Chairmen of the Politically Incorrect

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Thu Feb 20, 2025 11:58 am

My old 1970 Bultaco SherpaT trials bike. The picture was taken about 30 years ago coming back from the ruins of an old mining camp. I sold it because the brake pedal and the shifter pedal were reversed. Riding my more modern street bikes I several times got into panic situations in which I tried to brake hard but only managed to downshift cuz the brake pedal was on the opposite side. Also, my kids were approaching their teens and I wanted to get them a small kids' bike. I found them a Honda XR80 but I suspect I should have waited another year to introduce them to it. The kids and I later rode ATVs all over the mountains and my son got into motocross. He rode a CR250 2-stroke and then a CRF450 4-stroke, both incredibly powerful bikes but he preferred the CR250.

The Bultaco had very little plastic on it besides the side covers. Also, the foot pegs were solid, non-swiveling steel bars. Ouch

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 5:42 am

That's cool Walt. I never rode a reversed shifter bike. I can see where that would really mess with you. I never raced when I was young. Never had a motocross bike either. I was more of an Enduro guy. My grandson is getting ready to start racing up in Alaska. I really have to dig out some of my old pictures.

I didn't get home till 8 last night. We rode 161 miles. There were 7 sleds in our group. That's the biggest bunch I've ridden with since I was a kid. I had the oldest sled by far, and myself and one other guy were the only 2 strokes. How times have changed. We left and hour late cause a guy with a big Ski-Doo 4 stroke had trouble getting it started. Another guy with a Yamaha blew a belt in the middle of nowhere, but that was a 10 minute fix.
We rode to Greenville and had lunch at Kelley's Landing. We rode up through where my old camp used to be and where we used to ride 4 wheelers back in the day. We took a longer route back. Across from Shirley to Harris dam, to Moxie and down the Tressle road. I didn't take a lot of pictures. Just kind of enjoyed the day. The old Grand Touring ran like a champ. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with the old crate, but the fastest we ran all day was 60. Getting old ain't so bad!

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 6:59 am

Very cool, Jay! It looks like you had a most excellent day. Wow, 161 miles?!? I'll bet you slept well after that.

I've never beeen on a snowmobile and thought they were all 2 strokes. What year is your Grand Touring?

Thanks for the pictures. BTW, are there a lot of wind turbines in your area?

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 7:41 am

Thanks Walt. My old GT is a 2002. Sleds used to be all 2 strokes, but 4 strokes are very popular for trail sleds now. Mountain sleds are still mostly 2 strokes. They are way lighter. The other neat thing is that reverse in the 2 stroke sleds is accomplished by just reversing the engine rotation (mine is like this).
The 4 strokes can still be pretty fast. My buddy's Yamaha Apex has an R1 sport bike engine. It sounds really cool. If you look in the pics, you can see the dual exhaust exiting in the back.
The wind turbines in the pics are in the area of my old camp. It's the reason it isn't our camp anymore. They destroyed some beautiful country, and I now avoid the area cause I remember what it used to be like. It's conflicting, because it also turned into a huge win for us. We had a really nice camp and 40 acres up on the mountain for 20 years. When the project was proposed, we went to the meetings. Having worked in the power industry all my life, I asked a lot of questions they didn't want to answer in front of a room full of people. The next day we got a call asking what would make us happy. This is how we ended up with our 200 acres with a half mile of road and stream frontage. Swapped even, free and clear.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:55 am

Man, what a deal! A win/win situation but swapping your 40 acres for 200 is remarkable. So, is it less windy at your new camp?

Regardless, you obviously still have some emotional attachments to the old place.

Yeah, I remember the pictures you posted of putting your canoe into the stream. Very nice!

