Tater
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Posts posted by Tater
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See,, like most,,, I am also an avid admirer of all scoots.. Quite frankly, I LOVE KC's Sprint and could see myself spending countless hours chasing the front wheel on it just like he mentions. I also LOVE the Triumph Rocket 3 - AWESOME machine with endless possibilities. I have owned Harley's both new (Twin Cam) and old and LOVED them all to no end. I had an 2001 88" TC that I tortured to no end, stuck a gear driven blower on it - all kinds of fun. Currently I have a standing invitation to get over and spend some time on the new "Motus" bikes = and rest assured, I AM GONNA GO FOR IT!! I met the local owner of our Motus dealership (in Grand Rapids Mi) at our Spring run - got to see one up close,, WAYYYY GORGEOUS MACHINE!! Motor is 1/2 a Chevy V-8 = VERY IMPRESSIVE.. One of the awesome things about motorcycling today is the endless choices of steeds afforded to us. Great time to be a biker I'd say..
On the other,, I am not so sure its such a great time to be a Motorcycle manufacturer.. Being a geezer kid, old n worn out with the heart of teenaged gear head, I get around to the bike shops in search of new mods with the ferver that only an obsessed maniac would have. One of the things I have noticed is the amount of new left over machines there are out there.. Makes no difference Harley or Honda. Wanna buy a new Indian? Guy in Caledonia where we went to get a tee shirt recently has left overs for CHEAP (compared to 2017 models). Our Harley shops have TONS of left overs and, its my understanding that HD has cut back on production cause things are slow.. I know our Honda/Yamaha shop has left over V-4 1300 Hondas marked down from 15ish to 7500 bucks.. Fact is, its tough out there..
Knowing that, and knowing how endless the supply of left over HD (not to speak of the flooded used market) air cooled V-Twins and clones (IMHO, anything not Harley and an air cooled V-Twin is a "clone" Harley = just chasing the market that Harley built and owns) and then the V-Twin water cooled bikes that are water cooled but designed to look air cooled, I still dont understand why on earth Mom Yam didnt take this one great opportunity to flat out turn the touring world up side down like they said they were gonna do and basically declare brand new ownership of that market = completely turn their back on the whole air cooled V-Twin market and do something crazy .
Once again IMHO, Harley owns and is benchmark in the looks - sound - paint - audio - showmanship - dealership network - price point - accessory choices - factory support - HOG gatherings (family push) AND head turning ability right out of the showroom and going against them toe to toe (especially difficult for an offshore US manufacturer like Yamaha) and expecting to match MSRP is kinda nuts if ya ask me.
The ONLY category that HD does not own is performance based IMHO.. Because of this, Harley has had to have their own "class" in racing = those old push rod motors with the necessary "fork n knife" rod design to maintain single pin cranks on a 45 degree "V" to produce that epic sound HAS its performance limitations and one would think Mom Yam would have known that and exploited it. I get the whole thought process of wanting to be above 1800cc cause it does seem like the normal V-Twin chaser is engine size orientated BUT - one has to remember that Kawasaki actually did have a 2000cc scoot (NEAT BIKE IMHO) out for a while and, quite frankly, it didnt sell worth a hoot.. HD also has a 120 inch engine in both race offering and in Street offering (buddy and I went to Harley Performance school and spent a fair amount of time on a 120R equipped Street Glide - AWESOME motor for what it is!) and the same thing - those engines are available but very few are out there on the street.. Also thinking of the Boss Hoss V-8 bikes,, I LOVE em but quite frankly - ya dont see a lot of em out CTFWin.. Nahh,, I think the age of the endless pursuit of having to have the largest V-Twin air cooled motor is closing in - probably/maybe because there are sooo many choices..
I still wish Mom Yam would have turned her back on the whole bunch of em, gone a whole new direction with that new Vmax motor, tossed on a couple turbo's to cover both extreme torque and extreme hp angles, had a factory "Ram "X"" cell phone holder built into the bikes dash for the modern day cell phone to cover all the info system needs of the modern day rider and called it good enough as far as info system needs go, gone head over heals CRAZY on using modern day metals and technology to get the bike as light as possible (my R1 is a Yamaha 1000cc scoot and it weighs under 400 pounds dry - Mom Yam could have..).. A canyon carving 200 horse, 225 foot pounds of torque V-4 Motored, 750 pound rigid aluminum framed drive shaft 6 speed fixed fairing Venture with fully adjustable Bars/foot pegs and removeable/lockable storage and GOOD LED lighting would have set the touring world on fire IMHO and, probably been the kind of bike that once test ridden - the modern day touring test riders would have gotten off, pointed back at it when talking to the Yamaha reps and said "I,, I,, I,, I cant imagine riding ANYTHING else now that I have ridden that amazing motorcycle"..
Yep,, I am still numb and dumbfounded.... A Yamaha Venture with no V-4,,,, I cant wait to greet new owners here on the site and PROMISE I will treat them with total acceptance and respect - cant wait to test ride this new one myself but - its gonna take me a long time to get use to equating a Venture with an air cooled V-Twin in it... WOW am I thick skulled..
Police find missing Americade volunteer dead after bike crash in Upstate NY
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Being a v twin air cooled belt driven, it kinda has lost its identity imo, if that's what I want in a motorcycle I have a lot of choices, but it's not what I want, I'll ride my 2004 RSV a few more years.
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V twin, belt drive, if I wanted that I would buy and Indian.
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I didn't get the time off work to go this year, my Dad is still in fla, said not coming up till it gets warm, beginning to think I am not going to see him this year. Had I slept instead of worked I coulda met u all in Utica Rome area, it's a beautiful ride, I've ridden it in pouring rain as well, but was warmer then it is today. I am like 25 miles north of Syracuse if u need anything, looking forward to what u have to say about the new bike!
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Hey @Tater, thanks for the pics.....very nice pair of scoots!!!
Nothing beats going for a ride with your father.....especially on matching Ventures'! I try to go out with my Dad on our matching first Gen ventures every chance I get....life is short...enjoy it my friend!
That is awesome, we are not getting any younger for sure, and my dad is only up from Florida for a few weeks! Riding together has always been the ultimate father son experience for us!
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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160712/e49a00ff87ac026a2f5cb8ebb683840c.jpg
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My first that I learned on was an orange 350 and everyone called it the widow maker, I stepped up to the 82 750 virago with the clunky starter, but it always started, lol
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reminds me of my first bike, yamaha 350, was bright orange and my Dad put a green milk crate on back for my school books, I believe on the crate it said unlawful to possess this crate. Seat was like bike in background.
Pray for the USA
in Watering Hole
Posted
Something goes wrong, let's make a new law, like it makes any difference to crazy people, all the added laws do is make it harder and more expensive on law abiding citizens, it's already illegal to kill someone, most shootings are in gun free zones, and most don't legally own guns. Places with the strictest gun laws have the highest crime rates.
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