Fatboy or Heritage

[McClarkus]

850 lbs plus on the Glide. I weigh 165. We mesh well and it sounds SOOOO Good............. IMHO that is......

[McClarkus]

Ya, but.....Ya, but.... Ya, but............beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. How else would you explain high heels on a pretty woman?

[McClarkus]

I began on a RM 250 2 stroke MX'rs. It was like riding a light bulb - all on or all off. If I wasn't falling off the back I was doing headers over the handle bars. Thus began my bike life. At one point I had 5 Japanese bikes and ended up with the KZ 1000 LTD back in the 80's. I held, and still hold a distinct appreciation for them all. It's not just the bike, it's a sub culture if one might humor me. While I, myself have none, I must admit, I have never seen a Yamaha tattoo on anybody.

[blackeagle603]

Most alive, and closest death at 18 was me in 1978 on a Kawa Mach III. Oh. Lord. Almighty.

That was the living breathing definition of "pipey." That 3 cylinder 2 stroke would simultaneously give you a lesson in uncontrolled acceleration and your mortality. But then that was good segue to/from my '73 Elsinore. Talk about all on or all off.

obtw, loved. loved. loved the mid/late 80's RM250. Spent a lot of time on 76-78's. Those were smooth as silk and easy roll-on power compared to the Elsinore (and my earlier GreenStreaks). Those Greenstreak with their rotary valves were like -- well the metaphors that come to mind are not fit for polite company but they involve shady women and unprotected intimate acts.

[308Mike]

I've ridden at least one of each major variant of each HD model. Most of them are crap from the factory, and require thousands... or even tens of thousands of dollars... in aftermarket parts and work on them, to make them not crap.

Of course, that's due to marketing. Being the original USA PRODUCTION motorcycle, they have a distinct advantage against any other home-grown motorcycle. They have the "Harley" mystique, and hold their value better than just about any other motorcycle, and that's probably due to the assumed additional additions of thousands of dollars in upgrades and chrome work. Those upgrades had become so routine, expected and accepted, they figured into the resale price as a permanent fixture (IMHO).

Regarding a Kawa 750 Two-Stroke Triple "Mach III" bike ("triple-three-2"), I grew up with 3 friends who never made it to their 30's riding these bikes. Only one of those was due to a car driver turning left in front of him on a residential street (his head made a very significant dent in the corner of the windshield - unfortunately, his head took all the force and he was dead before hitting the ground, which was a blessing). That was one DAMNED-FAST bike!!! And while other motors might have more HP and overall torque, twist the grip on a Kawa "Tripple-Two" 750 and you'll feel power like you haven't before. It takes a while to get used to the raw power pull from that engine before it doesn't feel like it's trying to rip your arms outta' your sockets. I wanted one for my own, but no money to get mine, so I had to envy my friend "Skip".

[blackeagle603]

Thing thing with those 2 strokes was the transition onto the pipe. It was violent. That's the only word I can use to describe the acceleration on the pipe.

One instant you were accelerating strongly thinking "Well this is fun but what's the big deal?" and an instant later your whole world had turned into a dark tunnel and you were simultaneously worrying about losing your grip, running out of road before you ran out brake and forgetting basic body functions and wetting yourself. There was no "powerband." There was a power cliff.

I've been on more powerful engines but that was the most binary experience I've had with power on/power off. The pipey 65hp of a 84 CR450 that came later seem just a delightful play thing for big boys. Oh boy was a fun "it could get away from you in an instant" ride. Smoother more powerful rides came later to be sure but wow...

[308Mike]

One instant you were accelerating strongly thinking "Well this is fun but what's the big deal?" and an instant later your whole world had turned into a dark tunnel and you were simultaneously worrying about losing your grip, running out of road before you ran out brake and forgetting basic body functions and wetting yourself. There was no "powerband." There was a power cliff.

DAMNED DUDE, you really NAILED the experience!! Each time I rode his bike, *IF* I hit the throttle, THAT was it!!! I can still recall how terrified I was the first time I ripped the throttle backwards as it tried to rip my arms out of my sockets (after mostly riding small-CC dirt bikes and mini-bikes), It took me a second to get control of the bike and SLOW DOWN!!!! My automatic reactions had me red-lining in 3rd gear ('cause I was TERRIFIED of blowing his engine, I didn't care about myself or anyone else, just the bike), and I was well over 100 MPH, so I shut the throttle and slowed down - but I will NEVER forget taking THAT ride!!!

I bought my brother a drive on the SPRINT CUP CARS here in SoCal, and 'cause they screwed part of it up (they changed the time and didn't notify everyone else, including the cameraman taking photos of my brother), so they comped me for a ride in one of their cars (limited to 165 MPH) (about $45 at the time, simply 'caused I couldn't take photos of my brother driving a CUP CAR).

While driving around the track, the driver tried to scare me by driving close to the wall (remember, NO TRAFFIC) thinking I was just another passenger who'd never been fast in a car and close to other objects. He was shocked when I turned to him and asked if the car had a governor and asked him to go faster I was told later that he was running around the track with the throttle floored and just following the line, but was surprised when he wasn't able to get a reaction from me when the car was already at its proscribed limit. Basically, he was a "driving monkey" to take paying folks around the track and give them an experience they won't forget.

Trust me, there's little to REALLY get you heart going than in vehicle chase on city streets, you have SO MANY uncontrolled variables with vehicles, and then you have to start worrying about everything else, including pedestrians, etc., etc., and pursuits on city streets become FAR MUCH MORE THAN A SIMPLE PAIN-IN-THE-ASS, so unless you have a suspect good crook on the hook, it's NOT WORTH running a pursuit on the city streets.

