Author Topic: Motorcycle Quote of the Day  (Read 418992 times)

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2750 on: February 07, 2019, 10:37:53 AM »
It was a pleasant summer afternoon. We stopped at a clam bar for beer and steamers. By the time I got there I had half a buzz on, but so did everyone else. We raced our bikes through the dunes and brush, wiped out, and fell down and slid through the sand. It was a lot of fun. Then we built a fire and got good and drunk and screwed in the dunes 'till the sun came up.
Unfortunately, I wasn't running an air filter on my carburettor. I only had a single barrel, so I was sucking straight air in order to make the thing run faster. Sand had gotten sucked right into the combustion chamber. The rings froze, and the engine died. I ripped the head off, and the walls were scored. I fought with a machinist to get it bored overnight. Then I got oversized pistons at Ghost Motorcycle in Port Washington, and by Friday afternoon I was trying to stick the thing back together by myself, when I realised I needed help.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  pp109-10
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2751 on: February 08, 2019, 09:22:18 AM »
It was getting dark and, as I went down a road shaded with trees, I flicked on the lights. Immediately the engine started breaking up. It sounded like a short in the wiring harness. I turned off the lights and engine purred just fine. Then I turned on the lights again and the engine started to sputter. Now I knew that's what it was.
It would be dark in a matter of minutes. There was no way in hell that I was going to find a gas station on Sunday night out in the sticks with a mechanic on duty who could find the short. And there was no way that I could find it by myself on the side of the road in the dark. The best I could hope for was a gas station with some kid pumping gas who would be scared shitless when I pulled up and more than glad to let me use the shop.
But I didn't even see a gas station that was open. By the time I hit Route 30, it was a pitch black country night, and there was nobody on the road. But then an idea came to me. Richie from the Chicago Outlaws once told me that 90 percent of the people who get killed on a motorcycle get hit from behind by idiots, so all you have to do is keep way ahead of the flow of traffic. I could see the road ahead in the dark. So the trick was to just turn the lights off, crank it up, make sure that nobody's lights came up behind me, and then try to avoid cops for the next two hours and I'd be roaring up Mount Penn and home, scot-free.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  p127
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2752 on: February 09, 2019, 04:33:46 PM »
The day-to-day realities of being an outlaw motorcyclist in California are not easily transplantable. Bikes are a sunshine thing; they are dangerous and uncomfortable in rain and snow.  — Hunter S. Thompson

