Yesterday, My Wife and I Saw a Number of Harleys

[MineralMan]

on the road. We were participating in a project to test 4G and 5G speeds in the Minneapolis St. Paul Metro area, and drove to 12 different locations in the Twin Cities area to do the testing.

Anyhow, on I-35E and I-494, we saw Harleys, most likely on their way to Sturgis. Going South on 35E and West on 494. The funny thing was that most of the Harleys we saw were on trailers, being towed by big-ass pickups or SUVs. I guess their owners didn't really want to ride their hogs for 6-7 hours from the Twin Cities to Sturgis. I suppose they'll park somewhere in South Dakota and finish the journey in the saddle. I can't blame them, but it sort of dulls the effect of actually riding to a motorcycle really.

Funny.

[Stainless]

1. What is the difference between a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle and a Hoover Vacuum?

The difference is the location of the dirt-bag.

(original author unknown)

[indigoth]

2. My opinion of harleys

And, by extension, Many Harley owners

Twice as heavy as they should be
Forty year old technology
Five times more expensive than they should be.

Again ... my opinion. Your opinion may vary.

[a kennedy]

21. The rumble of a Harley is boss.......nothing like it. JMHO

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Many Harley owners seem to hate the H-D sound.

First thing they do after buying a Harley: Swap out the pipes for something that sounds unlike a factory Harley.

Seems like a waste of a bunch of money, but what do I know? I ride Beemers. Very quiet.

[a kennedy]

26. Really??? Harley owners changing out the pipes??? Oh, I get it you mean

so they can put LOUDER ones on eh??? I don’t know of ANY Harley owners that have changed out the pipes. Nope not one, and I know a lot of Harley owners.

[Greybnk48]

3. WE've gone to the Badlands and Black Hills several times toward the middle/end of August.

We've always stayed in Custer or camped on Sylvan Lake. Many of the "bikers" we met, usually at breakfast the day they were leaving, were professionals with lots of cash. Docs, Dentists, Lawyers, sort of doing Harley cosplay. They didn't even want to stay in Sturgis or Keystone.

Don't get me wrong. There are scores of drunken dirtbags, but some are phonies. It always reminded me of the Dick Van Dyke Show episode when Rob bought a motorcycle and pretended to join a biker club. He called his club The Tulips and had it put on the back of his leather jacket. He, of course, was the only member.

[MineralMan]

6. "This is who I wish I could be."

They buy a factory "dresser," and some leather with meaningless "colors" on it. At Sturgis, they buy a patch to put on their jacket, have a few beers with the other "posers' they rode in with, and then go home. The town loves the money they bring with them, but laughs at them behind their backs when they leave.

Biker Cosplay - That's a perfect description of that type, and the types I saw hauling their Harley on a trailer.

[mitch96]

4. " it sort of dulls the effect of actually riding to a motorcycle rally. "

This is so true. We called them "posers" they buy the bike and regalia, the F150 and trailer and "do" rallies. Most can barely ride. My history is a long distance motorcycle rider. I've traveled all over the US, Canada and Alaska on a motorcycle. It's great fun for me and there is so much to see and do in the US and Canada. Riding opens up a whole world being outside the confines of a car or RV.
m

[tanyev]

7. Born To Be Mild

[MineralMan]

8. I've owned about a dozen motorcycles in my lifetime.

The only Harley was the first one. My father fixed up a 1958 Harley 165-cc two-stroke and gave it to me on my 16th birthday in 1962. Big old, awkward, underpowered thing, but it got me around as a teenager and in my first year of college. It was outdated when it was made, and outdated when I sold it. After that, I went through a number of other motorcyles, ranging from a Velocette Venom 500 to several 250-cc Japanese bikes. None of them were designed for touring. All were "buzz around town" bikes.

I got rid of my last bike in 1992, and haven't considered buying one again. I keep my motorcycle endorsement on my driver's licence, though, just in case I run across an older small bike for really cheap that I can fix and ride. Not that I'm 75 years old, that seems unlikely, somehow.

[mitch96]

10. "The only Harley was the first one."

My father rode Indian.. He HATED Harley and their riders. When I got older I asked him why the hate? He kinda sorta got upset and blurted out that Harley riders could not ride and Indian riders could, could READ..... Old hate dies hard.. I chuckled to my self...
To his credit being a Merchant Seaman going to Japan in the mid '50s he brought back one of the first Honda motorcycle I ever saw. It was a 150cc Honda that he kept in his stateroom on the ship. My first "real" motorcycle was a 1971 CB350 honda. This was a great leap forward from my mini bikes and Wizzers... Great fun.... Just sold my last Honda a few months ago. A ST1300 I traveled the US with. 1300cc V4, shaft drive and electric windscreen. A real heavyweight highway cruiser. My bladder would fill before the gas tank ran down.. What a great bike.
I'll be 71 in a few days and I'm getting the itch again.
m

[Disaffected]

12. My first was also

a CB350. A real screamer for the time, red-lined at 12,000 or something IIRC. Balky gearshift when it got hot and too much vibration but great fun otherwise. And, no oil leaks...

