Dyna Wide Glide or Heritage Softail?

[kkimura]

Hi James,

I think you will find that motorcycles and guitars have one thing in common. Your first is rarely your last. That said, sit on and or try as many as you can and get the one the "speaks" to you today. Rest assured that as you get some miles, your tastes will develop and grow. Eventually after some amount of MAS (motorcycle acquisition syndrome) you will find yourself returning to the one that suits you best.

Remember, it's a journey not a destination.

[unimogbert]

The opinion that bikes are dangerous is entirely valid.

Question is - how dangerous and compared to what? And under what circumstances?

There are times & places I will not ride. Many of them. (after any alcohol, at night, thunderstorms, thru town on Saturday afternoon, my 50 mi one-way daily commute, when I'm on cold medication, etc, etc.)
I treat it like flying light aircraft.

One of the situations I avoid is riding in groups on the road. It looks fun but it raises collision risks and lowers situational awareness and maneuver options dramatically. (this seems to be a Harley lifestyle thing to do - go riding in a large group)

You have to make your own decisions.

I've been riding since 1979. Haven't been down on the road yet. I plan for that to happen when I'm about 85 when I'm just about done riding anyway.....

Meantime, I ride in lots of protective gear, have paid up life insurance, and approach it very carefully.

[martind42]

It has always fascinated me that some are so adamantly against motorcycles, like some are against guns. The mere mention of the word incites gnashing of teeth, citing of statistics that support whatever the position, pro or con.

Riding a horse is dangerous too, but you never hear an outcry against it. Heck, Superman wasn't even able to keep from being injured riding a horse.

But I must say, my most serious riding injury came from riding two wheels, not four. Cracked my skull, three surgeries and over five hundred stitches later I'm fine. It was the worst crash I ever had, all from riding a bicycle at 40mph and colliding with the road surface. Trying to stop oneself with one's face abrading against the granular surface of the roadway is not pretty. But you never hear an outcry against riding bicycles, do you? No, they are our salvation. Yeah, right.

ATGATT. For those who ride, you know it. That's what I ascribe to when riding a motorcycle. I'll take a broken bone any day over road rash.

[Humbuster]

Returned to riding last year at a spry 58.

In the past I have owned Sportys, FXRs and Dynas.

I came home with this and love it.




My first Softail, and it fits me very well (5' 6" and 155 lbs)

Not sure how much longer I will ride, however this is my last bike.

Oh yeah, take the MSF class. You will not regret it.

[RichM752]

I'm on my 4th "last bike".

[RP]

Originally Posted by martind42

But I must say, my most serious riding injury came from riding two wheels, not four.

I rode my first motorcycle, a 125 Ducati, in 1969. My most serious injury was a severely dislocated, as in hanging at a 90 degree angle off kilter, ankle attained four feet from my back door while cutting grass a number of years ago. I've stopped cutting grass but still ride motorcycles...

[martind42]

Originally Posted by RP

I rode my first motorcycle, a 125 Ducati, in 1969. My most serious injury was a severely dislocated, as in hanging at a 90 degree angle off kilter, ankle attained four feet from my back door while cutting grass a number of years ago. I've stopped cutting grass but still ride motorcycles...

A man who has his priorities in order.

[James_214ce]

~

[RP]

Originally Posted by martind42

A man who has his priorities in order.

And I certainly didn't mean to minimize the risk of riding a two-wheeler. I wouldn't have remained active and upright in the saddle for five plus decades by being aloof to the inherent dangers involved in being a motorcyclist. I drive very defensively with special attention paid to drivers who might pull out in front of me from the right or turn left across my lane as that is when most car/motorcycle accidents occur. I often drive a bit slower than is required because, as Dirty Harry Callahan once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." However, at the age of 64 with no serious accidents in my past, I simply love to get out on the road on my motorcycle. Every day doing that is a gift, and my Harley Electra Glide is the perfect conveyance for me...

[martind42]

Originally Posted by RP

And I certainly didn't mean to minimize the risk of riding a two-wheeler. I wouldn't have remained active and upright in the saddle for five plus decades by being aloof to the inherent dangers involved in being a motorcyclist. I drive very defensively with special attention paid to drivers who might pull out in front of me from the right or turn left across my lane as that is when most car/motorcycle accidents occur. I often drive a bit slower than is required because, as Dirty Harry Callahan once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." However, at the age of 64 with no serious accidents in my past, I simply love to get out on the road on my motorcycle. Every day doing that is a gift, and my Harley Electra Glide is the perfect conveyance for me...

