Harley Davidson

[brens]

This has nothing to do with Motor homes I just wanted some other feedback.
We were out this weekend shopping for a car for my husband to drive to work.
He starting joking with me about a bike! I told him hey if you want one then
get one. Wrong words to say. In one day he had found a sweet deal on a
Harley Davidson softtail. He did buy it.We live in So. Cal. He drives 40 miles to work. He takes
the 210-57-605 crazy freeways. Just a little background,our kids are 26 and 23
when they were baby's I asked him to sell his bike and when they were raised
he could buy another one. Well I did not think that it would bother me this much
but here it is 5:00 am and I'm not sleeping. The questton I have is he said that
if it is bothering me this much that lets just sell it but I feel bad about it because I
know how much he loves bikes. Any suggestions?

 

[Luca1369]

I've been riding for almost 40 years and even now tow my Harley on a trailer as my toad.

You're not the first wife who has had to deal with such an agonizing decision, perhaps one of the ladies on here who has some experience in this subject can offer suggestions on dealing with the worry, I can only give you a rider's viewpoint.

Is your husband an experienced rider?  Does he need to take a riding/safety course?  Would that ease your mind?

You love him, but you made a deal that he could get one when the kids were grown, I know this is not a consolation but you do have a few choices. 

First, you can support your husband and do your best not to worry.  This apparently is not working. 

Second, if you cannot live with the worry, explain that to him and bring up selling the bike, if he loves you he will (of course, if he doesn't sell the bike that is not indicative of his NOT loving you, just that he wants to keep the bike). 

Riding a bike requires a very good sense of your surroundings.  The first thing you must do is admit that you are NOT invincible and that riding a motorcycle can turn even a minor traffic accident into a fatality (I'm sorry, I know this does nothing for your worry).  At most times you are invisible, at others it seems that you have a target on your back.  Suddenly finding oneself riding in rush hour traffic on a daily basis after a couple of decades of not riding is pushing it (IMHO).  So, third, you can ask that he not drive to work in rush hour traffic and perhaps later on get on the back with him when he's tooling down the highway on the weekend (this is suggesting that he knows how to ride with a passenger).  After he's used to being on a bike again he could try his hand at rush hour traffic.

Please let us know how this works out.

 

[2KViggen]

My wife of 5 weeks told me to buy a bike.  I have always been a car person & want a Lotus for track time (roadcoarse), she keeps telling me it's cheaper to run a bike.

Sold a old modded saab last winter & around that time HD shut the doors on Buell.  I told her what they were going for & she said get one..... so not I have a Buell & a HD Ultra Classic.  I have only been on the street for 12yrs but been on 2 wheels for 35yrs (going to be 40 soon).

Do you feel comfortable going for a ride with him??

 

[migamag]

Hi Brenda,
I live in Hacienda Heights and commute on the 605 on two wheels as well. I may have seen your husband on the road.

I often go on weekend-long sport-touring rides and on one of those rides in '08 I went down on PCH, just north of Big Sur. I thought for sure my wife was going to ask me to stop riding. When I got home we talked about how she worries about me riding and we also talked about my passion for riding. She agreed to support my love for riding and in a strange turn of events, asked me to sell my sport bike and get a bigger sport-tourer so that she can join me on my long rides. I was ecstatic! She's smart, and it took me a while to figure it out, but I eventually realized that she knew my riding would be much more conservative with her on the bike. As an added bonus, she now enjoys the fact that I ride.

An important factor in her "allowing" me to ride is that I always ride fully geared: armored jacket and pants (worn over my office-attire work clothes), armored boots (I carry my street shoes in a bag with my laptop), gloves, and a full-face helmet. She knows this will not protect me from everything, but it does increase my chances of survival exponentially.

I don't mean to stereotype Harley riders, but I assume your husband wears a half-helmet and jeans when he rides. Assuming this is the case, talk to him about wearing a full-face helmet and at the very least, armored Kevlar jeans. This may give you some peace of mind.

Riding is dangerous - it would be dishonest to say otherwise. But riding wisely (wearing safety gear, riding defensively, taking motorcycle safety courses) will decrease a rider's chance of mishaps a great deal. I wish you both luck and peace of mind.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

My wife and I both belong to Harley's "million mile club"  after over 22 years of being in the business and the lose of my oldest son to a bike, I quit while I still had all the original parts of my body still attached.>>>Dan

 

[Geoff_T]

Hi

Call me a Philistine and a heretic but what is the fascination with Harley's?