DO IT ON THE DAMNED FREEWAY INSTEAD!!! Put the WHOLE THING into CHP's lap!! Hell YES, make THEM do all the damned paperwork FOR A CHANGE!! After all, THEY have STATE-WIDE jurisdiction and wanted full state power; now they got it.

And apparently they HAD been farmed outta' state to push government power in OTHER STATES (don't think it's happened again). Look at the tape of firearms seized during the Katrina episode and see what governmental patch/body/uniform you see when that little old lady gets tackled for DISPLAYING a handgun to demonstrate to them what she had done.

Frankly, I sick of how things have been going and how they are gravitating to the federal level. It *USED TO BE* the federal government who was the little boy on the block (perhaps that's the problem???) regarding power. The states and local authorities used to have ALL the REAL power, but NO MORE. The damned federal government has seized it all based upon (apparently) some Supreme Court rulings, like the Interstate Commerce Clause (which I think they've expanded to INSANE DEGREES and the FF would NEVER allow)!!!

The FFs would be rolling in their graves today after looking at what's gone on. Whatever happened to FREEDOM, and a LIMITED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT????? They'd be SO PISSED!!

[Darrell]

I spent one of the scariest hours of my life on the back of an original Mach III (500 cc, white tank w/blue stripe)--after a softball game on the SE side of town, one of the guys on our team invited me to go for a ride with him on his bike. He headed for a small burg NW of town. While still in town, and me on the back, he passed a car on a busy street while doing a wheelie. I mean that he cranked the throttle, lifted the front wheel, THEN he changed lanes and passed the car. I was hanging on for dear life, and watching the speedometer over his shoulder, he hit 90 mph at one point while still in town. When we hit the highway he upped it to 105 or so. I was wearing a half helmet and had no eye protection, so it was all literally a blur. Plus, it was summertime, at night, so there were lots of bugs flying around. Bugs HURT when they smack you in the face at 100+mph. We eventually made it back to town, and I refused to ride with the guy ever again.

The guy finally lost it to an old lady who made a left turn in front of him... only he didn't have the Mach III anymore, he'd traded it in on a Kawasaki 350 dirt bike. He was putting sedately down the street when the old lady turned in front of him. He lived, but one leg was shattered. Last I saw of him, he was wearing a cast from waist to toes.

Here's a write up on the original H1 version:

The Mach III was an extremely successful motorcycle for its time and its speed attracted many owners. It had a standing 1/4 mile (400m) run of under 13 seconds and a top speed of 115+ mph. Its power-to-weight ratio was 1:6 which translates to 2.72 kg (6.0 lb) to every 1 horsepower (0.75 kW). In May of that year, editors of Motorcyclist Magazine called the Mach's power-to-weight ratio the best "ever produced in a motorcycle meant to sell to anyone who has the money to purchase it."[4]

Handling characteristics were not favorable according to many sources. "Viewed logically, the Kawasaki H1 had many flaws. The gearbox was odd, with neutral below first, the brakes very questionable and the handling decidedly marginal in every situation - except when the bike was stopped with the engine switched off. Not for nothing was the H1 known as, “The triple with the ripple”.[5]

Motobase posted an opinion: "[...] the engine was too quick for the handling... Sports riders back then were possibly more forgiving, perhaps, or maybe its outrageous performance simply muffled any criticisms that should have been directed at the chassis and suspension? Whatever riders may have thought, having sampled an H1, or to whichever degree they had frightened themselves, the majority would usually smile, and say something like, That's some rocket-ship, man! Kawasaki had created their first cult machine!" [6] Motorcycle Survey recorded some unusual nicknames for the Mach III such as "Flexible Flyer", "Widow Maker", "Kamikaze 500", "Triple with a Ripple", "Grenade Launcher."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_H1_Mach_III

And here's an article on the family of bikes:

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

[TheIrishman]

Do yourself a favor. Ride a Valkyrie, a 1300 custom, a Vulcan, a Star roadliner or vstar, or a Boulevard...They're all cheaper, better looking, better handling, and FAR more powerful than the HD's... try a victory...OR a triumph, which are FUCKING INSANE.

If you can spare the coin and want a Triumph cruiser, check out the Thunderbird Storm. 1.7 liters of super flat torque curve.

Most alive, and closest death at 18 was me in 1978 on a Kawa Mach III. Oh. Lord. Almighty.
That was the living breathing definition of "pipey." That 3 cylinder 2 stroke would simultaneously give you a lesson in uncontrolled acceleration and your mortality.

Last street bike my dad owned(and the first one I rode) was a machIII 500. Thinking back to the horrid brakes and handling on those things explains just how they earned the nickname "the widow maker". Now my cousins RZ350 was no slouch(particularly with the 420something bigbore kit), but at least it could stop and steer. Any of the newer 600 "super bikes" would beat it on the highway, but on the twisty back roads it was a thing of beauty. Just hold it wide open in 3rd-4th and power through the turns. If I could only find a gray market RZ500.

[HTRN]

The best handling big twin chassis is the long discontinued FXR. It remains extremely popular with custom builders, so much so that they'res a bunch of companies making FXR style chassis to this day, almost 20 years after HD discontinued the last FXR model. HD replaced it with the Dynaglides, but they don't handle as well.

And Chris is on the money with the Triumphs - The Bonneville is still cool, the Speed Triple looks like a blast, and the Daytona is one scary piece of work, 125hp in 400lb bike.