cylinder air-cooled front drivers. The engine was alot like a bigger version of the CB350/CB360 m/c engines of the day. It had one big diaphragm carb and some (like the first Civics) can still be found.

Sadly, the "S" sportscars are very rare.

An old story: In the 60s, Honda tried Winter testing their proposed fleet in International Falls, MN (a popular place for that); parked them outside over-night and couldn't get one car to start, ever....

For you Rad: Any American car from the 60s would, of course, probably fire right up under those same conditions?

 

[krashdragon]

Oh sorry... the Honda I saw was in Norfolk, OHIO....

I would have sworn the salesguy said 3 cyl... but I have been know to be wrong...once or twice! <G> Never really looked at it, except that it was really small!

I think it was even smaller than a Mini-Cooper... the old one, not the new one...

Mary