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 10:53 am

We talked about it at great length. Dad and I built the camp (I will post some pics tonight at work), and we were there 20 years with all those memories. We had 28k in the land and camp together (not a bad swap for 200 acres with road and stream frontage that hadnt been logged). We knew after the changes it just wouldn't be the same. The hunting would be mostly over, more people, and we would just lament how "it used to be". They offered to move the camp for us, but that meant we would have to take less land. We said NOPE! We wanted all the land we could get.
Our old camp was in Kingsbury, an unorganized township. No municipality or any real residents. It was 3 miles off any paved road.
Our current lot is in Brighton plantation. There is a town office, but no town or schools, etc. When the windmill project started, Brighton told them to get lost. That's a big reason we chose the area. Our property is much more accessible, but there still is nothing really around.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:29 pm

Ok Walt. Here's some pictures of the old camp. These are from later on, starting around 2011, until we moved out. I have tons if pictures, but most are hard copy, before we used cell phones. I will do them a bit at a time. Sad going back and looking at them.
Here is basically how it looked outside. The front porch was all open originally. The camp had quite a view south off the porch. We closed in most of it and finished the inside in '99. The view gradually was lost behind the trees over the years.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 10:03 am

I can only imagine all the great times you had there....

with now having 200 acres you must have a lot more work to do but I'd consider it a labour of love...

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:26 am

Labor of love indeed. I can see how you would miss it. Did you have a well there or did you haul in your water?

I had no idea that on a 2 stroke you could reverse engine rotation for reverse gear.

Amy wants to ride the TW so we'll do that this afternoon. It will warm up into the 60s.

I had a Honda Reflex years ago and she rode that occasionally. It was a little 200cc 4 stroke with a fairly low seat but I sold it when I bought my KLR. It was billed as a beginner's trials bike. When I took it out and crashed it (frequently) I used to have to straddle the front wheel to twist the forks back into place.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 11:43 am

I once had a BSA two stroke that had the timing slightly out and occasionally it would start in reverse, completely confused me at the time ..

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 2:15 pm

I remember those Hondas. My TY was along the same lines.
Funny you mention that GK! I remember old single cylinder sleds doing that once in a while!

A few more of the old camp. These from inside and the road out the driveway and out to the northwest. You can see Moxie mountain in the distance. In the 70s they built an over the horizon radar site just south of it as part of a chain to watch for the soviets coming "over the top". By the time it was finished, it was obsolete. They hardly used it, but guarded it and kept some lights on. Most of the guarding was for moose getting through the fence. There is a small pond on top of that mountain. Toughest four wheeler ride I ever had. The pics were taken heading out during hunting season. My son had just driven the white Chevy 3/4 ton back from Alaska. Think this was 2012.
We hauled our water. Couldn't get a drill rig in there and it was too rocky to dig. We had to haul in everything to build the camp with pickups and had some dicey trips. Back when we build it, the roads were way more sketchy. If you look closely, you will recognize much if the same furnishings in our current "camp".

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 2:16 pm

Had to put this one on another post.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 2:56 pm

Man, that looks really comfortable, tongue and groove, the stove right in the middle of the room. You must have used a ladder to get up to the loft. You can't beat wood, it's beautiful!

That mud! No wonder it was tough to get that three miles to your place.

Thanks!

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 3:05 pm

We had a set of pull down stairs for the loft. When we built the camp we had a bulldog stove. Not being air tight, it was hard to regulate, and the loft was usually too hot to sleep in. We put in the Baby Bear and it made all the difference. We also had two skylights, and that helped a lot with light and heat regulation. Sitting up on that hill, the wind and weather could be brutal.
Next, I'll post so.e winter pictures from when we "moved out". Keep in mind this was in mid March of 2015. We had been nearly snowed in during hunting season on more than one occasion. We had people come up to hunt and never came back for a second trip.

I cut every piece of that V-match and shiplap with a hand finish saw that belonged to my grandfather and nailed it all by hand. We didn't have a generator.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 5:52 pm

Oh okay, I see the pulldown cord for the stairway now.

The company that set up the wind turbines was obviously aware of the wind on your mountaintop and was eager to do the land swap with you because they recognized the revenue potential there.

