Fish might get jealous with my new hobby

[Connershawzz]

Wife finally approved one of my dreams , my fish might not have my face 6” from the tank staring at them as much anymore

 

[jaylach]

Sigh, I haven't ridden in years and, sometimes miss it.

 

[MattW]

Great looking bike! I hope to get my license this year for a 125 then hope to move up to a 500+ after a year or two.

 

[Fishmanic]

Sigh, I haven't ridden in years and, sometimes miss it.

Yes, you have....you have a TRIKE!

 

[jaylach]

Yes, you have....you have a TRIKE!

LOL! a 20MPH electric trike is not exactly the same as going cross country on a VT1100 Honda Shadow. Not actually my bike but the same except mine was candy apple maroon. Several times, when I lived in Ft. Worth, Texas, I'd ride that bike to Cottonwood Arizona to visit people I knew. Talking ~1200 miles each way. Man I rode that thing. Put on a little over 122,000 miles on the thing in five years before it was stolen.

 

[MattW]

Another beautiful bike! Shame to hear of its theft though.. seems to be a more common thing nowadays.

My family has a little history with motorbikes going back to the 1920s-30s. My great-granddad used to race them at Belle Vue Speedway.

The bike here is a 1928 Ariel 500 OHV, the picture was taken probably in 1931.
I do wonder if it's still running all these years later?

 

[jaylach]

Sigh, old bikes... The Honda dealership where I got my Shadow had a 1911 Harley on display in mint condition. Beyond a doubt this was NOT for sale. Again, not the actual bike they had but basically the same.

When I got my first bike, a Honda 500cc, or may have been 505cc, inline 4-cylinder I took it to my granddad's to dhow him. He sort of frowned and walked around the bike a couple of times and then said something like "Dang Jay, if I had known you were looking for a bike I would have just given mine to you but I sold it a couple weeks ago". Can't remember the year but he had a fully dressed Indian.

 

[connorlindeman]

Nice bike man!
I'm still working on my mom. She said it would kill her if I ever got one

 

[MattW]

She said it would kill her if I ever got one

Im in the same boat

 

[connorlindeman]

Im in the same boat

Mothers will always worry. Its their nature I guess.

 

[seangee]

Nice bike!
Sadly at 6'4" my aging frame no longer appreciates being squashed up in a street bike, and I'm not old enough for a cruiser
SO I have to make do with these which are more suitable for <coff> my age group

 

[jaylach]

Nice bike man!
I'm still working on my mom. She said it would kill her if I ever got one

Normal response from a mom.

If I may offer a word of advice... When you first start riding ALWAYS look for an escape route. At first it will seem like a pain but will soon become natural and you won't even think about it but will still do subconsciously. This could possibly save your life as there are people out there that will do just about anything to take you down. I used to even carry half inch ball bearings in my leather jacket pockets. Actually made use of them once. Some idiot in a fast vehicle was chasing me with the obvious intent of taking me down. Tossed a handful of bearings over my shoulder and the chase suddenly ended.

I have around a quarter million miles on a bike and only laid down twice and, both times, I was able to pick up the bike and ride it home. Even though going down twice the ability to get up and ride home was very much due to always having an escape route. Sure I wend down but didn't broadside a car and die. Having an escape route isn't always about not going down. It is often about going down as softly as possible.

Oh, lesson #2... Always remember that a bike steers different than a car. In a car, if you want to go left, you turn the steering wheel to the left. At speeds of 30-35 MPH plus this is totally wrong on a bike. The thing is that the wheel size on a bike is MUCH more dramatic in relation to vehicle weight that they actually serve as gyroscopes. If you are ever in a crisis situation at speed and need to escape by going left +NEVER+ force the steering to the left. Actually steering to the right will cause the bike to go left. At speed you just don't steer a bike, you lean a bike. When you lean the bike in a curve at speed going left the actual front tire will point to the right. This is called counter steering and is a direct result of the wheels on a bike acting like gyroscopes.

 

[MattW]

Nice bike!
Sadly at 6'4" my aging frame no longer appreciates being squashed up in a street bike, and I'm not old enough for a cruiser
SO I have to make do with these which are more suitable for <coff> my age group

View attachment 362910

They look very similar to some bikes owned by another family member. They went on an EU tour not long back, UK through to France & Germany and then all the way to the Baltics. I would love to try something similar in the future.

Also a question on UK roads, how do you cope with potholes that's my biggest fear when I begin learning to ride, I know they can easily be avoided if the rider is paying attention, but when a cluster of them turns up what's the best approach? I have a road not far from me that looks like the Somme

 

[Connershawzz]

Thank you all! I love it and the riding community has been awsome!
She’s a Kawasaki z650! Being in the states they don’t have a limit on what we can get so my brother who’s had bikes for years helped me pick it out. I almost went with a 400 but he said I’d get bored of it in a few months so I took his advice and got the 650 and boy am I happy!

 

[Colin_T]

Ride safely and be wary of motorists who don't look or do look but still pull out in front of you.