Does riding a HD rattle your brain so as to cause severe cell damage?

[Momz]

I know that at times I get a little hard on HD riders, but they seem to bring it on themselves.
As an example, last Friday my wife suggested that we have dinner at a little cafe in Wyandotte MI.
This cafe is next to a local coffee shop known as "The Grind" and it is a local biker hangout. My wife and I frequent the Grind quite often for a hot brew and some people watching as it isn't to far from home and it is a great area to cruise to. So we might be called "regulars".

My wife rides my old 82 GL1100 standard with Valk leather bags and a custom pearl ultraviolet paint job and a bit of chrome. I rode my "Rat Rod Valk".

We pulled up to the curb and parked, went and had dinner while watching the people on the sidewalk and curb looking at all the bikes lined up. A guy on a Rune pulled up and parked close to my Valk, and that started a scene as bikers and pedestrians stopped to oogle the shiny Rune and my "Bad Attitude Valk". There were several HDs on either side of the big sixes, but they didn't seem to draw the same reaction from the bystanders. However there was one rather large guy there that was pointing to the cylinders on both the sixes and saying something to the crowd looking at the two bikes. Being that my wife and I were in the cafe we did not hear what he was saying, however he was quite animated.

We did not finish our meals, so we got "to go" boxes when we left the cafe. My wife then proceeded to put the boxes on her rack and net them down, when this large and animated biker sort comes up to her and booms out ...."What year is that Honda?" and.... "That is a nice Automatic isn't it?". My wife says that it is a 1982 and it is not an automatic. He booms out that they were all automatics,....but he did like the "restoration". My wife then told him that it isn't a restoration, but in fact a mild custom. He looks at the gauges and says...."Well with 57 thousand it probably needs a rebuild soon". My wife said that he should add about another 100K to that figure and that it had just minor maintenence in all those miles. He again goes on to talk about the automatic transmissions on Gold Wings when my wife interupted him by saying, "it isn't an automatic".  He looks at her and says...."Well how can you ride that thing?". At that point I stepped up and informed him that Honda did indeed make automatics in the form of 750 fours and 400/450 twins for a very sort period of time, but never Gold Wings.

He walked away,....got on his old shovelhead, kicked and kicked untill it finally started,.....warmed up for about 15 seconds,.....reved it up,....then sped off into traffic,....not to be seen again for the rest of that night.

True story,.....I couldn't make up this sort of $hit

[Dogg]

There are misinformed people everywhere. Some only know what others have told them, hence the automatic because it was an old honda. Most people I know, riding whatever they choose too, mainly harleys, are a bit more intelligent than the ones you run into.

 My best buddies all ride harleys. by choice, its a matter of being cool i guess, fitting in, maybe belonging to something...who knows why, just that they do. But they all love my bike, they are all afraid of my bike, and It is my job to keep them humble and out of trouble....


these guys arent stupid. I have met many that are....but 90% of the guys I run into that are HD riders are money making sob's and ride a harley because, well, its a harley. no other reason....

[junior]

Does riding a HD rattle your brain so as to cause severe cell damage?

yes it does...............its like the shaken baby sydrome only for adults

[98valk]

this site says it all and then some. Enjoy and try not to laugh to hard

http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/main.htm

[Jeff K]

I suffer from the same affliction, I don't know a damn thing about any HD It could be a shovel pan fat big boy and I wouldn't have a clue. But then again I wouldn't be stupid enough to strike up a conversation about a wide boy fat glide either.  

[Momz]

You know and I know that there are informed people, and there are a lot of uninformed people. Some of us have years of experience, while others may not. Some dumbasses like me have a head full of useless triva, while others only retain what they need to know.

However the braindead rider that made the statement about Gold Wings having automatic transmissions may feel that women shouldn't ride real motorcycles.
Or he may have felt somewhat emasculated by the appearance of a proficient female motorcyclist on an older yet technicaly superior machine.
Maybe he was drunk.
Maybe he has emotional disabilities.
Maybe he is just just thought he was a comedian.

Whatever the reason for his statements, there were many others that appreciate a fine old motorcycle.
My wife enjoy the comraderie of all motorcyclists because they are motorcyclists. And we have learned a lot from other riders about a great variety of subjects. We ask questions and listen to what they say, and by asking inteligent questions and truely listening to them, we have found quite an array of people that we now consider friends rather than just people that we've seen before.

I shouldn't judge all HD riders by the ignorance of the few. But it is those that seem to invoke the greatest disrespect from me. Please don't think that I'm anti HD, or anything that shallow. But it would be hard to respect ignorance in any shape or form.

Ride hard, ride happy

[Mo Lee]

I think we can sum this up with two sentences!

We like to RIDE.
They like the IMAGE.

[JerryB]

HD bikes are not that bad..........It's the nuts behind the handlebars.........JB.

