I LOVE this bike!

[frankinstyn]

So I JUST started riding about a month and a half a go and have been enjoying it for the most part....few mechanical problems at first. Anyway, Lately I have been riding it more than I have been driving my car and I gotta say I LOVE this bike!

It starts right up no matter what. I've never had a carburated engine start up instantly or respond so quickly.
It gets 50mpg consistantly no matter how I drive
It gets up and GOES...only a 650 but man this thing moves well
Soooooooooooooooo smooooooooooooth... no jerky throttle or anything
Takes some abuse. I've accidentally pulled the clutch a couple times without letting off the throttle and it'll jump right past 10k in an instant. Even wrapped it around back to 0 once. Just for an instant but it never seemed to care. With my 8v solid lifter car, you could feel the valves start to float a little just past red-line.

Yup. I LOVE this bike.

And the funny part is, I'm about to tear into it to change the valve stem seals. Just got the gasket set yesterday. I really don't want to though. It only smokes once is gets a little hot...sitting at two long lights in a row. I get it cooled off on the highway and it won't smoke at all when I stop at the next light. Bummer. I should really fix it anyhow.

[Chris]

Hehe. Addictive, isn't it? It's gettin' pretty chilly around here and as long as the roads are dry I still try to ride to work in the afternoon This is my first year as well and I just can't see parking it for months on end. My pickup is running now and scheduled for inspection, but on nice days you can bet I'll be riding my 650. I'll just have to keep a close eye on the weather radar 'cause alot can happen weather-wise betwwen 2PM and 11PM Glad you're enjoying the ride.

[Vatch]

Another victim

Rode home from a party last night. The bank sign said 43 F, which isn't bad except I had on an unlined leather jacket, t-shirt, summer gloves, and wet boots. Some guy all suited up for the cold riding his full faring Harley asked me if I was cold. I wasn't too bad. I should have asked him if it was against the law to ride a Harley that was blasting Phil Collins (yeah, his bike had a stereo system). Yeah, buddy, you look pretty tough.

[Chris]

I keep telling Bubba at work that he needs to put a big subwoofer in the trunk of his UltraClassic.

[Volker_P]

Another victim

Looks like.

Good to see that also younger guys love these bikes. A good classic design really has no age. When I have a look at the current designs which are claimed to be made for young costumers, I am really not surprised that young riders rates decrease here.

The valve stem replacement procedure is no big deal and the engine will run as before as long as you don't touch the carbs. Just take care for the threads of the cylinder head and the cylinder head cover bolts to avoid further trouble.

Here the temperatures are still comfortable for riding without additional wear (which may end soon), but the roads in the forests are partly staying wet and leaves started falling. So you have to be careful on the throttle, but you have fantastic autumn colors to watch.

[frankinstyn]

I've always liked these older style bikes. I call it my fake Harley. In reality though I do very much like the smooth sound better than a harley and it is so much more reliable.

I'm not too worried about the work on the head. I do larger engines all the time as that is my job. I just need to motivate myself to get it done already. Its so hard because I won't be able to drive for a few days.

[Volker_P]

Its so hard because I won't be able to drive for a few days.

Good argument!

[Guest]

Lol I thought it was!