Motorcycle-licensed pilots

[pdw]

Before the turn of the century it seems most every pilot had motorcycle experience, I'd say about 90% or higher around here anyway.

Insurance issues for younger riders likely has changed this statistics the most, ... perhaps also the many bike accidents ?

[CanadianEh]

I got my M1 on my 16th Birthday and had my full M before I turned 18. My insurance was about $200 a month on a 1982 Honda Rebel and this was about 4 years ago. Anyone my age who was trying to get insurance on a crotch rocket was paying double what I was paying.

[Colonel Sanders]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss

Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles.

You think riding motorcycles back then was safe?!
They were junk!

In 1907, Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 miles per hour (219.45 km/h), on a 40 horsepower (30 kW) 269 cu in (4,410 cc) V8-powered motorcycle of his own design and construction

He would have given your left testicle for what we take
for granted today, on two wheels!


Eric and I doing a runway inspection. Rotten kid jumped
the start, but the torque of the RC51 reeled him in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1AHMM18oA


I'm sure Glenn would approve, even if the candy @sses here don't.

[Blakey]

Good boy! Always cheat against the old man; we expect it!

[Colonel Sanders]

I had a horrible launch. I didn't know how we were going
to signal the start - kid nodded at me and left.

Shoulda held the RPM at 8000 and milked the clutch to
keep the front tire in the air. It's all about the launch.

[DanWEC]

Definitely a correlation between people who like to fly airplanes and drive other things that your mother will usually deemed questionable. I've raced bicycles, boats, seadoos, motorcycles, dirtbikes, and even Jeeps. Now I'm boring, safe, and broken bones seem to hurt more... so I've taken to thumping around on dual sports... predictable, cheap, heavy and fun.
I'm still waiting for the chance to commute on the 650 via the trails to work without touching a public road..... (Had a summer job as a 20 year old where I drove a seadoo to work 30 min each way. Paradise)

[skydivepilot]

I got bit by the motorcyle bug at the age of 6 and currently own a 2003 KawasakiZX-6R, 2006 Honda CRF450R converted for supermoto racing, 2007 Suzuki DR-Z400SM, and 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R. My wife and two kids also ride.

[skydivepilot]

The litte 250:

[Colonel Sanders]

97 mph (on the GPS) under the Rideau Ferry Bridge:

[DanWEC]

C'mon... who's boat is that? Not too many 100mph boats around here. Canadians must be too sensible. Head down to the States and it's another story....

[Colonel Sanders]

I have no clear recollection of that event.

Oliver's Landing has an interesting story behind it. I
used to live there. Bit of a snobby lot. Unless all four
of your grandparents were born there, you simply
weren't a member of the "in clique". At the time, I
politely refrained from any comments on the hazards
of inbreeding.

PS I think the speed limit under the bridge is 10 kph.

[pdw]

Shoulda held the RPM at 8000 and milked the clutch to
keep the front tire in the air. It's all about the launch.

Yeah maybe it was those wheelie skills that set up a need to move onward into aviation, ... having already experienced C of G limitations in pitching up successfully to the precise balance needed for maintaining the airborne front wheel.

Skillwise though ... understanding curve dynamics to keep foot pegs from scraping would be a close second ?

[Beefitarian]

I used to but then I worked with a biker and he talked me into liking Harleys.

They were just switching to the evolution engines at the time and were still the finicky unreliable things that gave them the bad reputation. Although if you found the right guys to rebuild them they were ok.

When I was in my thirties I considered getting another GSX but knew I would rather just cruise. I was making a lot of money for a few years before I got married so I finally bought my current bike.

I wanted to sell it but because of the rule changes that came with marriage I was afraid I'd never get another. It depreciated so bad that I would have been way further ahead renting. Before I bought one they were like an investment they held their value and eventually would be worth more than when you bought it. I knew tons of people who either bought one and resold for the same amount or made money on them.

