SV-Wolf's Bike Blog

[sv-wolf]

And... and...

Stop Press.

I've just logged on to Google Earth. The shots of Hitchin have been renewed since I last looked and I can now make out the SV and the Hyosung in my back garden. I think that's truly amazing!

(All right, it may not interest anyone else, but I'm excited by it.)

[noodlenoggin]

In all seriousness...if a bailiff did nick one of your rides, I'd think that once they ran the registration and foung it belonged not to DB, they would have to return your bike, with apology.

Americans and cruisers, you ask? Let me set an equation for you. First, the fastest generally accepted speed limit in the U.S. is 70mph...our society has a strong "speed kills" mentality, and the police LOVE writing speeding tickets.

Second, our highways were designed in the 1950's, and designed so that people could drive their big, floaty, 3-ton sedans across the country at 70mph -- 90% straight, 10% looooong, sweeping curves.

Third, the majority of the rest of the roads in America were laid out straight as an arrow. There are regions where terrain dictates otherwise, but for most of America...the roads are straight.

So we have straight roads; highways built for big cars that can't turn, and restrictive speed limits. Your bike may be able to go 140mph and carve a tight turn...but where in America are you going to do that? Well, wherever that is, the police have set up a tent and a porta-potty and are writing tickets by the ream.

So, the Harley-Davidson (or Blues, your Shirley-Davidson) was born...it can loaf along in a straight line at 70mph all day.


So, what happened to the Daytona?

[sv-wolf]

In all seriousness...if a bailiff did nick one of your rides, I'd think that once they ran the registration and foung it belonged not to DB, they would have to return your bike, with apology.

Americans and cruisers, you ask? Let me set an equation for you. First, the fastest generally accepted speed limit in the U.S. is 70mph...our society has a strong "speed kills" mentality, and the police LOVE writing speeding tickets.

Second, our highways were designed in the 1950's, and designed so that people could drive their big, floaty, 3-ton sedans across the country at 70mph -- 90% straight, 10% looooong, sweeping curves.

Third, the majority of the rest of the roads in America were laid out straight as an arrow. There are regions where terrain dictates otherwise, but for most of America...the roads are straight.

So we have straight roads; highways built for big cars that can't turn, and restrictive speed limits. Your bike may be able to go 140mph and carve a tight turn...but where in America are you going to do that? Well, wherever that is, the police have set up a tent and a porta-potty and are writing tickets by the ream.

So, the Harley-Davidson (or Blues, your Shirley-Davidson) was born...it can loaf along in a straight line at 70mph all day.


So, what happened to the Daytona?

Hi Noodle.

It's time for bed, but here's a few quick answers.

Bailiffs have a lot of power in the UK. To prevent them taking my stuff here I have to prove that I am not the person they say I am (guilty till proven innocent.) If they do take my goods in error (usually they don't give a sh1it who stuff belongs to) then it is very hard to get it back or to get its full value. The thought of getting an apology out of a bailiff in the UK is laughable! The law here very much favours the creditor and protects his agent - which is why I hate the smug bastards so much.

I understand about your straight roads and long sweeping curves and I don't doubt you are right about that being an important reason why the US loves cruisers. But because you can ride a cruiser comfortably on US roads, does that mean you have to? You can ride a sportsbike or a streetfighter on the same roads just as well. The cruiser thing seems to have embedded itself so deeply into your motorcycling culture and arouses such passionate feeling, that it can't just be a simple, practical matter, surely? Maybe I'm wrong about this, but as an outsider observing from a distance, that's the sense I get.

The Daytona. I'm pissed off with the Daytona. I took half a day off work on Tuesday so that I could get a major service on it over at Aston Clinton. The work cost me over £400. On the way home I was thinking, wow, they've done a brilliant job on this; she's like a different bike. Then just as I was beginning to feel all good and happy inside, she died on me and I had to call out the rescue service to get her back to Hitchin. I've been thinking about changing bikes for a while and this really did it for me - at least temporarily. We'll see. (I've been almost convinced by a bike mechanic I know that the Daytona 650 can be ridden quite comfortably over long distances and I'm thinking of booking a test ride.) Watch this space.

