Random inspirational bikes

REALLY sweet Twinkie from Rich Philips.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, high pipes, high mid pegs, check those inverted cartrige forks!, dual 18's or 19's
You know...they do make a magneto for the twin cam now....

Cool Panhead on knobbies from the Streektracker blog.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, high pipes, mid pegs, magneto, could use some front brakes... as usual... does dirt?

Random inspirational bikes

These are a few shots of some tasty choppers the RTW Doug found in Japan... that he had posted in his ride report.
Good stuff.

Random inspirational bikes

I'm pretty picky on the derakers that I really like, but this one really pushes my aesthetics button.
I love the angles on the frame...and the tank looks perfect.
Dig the dual 16's too.
If only it had a mag and a kicker!
This came off of Toecutters hate list blog.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, frisco pegs, dual 16"wheels

MORE Flynch and adventure commuting!

A very timely post over at the Seedy... GREAT stuff people.... please go read it and forward it to your freinds who ride.

http://bik45.tripod.com/index47.html

More adventure vehicles from Dougs ride report

There is also a lot of great off the wall vehicles that Doug comes across on his trip, I thought I would post them up also...

These three guys work for Vibes magazine in Tokyo.






This old guy toured all of Russia on this scooter...

There's a little XL250 Honda under all this... note the cage by the exhasust for cooking food while he is riding and the denimn tank bags.
That clay sewer pipe on the handlebars? Camera protector.








This is Rolands bike, from Hungary. He was riding it to Turkey & Georgia. its a 69 sportster chopper with a peanut tank.

The WRONG way round... adventuring with Doug.

As I was saying a few posts ago… you should never think of your rigid framed bike as a non-usable, or unpractical motorcycle. You should ALWAYS think of it as a Valid Mode of Transportation and should never hesitate to use it.

I also stated that you should not worry about having an “adventure” bike with which to have your adventures.
You don’t have to do it “The Right way” to have fun, or travel or commute, or have and adventure on your bike… you simply need to get out there and do it.
Case in point:
This is Doug… or RTWDoug as he is known on the ADVrider forums.
Doug is from Alabama and has been around the world twice and has taken many other trips overseas on many bikes. He LOVES all kinds of motorcycles and is not a Harley guy, chopper guy, or any brand specific guy.
He owns tons of bikes, and loves them all.
He did his previous round the world ride on a 48 Indian Chief.

In 2009 he did it again on a raked out, jockey shift, kick only Panhead in a rigid frame with no front fender… because he thought it would be “fun”… what an interesting concept!

It took him 6 months and was about 26,000 miles.
You have no doubt seen some of his articles in THBC magazine about this same trip, but if you would like to see more pics and read more of his story, then hit this thread and check it out.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462017
It’s probably some of the best reading out there.
And check out his website!
http://www.motosapiens.org/

Some things to note… for starters he rode some NASTY roads in Russia. VERY nasty… and the bike survived, and he made it. He also rode through Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Romania, the US, ect…
He didn’t break down a lot, but have some things shake loose, or move out of adjustment.
I'm not saying that it wasn't tough, or hard, or that this guy isn't cooler than Chuck Norris... (casue he is!) ... I'm once again saying that this is sort of adventuring on a rigid is possible acheivable, and desireable.
NO... it's not always easy... That's why it's called Adventure.
If it was easy it would be called "A nice Sunday ride".

He did question his judgement several times and thought maybe he shouldn't have used the chopper... but we all do that from time to time... and then we are glad we did later. Remember... being cushy, comfotable and safe isn't ALWAYS the best option.

"yeah... I rode 500 miles to get here, in the rain... on a brand new Goldwing. Yeah... it was pretty awesome."

Not that intersting is it?

