i finally have an avatar !!! WOO HOO!!

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:28 pm

I finally figured out how to get my pix small enough to be avatars.

My avatar is my mid-life crisis vehicle.

ken "quick, alert the media" k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:32 pm

thanks, i feel so proud.....

ken "its the simple things in life ya know...."k

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:33 pm

Nice bike. I am 65 and still ride my old 1976 Yamaha RD 400. I take it easier these days but like to romp down on it occasionally to see if either of us is still up to it.

Rick F · Post by **Rick F** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:33 pm

ken k wrote:My avatar is my mid-life crisis vehicle.

I thought folks in a 'mid-life crisis' were supposed to drive Harleys!?

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:37 pm

tubatooter1940 wrote:Nice bike. I am 65 and still ride my old 1976 Yamaha RD 400. I take it easier these days but like to romp down on it occasionally to see if either of us is still up to it.

my first steet bike was a '73 RD 350! bought it in 1981 for $600!
Every now and then I see on of them around and wish I had one again.... crazy bikes those 2 strokers. No power at all off idle and then all of a sudden the tach hits 5000 and you had better be holding on....

ken k

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:40 pm

73 RD 350!

AKA "Pocket Rocket".

Back in them days I was driving the Suzuki GT500 "Titan" twin. I used to hole pistons regularly. It took about 30 minutes to put in another one.

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:42 pm

Rick F wrote:
ken k wrote:My avatar is my mid-life crisis vehicle.
I thought folks in a 'mid-life crisis' were supposed to drive Harleys!?

Excuse me but I am not a biker I am a motorcyclist (he says with his nose turned up and pinky extended.....)

Actually i think Harleys are beautiful bikes to look at. I just don't like to ride them. I do not care for the feet forward laid back riding style. I don't think sitting on a bike like it was your couch is the safest way to ride a bike. I also don't agree with the loud pipes save lives theory. and I do not have any tattoos, so I don't quite fit the harley image and I wouldn't want to spoil it for them.

ken k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:45 pm

Bob1062 wrote:[What you got there Ken? (god I hope it's not a Harley (mainly so I don't look bad!))

Bob"looking at -$1500 bikes next spring"1062

2003 BMW R1150R

I bought it used in 2005. I always wanted a BMW but could only afford a two wheeled one....

here is a better pic:

ken "boy this posting pix thing is pretty cool..."k

bearphonium · Post by **bearphonium** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:49 am

Sweet bike, Ken. I love the R1150R bikes. I ride a 1100 Honda Shadow Spirit, and love it.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:17 am

Nice. In the early 1990's, I finally decided to ride for awhile. So I took the written test and got my daylight permit. I paid cash for a brand new factory chopped Sportster. I rode it home on old US 66 from a dealership northeast of where I live. A week later I took my riding test and passed it, including all of the usual stuff: demonstrating familiarity and safety; accelerate, shift and brake in the confined space; and weave through the cones to show maneuverability; etc., all on that Harley. The wheelbase was so long it almost physically didn't fit through the cones, but I made it work.

I enjoyed it for a couple of years until I decided I was only a fair weather rider, and it took more time to suit up and warm up the bike than some of the trips I took on it. So I traded it and the car I was driving at the time straight across for a Jaguar XJ6, and had much more fun having it around with my convertible instead.

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:12 am

bloke wrote:Dave Graves (' former student of mine...' finishing up his doctorate at Illinois...' teaches tuba @ Baylor) is a big bike junkie and has been since his early days after undergrad.

I believe last year - or the year before - he was trying to decide between a big Honda-that-looks-like-a-Harley or a new PT-606.

bloke "He chose the bike."

I thought about a new tuba instead....definitely cheaper to maintain, no brakes to replace and no annual state inspection, oil changes are much less expensive, etc.....

ken k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:16 am

iiipopes wrote:Nice. In the early 1990's, I finally decided to ride for awhile. So I took the written test and got my daylight permit. I paid cash for a brand new factory chopped Sportster. I rode it home on old US 66 from a dealership northeast of where I live. A week later I took my riding test and passed it, including all of the usual stuff: demonstrating familiarity and safety; accelerate, shift and brake in the confined space; and weave through the cones to show maneuverability; etc., all on that Harley. The wheelbase was so long it almost physically didn't fit through the cones, but I made it work.

