• Don't overlook our Welcome Package, it contains many links to important and helpful information about functions at VHT like posting pictures and sending PMs (private messages), as well as finding the parts you need.

    AD

Handlebar Options/Suggestions, Please

Nope, I'm the guy who hates buckhorn bars and forward mounted controls/pegs. It's one big reason (other than a lot of cash profit) I didn't want to keep the garage-find Harley.
Excellent! I hate them also. In fact, and I might cause shock and horror here, I hate Indians and Harleys too! Totally unsuited for tiny UK roads, perfect for USA but I still hate them!
 
While we're on this subject let's add bar grip. Most people initially hold the grips WAY too tight (death grip), there's no need to do that since you're not going to fall off.
That is soo true Jim. Back in 1978 I was riding a Yamaha RD200 with my mate on a Suzuki GT185 and he gripped the bars like his life depended on how tight he held them. On a round trip through the Peak District (a local beauty spot) he always complained of neck ache, shoulder and back ache and now I realise why! We were about 21 years of age so aching was not allowed, too young for that! I was fine, I could do the 60 mile round trip again. Mind you, I am very laid back!
 
Ah, I'm not feeling guilty about breaking the speed limit, I'm feeling guilty about the possibility / probability of wrapping myself around the landscape, much less of an issue on a 175.
I'm with you there Richard. When I was an indestructible teen-ager I went as fast as I could with no thought of danger. Now, when I do get on it, I'm more of a 'what if that car up ahead pulls out on me? Can I stop in time? What's around this bend, a stopped tractor?' These thoughts never entered my head back then, it's a wonder I'm still alive!:)
 
Yep, that's why I primarily enjoy straight line acceleration and speed these days on traffic-free sections of road (and there's a lot of that available around me now), and cautiously mix in a wheelie now and then
That's what I will like Tom! See how fast, in a straight line, I can get it from 0 to 70. Or 80 plus . . . . . . . .:)
 
Excellent! I hate them also. In fact, and I might cause shock and horror here, I hate Indians and Harleys too! Totally unsuited for tiny UK roads, perfect for USA but I still hate them!

I still have an appreciation for them, but a very low interest in actually owning one anymore. I'm at the project limit for myself now, enough to keep me busy for the next few years before my back (or knees, or shoulders) may well tell me it's time to stop.
 
I still have an appreciation for them, but a very low interest in actually owning one anymore. I'm at the project limit for myself now, enough to keep me busy for the next few years before my back (or knees, or shoulders) may well tell me it's time to stop.

That's what I'm worried about hence trying to hurry up and finish! At 64 I'm not too infirm but people say when you near 70 you start to want to do things but your body betrays you. So, I want to ride my 400 for a few years before I'm too weak to get it off its stand, never mind swing a leg over it!

Got to finish it first though . . . . . . . . :)
 
So, I want to ride my 400 for a few years before I'm too weak to get it off its stand, never mind swing a leg over it!

Got to finish it first though . . . . . . . . :)
Frame of mind, James. If you put it in your brain you’re done at 70, you’ll be done at 70… just saying. Stay active, keep moving forward; do what brings you joy. And, there’s a whole huge bunch of us waiting to see/hear what’s next… stay on, I’d be willing to bet you don’t stop riding. Cheers!


Tom - 1982 CM450E / Midwest USA
 
That's what I'm worried about hence trying to hurry up and finish! At 64 I'm not too infirm but people say when you near 70 you start to want to do things but your body betrays you. So, I want to ride my 400 for a few years before I'm too weak to get it off its stand, never mind swing a leg over it!

Got to finish it first though . . . . . . . . :)
64 isn't old. I did my first US tour at 60, celebrated my 61st in a motel 2000 miles from home, spending 3.5 months on the road and 18,000 miles.
201_4105.JPG
Then at almost 64 I did the 2nd tour to ride thru the remaining states to fill the map in, 4 months on the road and close to 20,000 miles.
GEDC2139-001.jpg
Tomorrow's my 71st and still going strong.
 
In my head I'm 18 still. Got many hobbies besides the bikes to keep me active. Model building, photography, computing, archery, guitar playing, painting landscapes in oils so for when I can't ride (hopefully around age 84 like I saw in a magazine a couple of years ago (and he was on a Honda Dream 400!) I'll have plenty to do! Bikes first though!
 
A couple of thoughts.

Bars. On the CB450K0 project the bike came with some very radical racing bars, and it was ridiculous to move around the garage and just deal with, so I finally bought a bar from 4into1 they call Chrome Daytona Touring:

https://4into1.com/chrome-daytona-touring-handlebars-7-8/

At $17.95 it's not a big commitment. At the same time you can buy new rubber mounting insulators, grips and whatever other maintenance stuff you want, and run up the bill, but that's its own sort of fun. The bars seem OK, although I haven't ever ridden the bike. The one thing I was thinking about is whether I was interested in running wiring through the bars or not. I decided I was not interested because I was still doing a lot of work on everything and access to everything was important. Some grip mounts have pins on them that stick into holes in bars, and you should see if that is an issue for you.

Bikes and age. Tough choices to make, but the story is always the same with motorcycles. The danger is there, you know it's there, so pay attention. The losses we get from aging are much more sneaky. Be realistic. Reaction times slow, vision and hearing fade, strength and endurance certainly go down. Everything makes it easier to screw up, and since screwing up is something I've always done I do it more now. I'd rather enjoy my rides now when I'm 75 and still be riding when I'm 85 that try to push myself to the edge of my abilities now and lose the chance to ride again when I'm 76.
 
I'm 67, going on 68. I spent some of last weekend up on my shed roof, replacing felt roofing shingles. Only 8 feet or so off the ground. I was fine while I was up there, but had a moments reflection when I came to get down to get the cup of tea which my wife had brought out to me. Feeling behind me for the top of the step ladder, it wobbled a bit. And it occurred to me that if I slipped and fell it was going to hurt.

( Some 18 months ago I slipped on ice, fell and somehow managed to dislocate my shoulder. It's still not right now, and I doubt that it ever will be. )

But when I was much younger, I used to amuse myself by jumping off a similar shed roof, onto tarmac, practicing my parachute rolls * and judo break falls. If I tried that now, it would end up in the local falls clinic …

( Did a couple of parachute static line jumps back then. Ex SAS instructor at Shobden air field, clipped me around the head and called me a d*** head for not paying attention )
 
Back
Top Bottom