[Wrider]

Just as a point to Noodle... That's for you easterners. Out here in the wild and crazy west, we kick it up to 75... lol
And actually Louisiana has no speed limits on some of it's roads. Texas you can do 80 legally, and Montana also lets you do 80.
I agree though, not many places here in the States you find a good sharp corner and can take it with any kind of speed to make it fun without looking ahead for the next friendly officer waiting to write you a ticket.
That said, I've been stopped for 98 in a 75 and been up to 114 in a 55. Gotta love deserted roads.

[blues2cruise]

Or is it a comfort thing?

For me it is.....The posture on a sport bike would cause me much grief.
I also feel very insecure with the feet behind.....hence...I ride a cruiser with forward controls.

As for the Google earth thing.......maybe that's how the bailiffs will find your bikes.
It's time tp put them in the kitchen again.

[Wrider]

When it comes to the bailiffs... I know firearms are illegal over there (you poor sods.) But I vote you rig up something like a slingshot triggered when the bike stands upright to tag whoever it is with something sharp, poisonous, heavy, or some combination of the above.
Buzzz, am I right or am I right?

[Johnj]

Does bailiff = repo-man.

[sv-wolf]

I know firearms are illegal over there (you poor sods.)

No, no, no. Please. Keep your firearms to yourself. I'd hate to live in a culture where everyone toted a gun. What a nightmare! We do some crazy things over here but that is one form of insanity we've avoided up to now. Mostly, I think our cultures are just entertaininly different, but on this one point I'm convinced you guys are irredeemably nuts! That has to be the case because the reasons you give to justify gun-love seem so bizarre to me as to suggest some kind of pathology! Ah well!

No doubt there are some, but I don't know a single person here in the UK who would welcome a law permitting personal firearms.

A catapult (slingshot), on the other hand, sounds like a great idea. An open season on bailiffs would be even better.

[sv-wolf]

Or is it a comfort thing?

For me it is.....The posture on a sport bike would cause me much grief.
I also feel very insecure with the feet behind.....hence...I ride a cruiser with forward controls.

Hiya blues

I understand that. And I guess that's the bottom line for many people, isn't it? With me, it's different. If I want comfort, then I'll stay at home and watch a DVD. That's what homes are for. But, if I go away from home I'm looking for another kind of experience. For instance, I prefer to camp rather than spend a night in a hotel. The extra effort and vulnerability of camping puts me in touch with something more real and immediate. (Though I have to admit that as I get older, the hotel option sometimes seems more attractive.).

Of course, I don't want pain just for the sake of it. (Let me think about that! ) But on a bike I'm prepared to put up with a degree of discomfort for the sake of an exciting ride.

As for riding with the feet behind you. I found it scary at first, but it's amazing how quickly it becomes second nature.

I do understand the reasons why people choose to ride cruisers. I guess I don't understand why they think those reasons are sufficient.

[As for the Google earth thing.......maybe that's how the bailiffs will find your bikes.
It's time tp put them in the kitchen again.

Yelp! Hadn't thought of that Maybe a ban on bailiffs accessing Google Earth would also be advisable. Actually, the bikes are only recognisable as bikes because I know that's what they are. To anyone else they would be just a splash of colour in the garden. Still, in my primitive mind, I find that... well... exciting.

Now I come to think of it, I'd be hard put to explain why.

[jstark47]

Americans and cruisers, you ask? Let me set an equation for you. First, the fastest generally accepted speed limit in the U.S. is 70mph...our society has a strong "speed kills" mentality, and the police LOVE writing speeding tickets.

Second, our highways were designed in the 1950's, and designed so that people could drive their big, floaty, 3-ton sedans across the country at 70mph -- 90% straight, 10% looooong, sweeping curves.

Third, the majority of the rest of the roads in America were laid out straight as an arrow. There are regions where terrain dictates otherwise, but for most of America...the roads are straight.

This may be true for Noodle's part of Michigan. It's certainly not universal. Hunterdon, Warren, and Sussex counties in New Jersey are hilly and contain back roads as technically challenging as anything you'd like. Try taking the curves on Rt. 579 north into Bloomsbury at speed if you want to add some excitement to your life....

No, no, no. Please. Keep your firearms to yourself. I'd hate to live in a culture where everyone toted a gun.

So would I. That's why I live here instead! Y'know, I've been up and about for 3 hours, passed by several thousand 'murricans, and not one of them (with the possible exception of the NJ state trooper) was toting a gun.