Bike porn

[galenkia]

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

My Harley had a Vance & Hines Propipe 2-1 which was as noisy as hell.My last contract before I retired was only 30 miles up the road so I used the bike whenever it wasn't raining,setting out at around 6.30am.I did ask the neighbour next to our garage if it woke them & she said it did but don't worry as the dogs woke them around that time anyway.I had a tight fitting helmet so the noise on the road never bothered me.

Loud pipes save lives!

Used to like a loud race can on my sports bikes, but had enough of the noise nowadays. Still love the sound of them,just don't want one blasting in my ears every time I ride.

[thegrogmonster]

53 minutes ago, galenkia said:

Used to like a loud race can on my sports bikes, but had enough of the noise nowadays. Still love the sound of them,just don't want one blasting in my ears every time I ride.

I can't handle any loud noise these days. The joys of aging.

[coxyhog]

1 hour ago, thegrogmonster said:

I can't handle any loud noise these days. The joys of aging.

I'm a bit deaf in my right ear,if I'm in a roomful of noise it's pretty awful but then again if I sleep on my left side nothing wakes me up😎.

[john luke]

 

[john luke]

 

[forcebwithu]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:52 PM, coxyhog said:

Loud pipes save lives!

Not surprised the article linked to below confirms what I knew intuitively about the idea "loud pipes save lives".

I didn't see it mention in the article, but I suspect another reason why loud pipes aren't as effective as some would like to believe is because most of the db's are to the rear of the bike, when ideally you want the loud factor to project forward to warn those in cages of your approach. It's also why on group rides I always made sure to ride ahead of those with the loud pipes.

What I did change on my Ultra Classic was replacing the stock electric horn with an air horn, and mounted it on the right side of the bike. That way I didn't have the engine block blocking the sound of the horn when passing cars in the US.

A New Study Confirms ‘Loud Pipes Save Lives’ Is a Safety Myth

[galenkia]

18 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Not surprised the article linked to below confirms what I knew intuitively about the idea "loud pipes save lives".

I didn't see it mention in the article, but I suspect another reason why loud pipes aren't as effective as some would like to believe is because most of the db's are to the rear of the bike, when ideally you want the loud factor to project forward to warn those in cages of your approach. It's also why on group rides I always made sure to ride ahead of those with the loud pipes.

What I did change on my Ultra Classic was replacing the stock electric horn with an air horn, and mounted it on the right side of the bike. That way I didn't have the engine block blocking the sound of the horn when passing cars in the US.

A New Study Confirms ‘Loud Pipes Save Lives’ Is a Safety Myth

Mate of mine has a Suzuki 1500cc custom twin. Fucking loud as hell. When I had my last bike, that had a race can, and I could barely hear mine when following him.

Yet he still seems to get just as many cars pull out in front of him as me, reckon the noise is pissing people off and they are trying to kill him.🤣

[coxyhog]

Just riding down the street in a suburban setting people would turn to me before I got to them,so much less chance of a pedestrian stepping out in front.

When I'm in my car & a HD is behind me I can usually hear it,it's the racers who are going much too fast & undertaking that I don't hear until they're past me.

On that study,it was done in Romania....I worked there recently for 6 months and the standard of driving is awful.

They wouldn't hear a bike because 90% of them are driving with a mobile phone glued to there ears.

[SteveBC]

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

 

They wouldn't hear a bike because 90% of them are driving with a mobile phone glued to there ears.

That statement could be applied to most any country now !!!

[coxyhog]

25 minutes ago, SteveBC said:

That statement could be applied to most any country now !!!

At least in the UK it is illegal.

I've been in a taxi in Bucharest where there was a tablet across the centre of the steering wheel,another on the dash and a phone in a holder on the drivers door & he's using another with one hand to his ear whilst smoking a cigarette.

[boydeste]

Another literal bit of bike porn, one of my visitors this week driving away on a bright PCX. 

[john luke]

Just near The Avenue this morning.

[SteveBC]

9 minutes ago, john luke said:

Just near The Avenue this morning.

A most brilliant bike for the long trips, just hope it does not go wrong after the warranty has expired.

I had the Adventure model a few years back, i could ride it down Soi 7 and not even notice the speed humps !!

Edited January 19, 2022 by SteveBC

[galenkia]

8 minutes ago, SteveBC said:

A most brilliant bike for the long trips, just hope it does not go wrong after the warranty has expired.

I had the Adventure model a few years back, i could ride it down Soi 7 and not even notice the speed humps !!

You can't really tell how big they are in pictures, need to see them in the flesh. They truly are a huge, daunting machine. Even the relaunched Africa Twin, about 30 kilos lighter, looks big. 

And doubt many people take them off road considering they start at £15,000 for a Bog standard one, which no one buys anyway. Add the basic accessories and looking more at £18,000. Great for regular long distance road riding though. 

[john luke]

3 minutes ago, galenkia said:

You can't really tell how big they are in pictures, need to see them in the flesh. They truly are a huge, daunting machine. Even the relaunched Africa Twin, about 30 kilos lighter, looks big. 

And doubt many people take them off road considering they start at £15,000 for a Bog standard one, which no one buys anyway. Add the basic accessories and looking more at £18,000. Great for regular long distance road riding though. 