When I stop at lights I watch the Harley rider's hands trembling with the vibration.

I can only put it down to a patriotic thing, buying the USA made bike, etc.

For cruising surely a BMW or big Japanese bike would fit the bill.... certainly might be safer going around corners!

I'm English, by the way, and could never understand the appeal of those big ol' dinosaurs!



Geoff (held motorbike license since 1963!)

PS Those "pudding basin" helmets I see riders wearing would never meet UK British Standards safety regulations!

 

[PancakeBill]

Well, I have had an English bike and now understand the fascinaation with Harleys.  I ride a Yamaha Star, Jap bike, but I think actually built in the US.  HAlf the price of an HD, but HD's have an allure.  The sound, the peer acceptance. 

 

[carson]

Good debate.. I am not a Harley rider, but it seems to me a Harley is a status symbol.  How much money do you spend over the years on status symbols...think about it. Your car..your BBQ... your home, haircut.. etc.
  Let the people decide what they want, not the people opposing a certain choice.  Shaking hands on the throttle/handlebars may be just what you want. Where else can you be "vibrated" better.  ;D


carson FL

 

[Luca1369]

  Call me a Philistine and a heretic but what is the fascination with Harley's?  When I stop at lights I watch the Harley rider's hands trembling with the vibration.

PS Those "pudding basin" helmets I see riders wearing would never meet UK British Standards safety regulations!

A wise man once said "If I have to explain it to you, you could not understand."

The hand of the rider is a control interface.  It delivers the heartbeat and soul of the bike to the rider and back to the bike from the rider.

As for helmets, that should be a rider's choice.  We do not need someone (especially an insurance lobbiest) telling us what is safe for us.  I have survived a couple of wrecks that would have turned out differently if I had not been wearing a helmet.  However, if I have a choice I will not wear a helmet. 

It's a FREEDOM thing...

 

[Utclmjmpr]

Even tho I don't have a" MOTORBIKE" license, (if you have to ask, you would not understand) I do have a motorcycle license, and have had since 1960.( I also own two Ariel squares (53 & 56) ;D

 

[Luca1369]

Good debate.. I am not a Harley rider, but it seems to me a Harley is a status symbol.  How much money do you spend over the years on status symbols...think about it. Your car..your BBQ... your home, haircut.. etc.

I fear we have strayed on this thread and I will certainly accept my share of the blame, but some things need to be said.

For some of us a Harley is NOT a status symbol, it is a lifestyle.  I'm old school.  When I began riding in 1970, I knew every other Harley rider in town, there were not that many of us.  At that time, putting a Harley decal on your car was tantamount to posting a sign saying "Hey cop!  I dare you to pull me over!"  We were bikers, we were not "motorcycle enthusiasts," yes, there is a difference...a big difference.  Status symbol?  We didn't know what that meant.  We rode for the simple enjoyment of riding and being part of a community that was proud to exist outside the norm.  Perhaps we wore that like a status symbol.

For many years I did not own a car or truck, and wound up putting 40-50k miles on my bike each year criss-crossing the country, working on my bike five hours to ride four, and dealing with my bike marking its spot with oil.  I didn't need a stereo on my bike, I already had a stereo - the roar of my engine and the sound of the wind rushing past.

Today, I don't leave my garage door open to show neighbors and passersby that I have a Harley.  I don't dress up in the latest "biker" fashion that is designed more to impress my peers and be profitable for the vendor.  I do not opt for the "bad boy look" to impress young women who wouldn't know an image from the real thing.  Neither do I wave at every single bike that goes by, it gets tiring on the arm and besides, I probably wouldn't like most of the folks that pass by me. 

My point?  My point is that I feel like a dinosaur. Today's new rider has little in common with older riders.  Too many of today?s riders buy and ride a bike for the wrong reasons, sometimes with disastrous results. 

Like Carson said, the owning of a Harley has become a status symbol (A haircut?  I've never been guilty of that thank God).  But the wave has crested.  It?s a buyer?s market now.  There are tons of used motorcycles for sale right not and they are not moving like they were ten years ago, and the ones that are selling are going for far less than their owners want (let?s face it, most of these latecomers overpaid for their bikes to begin with). 

I suppose some riders will reply by saying his/her ride is just as good or better than a Harley.  That's okay, because I know that when they see and hear a Harley go by their soul cries out with a longing that their empty words cannot begin to stifle.  Yes...I know.  We all started out that way.