Amy took the TW out for a little ride today. She hadn't ridden a bike in at least 15 years. She once owned a Japanese 650cc Harley-style clone, a Yamaha I think, that I didn't much care for. She had fun today although she was pretty nervous at first. She cried a little in the beginning but she was determined to do it and she did. She wants to ride it a bit every weekend now to gain some experience and confidence.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:33 pm

Yeah. They didn't like the noise I was making and basically paid us to go away. They were still trying to woo the public opinion.

That TW will be perfect to get her going. It is undoubtedly the most user friendly motorcycle ive ever ridden. Very confidence inspiring and forgiving. She'll be off and running in no time!

Post by **Old Savage** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 9:54 pm

Here is your Maine state leader deserting women.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 10:02 pm

Baited and forgot myself.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Feb 22, 2025 10:26 pm

Same.

Post by **Old Savage** » Sun Feb 23, 2025 1:14 am

Good to have the very local feedback. That is the way it is. That is the battle ground. I am aware of Maine politics.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sun Feb 23, 2025 9:45 pm

Well, this is the end if the camp story.
We got the word that our deal would go through in the winter of 2015. When the ink was dry, we planned to "move out". They had told us to "take whatever we wanted", so we stripped the place. All the gas lights and copper gas line, along with the tanks and regulator (this is on our current camp and we are still using propane from the old camp). The gas stove, wood stove, furniture, everything.
The problem was, being winter, everything would have to be done by snowmobile. If we waited till the thaw and mud season to be over, it would be June before we could get up in there with trucks or Jeeps.
We waited till mid March and figured we'd do it with the sled and our old trace chain "logging sled". Even in mid March there was about 6 feet of snow with no trails broken. We went up and I had to make passes with just the sled to get a trail packed. Then I went back and got the bobsled and my dad and started back up. When we got near the camp, I stopped and had to pack a trail with snowshoes around the camp to give the sled something to float on and make a loop around the camp. Then we got a fire going and started making trips out. We filled the truck and the rest of the space in the enclosed trailer. There were some dicey trips down the mountain, but over two days we got it. Last thing was the wood stove. It was a bunch of work and we had to use care. Gave me less time for lamenting I guess, but it was still there. It was three years before they even came and got the keys (I kept one as a memento). It sat empty for many years, but someone has it now and has done a lot around there. It looks very nice.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Mon Feb 24, 2025 4:15 am

That's quite a story Jay, deserting a really great place that you have loved is never easy but the promise of a better camp and hunting must have taken some of the sting out of it. Your new camp as I've said before is what I would call my idea of paradise..

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Mon Feb 24, 2025 4:54 am

Thanks buddy. Yeah, we are way better off where we are. We use it a lot more too. It's easier access and we have more land. There was a huge amount of country at our old camp that we were free to roam, but much less land that was actually ours.
The biggest thing is that dad and I built that camp. When dad is gone I'm sure it will bother me again. On the bright side, dad and I built the current camp too. And did a lot of work around our property. I took a lot more pictures this time. I'm older than I was back in '95, and know that time runs out.

Post by **Old Savage** » Mon Feb 24, 2025 9:56 pm

80° today, golf in shorts

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 7:20 am

Snowshoed into camp yesterday just to check everything since the last round of snow. Shoveled off the deck and cleared the roof over the door. The sheds weren't bad at all, but I Shoveled in front of the doors so we could get in. Tractor looked good and tarp hadn't blown off. I didn't stay long. Just had a look around and a nice walk in and out. About a mile or so.
Spied a couple trees I can take for firewood. Lots of rabbit and fox tracks.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 6:54 pm

I not only admire your camp BUT now I'm really jealous of the Rabbit tracks

there are very few Rabbits here so even if I see one I leave it alone in the hope it will breed ( I've heard they are good at it ) can't say I believe it though..

Nice photos Jay I'd love to see Old Savage out there in his shorts...