You are right on size it looked massive.  I would normally try to take the picture from the front from a slightly lower angle but due to traffic on Second Road, it was not possible.  A wider shot does show the size better.

 

[galenkia]

7 minutes ago, john luke said:

You are right on size it looked massive.  I would normally try to take the picture from the front from a slightly lower angle but due to traffic on Second Road, it was not possible.  A wider shot does show the size better.

 

When I see them at bike meetings they dwarf other bikes parked by them, even other adventure style bikes. Without any luggage, accessories etc, they weigh about 250 kilos. Good luck picking it up on your own if you drop it. 

[SteveBC]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:29 AM, galenkia said:

When I see them at bike meetings they dwarf other bikes parked by them, even other adventure style bikes. Without any luggage, accessories etc, they weigh about 250 kilos. Good luck picking it up on your own if you drop it. 

If your lucky, it only falls to like a 45 degree angle and sits on the engine bars and the lower edge of the ali' pannier, not too difficult to get back up. If it goes over center and then sits on the handlebars and the side of the pannier with the wheels up in the air, it's a different story and can be a right bastard, as i found out in northern Laos one time. I was on a muddy track of a road, went through a puddle which was hiding a deep pothole, the bike slid sideways and i could not stop it from falling. what also compounded the problem was that 10 minutes prior to this i had filled up with petrol and with the tank holding 38ltrs it adds a lot of weight high up on the bike too. So there i was, standing in 6" of brown slurry trying to pick the bastard up, but the problem was the ground was like clay and so slippery my feet kept sliding away whenever i put any effort into the lift. So i just sat on the side of the road and waited for somebody to come along. After what seemed like ages a group of farm workers turned up on a flat trailer towed by a hand tractor. No communication required as they could see the obvious problem !!

They done a most obvious and simple thing before even attempting to help me lift the beast, they broke a load of twigs / branches from the roadside bushes and laid them in the water / mud beside the bike, we stood on them and had good grip under foot. The bike was again upright and after thanking them i went on my way.

The branches trick is something i used a few more times in my travelling days when i come across other people in trouble and always thought of the time i learnt it from those kind people that came to my rescue in Laos.. 

Edited January 20, 2022 by SteveBC

[galenkia]

13 minutes ago, SteveBC said:

If your lucky, it only falls to like a 45 degree angle and sits on the engine bars and the lower edge of the ali' pannier, not too difficult to get back up. If it goes over center and then sits on the handlebars and the side of the pannier with the wheels up in the air, it's a different story and can be a right bastard, as i found out in northern Laos one time. I was on a muddy track of a road, went through a puddle which was hiding a deep pothole, the bike slid sideways and i could not stop it from falling. what also compounded the problem was that 10 minutes prior to this i had filled up with petrol and with the tank holding 38ltrs it adds a lot of weight high up on the bike too. So there i was, standing in 6" of brown slurry trying to pick the bastard up, but the problem was the ground was like clay and so slippery my feet kept sliding away whenever i put any effort into the lift. So i just sat on the side of the road and waited for somebody to come along. After what seemed like ages a group of farm workers turned up on a flat trailer towed by a hand tractor. No communication required as they could see the obvious problem !!

They done a most obvious and simple thing before even attempting to help me lift the beast, they broke a load of twigs / branches from the roadside bushes and laid them in the water / mud beside the bike, we stood on them and had good grip under foot. The bike was again upright and after thanking them i went on my way.

The branches trick is something i used a few more times in my travelling days when i come across other people in trouble and always thought of the time i learnt it from the people that came to my rescue. 

Good job you had people around to help you. Heaven knows what you would have done if you were alone in a remote part of the world. Wouldn't feel comfortable on one of those continent crossing trips alone, and something like that happened. 

[lazarus]

1 hour ago, galenkia said:

You can't really tell how big they are in pictures, need to see them in the flesh. They truly are a huge, daunting machine. Even the relaunched Africa Twin, about 30 kilos lighter, looks big. 

And doubt many people take them off road considering they start at £15,000 for a Bog standard one, which no one buys anyway. Add the basic accessories and looking more at £18,000. Great for regular long distance road riding though. 

I took one to (almost) the end of the world once near Invercargill NZ...

[SteveBC]

57 minutes ago, galenkia said:

Good job you had people around to help you. Heaven knows what you would have done if you were alone in a remote part of the world. Wouldn't feel comfortable on one of those continent crossing trips alone, and something like that happened. 

It was pretty remote where it happened, it was about 50klms south of the Chinese border, I was heading towards an ancient site which some Boffins had started to excavate, i enjoy all that old historical stuff.

But i've always found that wherever you may be, however remote you may think it is, somebody will pass by eventually.

[boydeste]

Walked by this today.

Edited January 19, 2022 by boydeste

[galenkia]

1 hour ago, boydeste said:

Walked by this today.

That's proper, and still one of the best paint jobs ever. 

[john luke]

[boydeste]

Here's one for ya Al, guy offered me to sit on it, but I declined.  Told me a bit about the history,  I told him I knew someone who will know all about it.

[SteveBC]

9 hours ago, boydeste said:

Here's one for ya Al, guy offered me to sit on it, but I declined.  Told me a bit about the history,  I told him I knew someone who will know all about it.

Interesting paint scheme, but i'm not keen on the Gay style panniers or the 'truck' exhaust.....