it was harder getting out of town than riding the highway..

[gary.h]

this is out to herb (harleycreation)read your book harley davidson and the men who rode them..first off thank you for providing such great read! and influentual,never rode in the snow before and figger ive got to rig up chains or rope but the highway was not to bad where the vehicle tires ride. it was a neat adventure and when bundled right could be damn enjoyable.

[Tom Lovejoy]

Awesome! way to cold for me, but Awesome! So Cal whimp here, way to go Gary.

[Sargehere]

The "fun" part to watch out for is when both tire contact patches hit ice at the same time, and the bike just falls out from under you sideways to the left, or the right, instantly! "Whoops!"
Been there; done that!
Got up, brushed off, and motored off again.

[Slojo]

Rode through two full Michigan winters on a !966 shovel and a !954 pan without alternative rides such as cars or trucks. Blizzards, deep, snow, ice, slush, road ruts. you name it I have been there. Yes bikes do get stuck. Once my forward motion was stalled by snow packed under the floor boards and the bike could not tip over from the balanced force of the snow

My best winter ride was on new years day with my good friend Spokes, nobody else would go. You see the previous night an incredible winter storm rushed in and encapsulated every surface with 1/2 inch thick ice coating. Talking about beauty, nothing I have ever rode in has compared to this crystallized day. Riding through this type of environment was unnerving, at times tree branches hanging over the road would shatter and cover the road with fragments of crystal tree branch and ice particles.

My best description of the riding conditions would be for you to imagine yourself (shrunk down to 1/20 scale size) riding through a glass blowers shop with delicate glass sculptures surrounding every curve, hill and straight road surface alike. Memories like this will last a life time and they can only be found while RIDING so get those old machines out a go for a spin.
Joe

[Barry Brown]

Is this a 1914 Joe? Looks very civilized.
[img][/img]

[Chris Haynes]

Is this a 1914 Joe? Looks very civilized.
[img][/img]

Now if we could just get that photo on some good German paper,,,,

[aka HAWG]

Now if we could just get that photo on some good German paper,,,,

why worry about the paper - your too cheap to buy it anyway no matter what paper

aka HAWG

[c.o.]

Gary!!! Good to see you don't baby that bike.... but we knew that already didn't we??? Very cool....brrr.... Hey, I clicked on the picture and it moves.....

[c.o.]

Now if we could just get that photo on some good German paper,,,,

[Chris Haynes]

why worry about the paper - your too cheap to buy it anyway no matter what paper

aka HAWG

I buy lots of very expensive stuff. But I will only pay what something is worth. I certainly wouldn't pay more than some peoples house payment for a copy photo. However is someone had a nice copy photo at a fair price I would certainly buy one.

[gary.h]

Gary!!! Good to see you don't baby that bike.... but we knew that already didn't we??? Very cool....brrr.... Hey, I clicked on the picture and it moves.....

im thinking bonzo was onto somthing back then...

[c.o.]

Yup,,,, So tell me, did you get out on the highway and brave the tourist Indy 500? That could get a little hairy. Seriously though it was cool to see ya slip slidin' through the snow.... keep on havin' fun out there.... I'll be inside hangin' drywall....

[gary.h]

Yup,,,, So tell me, did you get out on the highway and brave the tourist Indy 500? That could get a little hairy. Seriously though it was cool to see ya slip slidin' through the snow.... keep on havin' fun out there.... I'll be inside hangin' drywall....

i made the highway,all i had was a strip of pavement
where traffic had cleared away the snow it was kinda nervous,wasnt sure it was a skiff of ice on it i wanted to get as far as columbia ridge but it was a north head wind so i turned around and rolled back to town but going with the wind was pretty good didnt feel as cold,felt no different then runnin the snow machines through the bush...i feel sorry for your drywall hanging i hate that stuff..

[Slojo]

Barry
Judging by what can be seen the bike appears to be pre !914. Look at the small front hub. Great photo of what probably is a brand new bike. Notice the paint inside the rim where the spoke nipples are.
Joe

[HarleyCreation]

this is out to herb (harleycreation)read your book harley davidson and the men who rode them..first off thank you for providing such great read! and influentual,never rode in the snow before and figger ive got to rig up chains or rope but the highway was not to bad where the vehicle tires ride. it was a neat adventure and when bundled right could be damn enjoyable.

Gary,

At first I thought that was a photo of me with the fur trooper hat, bike in the snow, and pine trees in the background. That looks a LOT like here. And lots of fun.

Thanks for the kind words about the book. Sadly, almost all the old guys mentioned there are gone. Hal "Grandpa" Deckert, long time Harley test rider and guy who had Kelly's 36EL "61 OHV" photos died a few months ago. The 1936 Knucklehead generation is quickly passing into history. I'm glad that I talked to a few of them while there was still time.

Winter riding is a blast and an elite activity. I rode winters without a car for 5 years while in college: 1972-76, and then until 1980 four days a week riding to work. Until 1976 I was in Racine and winter riding there was easy. It snowed but rarely got really cold. Then I moved up north and was shocked at how much colder it gets up here. Super cold! It was much much tougher.

Two wheels on dry snow ain't bad if there's dry pavement underneath, but once it snows over ice or glazed snow watch out! What you need is a sidecar for that baby. Then you can ride anytime. Reverse is nice too. I'm still shocked that H-D dropped the sidecar. Sidecars are a very old and honored tradition.

I have a BMW sitting around doing nothing and a couple of third wheels. One home made. Sometimes I think I should build a BMW sidecar out of it, but would I ride it? I haven't ridden my trike for 4 years. I think that I'm getting old and wimpy.