 

[Geoff_T]

Hi

Perhaps my post was a little jaundiced but Harley owners vary to extremes these days.

I have my ears regularly abused by Harleys that have open pipes... devoid of muffler/silencers. Some, thanks to chop shop examples on TV, have pipes a foot or so long. It is beyond me how this can be legal.

These guys tend to prowl up and down roads parallel to Southern California beaches as I doubt they are practical vehicles for freeway use!

I am not against folk buying what they desire... just a little confused what the HD really offers over cruisers like the BMW or Goldwing

Other than whatever status it offers....



Geoff

 

[carson]

Go Harley..I luv'em

carson

 

[Jim Dick]

I started riding 4 1/2 years ago at age 64. I took the safety course which I feel everyone, regardless of experience, should take. It can be a life saver. My friend, a Harley rider is the one that encouraged me to get my endorsement. One of his favorite sayings is "it's not what you ride, its the fact you RIDE"!

I'm sure we could spend weeks or more discussing what someone should or shouldn't ride. We ride different machines for different reasons. That does not make one better than the other. There is a song on youtube called Open Road. Though most bikes are Harleys the message is about the riding. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mU8ZqMZPU

The original poster is concerned about her husband. As George said, we have gotten away from the original intent of the post. Let's get back to trying to address her concerns.

 

[SargeW]

Brens, while I have tons to say about the Harley / Jap bike debate, I won't. What I will tell you is that I rode a motorcycle to Los Angeles from Orange county for about 10 years (both Harley and Jap bikes).  Can it be dangerous? Sure, you bet. But the reality is it's the rider that can have the most influence over their own safety on a day to day basis. If your husband is a safety minded rider and is not out to prove something on his bike, the odds are heavily in his favor that he will have no problems. However, if he tends to be scatterbrained and only cares about seeing how fast he can ride through stopped traffic, sell it.  Life is a gamble. Do what you want, but be as smart about it as possible. Do you ride with him? You should. If would give you a perfect idea of how he handles the bike and safety situations.  My wife doesn't ride either, but she would ride with me. I'm safe, and I keep her safe in the process.  I am more worried about getting on a plane than getting on a motorcycle. On the motorcycle I have control, not so much in a plane.

Sarge 

 

[brens]

Thank you so much to all of you guys who took the time to help me to sort this out.

Well we did list on Craig's list Wed. night. We have had alot of calls on it. Its priced
very good. But I think we will hold off for a couple of weeks to make sure.

From reading all of the post I think that I have calmed down a little. so today he rode
the bike to work. I told him lets just take it one day at a time.

My husband is 47 years old he is not crazy, he wears a full helmet. we do need to get
him the amour jacket and pants.

Yes it has been 20 years since he has been on a bike so he will be taking the safety course.

 

[Jim Dick]

Brenda,

The motorcycle safety course will certainly help. Not that he doesn't know how to ride but one always learns something that can help keep them safe.

My wife was against me getting a bike until a friend took her for a short ride. Now that we've had one for four years, she loves it. She won't ride her own but she does go with me most of the time. We usually ride with another bike, sometimes three more. That's a comfortable number for me and it helps with drivers being able to spot us more easily.

 

[SargeW]

That's good advice from Jim. Riding with a another bike is always safer and more fun. However in all the years I rode to work I never rode with anyone else. And the MSF course is a great idea, and recommended every 5 years even for regular everyday riders. It just helps to sharpen your safety skills.

 

[Joezeppy]

This is coming from a non-biker's point of view (I've been a passenger a few times but never been the operator). Please ask your husband NOT to ride so that his left foot peg and handlebar are just inches from (or hanging over) the center line! For the life of me, I can't figure out why some bikers do this. If 99.9% of the opposing traffic was bigger than me, I'd be as far away from that yellow line as possible!

 

[Jim Dick]

That is a little close to the line. There are three lanes a bike can take, left, center, or right. Most take the left which puts us close to the center line. The reason is visibility. Cars don't always see you when you move to the right. By staying close to the left, you are in the mirror of the car in front and drivers coming the other way can also see you.

If you are over to the right, but some distance behind the vehicle in front, drivers from the other direction won't see you. If there is an anxious driver behind an oncoming vehicle, he may try to pass once that vehicle is past the car in front of the bike causing a collision. Hope that explanation makes sense.

Taking the center lane can be tricky as that is where all the oil drippings and other liquids end up which can make that lane very slippery, especially during wet weather.