He also did not have the “right” gear… (Helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, the newest and pimpest aluminum panniers, a BMW GS or KTM Adventure, blue tooth links, cameras, spare parts, tires, PIAA lights, skidplates, crashbars, satellite phones, hydraulic suspension, suspension travel, ultralight backpacking camp stove, firestarting devices, armored laptops, ect, ect.)
The dude did it, had a blast, met tons of cool people, didn’t die, get arrested, crash, or regret it…HAD FUN... and he did it all the “wrong” way.
Maybe we should all just leave home on our choppers, and have an adventure…

I have posted some random quotes from his ride report on ADV rider that I think are rather pertinent…
What’s that? They are out of context you say?
No, they aren’t … I just told you the context… if you want more, you have to read the whole report yourself!

If people can go around the world on a ridid... why can't you ride yours to work every day?
Or to the next town for a cup of coffee?
Or to the next state for a vacation?





…There were many fully outfitted adventure bikes there, sadly, very few will ever see much 'adventure' Some looked like they had been dragged thru the latest Touratech catalog.




I open up the kicker cover, & poke around a bit, & find out the nut that holds the mainshaft bearing in place had come loose. WHEW! not a big deal.
except I dont have the tools needed to tighten it!
I had a chisel tho, & borrowed a hammer, & got it all back to harley torque specs, two grunts & a drop of sweat.





...yeah, I've had to do some work on it, but mostly its just been stuff coming loose, or problems that should have been found earlier, but I only had a week of shakedown time between finishing the bike & hitting the road. nothing has really 'broken' yet
As the roads get worse, stuff comes loose more often. I'm stopping about every 100km to look the bike over.
The Indian didn’t shake stuff loose as much. I do miss the Indian, much more comfortable & seems to be more dependable so far. The chopper was comfortable until I left the good roads, a decent bump now will put air between me & the seat. I haven’t had the bike completely airborne yet though, but both ends have left the ground!




I'm a sucker to go anywhere people tell me I shouldnt. and 99% of the time, I find the fears of others have no real basis in reality.




yep, a chopper! what a great idea, when I'm sitting in a warm dry house in Alabama, on a cushy couch, flipping thru channels on the boob tube.
a chopper. no front fender of course, no shocks, jockey shift, springer, etc...
how cool would that be!?
well it was pretty cool. then today came along. Started out nice enough, sunny at 6am, so I hit the road to enjoy it. clouds off to the east, but oh well. 650km to Perm. Long way, but I got an early start. 1st 200km were fine, then the rain started a bit. and then it didnt stop. and cold. How cold? well I even saw a hooker alongside the road with fur leggings under her fishnets (or maybe she just needed to shave?)
Anyhow, the road went to shit above Izhveck. much 'repair' going on, which usually means they chew up the surface, sometimes for a few km, sometimes for 20 feet. They'll come back & finish one day....maybe.
Through one town, it was dirt. the whole way thru town! And a lot of traffic. Then I'm in the middle of nowhere, gas is running low, & I see a sign, 'rough road ahead'.
The pavement sort of ends into this 'bog' the big black thing in the middle? Yeah…buckled pavement.
I didn’t fall down, well almost from exhaustion, and I slid around a good bit, but never dropped it.
Charlie & Ewan would have had a good cry after this stretch.
fenders? bah!

I should have taken more pics of the road, but it was a pain to stop & dig out the camera.
I finally made it thru the mess, & about 10km later was a gas station. Of course they had no water, but I found a clean puddle & washed my classes, shield, & lights, as you couldn’t see them. Right past there was a police checkpoint. of course he stops me to see my papers. I'm covered in mud. Mr. Obvious points out that I don’t have a front fender. yeah. its a chopper.





...The road was ok today, crap yesterday. probly crap tomorrow. and rain storms movin around.
I love how everyone keeps pointing out that I have no front fender. Now for fun, I look in amazement & say "WHAT!? Where did it go?!?" hahaha

The jockey shift really blows their minds. Most have never heard of such a thing. I tell em a hand clutch was invented so girls could ride.




