Fun with an Old Sporty

[911boost]

Great story!

For the folks that don’t know, the newer HD baggers are very capable bikes in the twisties, so it’s great to see your old one getting some love too Jeff.

I got the 900SS back last week after a full engine overhaul and 944 kit, really looking forward to some sand free roads this spring.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

[flatbutt]

How well I remember the days of bungeeing a sleeping bag over the headlight, a tent on the back and some folding money in my pocket.

[herr_oberst]

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

How well I remember the days of bungeeing a sleeping bag over the headlight, a tent on the back and some folding money in my pocket.

Rode all over the western half of the United States right out of high school. 1975 Honda CB550F I bought wrecked and rebuilt.

Everyone should travel.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

back when i was 30, i had a sporty and one day i was outside a donut shop having a coffee and a smoke and an old guy walked up to me and told me my bike was a slow piece of crap. haha. i guess i had the opposite day that you had. i miss my sportster. oh well

Sounds similar to the time I met pwd72s, lol

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

How well I remember the days of bungeeing a sleeping bag over the headlight, a tent on the back and some folding money in my pocket.

Ah...but you’re sugar coating the reality. Or should I say, romanticizing the misery. The inevitable downpour that soaks your bag and tent (and you) to the bone leaving you to sleep on the cold wet ground with a soggy leather jacket for a pillow. Miserable.

Don’t ask how I know this. Thankfully the 1971 Lucas electrical system held together throughout that trip..at least until I got home.

[Skip Newsom]

Thanks Jeff, I appreciate your approach to life and I'm still attempting my own stunts too...

I rarely post anywhere other than "random photos" or the "what are you listening to today" threads.
After seeing a few posts take childish turns I've reduced the time spent here too.

I've gotten solid respectful help on these forums over the years mostly on the finer points of early 911 maintenance and I've appreciated that greatly.

Life is too short and sweet to spend time deriding others for their opinions and pass times. It's a shame our society seems to have taken such a path.

Maybe it's time for more mountain based therapy session for this ol dude...

The North Cascades highway is cleared and opening today. Hmmm

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Ah...but you’re sugar coating the reality. Or should I say, romanticizing the misery. The inevitable downpour that soaks your bag and tent (and you) to the bone leaving you to sleep on the cold wet ground with a soggy leather jacket for a pillow. Miserable.

Don’t ask how I know this. Thankfully the 1971 Lucas electrical system held together throughout that trip..at least until I got home.

That's what picnic tables are for! Yeah there were some uncomfortable bits but the trips were epic nonetheless.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Ah...but you’re sugar coating the reality. Or should I say, romanticizing the misery. The inevitable downpour that soaks your bag and tent (and you) to the bone leaving you to sleep on the cold wet ground with a soggy leather jacket for a pillow. Miserable.

Don’t ask how I know this. Thankfully the 1971 Lucas electrical system held together throughout that trip..at least until I got home.

Oh man... yeah, "those were the days", weren't they? My first trip to Sturgis, in the early '80's, still in school. On this very Sportster, day pack full of clothes, sleeping bag and tent bungeed to the front and back of the bike. We hit that infamous Eastern Montana rain one day. Yup - nothing like laying your head on that soaking wet rolled up leather jacket at night. Those were the days...

So, my wife - how I knew she was "the one"...

While still dating (and therefore young, limber and stupid enough to both climb onto this very Sportster), I decided to take her over Snoqualmie Pass, which traverses our Cascade range east of Seattle and divides our state into Eastern Washington and Western Washington. We were going over to the then quite small college/cow town of Ellensburg for their annual Labor Day rodeo. And these are the "big kids", too - the PRCA tour. And a big parade through town on Saturday morning, big county fair, tractor pulling, and all of the usual small town to-do.

My buddy Jeff and his wife lived there, and it had become a tradition through college to go over and camp on his lawn. There were a dozen of us that did that every year and, this year, it was time to bring my new girl friend. On the Sportster, sleeping bags and tent bungeed to the handlebars and sissy bar.