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 8:48 pm

We were in a low cycle when I was a kid. We had a beagle and used to rabbit hunt on Saturdays all winter. We had a great time but shot few rabbits.
At the old camp they would be all over the lawn while we were out there. If you took a leak on the lawn, they would come over and chew the grass and dirt for the salt. I never shot a one up there though. We have them around at the new camp too. Still haven't shot one!
I'll save them for you buddy. If you get over for a visit I'll give you a key to the camp and you'll have the rabbits for a stew to simmer on the wood stove.

Post by **Old Savage** » Tue Feb 25, 2025 9:10 pm

Don’t like winter calendars because they always have snow and now don’t like the cold.

Sunny SoCal

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Wed Feb 26, 2025 10:36 am

GK, do you think the foxes are keeping the rabbit population down?

Here, at least in this area at almost 7000' elevation, the coyote/rabbit populations are very cyclical. Coyotes have larger litters when food sources are abundant and as a consequence the bunny populations go down. In a few months or even a year the numbers swing the other way. Jackrabbits are mostly in lower elevations but the cottontails here rule the roadkill counts.

I normally walk a couple of miles at 4:30 every morning and the coyotes are out, yipping and howling at that time. Kinda peaceful in my view.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Wed Feb 26, 2025 11:09 am

Jay, your pictures got me thinking about a snow ride my son and I did about 20 years ago. We were on 2WD ATVs in about 3' of snow in the mountains, along with three guys on 4WDs. The morning started off very nice with our quads easily staying on the surface and we rode about 5 miles before stopping for a lunch break. We sat around and talked for nearly an hour, deciding to ride on a bit farther. As we started off again it was apparent that something had changed. The snow took on the characteristics of very fine ice and we immediately got stuck on the 2WD quads. We turned around to head back but we couldn't make it more than about 5 yards before we were stuck again. The only way to make any progress was to get off and push. Now the 2WDs are much lighter than the bigger 4WDs but they're still exhausting to push and the condition of the snow was worsening. The guys on the 4WDs finally figured out that if they hooked up two of their quads in tandem they could pull us out. One of the 4WD quads broke down and the other two pulled him out to the trucks miles way. I was never so glad to see them as they came back to get us out. It was my worst day on an ATV.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Wed Feb 26, 2025 1:09 pm

Haha yeah, I been there! Matter of fact, just last spring up to camp. We went in pretty slick, but it warmed up and coming out was a different story. We had gone to haul the tractor home and even thay struggled getting out to the road.

Rabbits here take an awful pounding. Everything eats them. Eagles, owls and hawks from the air. Coyote, fox, bobcats, lynx, fisher, and God knows what else from the ground.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Wed Feb 26, 2025 4:16 pm

The poor old rabbits over here succumbed to a virus that almost wiped them out just a few years after they had recovered from myxomatosis which again nearly wiped them out back in the 50s. Now Foxes, Badgers plus other critters and birds of prey really slow their chances of recovery...

I took the little Stevens .410 for a walk around the wood by the lake only saw a Woodcock and a Partridge both out of season. The lake had plenty of wildfowl but again out of season.

IMG_20241121_132648691_BURST000_COVER.jpg

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Wed Feb 26, 2025 8:47 pm

Wow! Nice picture. Bare ground and liquid water sure looks good. It was warm here today, about 45. Get spring fever.
I pulled the rear wheel off my trail bike and stripped the rear brakes apart. Cleaned them all up and greased the cam and pivots. It'll still be a good bit before it's out of the cellar. I have to pull the front wheel off the Harley and get a new front tire mounted.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 4:30 am

We have had a couple of days of sunshine

temperature around freezing overnight but quite warm during the day.
I hope to try out my .410 adapter in the 16 gauge this afternoon it didn't do too well last time so I'll try some different ammo.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 6:24 am

We ended up getting about 3 inches of snow yesterday afternoon. Supposed to get another 1-3 tonight. Got a long stretch coming this week. I volunteered to work a couple days next week. Haven't worked any overtime in 10 years. After this I probably won't for another 10.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 11:17 am

Jay, be careful! You're going to shock them at work!