[mitch96]

17. Too much vibration was an understatement. I called my green screamer the buzz bomb.

It was ok below 3500 rpm above that all the extremities got numb after 15 min...
m

[Disaffected]

22. Yeah, that's my recollection

Trouble was, the engine didn't really do much below 7K or so (and then the torque curve took off). I also recall the engine having ball bearing mains and con rods (instead of the usual journal bearings).

[MineralMan]

13. I was a Yamaha and Suzuki rider, mostly.

I loved two-stroke bikes, but had an '84 Suzuki 450T for a few years that was great fun to ride, and could have gone long distances, but didn't.

[mitch96]

18. I had a TX500 twin that I broke my leg on..Traded it in for a Kwakasaki 750 two stroke triple

That damn bike was a switch. The power cam on at 6000 rpm and died at 6400 rpm. when you hit the powerband it was a rocket ship. Hold on cause it was a ride!! You could not just cruise. You were either on the gass or off the gas. On/off, on/off. Big pain. Speaking of a pain it handled like a wet noodle. When going into a corner it felt like it had a hinge under your butt. The front and back wheel did not track together. Very disconcerting at speed.
m

[Disaffected]

23. Heh,

I had a friend with a Kamikaze 750 - made my 350 look like a slug. The way he described it was "it's fast up to 6,000 and then you wonder what happened".

[Grins]

5. Not unusual

I worked with a guy who lived in Massachusetts, loved his Harley and bikes, and went to Sturgis. One year he didn’t go. I asked why.

He had procrastinated, and by the time he decided to go - he couldn’t find a truck to haul his bike there! And back.

“You don’t drive there?!?!?”

“Oh, God no!”

It was too far and it took a toll on his bike. Said all his biker pals did the same thing (and btw, all of them were successful).

Who knew?!?!?

[MineralMan]

9. On the other hand, if you're driving on I-90 this time of year,

you'll see lots of people riding to Sturgis on that highway. We did that a couple of years ago, and were passed or passed many, many Harleys as soon as we crossed the South Dakota state line.

[ismnotwasm]

11. The difference between the outlaw biker gangs and motorcycles enthusiasts

And the type who buy a brand to look a certain way, kind of like posing, is interesting

My BIL is a biker very involved with ABATE. He’s a Trump supporter and a bigot, but not a covid denier, although he made a little noise at first. He likes being involved in his community. He and I reached a state of detente as long as he doesn’t say fucked up shit. I found out recently he doesn’t want to be considered a racist or a bigot. While that’s not how it works, for him, that’s progress.


I grew up near a Gypsy Joker House. They were pimps and drug dealers. Any number of ugly stories from there.

Have a friend who got her first Harley in her 40’s, she had no interest in an event like Sturgis, but had a great time doing road trips until she lost sight in one eye (not related to riding) but she kind of fell into the category you are talking about. She had fun, now she does other things

[Towlie]

14. Who cares how they get there when the important issue is they shouldn't even be going?

Harleys everywhere, masks nowhere: Sturgis biker rally expected to draw 250K amid COVID-19 pandemic

[MineralMan]

15. Not me. I don't care, but I'm an observer of things.

There's going to be a lot of spreading of the virus at Sturgis, I'm sure. Stupid people do stupid things. That's their nature, I guess.

The thing is that we're not really going to know how many people caught the virus in Sturgis. It won't cause symptoms until they get home and start spreading it there. I don't know if we'll notice the increase in cases due to this gathering of stupid people, because stupid people are everywhere, really.

[SeattleVet]

16. Lots of them trailer the bikes to just outside town, then ride in.

Doesn't rack up the miles on the bike, so...there should be a big market for something like this so that your odometer *looks* like you rode it:

[mitch96]

19. "Doesn't rack up the miles on the bike"

My bikes had more miles than my car. I had a 2005 subaru forester and a 2005 Honda ST1300. I sold the car with 26000 miles. The bike at that time had 62000 miles.. The bike was just getting broken in!! I loved riding around the country on my bike... So many great adventures. I was riding in the Iowa country side on day. I saw a crop duster doing a field so I stopped to watch. He saw me and did an impromptu airshow for me. Loops, spins and inverted flight. When he was done he flew by and wagged his wings while I waved. Just me and him...Great fun!!
m

[Towlie]

25. Big surprise: the "trailerboyz.com" domain name isn't even registered.

That image is on ten other sites though.

[SeattleVet]

27. That image has been floating around for quite a while. nt

[a kennedy]

20. We ALWAYS rode to Sturgis, we were from La Crosse, Wi.