[Bagger John - #3785]

Blondie's first bit of rider education was on (you guessed it) a chopped '77 FLH (shovel) owned by our friend Tim, an old graybeard ex-club member. He took Blondie and the bike to a deserted section of parking lot at our area bike/car cruise-in and taught her to ride the thing; seems she couldn't quite get the hang of Tim's wife's Vulcan 800 as a learning bike.

Almost all of our Harley riding friends are chopper builders or restoration types. I cannot stand the average RUB and his or her "catalog custom" and accompanying attitude. Most of these yahoos I've met over the years cannot even change their own oil; it's a visit to the dealership. (And God forbid they ever break down beside the road and actually have to troubleshoot the problem...)

Interesting thing to note about our ride out I-80 and back home yesterday: Few 'Wing riders waved at us...ALL the sportbike types did, as well as most other riders. Folks on Harleys came in two classes: Those who DID wave (solo riders) and those who DIDN'T (those who were carrying a passenger). Seems that the sight of a gal riding her own Valkyrie might be a little too "liberating" of an experience for those with pillion mates, so they tried their best to ignore us as we sailed past ... 

[Robert]

If you are into image then you have allot to lose if that image goes down in flames, Kinda of like Darwinism and all who follow without looking at the science behind it. I didn't say that to get into a discussion about it but just a note on what is at stake. When Harley first came out they had a image problem and they had to foster a new image, so they learned how to do that really well and then people really classified every bike after that as Harley as long as it was a cruiser type with lots of chrome and showy. Not really a bad thing if you think what people are really saying, that you own a bike that really is cool. We just have to do the marketing and tell them that Honda made it not Harley. I never really take offense and you can see slowly the light coming on in peoples minds that every bike that is big, beautiful has lots of chrome is not a Harley. It is really kind of a shame that Honda may really be allowing things to go backward in not manufacturing a bike that is as showy and beautiful as the Valk. Fixed up she is really a looker and people do take notice, even Harley riders but not necessarily for the same reasons. Kinda like the guy that has the wrong idea about mileage and transmissions. You see every time we ride our Valks and a Harley rider sees it its like telling him that sorry you are really riding a outdated bike that from a technical stand point really had some major problems. Plus maybe you made the wrong decision about what you are riding. Look I must admit I do like Harley's, not really to own but they have their place. I was at dinner the other night by myself and I had parked the Valk next to the front door. So when I came out here is about 15 guys is full leathers and such around my bike just looking. I really wondered if I was going to have a problem but as I walked up to the bike one of the guys said let him through. They were really interested in the bike and just couldn't take there eyes off of it even when I was riding away and of course their bike of choice was a Harley. When I went to the Whole foods supermarket and sat outside I received many compliments from people and most would strike up a conversation, now the Valk was a ice breaker for people. What was kinda interesting was one older gentleman and his wife in their say 70s or 80s he said never stop riding. I'm sure celebrities have a similar problem with paparazzi and jealousy and just the media saying things that aren't true about them. So I say consider yourself a ambassador for the real motorcycle dreamer and do your part to further the true image of a rider. On this board we have all types and they come together for one thing and thats the love of the rides and the bike. All other things just seem to blend in and we make a new image with things happening from rides to technical to just plain stories and pics of things enjoyed while out on the road. Not malicious things but most in praise of what this country was really founded on, the free spirit of each  person and the enjoyment of that diversity. So when you come up to people who don't really know squat and want to impress just try to be as kind as possible when sharing the truth. They have allot at stake and you are the member of the true spirit of motorcycling. I will also say one more thing as a side note RESALE VALUE, just as Harley gets so much for their bikes that are really not worth it we by our educating people on what a real bike is will benefit in our resale value on the practical side. We have seen this already in that the price of the Valk is going up, and you really dont know who you are educating on the quality of the Valk, IT MAY BE YOUR NEXT VALK RIDER. Just as in 98 when I saw my first Valk and looked at the engine and the front tire and the beautiful red and white and said to myself I will own that bike one day you may be stoking the fire for the next Valk rider looking for something different looking for that smile when you twist the grip on 1525ccs and take off.

[MCRIDER]

Most bikers, like me, aren't used to seeing a japanese motorcycle with over 20,000 miles unless it's in a scrap pile.  His brain wasn't rattled, he just hasn't seen that many.

[ROTTENRICK]

My little brother has a 83 HD, a little ridin, followed by a little wrenchin. He is as should be, wavin to all who pass as do I. We laugh at those who are too cool. He was the one who set me after the Valk and I thank him everytime we ride. 

[SANDMAN5]

Most bikers, like me, aren't used to seeing a japanese motorcycle with over 20,000 miles unless it's in a scrap pile.  His brain wasn't rattled, he just hasn't seen that many.

Probably because most "Japanese" bikes are still out there being ridden and not parked
in a parking lot so their riders can "talk about" riding. Unless of course you're
talking about Japanese harleys.