It's probably a good time to work some overtime given that the weather is limiting what you would do otherwise. But don't spoil them. Let em know how lucky they are.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Feb 28, 2025 3:06 pm

Haha yeah. Probably this time next week I'll be rethinking the whole thing.
Maybe I am already haha.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Mar 01, 2025 5:01 pm

I'm making a little progress on improving the TW. The first thing I did was take off the ridiculous kickstand ignition cutoff switch. I put a good skidplate on it, ordered a set of shortie clutch and brake levers, ordered wider folding footpegs, ordered an X-ring chain, took off the rear footpegs,

Its primary duty will be riding me around in the mountains; its secondary duty is as my mailbox bike. My mailbox is about a mile down the road and I hate getting my truck out of the garage, driving only that short distance every day.

I cant wait until the forest service opens the gates to the logging roads in the mountains. It probably won't happen until some time in April when the snow is completely gone.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Mar 01, 2025 5:26 pm

Excellent first mods Walt! You're well on your way. I think you'll really like the little TW. I love mine. I pulled the rear wheel off mine last week and cleaned the rear brakes up before the season starts. Put a little grease on the cam and pin. Otherwise, it's ready to go. I'm waiting for the new Bradley rear tire to be in stock. I'd like to change both tires this year.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 4:40 pm

Hellllooooo!
First the forum went down. That's fixed but maybe they took the opportunity to get rid of the riff raff and misfits.

Just testing......

I actually went in to work for 2 extra days this week. That's right.....I can't believe it either. Probably been 10 years since I worked any overtime. Now I remember why.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 7:12 pm

Helllloooo back,
I have been looking at the work you guys put in on your motorcycles, I used to do things like that but it was so long ago I had forgotten about it. The last time I modified anything with wheels was back in the 80s when I fitted free wheeling hubs to my LandRover

Maybe I've grown lazy over the years or bringing up kids etc and not having any spare cash is to blame, anyway I seem to have lost the inclination to crack my knuckles on wrench work but your recent posts have made me realise that I've been missing out.

Jay the only good thing about working overtime is its nice to get back to the regular hours

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 8:13 pm

Yesterday I decided to put a few miles on the TW because the weather was somewhat nicer than on Tuesday (I had gone shooting with my buddy on Monday) and as I backed the bike out of the garage, the rear tire acted kinda mushy. I got out my tire gauge and found there was no air in it. I thought that was kinda strange but I aired it up and went for a short, 30 mile ride. As I was putting it back into the garage I realized there was a drywall screw stuck right in the middle of the tire. I unscrewed it hoping that it hadn't gotten into the tube but it had. As soon as the motorcycle shop opened this morning, I drove into town and bought a new tube, intending to also buy a tube patch kit. The parts department didn't have one so I drove on down the road to the Honda shop and purchased a patch kit.

Using a 5 gallon bucket to support the wheel and soapy water in a spray bottle and tire spoons to break the bead, I pulled the tube and patched it, then put the works back together. Now I have a new spare tube and I'll probably never have a flat again, at least in the back.

I'll say one thing; it's a whole lot easier to break the bead on a motorcycle wheel than on an ATV wheel. That's a real job and one that I'll always take to a motorcycle shop after struggling with them here at home.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 10:38 pm

Haha careful GK old buddy! You know the old saying....
"If it has boobs or wheels, it'll give you problems!"

Man! It warmed up yesterday like crazy. Way in the 40s and started downpouring. It continued all day and night. That's scary cause there a LOT of ice in the river and a good amount of snow. That can make some serious trouble around here.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 11:06 pm

Oh man, that's some sorry luck Walt! Reminds me of my wife. She could get a flat tire on a laundry cart.
I only run about 8-10 pounds in mine. It really helps traction.
I see Bradley Performance has a matching front tire to go with their rear for the TW. Think I'll go that route.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 7:18 pm

I was cruising at about 55mph when the rear tire suddenly deflated luckily I wasn't too far from home but it was a lot further than I wanted to push it..

