Snippets

[BKB]

Food at the Millstone is reasonably good, but I'm not a "Foodie", so what do I know? If I can get it past my nose, I'll most likely enjoy it. I'd not been to Ash Cave before, so was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be handicap accessible. Not that bad off just yet, but my knees & back really don't like rough terrain. Glad Joe suggested it. Thanks. Old Man's Cave is a bit tougher to get to, but I walked back there a few years ago. Probly won't happen again, tho. Great day for a meet-n-eat.

[Woody9225]

Glad you liked the hocking hills area. I am only about 20 mins from that area. I ride over there often.


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[Crusty]

Why A Sportster?




I’ve been sitting here, this morning, thinking about my choice in bikes. There are many bikes out there that are superior to Sportsters in many aspects. Some are bigger; some are faster; some handle better. For my trip to the Arctic, there are many “Adventure” bikes that would be more appropriate. Also, out of three Sportster engines, two had crankshafts that went bad and I didn’t mistreat them. Hell; I don’t think I ever hit redline with the engine in the 16. I tour on my Sportsters. I don’t baby them, but I don’t beat them, either.


So why do I keep riding them?


I originally got a Sportster when I hit the road for a couple of reasons. First, because when I was traveling on a Moto Guzzi, back in 79, a U-joint went bad. In 20 minutes, I had the old broken one out and in my hand, when David Kaelin told me nobody in the state of Minnesota had one. My bike got trailered to a shop in Minneapolis and I took a Greyhound bus back to Louisville, Kentucky so I could go back to work on time. I decided that I wanted a bike that had a large dealer network and readily available parts.


The other main reason I got one was that Bill (my friend who unexpectedly died in his sleep) was a die hard Sportster lover. We had been planning a trip across the country on Ironheads when he died. I hit the road as a tribute ride to him.


There are more reasons than that, though. Sportsters are an addictive motorcycle They have a feel that nothing else can match. They also are designed for very easy maintenance. That’s a big plus when you’re changing your oil in a Walmart parking lot. Sportsters are also the ultimate raw material bike. It’s the easiest bike out there to personalize. There are more different accessories for them than any other motorcycle made.


In spite of the two bad cranks I’ve experienced, I think the basic engine is sound. When the MoFoCo came up with the rubber mount Sportsters, they let the bean counters have too much input into the design and the cheapened aspect of manufacturing hurt the reliability of the product. That’s why I’m spending big money with Dark Horse. I’ll have a bottom end in my engine that will hopefully still be running when archeologists find the bike in the next millennium.


As I said, Sportsters are addictive. They are an extremely satisfying bike to own and ride. I can’t think of any other bike I’d prefer to own. Both times, when the cranks died, I thought about getting something else. In 2016, I bought a beater Concours. I hated it. Last fall, when the engine started knocking, I thought about a variety of other bikes, then I called the shop and asked if they had a used Sportster for sale. (That’s how I got the Cussed’em).


There is no other bike that is as satisfying to me. It’s not perfect; but it can be made into a bike that meets my idea of what a bike should be better than anything else.


It’s the right bike for me and it's the bike that I’m going to ride to the Arctic Ocean.

[ChinCactus]

And when you go to the Arctic, we hope to be following along!

I have been a Sportster rider for 40+ years. Before that I had a couple Bonneville's and Daytona's.

For years the Sportsters did double duty, touring and round town blasting. I'd change shocks and the seat and add a windshield for trips, then change it back when I got home.

Eventually I bought a RK for the long rides and the Sporty remains, sporty.

Both do what I need them to do. Never really considered anything else.