Two-wheeler can be anything with two wheels, that's why I said it was a bicycle, not a motorcycle that was the conveyance of my worst accident. There seems to be a notion with some people that a bicycle is safer than a motorcycle and I find that nonsense and totally unfounded. But the myth persists. I have ridden my bicycle in my youth up to 65mph and that is plenty fast to get hurt.

I find the older crowd is a much safer crowd on motorcycles not because their reflexes are more acute but because their experience is much greater, therefore they are more cautious and less likely to get themselves into bad situations. Like the saying goes, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots."

[Fatstrat]

More advice on training. Take a safety course. But also watch LOTS of motorcycle racing on TV. I was "trained" to ride motorcycles by a friend who was trained by another friend. Who was a huge advocate of watching motorcycle racing. We'd all watch it together and discuss what we saw and how to apply it ourselves in our riding.
We didn't go out and try to take corners at 100MPH. But the dynamics are the basically the same. Weight transfer and body position thereof is a HUGE factor. Lots to learn there.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Fatstrat

More advice on training. Take a safety course. But also watch LOTS of motorcycle racing on TV. I was "trained" to ride motorcycles by a friend who was trained by another friend. Who was a huge advocate of watching motorcycle racing. We'd all watch it together and discuss what we saw and how to apply it ourselves in our riding.
We didn't go out and try to take corners at 100MPH. But the dynamics are the basically the same. Weight transfer and body position thereof is a HUGE factor. Lots to learn there.

This is actually a pretty good idea. Particularly road racing and especially in so far as head position relative to angle of lean. In general the further over you lean the more you want to angle your head back towards vertical. This helps keeps your awareness of your position relative to the road and line through the corner. Another practice I have found helpful with the bigger bikes for a bit more precise tracking and cornering is just slight back pressure applied the the handle bar to the outside of the corner. Not so much pressure as to move your actual line out of the corner, but enough to help keep from diving to far into the corner.

[Fatstrat]

Originally Posted by KevWind

This is actually a pretty good idea. Particularly road racing and especially in so far as head position relative to angle of lean. In general the further over you lean the more you want to angle your head back towards vertical. This helps keeps your awareness of your position relative to the road and line through the corner. Another practice I have found helpful with the bigger bikes for a bit more precise tracking and cornering is just slight back pressure applied the the handle bar to the outside of the corner. Not so much pressure as to move your actual line out of the corner, but enough to help keep from diving to far into the corner.

With proper weight transfer/body angle, you can actually take a significant corner while maintaining an almost if not completely straight inline with bike front tire. Very little handle bar movement. You control the bike with your body position.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Fatstrat

With proper weight transfer/body angle, you can actually take a significant corner while maintaining an almost if not completely straight inline with bike front tire. Very little handle bar movement. You control the bike with your body position.

Yes true. In my youth I actually did some small time road racing in 125cc and 250cc. Don't misunderstand I am not suggesting moving the handlebar, or taking the steering out of line I am referring to only the feeling of slight back pressure on the outside handle bar or for that matter forward pressure on the inside handle which ever feels more comfortable.

Also I am not talking about going aggressively into a corner at all . What I am talking about is the common tendency for new riders on big bikes to dive into the corner or even just feel like they are doing so, which unfortunately sometimes leads them to attempt to correct and actually swing wide and sometimes create problems .

I may not be explaining it very clearly, I think if you just try what I am talking about it will be clearer.

[RP]

As an aside, I am just loving my Electra Glide these days. This is kind of a surprise to me because I've never owned a bike this big or with all the accoutrements. However, the comfort of the stock seat and overall ergonomics, carrying capacity, and having tunes at my fingertips plus a sizable windshield make for a bike that handles backroads and interstates with aplomb. Yesterday I took a ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway (whose intersection with the Skyline Drive is about 10 miles from my front door), and today I rode east and took a couple of roads that parallel the mighty James River on either side (Routes 5 & 10 - I should call this the FW Woolworth ride). The crossover is done by a 20-minute ferry ride from Surry County (the site of Michael Vick's erstwhile "dog house") over to Historic Jamestown. The earliest Virginia plantations are located along 5 & 10, but I didn't take any indoor tours today. What a wonderful day in the saddle...