I’m in Krasnoryask. Tomorrow shouldn’t be bad, but then the road sort of ends for a couple hunnert miles. The GPS even says I can’t get to Irkutsk, as there are no roads going there. This stretch took 2 days on the Indian, and it was easier to ride. If the pan stays together for this, I'll be impressed. I’m already impressed with it, I never thought a Harley chopper would do as good as it’s done. Other than tightening up some stuff, nothing has broken (yet)





Well, the good news is, that the churned up dirt must have gotten washed away during rain & snow, but all the rocks were left behind!
It took 2 days, but I’m pretty much past the bad stuff.
I swear its worse & longer now than 3 years ago.
fix the road? not hardly! One stretch that was about 40km long was cut thru the forest while they build the road. but by the looks of the 2 guys with shovels I saw working, it'll take awhile.
I am amazed the bike held together. really. I got both ends off the ground, but never at the same time. Oh, and if you go 15kph, the biting flies can keep up with you. at 20 kph they cant, but the bike gets thrown all over the place.






I met a couple other Americans here, they are also taking the boat to Japan, with an 04 & an 08 BMW GS. The 08 blew the motor, & the 04 won’t run, fuel or electric problems.
Of course I am always ready to point out to them that my 47 year old Harley is still running fine. I think they may be getting tired of the BMW jokes, but damn….. it’s hard to stop! All of the people that said the Harley would break, I should get a new bike, etc…etc….

We went to the hold, as the guys wanted to work on their bikes. Mine didn’t need anything, so I just rearranged my saddlebags, just for something to do. I helped Mike flush out his fuel filter, but I think he just needs a new one. What a pain in the ass to get to. The more time I spend around new Bmw’s, the less I want one.





Also, the battery has gone kaput. It was acting up in Japan, but started acting a little better, so I didn’t worry about it. Now, even when I have been running awhile, when I shut it off, I have no headlight. Luckily, these cycle electric generators work so good, it still starts easy when hot. After sitting all night, it takes quite a few kicks to build up enough juice to fire the points. One more day….. I’ll get a new one in seattle.
Thisn should be under warrantee still, but as I didn’t bring the receipt, that wont help much. Still, it did better than the battery in the Indian did, it died in Russia after the real bad part of the ‘road’

















Also, I know that Doug would appreciate it if you paid special attention to page 27 of his ride report.
Doug is trying to round up donations to help some freinds who run a special kind of
orphanage in Kiev.
Check it out. I'm sure you will agree that it a good deal.

Random inspirational bikes

GS750ET Suzuki chopper... I had a piped and jetted ET that had an honest 80 horse at the rear wheel... FUN bike... a little on the heavy side... I should have done this to it...

Random inspirational bikes

Cool water cooled Kawi attack chopper

Random inspirational bikes

How about a double-donuthole blog post?

Random inspirational bikes

Neat Shovel built by Walt Siegl. Too bad about that battery...
LIGHT ,SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD

Mid pegs and magnetos

Beatiful photo from the great Chico Moto blog.

http://chicomoto.blogspot.com/

Random inspirational bikes

Nice Honda and XS650 built by Garage company customs.
The apehangers could be a bit tricky for most people, but I have seen experienced riders FLY with apehangers, and I know that I always enjoyed running them in the past.
And I always say that I won't apologize for having fun.
And apehangers are definetley fun.

Random inspirational bikes

I'm fairly certain this is the HWZN bros flathead.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, MID PEGS, magneto, no battery

Random inspirational bikes

Nice, simple Shovelhead.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, no battery

Mid pegs and magnetos

also from the Full throttle or bust blog

Random inspirational bikes

Nice stuff from the Full Throttle or bust! Blog:
http://full-throttle-or-bust.blogspot.com/

Another adventure bike...

Norvin! Great stuff... read about it here on the Machine blog:
http://machineshed.blogspot.com/2010/01/heros.html

Mid pegs and magnetos

swiped off the chalopy blog

Random inspirational bikes

Simple bolt on hardtailed Ironhead from Japan.
Not so hot on the brakes... but its still rigid, and light.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, magneto, kick only, no battery
need brakes
Swiped off the sparetime blog.