No shit, Hunter.
In the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania, the temperatures drop to 20 below in January and February. Sometimes it doesn't go above zero for weeks at a time. Then the last week in February, or the first week in March, the sun comes out and the temperature goes up to 50 for a couple of days. The wiseacres start to say, "Spring is here." Then the sun goes away, and a cold rain falls every day, sometimes until between Memorial Day and Fourth of July. Even in the summer, you never go anywhere without your leather jacket, a pair of gloves, and a flannel shirt, and at any time you can be caught under a bridge, waiting out a storm. September and October are gorgeous- nothing but sunshine, clear blue skies, and gold and red autumn foliage. But even then, the temperatures seem to drop 20 degrees as soon as the shadows of the mountains fall across the roads in the twilight. Then comes Halloween; the leaves are gone and the snowflakes again begin to fly.
In other words, you have to be nuts to own a motorcycle in Pennsylvania.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  p219
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2753 on: February 10, 2019, 12:41:41 PM »
By the next morning he would be ready. In the meantime, we later heard, he had called the Kuhn Funeral Home in West Reading and terrorised the undertaker by telling him that he had heard from reliable sources that the Pagans and Heathens were on their way down to hijack the body of Robert Rayel so they could give him a decent outlaw funeral. He then suggested that they might be deterred by a couple of plain-clothes cops posing as funeral directors. The undertaker immediately agreed and even offered to loan them suits that he kept on hand for the stiffs if they needed them.
Now any idiot knows that if you want to deter people, you send uniformed policemen, not plain-clothes cops. This was obviously a surveillance operation, with probably the whole barracks standing by in case we showed up at the funeral. It's not that Harley Smith thought that we were stupid, he knew better than that. But he also knew that we were the most arrogant bastards that he had ever seen in the Berks County underworld. And walking through the front door of a funeral parlour as the head of the entire club, all decked out in swastikas and colours while the cops were running all over the county with warrants for our arrest, was just the sort of stunt that Chuck, or any old-time '60s outlaw for that matter, would have loved to pull. All publicity, but no payoff.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  p244
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2754 on: February 11, 2019, 02:01:01 PM »
But after I re-read mine, I yelled, "Hold it! Pick that back up and read it."
It said: "Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus."
The next morning we were at the fairgrounds, by six o'clock. It was already hot and humid. We stashed our colours in Blackie's saddlebags and walked up to the site just wearing Levi's and t-shirts. They soon had us unloading poles and canvas from flatbed trailers. Then we had to unroll the canvas and stretch the canvas over the tent poles. As members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club, no matter what the situation, we had to be tougher than everyone else. This meant that while other people sweated and complained about the heat and humidity, we just spat and worked harder. The foreman picked up on this and kept telling us that he could find a spot in the truck and a spare bunk if we wanted to stay with the circus for a while. Blackie was game until I reminded him that we weren't supposed to leave the county yet.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  p259
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2755 on: February 12, 2019, 09:46:27 AM »
At a time when many outlaws were learning the importance of playing by the rules- which is to say cleaning up, washing your hair, and leaving the leather and chains at home when they went to court- and at least one big outlaw club was forbidding its members from wearing swastikas in an effort to clean up its public image- Chuck Ginder refused to be intimidated by any of this and decided to take his club out as the last true outlaws.
He told us that putting on citizen clothes and playing by their rules was a sign of submission, and that was not what outlaws were all about. When the trial opened, he marched his club into the courtroom, decked out in chrome chains, black leather jackets, beards, earrings, long hair, and swastikas. And there he stood glaring at the judge and jury, defying them to convict him.
Again, this is what the old outlaws meant by "true class". As I pointed out earlier, the Mennonite martyr Simon de Kramer was executed in the Netherlands when he refused to bend his knee and genuflect before a Spanish bishop who, in a lavish display of piety, was carrying a consecrated host through the marketplace in Bergen op Zoom. Whether we look at Simon swinging on the gallows for refusing to genuflect in the Netherlands, Lucifer getting cast into Hell for refusing to kneel before the throne of God in Heaven, or Skip, Chuck, and the whole crew getting carted off to jail for refusing to kowtow before judge and jury in Berks County, Pennsylvania, it is all the same colossal chutzpah that makes real outlaws what they are.
Riding On The Edge  John Hall  pp278-9
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2756 on: February 13, 2019, 04:22:40 PM »
Now the Honda CT110, or postie bike as it's known in Australia due to its use by the Australian Postal Service, isn't like any other motorbike. It's a step-through affair with a kick start and no clutch. I'd never kick started a bike in my life and had no idea how to do it. As I was sitting in the saddle attempting to press a non-existent electric starter button, John Peterson walked past.
I called out to him, "How do you start this thing?" He came over and motioned for me to get off the bike.
"Okay, first you need to turn on the choke, then pull out the kick start lever and - he jumped down on it - "use your heel to kick straight down on the lever."
It started first time.
"Oh, right," I responded, not feeling the least bit confident about my chances of starting it so easily. I turned everything off and back on again and attempted to do the same thing. Nothing.
Try again, he said.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p5
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2757 on: February 14, 2019, 10:41:48 AM »
The wildlife is harder to spot. Emus were the same colour as shrubs, kangaroos blended into the long, straw-like grasses and cows looked like boulders from a distance. As I was cruising along, breathing in the colourful vista around me, I became aware of a large shape on the horizon. It was a road train. As it got closer, I thought it would pull off the road so I didn't have to, but it didn't. Suddenly, I realised that if I didn't pull off, I would be flattened. I swung Rosie onto the gravel shoulder as the beast thundered by. That snapped me out of my reverie and taught me a lesson I'd need to remember - road trains stop for no one.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  pp39-40
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2758 on: February 15, 2019, 09:17:34 AM »
