Auggie_1970
Well-Known Member
In my continued attempt to fight the forces of mother nature and delay the hibernation of the max, I had to fire her up yesterday and take her for a ride (Was also looking to destress a bit). Wasn't too bad, mid 40's by the time I took off. Took a ride to a place called New Hope Pa., about a 35 minute ride. This is a little place in PA , right off the river that has a bunch of antique and specialty stores and restaurants that people by the masses come to shop, sightsee, etc. Kind of pricey and borderline yuppie if you ask me but its a nice place to visit from time to time. Anyhow it also draws a huge Harley crowd and most of them hang out at the outside bars that are on the strip. I've only had the bike on the road for a few months now and I've since put a set of holeshots on the bike and jetted her, so she sounds loud and mean. For some reason it seems to get nicer sounding the more I ride her as if its getting a bit louder (maybe I'm loosing it). Anyhow I haven't had the bike out much in such a very public biker hangout so I had every intention of having some fun once there With the pipes and in first gear maybe 2k rpm, it has a very nice mean low note. So I rolled into town trying to keep the rpms up a bit and speed as slow as possible. Passed by the outside bars first and noticed about 20 HD riders hanging out, not that it's hard to pick them out of a crowd. Not that I despise HD bikes, I actually think some of them are nice, but I despise the HD mentality. Coming from riding a Suzuki bandit, I constantly heard "Hey when you gonna get a real bike".. Actually pulled up to a bar near the Delaware Water Gap one time, must have been a local HD hang out, and some chick ran out and yelled "No Jap bikes allowed". Well, not sure why, but since I was young, anyone told me I couldn't do something or something was too difficult, I figured out a way to get it done. Anyhow to make a long story short, I took off my helmet , waked right up to her in the doorway, said how’s it going and sat right at the bar next to her man and ordered me a beer. I didn’t care if I got my ass handed to me but I hate the HD mentality and no one was going to tell me I couldn't enter the bar because I rode a "Jap" bike, all I know is that the first person that started with me was gonna get it. Anyhow enough background on why I dislike the Hd crowd, I'm sure you've all experienced it as well.
So back to New Hope. As I cruised by the bar I noticed all heads turned my way trying to figure out what sounded so sweet and evil at the same time. Did a few short launches (it sounds sick with the pipes). I made every use of the stopped traffic to tastefully rev her up, especially for those HD riders walking by as if saying , this is a real bike , when you going to get one, Like I said I haven’t been in a very public spot with this bike and I was really taken back by the amount of people that complemented the bike. I had people in cars passing by giving me the thumbs up , those walking on the sidewalks stopping to check her out as I was at a stop in traffic, to those surrounding the bike as I parker her. It was cool, and I could get used to that, makes me want to get some chrome goodies from Sean this winter even faster ..So my target was the bar, didn't want to head straight back there so I wasted a little time driving some of the back roads. It was a little cooler out now, maybe a combination of being by the water and being later in the day but my hands were a bit numb but the shots of adrenaline were keeping me just fine So back to the bar I went. Up the strip , over this little bridge with 3 foot cement walls that just amplified the sound of the pipes, made sure to do a short launch there. Man I never realized how hard it is to keep a straight face while cracking up inside, its tough shit.. I need more practice. So got about 30 yards from the bar. Now keep in mind. its a two lane street bordered by sidewalks and the bars are right at the edge of the sidewalk so the people at the bars are close by All heads turned again towards me, the pressure was on, I had my game plan, now just had to execute it without f'n up. I let the distance of the car in front of me increase more than what I needed just incase. From rolling I wacked the hell out of the throttle and I felt the back wheel break loose as I kept on the trottle..rear end kicked out a tiny bit but nothing to make your ass pucker up, held that for about 10-12 feet...It was f'n awesome...Right in your face , loud ass mean sound...I'm still learning the max but this was perfect and you know everyone within the area had to hear it (I was just praying that the cops that walk around in the crowd were not there today)....I then pulled up to the bar past the one I just visited and parked her. Guys at the bar (some riders) were all like , " mann that is sweet and sounds awesome" (bike is mostly stock except for the exhaust, some aluminum bar ends and brake bar from COO). Bike still needs a bit of fine tune on the carbs, think the floats are a bit off but she basically runs great. Needs a new rear tire so maybe that’s why it breaks loose soo easily not sure it will still do that with new rubber. It did get colder on my way home, doing the old reach and put the hand on the motor routine, but all in all it was a great ride and very entertaining When I really got cold , just got on the throttle harder and got the good old shot of adrenaline which managed to keep me from noticing the cold. Just thought I'd share.
So back to New Hope. As I cruised by the bar I noticed all heads turned my way trying to figure out what sounded so sweet and evil at the same time. Did a few short launches (it sounds sick with the pipes). I made every use of the stopped traffic to tastefully rev her up, especially for those HD riders walking by as if saying , this is a real bike , when you going to get one, Like I said I haven’t been in a very public spot with this bike and I was really taken back by the amount of people that complemented the bike. I had people in cars passing by giving me the thumbs up , those walking on the sidewalks stopping to check her out as I was at a stop in traffic, to those surrounding the bike as I parker her. It was cool, and I could get used to that, makes me want to get some chrome goodies from Sean this winter even faster ..So my target was the bar, didn't want to head straight back there so I wasted a little time driving some of the back roads. It was a little cooler out now, maybe a combination of being by the water and being later in the day but my hands were a bit numb but the shots of adrenaline were keeping me just fine So back to the bar I went. Up the strip , over this little bridge with 3 foot cement walls that just amplified the sound of the pipes, made sure to do a short launch there. Man I never realized how hard it is to keep a straight face while cracking up inside, its tough shit.. I need more practice. So got about 30 yards from the bar. Now keep in mind. its a two lane street bordered by sidewalks and the bars are right at the edge of the sidewalk so the people at the bars are close by All heads turned again towards me, the pressure was on, I had my game plan, now just had to execute it without f'n up. I let the distance of the car in front of me increase more than what I needed just incase. From rolling I wacked the hell out of the throttle and I felt the back wheel break loose as I kept on the trottle..rear end kicked out a tiny bit but nothing to make your ass pucker up, held that for about 10-12 feet...It was f'n awesome...Right in your face , loud ass mean sound...I'm still learning the max but this was perfect and you know everyone within the area had to hear it (I was just praying that the cops that walk around in the crowd were not there today)....I then pulled up to the bar past the one I just visited and parked her. Guys at the bar (some riders) were all like , " mann that is sweet and sounds awesome" (bike is mostly stock except for the exhaust, some aluminum bar ends and brake bar from COO). Bike still needs a bit of fine tune on the carbs, think the floats are a bit off but she basically runs great. Needs a new rear tire so maybe that’s why it breaks loose soo easily not sure it will still do that with new rubber. It did get colder on my way home, doing the old reach and put the hand on the motor routine, but all in all it was a great ride and very entertaining When I really got cold , just got on the throttle harder and got the good old shot of adrenaline which managed to keep me from noticing the cold. Just thought I'd share.