Random inspirational bikes

This might be a repost... but you don't mind do you?
Excellent Shovelhead attack chopper from Japan.
LIGHT, SKINNY, FAST, GROUND CLEARANCE, HANDLES GOOD, STOPS GOOD, high pipes, mid pegs, kick only, magneto, no battery.

Random inspirational bikes

Cool little racer shot by Scott Pommeir.
Slick!

Excellent new editorial by Flynch... required reading

http://bik45.tripod.com/index46.html

It's good to have you back man.
Missed you.

Don't forget to check his blog:
http://atlasflynched.blogspot.com/

Adventuring

A lot of people say that rigid framed motorcycles are nothing but show bikes or bar hoppers. A lot of people talk about how horrible they are to ride, how ridiculous riding without rear suspension is, how bad they work, how painful it can be, how bad they handle, how fragile they are, ect, ect.
Of course we know they don’t all work badly, or handle bad, or hurt to ride, and aren’t really fragile, but what about the practicality of them? What about using them for real motorcycles?
Should we listen to the critics and relegate our choppers to bar hopping duty, or capitulate and admit that they are merely show bikes?
Come on… you can’t be serious!
I can’t believe I have to state the obvious, but it appears that I must after some recent conversations I have had with the general public… there was a little event that you may have heard of some time ago… it was called the 70’s?
And before that… the 60’s?
And I’m not sure, but I think that there were even some years before that! (My grandfather mentioned it to me once, but I think he may have been lying.)
People…. come on… there wasn’t always suspension on the back of motorcycles… and people RODE THOSE RIGID MOTORCYCLES EVERYWHERE!
They were as Flynch called them “Valid Modes Of Transportation” or VMOT.
If these things were really the torture devices we have been led to believe they are, then every one of those patcholders and travelers from the days of yore would be paralyzed and crippled!
Its absolute nonsense and people are buying into this crap.
If you can’t ride your rigid framed motorcycle farther than your local bar, then you need to change something on your bike.
Something isn’t working right. Change your ergonomics, relocate your pegs/seat/bars… change your front forks to something that works better, check your tire pressure… (I know of a guy here in town who won’t ride his rigid anywhere because he INSISTS that he needs to be running 65 psi in his rear tire! No joke! And he keeps saying that it rides horrible...)
I’m not saying you can’t own any motorcycle you want… what I am saying is that there should be NO reason you can’t be using that rigid framed bike as much as any other motorcycle with rear suspension.
When you walk out in the garage with your saddlebags over your shoulder for a long trip… you should stand there and REALLY fight to come up with a good reason NOT to take that rigid instead of your swingarm bike.
But, this is just the beginning of the problem… at the core of this issue is something much more troubling to me:
The loss of the concept of adventure in our culture.
You watch any TV lately?
Did you know you need two INSANELY over packed BMW GS’s, a huge bank account, multiple corporate sponsorships and 2-3 chase vehicles to ride your bike across a continent or two?


Sure you do… just ask the producers of Ewan McGregor’s and Charlie Boorman’s two motorcycle travel mini-series. (The long way round and The Long way down.)
Don’t watch TV much? (Me neither) … then check out Adventurerider.com.
People, you are being told over and over again that adventure means having the right gear, the right bike, the right plan, the right GPS, the right training, the right tank bag, the right laptop, the right aluminum panniers, the right camera, the right amount of money in the bank account, the right boots, the right underwear, the right cologne, the right body, the right girl, … “if you don’t have this stuff… you aint’ gonna make it. Don’t even try.”
Even Ewan and Charlie got told that and they had all the right stuff!
What happened to taking whatever you have and just DOING IT?
Well, I’m here to tell you… your ancestors have done it for centuries with nothing. NOTHING!
Grab a horse, a blanket, a knife and go… work where you stop for some food, sleep under the stars, live off the land… survive… live…enjoy…presto! You’re having an adventure.
We have been turned into a race of complete pansies.
We can’t handle anything if we don’t have our double espresso soy mocha latte frappuccino enema every morning, noon and night.
It takes nothing … NOTHING … to get out there and have an adventure… I know a guy doing this very thing on a bicycle… no money, no cares, works where he stops, and moves on… and he IS HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE!
In the long way Down series, Ewan and Charlie are shamed two separate times to come across bicycle adventurers in Africa on their latest trip… people out there living it… not worrying about what they “Can’t do on their antiquated machines.”

