JUPITER PLUVIUS: The motorcycle god of Rain!

[rousseau]

Although I can't remember what I did last week, I do remember a letter in an "easyrider" magazine from about thity years ago.
Seems this guy had finally got a Harley and wrote a letter to this mag asking "who should I wave to?" He didn't know whether to wave at only other harley riders,or everyone except honda riders, or mabey just the 1%'ers. He was sure the staff from easyrider could give him guidence.
The reply

"I don't know. We always wave at women".

[Lonnie]

Regarding the reference "RWW" made about loud pipes and the apparent lack of enforcement of straight pipes compared to years past - I too remember going through license checks where the officers would write tickets for "excessive noise" in both Carolinas.

I have several friends that have MC shops, catering to the newbies primarily, and I cannot help but notice the number of police officers with these super-loud pipes. Ironically, they will write someone a ticket for a loud car stereo but will not write a ticket for loud pipes - perhaps they do not want to be hypocritical. However, as the saying goes, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". In this case they are a double-part, since they won't enforce the law and won't abide by it either.

It seems that the common folk think you cannot be a true biker without a loud custom exhaust.

Lonnie

[mcarver]

speak up, I can't hear you!!

I thought we all agreed that "Loud pipes save lives". Maybe the cops are just encouraging motorcycle safety! (HAH!!) My Ducati sets off car alarms as I ride by, and by the way, I wear ear plugs when I ride... what was that sonny??, speak up I can't hear you!
Take care everyone,
MC

[HarleyCreation]

Originally posted by INLINE4NUT
they come in walk by a 1939 Knuck just out of the barn original paint an a 2300 mile

That's the one I want.

I found a couple/few mint Knuckleheads like that years ago, but they slipped thru my fingers.

[Fiskis]

Originally posted by HarleyCreation


Do you have winter windshields and leg guards for those Finlander Harleys?

Being a sissy myself, I do not ride in the winter anymore. 38 years ago when I bought my '52 Pan, which at the time was the newest H-D in the country, I sold my car and rode the bike whenever it worked. Yes it had an enormous vindshield and leg shields a'la King Arthur. It also had Nokia Hakkapeliitta snow tires with steel spikes. You could make nice sparks on bare pavement during take-offs. Before my time it was a police vehicle imported together with three identical sisters for patrolling at the Olympic Games in Helsinki 1952. A ll 4 have sequential seial numbers. The cops used them all year around as long as the temperature stayed above 0*F.
From the oldtimers I know there was trouble using the Harleys, especially the older models in temperatures below -20*F. The engine does not get any oil, and the lower end blows. One particular old man had some 20-30 exploded VL engines spread out on the floor in his barn. He had bought dozens of these bikes from the Army auctions in the late 50:ies for peanuts. In the winter he piloted the VL from the sidecar into which he had routed the exhaust for heating. Fortunately there was not much traffic on the country roads back then and the willagers knew to abandon the road and jump over the ditch whenever he came into sight.
Fiskis

[HarleyCreation]

Originally posted by Fiskis
[B]

Being a sissy myself, I do not ride in the winter anymore. 38 years ago when I bought my '52 Pan, which at the time was the newest H-D in the country, I sold my car and rode the bike whenever it worked. Yes it had an enormous vindshield and leg shields a'la King Arthur. It also had Nokia Hakkapeliitta snow tires with steel spikes. You could make nice sparks on bare pavement during take-offs.

Sir, I bow to your dedication as a former winter rider. Living in Finland, you know what winter cold really is and you had a FINE machine to prove it on. I imagine you also had a sidecar on that baby?

Originally posted by Fiskis

Before my time it was a police vehicle imported together with three identical sisters for patrolling at the Olympic Games in Helsinki 1952. A ll 4 have sequential seial numbers. The cops used them all year around as long as the temperature stayed above 0*F.
From the oldtimers I know there was trouble using the Harleys, especially the older models in temperatures below -20*F. The engine does not get any oil, and the lower end blows. One particular old man had some 20-30 exploded VL engines spread out on the floor in his barn. He had bought dozens of these bikes from the Army auctions in the late 50:ies for peanuts. In the winter he piloted the VL from the sidecar into which he had routed the exhaust for heating. Fortunately there was not much traffic on the country roads back then and the willagers knew to abandon the road and jump over the ditch whenever he came into sight.
Fiskis

I gotta say that minus -20 degrees F. was about as cold as I ever rode, and that is almost deadly painful even with winter gear and face-mask.

I did blow an engine (Panhead) one winter, but I always blamed that on a contaminated oil tank. The temp. was probably about 20 F. above zero which is downright balmy.

Didn't the old owners' manuals tell you to thin the oil with kerosene in cold winter temps or am I dreaming that?

An old dealer (Al Muth/Black River) who knew winter riding told me once to run less than a full oil tank. I can't remember anymore how many quarts he said to put in. Two maybe?

One trouble I had was the kick-ratchet slipping in cold temps on one of my bikes when it got cold cold. I had to leave a lit trouble-light sitting on it overnight to keep it warm.

Them were fun days!