That 'strom is real sharp, Marty. But I guess no one needs to tell you that, eh?

 

Yes, the Strom fills my need for speed, and comfort and enjoyment. It is one of the best bikes I've ever owned. I bought it in Mid June and it will be turning 8000 miles this weekend. Did I mention my Strom is not a Garage Queen?

No offense meant and I hope there is none taken by this comment.

I have owned Harleys. My first bike was a Harley. Actually one that I built myself from parts from a multitude of "basketcase" bikes that my best friend's Dad kept bringing home. We would supply the labor to strip them down and build running bikes from all the parts we salvaged. My bike had a 40 something frame, a 61 cubic inch flathead motor, a 3 speed tranny - tank shift of course - foot clutch, manual spark advance, a hard tail frame and a set of Duo-Glide forks. When H-D bought out their Softtail Deluxe it was shown in metallic blue. I had to look twice to make sure that wasn't the bike I rode! Brought back some memories that did.

Harleys are great for what they are. I just prefer something a bit more for less in the bikes I buy. I like riding twisty roads at or slightly above the posted speed limits. A bike that handles well, can go most places I like to and costs half of what a BMW adventure bike does is a great thing.

Actually I traded my ZRX1200 - my modified bike with 136 rwhp in on the Strom. If you have a need for speed, I wish you could have ridden that. With the 2 up rear sprocket, I was beating 'Busas to 100 mph. After that, their aero took over and I was left in the dust. Of course, up to 100 mph the 'Busa rider had a hurt look on his face!

If things go well, I will be looking to go racing again in the near future and will be looking or building one of those things Big Bear has shown in his pictures. That will fulfill my need for speed.

I've worked for Harley-Davidson and think they have one of the best marketing strategies in the motorcycling world. However I don't care to own one of their products, so I don't. Nothing against them or their owners. Just run into too many of them that really don't ride a biek for transportation, but more of a "look at me" thing.

Sorry if that offends, it was not meant to.

 

OK but this is going to take up some space. Remember ...... you ask for it .......

My three lovely ladies! '89 FL400's

'85 FL350

'03 LTZ400

'06 RMZ250

'05 Fatboy

My favorite ... '93 Z71

03' Ram

'99 Classic Z71

'04 20' Auto Master

KLX
I won't post the wifes Honda SUV or the VW Beetle those are the grocery gitters.

 

Most excellent, vfrpilot! You got some serious fun in that warehouse of a garage of yours.

And certainly not to diminish what you've posted up, by far you've got great ground-based collection, but I kind'a figured with your login id, I thought you might also be posting up some type of bird for soaring high above the clouds

 

I haven't flown for about 17 years. My wife made me quit right after our daughter was born. I was flying a Citabria and doing some aerobatics, she thought maybe if I quit I'd live to see my kids grow up. In retrospect, it was probably a smart move.

 

I used to fly a single engine Cessna - solo'd on my 16th birthday with 14 knot crosswinds gusting to 20. That was exciting

I can't imaging doing aerobatics in that thing, though. I guess your wife heard the old saying - "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." [&:]

 

Ok whatever you are doing to be able to buy all of those toys, is it legal, and more importantly, are you hiring? LOL

 

man those are some serious toys, nice trucks, sweet garage... thos fl400's can u buy those like that? do they have quad motors in them? those are sweet, id love to play around in one of those

 

I saw her ...




[sm=joke.gif]

Mike

 

Good post, Let me comment on some of it



Nope none taken. Perhaps Garage Queen was the wrong word to use. I still ride it, It’s just not every day. Say every couple of days. While Your V-Strom might not be a Garage Queen, with 4 bikes though Something certainly is.



Sounds like you’re talking about my sporty, if you know Harleys like you say then you can look at my bike and see it’s far from Stock. Here's a link to see some more pics. Between the triple disk brakes w/ stainless steel lines, full 1200S suspension, SE fork brace, Mikuni carb, Rinehart pipes, and customizable TC88A ignition I would say she more then meets those specs. She wasn’t 15-20 Thousand and 5 years from now the resale value will Still be decent unlike most metric bikes.



Yep, I love sport bikes too but I’ve never owned one. After selling my dr250s I went shopping for a sport bike. I Really liked the Honda F4I but hated the color. The Busa reminds me of a drz400, nice bike but it doesn’t do anything for me. The Honda CBR 1000RR kicks *** but at 46 I don’t care for the riding position, have no need to do 150+, Or test my mortality. If I owned one I’d push it I’m sure and well I just don’t need to take the chance.

As far as metric cruisers go, I don’t like them. They almost all try to look like Harleys. You might as well own the real thing. When I sat on the sporty and heard that famous v-twin I just knew. The big Harleys are nice too but I really only liked the FXDX and Harley has quit making those.



You mean Poser’s. Why would posers keep you from owning a Harley Davidson? While I don’t ride 1000’s of miles a year I’m certainly not a poser. I don’t own a Harley jacket, boots, helmet, wallet, etc, etc. And I don’t belong to my local hog chapter. My Sporty does get ridden.

I like Harleys but I like lots of other bikes, I Like the KLX for instance. All bikes are cool, Even mopeds But none of them have the aura, sound, feel, or soul that the Harley does. If You have owned Harley’s before then I’m sure you understand that.

Finally, I like your selection of bikes too But if I’m going to own multiple bikes there going to be Different from each other. Seems like all yours are just about the same but with different cc size's.

Sorry if that offends, it was not meant to.


LV