Sonnyboy

:stickpoke:I also like the look and sound of Harleys. Been around them most of my life as my Dad had been riding them since WW2 starting with a W45. Had a friend of mine want to give me his Ultra at an extremely good price a few years ago. I was riding a Roadstar then. One up it was a great ride..until you stopped and the front tire started dancing across the paint stripe I stopped on. Then with my wife on the back it was way to short for the two of us. Then I remembered all the 'Harley' conversations my friends have about where they have their bikes fixed and what they pay for it to get done. That along with a two year warrenty that doesn't seem to cover much. All I do is change the oil and filters, check the tires and look it over when I'm washing it. In the 9000 miles we've ridden in ten months my only maintenance expense have been oil and filters. They do have some neat clothes though, but for iron I'll keep my RSV with a big smile..... And now I have a place to play all those tapes I never threw out, now that is old school.

Not to start another topic on tires but what brand of tire do you all run? I bought a Venture in 09, my first and have had to change the rear Bridgestone due to a nail finding a home in it. Not crazy about the wear and weird wear patterns, Ran ME880's on my Roadstar and put a lot of mileage on them with out any issues. Bridgestones seem to run out of tread around 8 to 10 thousand. Paid 195.00 to replace my back one last year, couldn't shop around to get one, now I can. Could use some help on the subject. My wife and I do a good bit of riding for weekend travelers.

:starz:I took the advanced course and rode the city police course with a friend of mine who is a city motorcycle cop. Didn't do it on my RSV but on my 1700. Hitting the back brake will stand the bike up, but as a mechanic I just can't slip the clutch like you have to, to maintain the slow speed control. My friend has one to two clutches put in his Harley in a year of city riding. But I did learn that I need a little more turning around room and pushing is okay with me, hopefully down hill. I also realized that the instructors who were doing these turns only look at where they want to go and not at where I was looking at, the pavement my floorboards were fast approaching. Amazing what age and wisdom can do to your judgement. I use to jump first, now I look first, think on it, figure out what it will cost to fix it if it breaks, then go and do something else.