Ever heard of the 555? Google it… check it out… it’s a group of people setting out on a trip with pre 1975, sub 500cc motorcycles, that cost them less than 500$ to purchase and prepare… and they did it twice.
http://www.thefivefivefive.com/home



I saw this kid riding a scooter through my town in Nebraska from New York...(wasn’t able to stop him to talk to him) You think he checked with Adventure rider.com to find out if his scooter was “acceptable” adventuring material? Do you think he agonized over the most “adventure capable” aluminuim panniers? Or which PIAA lights would offer him the “most optimum light pattern for nighttime adventure riding”?




This is a shot of my XL350 Honda. My wife’s uncle gave it to me… he once rode it from Kansas, to Canada, back down to Mexico, and then back to Kansas.



You have probably met or heard of people doing huge long distance runs on sport bikes… I know of several guys….
Or how about Gary Inman’s article In Cycle World about the time he rode a Benelli TNT across the Sahara desert?

Ok, then what about the Toxic Tour article about that guy who rode that 360 Yamaha 2-stroke enduro from Washington to Florida?

Ok, lets see…I know… ever heard of the guy who rode his Goldwing through the jungle ?
NO?!!?
OK, ok… fine..… I will scan them in for you… but you owe me one.
(see articles below)

How about my earlier posts about Panheads in the jungles, or on the polar icecaps?
http://attackchoppers.blogspot.com/2009/08/rigid-frames-being-used-as-actual.html







And what about the people who do it without a bike?
Ever hear of people traveling with a tractor?





Or traveling in a 2wd Mercedes station wagon?







Or how about these random “adventure vehicles”?


















YOU SEE? PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE EVERY DAY LIVING IT WHILE YOU ARE MISSING IT!!!
What’s your excuse to not ride your rigid to work today?
To a buddies house across town?
To not ride for 4 hours… or 10 hours… or across a few states?
How about across the country and back?
Not enough storage space? Wah.
Not enough wind protection? Cry me a river.
No power plugs for your heated coffee cup? Give me a break.
No Anti lock brakes? You have got to be kidding me.
No radio? Yeah right.
Get over it… grow a pair…saddle up… have an adventure… quit whining and enjoy your life while it lasts… you are running out of time…

Tom Rose once shared a very important story with me about adventure.
Last year Tom was riding some dirt roads far from civilization with a very attractive lady friend who was in fact, a swimwear model.
They ran out of gas.
Tom left her on the bike while he hiked up the road to a ranch to ask for some gas-o-line.
While she was sitting there on the bike… on a dirt road… on a Harley Davidson… with her jacket off… clearly in need of some assistance…. a guy rode by on a very nice, BMW GS. This particular BMW was all “prepped for adventure” with crash bars, aluminum panniers, skidplates, GPS, handguards and the works. He was all hooked up man… ready for anything…and as he neared the very attractive lady, clearly broken down… in the middle of nowhere… on a HARLEY… he slowed down, looked at her very carefully and rolled right on by, and motored on down the road.
Hmm… let’s see… broken down Harley… hot women… middle of nowhere… I don’t know about you guys, but that has “ADVENTURE” written all over it in HUGE 10 foot tall blinking neon letters!
Now, when Tom told his brother Joel this same story and was laughing at this “adventure riders” lack of ability to sense and adventure when it’s beating his face in with a titanium tire iron… Joel looked at Tom and said in a very matter of fact manner:
“Sure Tom… but he wasn’t “adventuring” today.”
And there it is… it’s not the bike, or the gear, or the person… it’s the mindset.
If you aren’t ready to “go adventuring” every time you kickstart that evil attack chopper… you will never have an adventure.

Cause you don’t need one of these:





You need some of these:

Don't be a chump...ride that rigid.

Adventuring