[shurshot17]

Yup!! Im 21 years old and have raced motocross since i was 4. Now I race professionally. Also got my streebike license the day I could.

[New_PIC]

I had an '85 Yamaha FJ1100, bought new. For about 3 years back then that was the hottest stock sport bike on the road. Before that, a '72 Kawasaki 750, a 2 stroke triple, like three dirt bike engines bolted together. I'd want to get back on a two wheeler today, if it wasn't for the blizzard conditions outside.

[Colonel Sanders]

because of the rule changes that came with marriage

Do you suppose it would be appropriate for you
to ask for your testicles back?

[sidestick stirrer]

I like old thing that move slowly.
Luckily for me, so does my wife:

[Shiny Side Up]

Then what would she use for her key chain?

[sidestick stirrer]

Three out of four of our kids ride:

[sidestick stirrer]

Must stop doing burn-outs if I have to do this afterwards...

[Colonel Sanders]

Must stop doing burn-outs

I give up - what else do you do, before you
change the rear tire?

[Beefitarian]

because of the rule changes that came with marriage

Do you suppose it would be appropriate for you
to ask for your testicles back?

I have considered divorce but hear it's really expensive. So, no. I presume the house is hers just in case though. I hear I can have half, so if it ever happened she can buy me out with a new mortgage. After the lawyers fees I should have enough to rent a 172 and a single wide near the airport for several months.

Then I'd probably finally find my calling, become that weird old guy that lives in camp and talks to himself. "I used to have it all..."

It was not all bad. I just should have bought an airplane instead. At the time I had not had a functioning bike for a few years. I had a mortgage and was a four bar hopeful so I thought, what was I going to do with a $60 000 Cessna plus the bike once I was flying Navajos? Had $5000 in the bank from working too much and not flying enough so I ordered a bike. You still had to wait for them then, that was part of why they held their value.

Cest la vie. Pardon my French.

[sidestick stirrer]

" and a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R"

The greatest little bike; what our kids started out on.
The always-irreverent British biking magazine T.W.O. (two Wheels Only) had a feature on 250-CC bikes called "Starter Motors".
They described the little Ninjette as "having the looks of a lion but the heart of a cuckoo clock."
I happened to read that observation while dining at Jackson's on George, during a layover in SYD and it made me LOL so heartily that patrons around stared...

[pdw]

A good inside joke is great sometimes ... LOL

Was looking for a boat motor and stopped in at the Honda Dealer in Stoney creek ON. I walked up to the main entrance just as 30 new bikes swarmed the place for the annual test event. At the counter was asked which bike i was riding, ... was wearing a black leather jacket.

Before I knew it was asked when the last time was I'd been on a bike. Had just happened to have sat on my cousin's 750K few days earlier ... so that's what I said .. 2 days ago.

"OK you wanna ride the new Goldwing ... here's some gloves and a helmet' ... so for the next hour we went riding through the hills north of Hamilton. Hadn't actually ridden a motorcycle in over twenty years, ... lucky no one noticed me wobbling around in practice on the side parking lot before departure. Thankfully the gears still changed exactly how I remembered from my 1982 two cylinder Honda, or I'd have been screwed. The dash overall had more width than the old Saturn and it was twenty minutes of chasing those other crotchrockets before I finally found the blinker switch. The real piece of good fortune was to have had the presence of mind to really hold on tight when opening up wide on the accelerator handlebar for the first time to catch up to the others ... and catch up it did.

[Rowdy]

Sidestick.. we both know there was a better picture of one of your kidlets on one wheel to post.



My bonnie.. Doesn't look anything like this now though. In a billion pieces on the garage floor. I guess when you push the 865 twin closer to a litre and from 55 at the crank to 85hp at the wheel.. it'll need a better clutch and springs! Whoops.

The 'Rowdy' family is also two wheel inclined. I occasionally borrow the big triple.



There are certainly some neat bikes out there..