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 7:36 pm

Haha yeah that's no fun.
I've been lucky with flats. I can only ever remember getting one on a bike. It was my first dirt bike, and I got one on the front. Wasn't too bad running it home.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 10:51 am

My flat tire from hell story:

A dozen years or so ago, I was riding my BMW along a familiar two lane paved road in the mountains. It was a bright sunny day and as usual I was wearing fairly dark sunglasses in my helmet. I was going downhill toward a bridge over a creek, a steep embankment on the left, the black shadows of the trees alternating with the bright sunlight in between and I hit an unseen rock in the shadows in the roadway. I was doing around 55 mph, the impact bulged the cast aluminum rim outward causing the tubeless tire to immediately lose air. I made it to the side of the road and assessed my few options. There was no cell phone service in the area, no traffic on the early Sunday morning. The slopes were made up of pumice rocks which broke apart when I tried hammering on the rim. I had no choice but to ride the eight miles to a little country store which had a phone.

The ride was a nightmare. The sidewalls of the front tire were so stiff that the weight of the bike on one side kicked it over to the other. The road had no shoulder so I was going along at five mph perilously close to the rounded edge because the bike was weaving back and forth to the extent that I couldn't see in the mirrors whether someone was coming up behind me. It took well over an hour to get to the store. A couple of hundred yards from the store a guy on a Harley coming the other way yelled out, "Are you out of gas?". I pointed to the front tire and continued.

I explained to the guy at the store what had happened and he suggested I call a local man who had a wrecker. I did so and explained to him that I needed him to bring an air compressor and a big hammer. He and his wife showed up about 45 minutes later, he deployed his 6lb long-handled sledge and commenced beating the wheel to hammer out the bulge. We weren't getting anywhere because the wheel moved each time he hit it so I found a piece of 2 x 4 and about a 10lb rock to back it up. After beating on it for a few minutes he would see if the tire held air. This continued for at least 30 minutes until miraculously the tire held air. The bulge wasn't entirely gone but enough to make it workable. He told me to stop at every place that had air and refill the tire. His wife wrote me out a bill which I doubled out of gratitude and went on my way. I didn't need to stop, making it all the 70 miles home without further difficulty.

I thought a very expensive new front wheel was my only option but found a place in Denver called Woody's Wheel World, packaged up my wheel, getting it back in a couple of weeks looking perfect.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 1:51 pm

Holy smokes Walt! That's worse than anything I've had happen in over 45 years of riding. Lucky that rick didn't put you down. I can see where that would be easy to have happen in that flickering sun.
One day a few years ago I was riding the turns up by Sugarloaf. I was heading back south, so I had the mountains going up mostly sheer on the right and the Carrabassett river on the left.
I had the old Harley laid over pretty good at 60 in a no bank left turn (a dicey prospect itself on a Harley). I had a decent view of the road and it was in good shape. All of a sudden I got a flash of a pothole that was about a foot and a half in diameter, square edged, and about 6 inches deep. I was already half into the turn and fully committed. My skinny front tire missed it on the right by about a foot. Man, if Ida hit that sucker, I'd of been a goner.

Walt · Post by **Walt** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 3:09 pm

I joined a BMW club a while after getting my first bike, an '84 R80RT. A young fellow member hit a large pothole at speed and the crash killed him. A few weeks later his widow was trying to sell his riding gear on the club's web page. Heartbreaking.

There's no doubt riders are taking their lives in their hands each time they ride. That coulda been a whole lot worse, Jay.....I'm glad it wasn't.

OldWin · Post by **OldWin** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 7:07 pm

Thanks Walt. Yeah, I think it's just something we as riders have to accept. That's why riders are a different kettle of fish from many others.
Simple fact is, if it was all that safe, it wouldn't be fun.
I will say, however, that the TW is fairly safe for a motorcycle. And still a lot of fun. Well, as long as you stay off the highway with it.