I could hardly eat my food, my hands were so weak. Hand Mike (a physiotherapist who specialised in hand and arm injuries) advised me I'd got "arm pump", a build-up of lactic acid in my forearms. I'd also badly strained the ring-finger of each hand, and the rest of my fingers were so cramped from gripping too tightly that I couldn't straighten them out again. They were injuries that would plague the rest of my trip.
I really struggled to keep my emotions in check during dinner, and when I discovered that the two riders I'd seen at the side of the road had been air-lifted out by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to a hospital in Mount Isa, 700 km away, it shook me up even more. Ian, the New Zealander I'd been talking to at Nindigully, had a head injury and was badly concussed. Hugh, a man I hadn't met, had broken his collar bone and bruised his kidneys.
I was so worn out by the time I finished dinner that I went straight to bed, having seen nothing of the town I'd come to see. I had no idea how I was going to survive the next few days, if the roads continued to be this bad.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p50
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2759 on: February 18, 2019, 09:12:25 AM »
Further on again, Dentist Steve was sitting at the edge of the road. I stopped. "Are you okay?" I called out to him.
"Yes, I just stopped to refuel and discovered I'd lost my jerry can and everything in my milk-crate. It must have fallen out when we went into that sand pit. I'm just hoping someone's picked it up." I waited with him, and a few others pulled over to see what had happened. As we all gathered by the roadside, a couple in a four-wheel-drive pulled up and asked us what we were doing.
"We're doing the Postie Bike Challenge," said one of the guys and explained a bit about it.
"Are you doing it for charity?" said the lady.
"Well, sort of. The bikes will be donated to the Rotary Club at the end, who will auction them to raise funds."
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p78
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2760 on: February 19, 2019, 11:34:33 AM »
I took a few photos, hugged a few people and emptied Rosie's milk crate for the final time. I removed Hamish, my mascot, from Rosie's forks, gathered my running sheets, key ring and clothing and made my way to the hotel.
Was it really over?
My room overlooked the park and I could see the last of the postie bikes being loaded onto trailers and utes outside. I sat down, put my head in my hands and cried. It had been the best ten days of my life and I was so sad it had come to an end. I had never done anything quite like it before. Never had I been with such a great group of people. Often, where groups of people are involved, there will be at least one who gets on your nerves, but I couldn't say that about any of the postie bikers. They were all wonderful people and, for the first time in my life, I felt I'd truly fitted in.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p93
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2761 on: February 20, 2019, 09:24:31 AM »
Inside the roadhouse we got chatting. The boys were on their annual two-week ride together and were on their way to Alice Springs. "Did you see that plane flying over?" one of them asked.
"Yes. What was that all about?
"Cops."
"Cops?" I queried.
"Yeah, doing speed checks."
"Really? Oh well, I've got nothing to worry about, then."
They looked at me, puzzled. "Is that a 500 you're on?" one of them asked.
"Ha, no, it's a 125," I replied.
"What? Are you going to Alice Springs on a 125?"
"Not just Alice Springs. Across the Nullarbor and then up to Darwin."
"You're mad!" he exclaimed. "I like you already."
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p123
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2762 on: February 21, 2019, 11:56:43 AM »
On the road, without all my usual activities to distract me, I'd started to feel my need for love again. I would drift into fantasies about what it would be like to have a boyfriend once more, and I hoped I would meet someone on this trip.
That night a guy on a Harley-Davidson arrived at the roadhouse. I was in the bar having dinner when I saw him pull up at the petrol pumps outside. My heart jumped as I thought of the possible romance we could have. But it wasn't to be. He checked into one of the cabins in the campsite and that was the last I saw of him.
I heard him leave, though. At 5 a.m., before the sun had even started rising, he fired up his Harley and woke the entire campsite with the sound of his Screaming Eagle exhaust pipes. Clearly he wouldn't have been a suitable match for me - I don't like noisy bikes.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p139
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2763 on: February 22, 2019, 08:51:30 AM »
Crosswinds are all right if they're steady, as you bank the bike over into them. But if they're gusting it becomes really dangerous, as you never know when the gust will hit and how long it will last. If you're banked over when the wind stops blowing and don't bring the bike right again quickly enough, you can end up ploughing into the tarmac.
If you've got enough weight or power, you stand a better chance of blasting through it, but even with my luggage, Ruby was not a heavy bike and didn't have the engine capacity to bulldoze the gusts, so I was getting slammed across the carriageway. I couldn't hold her steady and the thought of having to do this all the way to Ceduna scared the hell out of me. After about a kilometre I realised I would probably die if I continued. I did a U-turn and went back to the junction with the Lincoln Highway, where I headed south, thus regaining the tailwind.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  pp175-6
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2764 on: February 23, 2019, 09:44:56 AM »
In this case, I'd seen the green line of the Mitchell Freeway leaving Perth northwards and another red line (indicating a highway) beyond it, but I hadn't noticed that the two lines didn't meet. When I got to the end of the Mitchell Freeway, it just petered out and led to an intersection in the middle of a housing estate. Now who builds a freeway that ends up in the middle of a housing estate?
I didn't know which way to go. I caught sight of a petrol station to my left and aimed for that. I pulled out my map, which indicated that the red line went through Wanneroo, slightly to the south-east. As this was roughly the direction I needed to go, I turned back onto the road I'd just left, but in the opposite direction, and followed it east. A few left turns later I got to a big intersection which offered access to the Great Northern and Brand highways straight ahead, or another minor road to my left.
I panicked. Which way should I go? Then, just as all the traffic started to move forward, I saw a mileage sign down the minor road with what looked like "Lancelin" listed in the destinations. In a split second I threw my weight to the left and Ruby veered onto the Indian Ocean Drive. We'd found it.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  pp221-2
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2765 on: February 23, 2019, 12:18:57 PM »
Quote
When I got to the end of the Mitchell Freeway, it just petered out and led to an intersection in the middle of a housing estate.

