But it’s so cute. Like a miniature zamboni.
Okay well exotic dancers probably wear those at work, especially if they work at one of those biker joints.
Sorry for the highjack, but when I was in Finland a few years ago a tv spot was going on about this Russian bike the Ural Wolf and how badass it was. I don’t know anything about bikes but I was always kind of curious how this thing compared. What do you bikers think of it?
Check around and see if there is a bike show coming near you any time soon. My dad got the leather jacket you are looking for at such a show. The jacket was actually used, I think-- but it was already broken in, so that’s a plus.
Looks like mid 70s technology.
OK, it probably is 1970s or '60s tech. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But it sure ain’t ‘badass’
45hp and 4 forward gears?
My 1979 Yamaha 650 does better than that. Hell, there are single cyinder dirt bikes that do better than that. And weigh half as much.
Looks like you might have to look boots marketed to the jobsite and hunting crowd if you’re looking for something with a steel toe that’s made in the USA. Carolina Shoe and Red Wing are going to be your best bets.
I read a review a while back on a Ural. Other then very dated technology, it was supposed to be a decent, cheap bike.
Or even better than a fetish shop, go to an actual leatherworker. I went with a gay friend of mine when he wanted to pick up a jacket. He wasn’t into the leather scene so much, apart from the jacket, but man, that place…
In amongst all the sex shops and nightclubs of Sydney’s gay precinct, there is (or was) a tiny little, sleazy-looking doorway with an ancient set of stairs. Upstairs, was a room with this strange old man with a heavy central European accent of some sort, tools, workbenches, leather everywhere. It actually had a nineteenth century vibe to it (if it wasn’t for all the bondage gear), but he’d make anything you want. Although a lot of his client base was the local bear scene, you could see that he had loads of, shall we say, more traditional gear as well. I reckon if you go to somebody like him, describe what you want, and are willing to pay and wait for it, you’ll get the perfect motorcycle jacket.
As for Harleys, I can see the romance and legend of the things, but on the downside:
- they have a reputation as being clapped out, unreliable 50s technology
- there’s a whole load of half-hidden racist, redneck baggage with them
- there’s the yuppie idiot/mid-life crisis accountant thing as well, but that’s not really a surprise. It’s been around about twenty years now.
A couple years ago, at Thanksgiving’s at my uncle, I retired to a recliner in a dark corner to nap off a little of the turkey. While there, I was priviledged to overhear a conversation between two pudgy, middle-aged software engineers about motorcycles. One of them suggested that, instead of an over-priced Harley-Davidson, you could get a Japanese knock-off that was functionally identical for a fraction of the price. The other guy snorted, “Yeah, you could do that, but a REAL biker would always know the difference.” I wanted to shout, “A REAL biker wouldn’t be such a fucking marketing tool, you emotionally retarded putz!”
My brother has recently purchased two HD’s. And all the accessories that go with them. I guess the joke is that HD stands for Hundred Dollars, in that anything you buy for it is going to cost at least $100.
I have ridden the ‘Sporty 1200’. That was fine. It weighs in at about 550 pounds. I’m actually a bit two tall for it.
I’m a bit intimidated by the ‘Ultra Classic’ or whatever it is though. It’s freaking HUGE and I’m 6,4 and 210 lbs. It weighs 819 pounds. It fell over one time when my brother did not get the kick stand down properly. It was all he could do to get it back on it’s wheels.
Agreed that it is old technology. At least the engine. The rear cylinder runs quit a bit hotter than the front one. My brother has even complained about the heat it puts off. That rear cylinder head is only about 5 inches from your crotch.
It seems to make him happy, so, whatever floats your boat.
Ha!
I hit R instead of T by mistake - it was 4:17 AM, for Chrissakes.
Dude.
Not advisable. In addition to the considerable personal risk associated with wearing Bandidos colours without affiliation, those mofos sport some ugly gear.
George Carlin has a rather scathing rant about HD on one of his albums (I think it’s You Are All Diseased). You know they have a chain of restaurants now? Tain’t nothing them getting knifed unless it’s on the plate. I wonder if the various Indian revivals are for pussies as well?
There was a brilliant Top Gear segment where Jeremy Clarkson and the lads tried to kill an old Toyota ute which they’d bought off a farmer: 190,000 miles on the clock, gaping rustholes, battered and worn.
They drove it to Bristol, taking care to go down flights of steps, into trees and clipping stone walls. Then they tethered it out in the Severn estuary, and waited for the tide: the moorings broke, and it drifted off. They had to wait five hours before they could retrieve it, upside down in a sandy hole. Then their mechanic - armed with no more than basic tools and a can of CRC - cleaned it out and started it. It still drove.
They took it to their test track, where they drove it at full speed through a sturdy wooden shed, hit it with a wrecking ball, and dropped a caravan on it from a crane. This thing was battered beyond belief, but it still started and drove everytime. So they set it on fire, with a burning brand tossed in the cab and another on the rear deck.
Yep, it couldn’t be killed. Still started, still drove. For the final act, increasingly desperate for ways to destroy it, they parked it on top of a 250 foot block of flats scheduled for demolition, and the building was blown up. When the dust had cleared, this thing was sitting upside down atop the rubble. They dragged it off, none too gently, with an excavator, and their mechanic had a go at it. Just basic roadside tools, remember: pliers, wrenches and screwdrivers.
After a bit of basic attention from the mechanic it coughed, turned over, and started. It was driven into the studio beaten and bowed almost beyond recognition, but still plodding stolidly on. Wild, incredulous audience applause. This thing was amazing - it just could not die.
Actually, the heavy leather thing is out, replaced by either light or no leather and with Kevlar armor inserts at the various “hit” points. See “Joe Rocket Riding Jacket” or item # 8406216730 on ebay. Or item’s 805520792 or 8055174459 on eBay motors, or item ##8055887527 at the same site seems to be the heavy leather you want.
In my admittedly limited experience with motorcycles, whenever you go on a motorcycle tour, if you see a bike broken down on the side of the road, it will be a Harley Davidson. I think it’s because they vibrate so badly. Once saw a large touring type Harley sitting and idling without a rider on it. It vibrated so badly the front wheel hopped off the ground. I was afraid it was going to fall off of its kickstand.
It’s absolutely essential for the safety of the rider that a bike be designed to set off car alarms from two hundred meters away, dontcha know. Nothing to do with a desire to project a presence that’s as obnoxious and offensive as possible. 
Oh yes, because “Loud Pipes Save Lives!” The danger for a motorcylist is never greater than when he’s 200 hundred yards in front of someone, so it is absolutely essential that his pipes be tuned such that they are utterly inaudible when he’s approaching you from behind, but the moment he gets ahead of you, they have to be so noisy as to vibrate your kidneys loose from their moorings.
No, it makes sense. They have to ignore helmet laws (or wear those cute little “brain bucket” concessions that fit like a cap) so that their ears are in the wind, so they can hear vehicles approaching from behind.
(I’ve heard this asserted, along with the maxim of “Loud Pipes Save Lives” in a single short dissertation of road safety. Do you have any idea how hard it is to refrain from telling even an Angels affiliate that what they’re saying is the most retarded thing you’ve ever heard, when they drop something like that on you? Hard, man. Real hard.)
Depending on your definition of ‘Japanese-made’, then the brakes are as well. They’re made at a factory in America, but through a partnership with Showa motors. The work is done at a HD factory, but the machinery to make the parts is from Showa.
At least, they were back in the late 90’s.