And, yeah, we all know where this is going - it absolutely dumped on us going over the pass. We were drenched, everything on the bike was drenched. And it was cold - like low 40's cold, at least over the pass. It warmed up, but was still pouring by the time we rolled into Ellensburg.

Nary a whimper. She tapped my shoulder, pointed at a laundromat, and said "let's dry this stuff". A couple of hours later we were back in dry clothes, all of our stuff was dry, it had stopped raining, and it was on to Jeff's. When we got there, she apologized for being "a little late - we got a little wet..."

We've now been married 35 years. And yes, we've "gotten a little wet" a few more times in between. I'm a very lucky man.

[911boost]

^Great story

That happened to me about an hour outside Taos on a ride a few years ago. It looked like it wouldn't rain too bad and the sky completely opened up. I was soaked to the bone but rode on, by that point there was no reason to stop.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

...... a sedgway into my next little "diatribe".

sp: SEGUE

As you know, I am teasing here. Poking the bear. You are the bear, as you know.

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Thanks for being my friend, Supe. We'll have to drag those .45 Colts out and do some shooting one of these days - you know, share some "joy"...

Yes and I suggest this be followed by refreshments.


From the body of your post I see our perspectives are similar, which is no surprise. I too find it both sad and disturbing to see someone who seems to revel in negativity. You said it as well as anyone could. People who apparently make themselves happy by finding fault and complaining and insulting or harassing others. Happy is not the right word. Less unhappy? Less worthless? More powerful? My brain cannot even wrap itself around this. I am happy. It makes me feel good to make someone happy. The kinds of conversations these other people prefer....they leave me feeling less happy.

There is someone who gives me the creeps. Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde. You mention two. Perhaps we can share details with those refreshments.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

How well I remember the days of bungeeing a sleeping bag over the headlight, a tent on the back and some folding money in my pocket.

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Rode all over the western half of the United States right out of high school. 1975 Honda CB550F I bought wrecked and rebuilt.

Everyone should travel.

OMG. One of my clearest memories is the chills of apprehension and adventure running down my spine sitting on a 1975 Honda CB750K along the Columbia River on the way to California. I was 17 and had just left my father's house for the first and which I knew would be the only time. Either I was a man, or I was gonna be one. And I was alone. It was August and, after visiting California, my next stop would be a college dormitory. All of my possessions fit on my motorcycle. I think I was never happier, before or since, than at that moment. And it was a moment and a feeling not unlike Jeff's in the opening story. You just really cannot beat that combination of fear followed by victory, or at the same time. They are a combined feeling. Some folks don't know about that. Alright. Here goes. I hafta do this, though you have all read this one:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

[flipper35]

Just for the record, speaking of all this caught in the rain stuff, one should not drive in the rain on the roads on a bike with great big knobby tires. Stopping distance? Who needs to stop?

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I'm a very lucky man.

I've met her and yes, you are a lucky man.

[Baz]

[ramonesfreak]

^^ i know your joking

I never cared what anyone thought...about anything Im doing.

When I owned my Harley, I also owned my Ninja zx7r. When I was on the Harley, the Harley guys would wave but the sportbike guys wouldnt. When I was on the Ninja, the sportbike guys would waive but the Harley guys wouldnt. Strange

I never waived at anyone. People think Im an a hole but im pretty sure its everyone else :-)

[Rot 911]

I’ve had a few old Sportsters and enjoyed each and everyone of them. As I get older I had to make a few concessions. A windshield is one of them. This was from last Sunday as I was coming back from a get together in Missouri.

[Jeff Higgins]

Oh, I hear you, Kurt. The old Sporty doesn't come out to play much, and when it does, it's just me these days.

Here is "our" Harley, a 2013 Road King. Beyond the windshield, we can actually afford "real" rain gear these days, so those romantic interludes in the laundromats are all behind us.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Baz

O.k. Baz, fess up - I wanna know - where in the hell did you get that photo? That's my wife and i at our wedding...