12-14-2017, 07:10 AM
After seeing all the great pics from other members of their bikes, and since my motorcycle experience had such humble and anorexic powered beginnings, I thought I would post a pic of the Harley I rode for the past 10 years and traded on my CB1100EX this past spring. It was a great bike for long straight highway riding, but at 750+ pounds it handled like a tank around town. Even my title said "Heavy Motorcycle"! With so much weight for the bike, plus 190 pounds of me, it required much earlier speed reduction and braking to get all that mass slowed down coming up to stops, turning, and going into curves. The "old school" Springer front end was significantly heavier than a hydraulic front fork, which meant turning the handle bars too far left or right starting from a stop and turning, could be a recipe for disaster much sooner than a lighter hydraulic front end. Then there are the "feet forward" controls. Unless one has some previous experience with feet forward, there is no way to understand how different it is in terms of balance and control, as compared to mid control with upright posture. I suppose the best comparison I can make here is, try doing everything riding with your feet on highway pegs mounted to the frame or crash bar as an example. The V twin was 1800cc, with power to spare, but man did it run hot, just the nature of the beast. Aside from Harley setting the mixture lean from the factory to satisfy California emissions, the rear cylinder obviously does not get as much air flow as the front. Am I bad mouthing Harley, no, absolutely not. In the 10 years I owned it, it was reliable, added to my riding experience, and was an item to cross off my bucket list. What I am saying is that it required a different mind and skill set to ride and enjoy safely. At this point in my life, the CB is much more enjoyable to own and ride, all things considered. A favorite quote of mine from an old Clint Eastwood movie is, "Ya know, a mans just gotta know his limitations".