Quote
I caught sight of a petrol station to my left and aimed for that

Not quite a housing estate, accross the road from that point was actually bush (now the freeway continues, but about 5 ks later terminates again)

The road is Burns beach road, turn right and you wind up at Wanneroo rd, turn left for Lancellin. Turn left towards the Petrol station (BP) continue through a roundabout, turn right at Marmion Ave and keep going. You will end up on Indian Ocean drive.

I live in that area.  :)
Brock
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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2766 on: February 24, 2019, 01:23:42 PM »
I packed up Ruby for the second time and was back at Northwest Honda for 8.30 a.m. This time the mechanic was there. Ruby was wearing out, too. As well as needing her 8,000 km service, a new chain and a new rear wheel, she'd been having these mysterious coughing fits. I told the mechanic about them and said that the guy at the campsite had thought it was due to the fuel overheating.
"Oh, I doubt that," the mechanic responded. "It's more likely to be something in the fuel lines. I'll flush the carbs out just to make sure."
Three hours and $704 later (thank God for credit cards), we were ready to go - carbs duly flushed. Apparently there had been a bit of grit in the carbs, which could have caused the coughing. Apart from this, the mechanic hadn't been able to identify anything seriously wrong with her.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p252
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2767 on: February 25, 2019, 09:21:22 AM »
At one point I could feel myself starting to fail asleep. I pulled into a lay-by and lay down on the ground beside Ruby. Within seconds I was unconscious. I think I could have died in that moment. I don't know how long I'd been like that - it could have been seconds, it could have been minutes - but I was startled awake by the vibration of my phone going off in my shirt pocket.
It was 007 Michael, replying to a message I'd sent him a few days before. It probably saved my life. I'm not sure I'd have come round again if it hadn't been for that message. I later found out that Michael had actually sent the message two days before, but it had only reached me as I lay there, dead to the world. It was as if the universe was shaking me awake and telling me to keep going.
I staggered to my feet, drank half my bottle of Hydralyte and got back on the road.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  p273
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2768 on: February 26, 2019, 01:17:15 PM »
We reminisced about the Postie Bike Challenge. After pouring me a huge glass of wine, Phil said, "So, tell us about your trip." I told them where I'd been and shared some of the highlights.
"And what are you going to do with Ruby, now it's over?"
"Well, the dealer in Adelaide said he'd give me the number of the Honda dealer here. I need to phone him on Monday. Because I couldn't register her in my name, he said he'd explain this to the dealer here and see if he could get him to buy her off me."
"How much do you want for her?" Phil asked.
"If I got $1,000 I'd be happy," I replied. Then, sensing there was something more behind this question than polite curiosity, I added, "Why? Are you interested?"
"Yes, I am."
"Really?"
"Yes. After the Postie Bike Challenge I'd been thinking I would like another bike, but I hadn't got round to doing anything about it. Ruby would be just the thing."
"Oh my God, that would be great." I couldn't believe my luck.
Slow Rider  Jill Maden  pp288-9
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2769 on: February 27, 2019, 09:44:57 AM »
Set in Sri Lanka, 2002
So I rented a motorcycle.
I'm normally a rice-rocket kind of guy, but this is not the place for a low-slung and high-tech piece of equipment. I'll be driving on dirt roads more often than not, across rice fields, perhaps. If there are gunshots and no road, I might have to make a creative exit. I need something all-terrain, so I find a small dirt bike, a little Honda 250 trail bike that will get me across ditches, through streams, and over the potholes that, along with bomb craters, broken glass, rubble, and rebar, that make up the ground plane of most war theatres.
Tea Time With Terrorists  Mark Meadows  p154
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2770 on: February 28, 2019, 11:38:55 AM »
Karma is everywhere in Sri Lanka. It is a concept held dear by both Buddhists and Hindus. There's also this concept of dharma, which is a righteous path, a holy direction, and can be interpreted to mean "that which keeps us going" or "that which supports us in our journey".
My dharma is, as I mentioned, rented. It's a Honda XLR 250R Baja trail bike. It's a single-cylinder four-stroke with a little chain drive that I can flip fast through its six gears. Hopping fast over the bumps, the thing weighs only about one hundred kilograms, and if I'm feeling punk (and nobody's watching) I can pull a short wheelie on it. It claims to be air cooled, but I don't understand how that can possibly be a functioning feature here in this hot weather.
I love my hot dharma.
Pulling over, I slow it down, put my left foot on asphalt and feel the twenty-eight-horsepower engine letting heat off near my left calf. Swinging my other leg over the seat, I pull off my bandanna and stop to take a look around as my flesh gradually reattaches itself to my bones.
Tea Time With Terrorists  Mark Meadows  p169
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

