It is always most convenient to simply take a freshly purchased classic with you on the trailer, even after a serious test drive. Experience has shown that otherwise it will rain unexpectedly or that you will have bad luck, especially if your new addition has not ridden for a while before he got his new owner. And the chance of this is growing rapidly. Because at the moment quite a few motorcycles are being 'cleared'.
The offer is increasing
That has been said and kept silent among us more than anything to do with the senseless pleasure of working with old motorcycles is usually an age-related action. And where as a sixty-year-old you still eat your miles cheering like a young God, after your seventy you often become a bit stiffer. And the eighty-year-old motorcyclists I know all take it easy these days. Peter Koelewijn already sang it: “You are getting older, Daddy”.
For example, motorcycles, which simply take up less space, are placed in garages and sheds where they only come out once: to be sold. In the meantime, these are no longer Norton Dominators or Vincents, but mostly Japanese from the late seventies, eighties and early nineties.
More than often, they are neat motorcycles
But that does not mean that they are immediately ready for holiday. The tires are often outdated, the air filters can contain interesting fungal cultures, the brakes can be stuck. And the brake hoses are often against a stroke.
If you are proud and happy on a beautiful Yamaha three-cylinder for next to nothing, it will rain. And the front brake jams because of such an infarction in which the brake fluid leaks between the lining of the brake hose and the outside. Then the brake fluid can still go forward, but not back properly. Waiting for five minutes until the prostate complaints have disappeared temporarily helps. Disconnecting the hose (s) at the claw as well. Then you will be without a front brake for the rest of the ride. And you have to be very careful because brake fluid does very ugly things with paint.
But it can also go wrong when you take it with you on a pendant.
In principle, it is enough to put the front wheel in a wheel clamp (only costs about ten or six and is also handy when parking in a shed or garage) and to pull the front fork in the springs. Then secure the rear wheel against escaping to the left or right with an extra strap and you are safe on the road. Another investment before and after charging: buy such a darn handy folding aluminum ramp. And don't be tough: you have to use at least two, preferably three people to put a motorcycle on and off the cart.
A friend bought a V-Max
When it rolled onto the cart, it shot the selling party in the back. Boyfriend was splitting with one leg on the ground and the other already on the cart. In the balancing act that followed, my friend heard and felt something very strange in his shoulder. The good news: The V-Max didn't fall. The bad news: One tendon in my friend's shoulder was broken and another tendon was ruptured.
It will be repaired soon. And then he can go into a rehabilitation process for six months. After that, he never buys a machine of more than 850 cc. So with this one: Rob, I wish you a good recovery!
Oh yes: For us enthusiasts, a motorcycle trailer is quite a cunning thing. If you buy one with a few like-minded people and store it with the person with the most space, then that is a good investment.
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Thanks Dolf !!
Great story of 60s and 70s and getting stiff despite my sports activities, running and swimming, I have that too.
This spring I wanted to drive on my Aprillia 6.5 went fine, but the balance at the end and step was still less, in the garage / annex then always a wall to lean against, but still.
Aprillia is now enjoying this model with another enthusiast, motorcyclist off no, nothing, the Harley is still there with lowered suspension.
Recognizable story
Dear Hans, what a sad story. Maybe exercise a little less and drink a little more. I happily step on my 6.5 for city rides. But my Trident from 1968 is still a favorite for rides around the village of Rotterdam together with my love. She thinks the comfort from that period is much better than the 6.5. And I can agree because a Triple is a wonderfully “round” walking block .. But unfortunately the interest for that period is decreasing. Logically, my childhood was not with old hopeless HD Liberators either! So who wants a Dominator, Speed Twin or even a Germanic product from that time, enjoy it while you can, hopefully we passed away before RUTTE 6.5 banned driving.
Lowland Triples
Standing still at work at the end of the shift with an R1150R that showed no signs of life was no fun.
Eventually my buddy Roger came up with such a 'cumbersome cup of coffee' and ramp.
The two of us pushed the very heavy boxer on it, after which Roger lashed it down with incredible skill. That boxer really went nowhere.
When at home, after listening for a while in a quiet environment, when setting up contact, the mistake also turned out to be of an insanely simple nature, my day could not go wrong. (The next day, within an hour, we got back to work because the petrol pump in the tank had just pooped the hose off because the filter was closed.)
Now that 1150 is not really what you call a classic but an infarction in the brake hose,
he would get that too. Even worse, it instantly became an aneurysm, and it popped!
That was less. The fact that it happened in the garage meant that my day could not be broken again… ..
When I picked up my FJ1100 years ago, the rear light turned out to be defective. Off the highway and parked on the roadside. Then he sinks on his side through the soft ground. Are you standing there along the A1 with a motorcycle that you cannot lift yourself in the dark….
It may indicate stupidity, laziness or calling for a blessing, but I usually 'let' my attention be drawn to an inoperative back light. I don't have to pretend either. And I don't have to stop on the way.
Clearly
Those are the times when you consider setting the thing on fire and becoming a motorist!
The moments when you use an extremely creative vocabulary, after which you look around to see if the (grand) kids have not heard you. ...