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Getting old....


coxyhog

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Had my Harley booked in for it's MOT today but it was not to be.

Got up to where you turn left into our high street & promptly fell off.Had to stop so put my left foot down & it slipped,I felt it starting to go so leapt off,too heavy to correct it.Busted clutch lever & indicator,gear lever bent but I've straightened that.Wouldn't start.Couple of young guys helped me turn it around & I coasted down to close to home then got our neighbour to push me the rest of the way.Since got it running again.Bit shook up & may have a sore leg tomorrow but otherwise OK.

Think I'm getting too old for all this crap.

Edited by coxyhog
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3 hours ago, coxyhog said:

Had my Harley booked in for it's MOT today but it was not to be.

Got up to where you turn left into our high street & promptly fell off.Had to stop so put my left foot down & it slipped,I felt it starting to go so leapt off,too heavy to correct it.Busted clutch lever & indicator,gear lever bent but I've straightened that.Wouldn't start.Couple of young guys helped me turn it around & I coasted down to close to home then got our neighbour to push me the rest of the way.Since got it running again.Bit shook up & may have a sore leg tomorrow but otherwise OK.

Think I'm getting too old for all this crap.

Sorry to hear that mate. Harleys ain't the lightest things for a young man to pick up, never mind an old git!. 

Maybe a smaller one like the Street 750 would be better. You can get a year old one for not much over 5 grand. Lighter than my bike as well, about 220kgs.

2020-street-750-e87-motorcycle-10.jpg

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My mate had a Susuki GT750 water cooled 2 stroke back in the day.

I had just got off the back of it, he tried to put it on the stand and slipped, I tried to hold it, but couldn't.

f**k that was heavy, it took both of us to drag it back on it's wheels. Fortunately there wasn't much damage.

The main thing is that you aren't hurt mate, maybe a bit of pride but that will fade.

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30 minutes ago, galenkia said:

Sorry to hear that mate. Harleys ain't the lightest things for a young man to pick up, never mind an old git!. 

Maybe a smaller one like the Street 750 would be better. You can get a year old one for not much over 5 grand. Lighter than my bike as well, about 220kgs.

2020-street-750-e87-motorcycle-10.jpg

I'd never buy another Harley,I think mine was the last decent one they built & it's 2003 model.Even with that I've done so much to it to make it so much better than when it came out of the shop.

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16 minutes ago, boydeste said:

My mate had a Susuki GT750 water cooled 2 stroke back in the day.

I had just got off the back of it, he tried to put it on the stand and slipped, I tried to hold it, but couldn't.

f**k that was heavy, it took both of us to drag it back on it's wheels. Fortunately there wasn't much damage.

The main thing is that you aren't hurt mate, maybe a bit of pride but that will fade.

Back in 1974 I had a Norton 750 Commando Fastback & rode up to a bike shop in Watford & tried to park it on it's centre stand.One of the pegs went down a pothole & it went over.

There were a crowd of kids with their little Jap bikes there & I was more than just a tad embarrassed.

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3 hours ago, coxyhog said:

Had my Harley booked in for it's MOT today but it was not to be.

Got up to where you turn left into our high street & promptly fell off.Had to stop so put my left foot down & it slipped,I felt it starting to go so leapt off,too heavy to correct it.Busted clutch lever & indicator,gear lever bent but I've straightened that.Wouldn't start.Couple of young guys helped me turn it around & I coasted down to close to home then got our neighbour to push me the rest of the way.Since got it running again.Bit shook up & may have a sore leg tomorrow but otherwise OK.

Think I'm getting too old for all this crap.

I gave up the only bike I ever owned when I was 21. I lost control when I hit some gravel. I didn't go down but it scared the shit out of me and that was the end of it.

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11 hours ago, boydeste said:

My mate had a Susuki GT750 water cooled 2 stroke back in the day.

I had just got off the back of it, he tried to put it on the stand and slipped, I tried to hold it, but couldn't.

f**k that was heavy, it took both of us to drag it back on it's wheels. Fortunately there wasn't much damage.

The main thing is that you aren't hurt mate, maybe a bit of pride but that will fade.

Once a big bike gets too far past it's center of mass, there's no stopping it from going over. Used to own a Ultra Classic and dropped it a couple of times. In every case it was when I was at almost a complete stop and was either on an incline or about to turn when the I lost control.  Done right, it only takes one to lift a bike.

