Training Wheels

[HeR3tic]

I'll certainly remember that technique, if ever I put it down. Had the Intruder on the side stand while I returned to close the gate. Returned to the bike to find the side stand had pushed into the soft ground and the bike was lying on it's side still running. The heft was significant. I'll never be able do the strong arm lift with the Rocket.

Tom - I concur, the Rocket doesn't like panic stops. Getting a feel for rear and front combination braking still requires my attention. It sure isn't like a lightweight VS1400 Intruder.

Renegade - Sure glad you didn't suffer more than a bit of embarrassment.

Glad to hear that your baby is okay.... oh yeah you, too.

At BikeWeek a few years back Honda was doing a demo with a GoldWing.

The bike was sitting on the right side...the guy got some of the burliest guys standing around to try and pick up the bike. They couldn't do it.

The announcer grabs a little lady, maybe 100#s soaking wet, out of the audience.

She dropped the kickstand and walked around the right side...
Grabbed the right grip and the seat pan with her back to the bike...
And up it came... amazed all of us.

I didn't think she could do it either... Amazed me...

Lifted it with her legs not her arms and back...

 

[busajack]

flip

Go try to modulate that front brake till the tire howls on your muddy road..Te Ha I know, bite me Jack. I'am going I'am going Bye Jack & crown royal

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Jack:

If you could ride it in the mud, getting on the front brake would cause an immediate nosedive up to the axle with a resultant endo over the bars.

 

[busajack]

Dam Flip, what kind of mud is it. Sounds more like quick sand.

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Geology lesson 101

Jack:

Geologically, our farm is located in what is referred to as the Oak Openings which is a strip of fertile black loam and red sand that extends from the Ohio River Valley up into the Thumb of Michigan and is about 40 miles wide. When black loam and red sand is saturated it becomes just about bottomless goop. The county we live in is located on what is called a Karst area. A Karst area is an area with subterranean limestone caves which is why the largest limestone quarry in the world is less than 5 miles from here. The subterranean caves cause slumps or sinkholes to develop in the surface, some appearing overnight and they have swallowed a few unwary farmers and their tractors.

If you don't have a 4wd drive vehicle here, you don't go anywhere in the spring, especially after a snowy winter. Things are firming up now as the ground unthaws and it soaks up the melt.

 

[wilbur-t]

I can tell you that the trick of backing up to your bike and lifting it with your legs works. I went down in the mud on my dirt road last year and had to pick the R3 up by myself. I have to transverse 2 miles of gravel and dirt every time I ride.

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Wilbur:

Interestingly, I keep the R3 and the T100 in my machine shop in front of the floor lathe, under the overhead hoist. The floor of the shop is 6" thick high density concrete with an apron that leads to the gravel drive. The apron drops about 4" to the drive which is sloped uphill toward the house. I ride the bikes in and I use the "wife" reverse to get the R3 out. The Bonnie I can push out as the sidecar keeps it upright. If I roll the R3 out backward with me on it, when I hit the upward gravel and try to back it up by pushing down with my legs, moving the bike and applying the brake so as not to loose any ground, it gets real precarious and the R3 is heavy so the 'wife reverse' works well for me.

The floor in the shop is power trowled and epoxy coated for easy cleanup of machining waste and such and is slippery even when dry. I dropped the Bonnie in the shop (before I put on the sidecar) putting the bike on the centerstand and having the centerstand pads slip out on the floor.

I've considered setting a post in line with the shop overhead door about 75 feet from the shop and mounting a winch there. With a wireless remote on the winch, I could pull the bike out myself without the 'wife reverse'. That sucker is heavy.

 

[wilbur-t]

Yeah Flip, I have to resort to "Girlfriend Reverse" sometimes. You learn very fast to be careful where you park that thing! My old Tiger was also hard to back up even though it wasn't that heavy. 32" seat height didn't leave me much leverage with just my toes touching the ground. That high seat sure was nice for seeing through traffic, though.

Maybe you should mount the winch inside your shop and winch the thing in backward? Then you would be ready to go the next time.

 

[DANNO]

Last Sunday the wife and I went for a ride and stopped at a popular biker bar/eatery. There were about 40 Harley's around, and when we went to leave I had many onlookers with questions about the R3 and I told 'em all about the awesome power, and how easy it handles. Then when I went to back out of the stall (which looked flat) I couldn't. I had to use the wife reverse as well. She mumbled under her breath as she was pushing me out "It dosn't look to big, tough and fast with me pushing you out now!" OOPS!!!

PS. Sudden stops with the front brake on my R3 causes a loud clunk on the back of my head, it took a while to figure out until the face shield broke on my wifes helmet

 

[wilbur-t]

PS. Sudden stops with the front brake on my R3 causes a loud clunk on the back of my head,

Funny, my bike makes that same noise sometimes.