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Bodø

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2771 on: February 28, 2019, 02:36:17 PM »
My karma ran over your dogma.
 

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2772 on: March 01, 2019, 09:27:23 AM »
A couple of hours north of Kandy, outside a green and small town named Matale, I pull the bike off the highway, feeling mildly rattled, and park next to a guy dressed in a plaid shirt, probably made in Chennai. He's selling little Mickey Mouse dolls, manga comics, fluffy blue Care Bears, stuffed Teletubbies, and cans of Coca-Cola. Behind him a stone staircase stretches up the hill to the temple of Aluvihara, tucked up in the clouds. Aluvihara, part of the island's tourist track, is about smack in the middle of the country.
My ass is vibrating, my face is covered in dead bugs, my teeth are shaken loose from their normal arrangement, and my forehead feels like it's been under a blowtorch. I'm exhausted. All part of the high-speed happiness of a two-stroke on a sunny day. My back aches and my arms are heavy, but I'm feeling fine.
Tea Time With Terrorists  Mark Meadows  p182   I know- it's a 4 stroke. He's a journalist, not a biker.
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

OzSTOC #16  STOC #6135  FarR #509  IBA #54927
 

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2773 on: March 02, 2019, 09:09:04 PM »
Staring at my own map at the gas station several hundred miles up the road, I'm certain, absolutely certain, as certain as The English Woman, that I do not want to get lost. I'm at the front door of the war theatre.
Since maps and motorcycles mix like convertibles and cocaine, I've been using my compass. It gets me where I need to go, since there aren't many roads. My strategy has been to glance down every so often to make e sure I'm still headed north. It's easier than pulling over, and it spares me the indignity of crashing into a tree trunk with a big piece of paper covering my face. The specific road doesn't matter, as long as it goes north.
Tea Time With Terrorists  Mark Meadows  p195
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

OzSTOC #16  STOC #6135  FarR #509  IBA #54927
 

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorcycle Quote of the Day
« Reply #2774 on: March 03, 2019, 01:22:57 PM »
The asphalt, when it is unbroken, is fine and operational, but there is no real shoulder at the edges of the road as much as there is a dissolution of the asphalt into a collection of unstable stones scattered on top of sand.
None of this would be a problem were it not for the trucks. The road is wide enough for a single vehicle, but the potholes occasionally constrict the drivable space down to a couple of meters. Of course, when there is little space there is also, by some cosmic and persistent coincidence, a truck coming in the opposite direction. These lorry drivers neither give way nor slow down. Instead, they shove the pedal to the floor, point the grill of their truck directly at my throat, honk a final death threat as they do it, and edge their huge rig onto my side of what little road there is to see if they can separate me from my motorcycle.
Tea Time With Terrorists  Mark Meadows  p198
For the modern man who lives in the city, riding a bike might be one of the only ways to escape the humdrum monotony. To take off and ride. To be both at one with nature and one with the bike. To feel masculine. Adam Piggott

OzSTOC #16  STOC #6135  FarR #509  IBA #54927