 

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7 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Once a big bike gets too far past it's center of mass, there's no stopping it from going over. Used to own a Ultra Classic and dropped it a couple of times. In every case it was when I was at almost a complete stop and was either on an incline or about to turn when the I lost control.  Done right, it only takes one to lift a bike.

 

The first one is ok on an incline because you have a hold of the brake lever,the second you've got the clutch so on an incline it would be a lot more difficult....I know this from experience!

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4 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

The first one is ok on an incline because you have a hold of the brake lever,the second you've got the clutch so on an incline it would be a lot more difficult....I know this from experience!

It is also safer to pull something up rather than put yourself in a vunerable position underneaf the object if things go wrong! 

I guess these things very seldom happen when help is around, so a useful technique to know for sure.

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1 hour ago, boydeste said:

It is also safer to pull something up rather than put yourself in a vunerable position underneaf the object if things go wrong! 

I guess these things very seldom happen when help is around, so a useful technique to know for sure.

My drive is on quite an incline so I have to turn the bike around on the drive & go in backwards or I'd never get out.

A couple of years ago I was doing that & the front wheel got caught in the edge of the drive & it went down with my left leg underneath it.Fortunately the missus turned up in her car shortly afterwards & she managed to lift it enough to get my leg out.Then with her holding the front brake on I was able to get it upright.My left ankle was painful & swollen but I had to return to work in the IoM.I was and probably am still the only guy to work in their hangar in flip flops.

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Mentioned that I was thinking of selling my bike to my local indie,he said he knew someone who may be interested.

Guy came round today & we did the deal....a bit sad as I've had it 18 years but at every MOT I look at the mileage & I'm hardly riding it.

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That's the reason I sold mine, 100miles a year if I was lucky.

Although I am still tempted to buy another one, even if it's only a Lambretta or something to pootle about on locally in the summer.

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4 hours ago, coxyhog said:

Mentioned that I was thinking of selling my bike to my local indie,he said he knew someone who may be interested.

Guy came round today & we did the deal....a bit sad as I've had it 18 years but at every MOT I look at the mileage & I'm hardly riding it.

When I bought the Z800 in February it had only done 650 miles in the last 12 months. Total mileage on the 5 years old bike was 7300.

In just over 5 months I have done just under 3500 miles. So many bikes out there that barely see the road, just sitting in garages losing money. 

Really you are better off selling them, and especially now as prices are sky high for used bikes as manufacturers can't keep up with demand for new ones due to problems like Covid, computer chips shortage etc. So there ain't as many trade ins in dealers as usual. 

Edited by galenkia
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4 hours ago, galenkia said:

When I bought the Z800 in February it had only done 650 miles in the last 12 months. Total mileage on the 5 years old bike was 7300.

In just over 5 months I have done just under 3500 miles. So many bikes out there that barely see the road, just sitting in garages losing money. 

Really you are better off selling them, and especially now as prices are sky high for used bikes as manufacturers can't keep up with demand for new ones due to problems like Covid, computer chips shortage etc. So there ain't as many trade ins in dealers as usual. 

20000 miles on my HD in 18 years,mostly early on.I think it's going to a good home which I appreciate.

There's not another like mine on the road,it is a proper one off.But no fucking good left in my garage.

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It's why i don't have a car in London.

I can and do walk to work in 30mins when not working from home, have a huge Morrisons 2 mins away, loads of buses on our doorstep to all directions, have tube or overground close by as well. 

I've just no need, it would be sitting idle, another expense for nothing.

If i didn't live in London, or lived even in the suburdbs, i'd probably get one. But i can use the zipcar if i needed, though never have. 15mins i'm at Liverpool Street station, can go all over on train from there.

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On 7/1/2021 at 12:50 AM, boydeste said:

My mate had a Susuki GT750 water cooled 2 stroke back in the day.

I had just got off the back of it, he tried to put it on the stand and slipped, I tried to hold it, but couldn't.

f**k that was heavy, it took both of us to drag it back on it's wheels. Fortunately there wasn't much damage.

The main thing is that you aren't hurt mate, maybe a bit of pride but that will fade.

Showing your age. I remember seeing one of the first water bottles. A few of us use to hang out at a garage in Murumbeena Victoria. An old guy had just bought it and we wondered how he would go. Must've been the heaviest jap bike on the road then. I was riding a suzi 380 triple then. Now riding a vstar 1100.

Edited by hugh cow
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