I enjoyed it for a couple of years until I decided I was only a fair weather rider, and it took more time to suit up and warm up the bike than some of the trips I took on it. So I traded it and the car I was driving at the time straight across for a Jaguar XJ6, and had much more fun having it around with my convertible instead.

I strongly considered a miata. I could have gotten a decent one for the same price i paid on the bike. Admittedly I too am more of a fair weather rider. I figure eventually I will get a convertible too. Maybe if I can work it out a BMW 3 series (used of course). They have a (very small) rear seat so I could possibly justify it to the wife. I have always had a thing for BMWs both bikes and cars. Its sort of a whole German thing.... Eventualy I will get a Miraphone or MW too!

ken k

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:11 pm

Having typed that way too early in the morning, let me clarify: I got my 1967 E-type convertible in 1985. I got the 1987 XJ6 in the mid-90's on the trade in described above. Yes, it was great having both, but the expense of maintaining two old hunks of British tin, especially after getting married, was just too much and the XJ6 went away, while I still have the E-type.

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:46 pm

iiipopes wrote:Having typed that way too early in the morning, let me clarify: I got my 1967 E-type convertible in 1985. I got the 1987 XJ6 in the mid-90's on the trade in described above. Yes, it was great having both, but the expense of maintaining two old hunks of British tin, especially after getting married, was just too much and the XJ6 went away, while I still have the E-type.

yes well when you buy old bikes and/or cars you are buying a hobby more than a means of transportation. E-types are definitely my most favorite of the old cars, british or otherwise, and maybe someday when i grow up......

please post a pic if you can. i think a nice shot of you driving down the road with your tuba in the passenger seat....

ken k

MaryAnn · Post by **MaryAnn** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:22 pm

I rode an RD 350 from Albany, NY, to Chicago and back, but I can't remember what year it was. Late 70's probably. That thing a) got into a speed wobble on the Penn Turnpike that was lock-to-lock and took up the entire lane at 65 mph; and b) about buzzed my poor kidneys to death. That bike was *not* a touring bike. Fun around town though, and great fun against macho guys at stoplights.

When I did get a touring bike, a 72 BMW 750, that turned out to be the year the carbs whacked you in the shins if you had your feet on the pegs. Sheesh.

Fastest I had was a brand-spankin-new Kaw 500 3 cylinder two stroke in 1971. Zero to 60 in four seconds; not so sure how fast it was with 95 pound me on it, but it was as fast as anybody else around. That one also had a nasty speed wobble at about 95 mph.

Best handling...Ninjas. I think it was an 86 900 Ninja that was in 2nd place, and a slighly newer 750 Ninja that was in first place, for funzies.

And then my old Duke 350 single....that could sure kick back if you didn't know how to start it!

Ah, the good old days when I had not yet settled down. Now I wouldn't want to trust my balance well enough to handle an emergency, so I drive with four wheels.

MA

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:11 pm

MaryAnn wrote:I rode an RD 350 from Albany, NY, to Chicago and back, but I can't remember what year it was. Late 70's probably. That thing a) got into a speed wobble on the Penn Turnpike that was lock-to-lock and took up the entire lane at 65 mph; and b) about buzzed my poor kidneys to death. That bike was *not* a touring bike. Fun around town though, and great fun against macho guys at stoplights.

When I did get a touring bike, a 72 BMW 750, that turned out to be the year the carbs whacked you in the shins if you had your feet on the pegs. Sheesh.

Fastest I had was a brand-spankin-new Kaw 500 3 cylinder two stroke in 1971. Zero to 60 in four seconds; not so sure how fast it was with 95 pound me on it, but it was as fast as anybody else around. That one also had a nasty speed wobble at about 95 mph.

Best handling...Ninjas. I think it was an 86 900 Ninja that was in 2nd place, and a slighly newer 750 Ninja that was in first place, for funzies.

And then my old Duke 350 single....that could sure kick back if you didn't know how to start it!

Ah, the good old days when I had not yet settled down. Now I wouldn't want to trust my balance well enough to handle an emergency, so I drive with four wheels.

MA

Wow MA I am impressed! The brother of the guy whom I bought the RD from had the Kawie 500 triple and it did go!!!

ken k