Chris, where I live it isn't a delusion. You may have a point about area where wind is minimal in strength and occasion. But I have to ride over bridges to get around my area, and those bridges are high. Even my Ultra Classic gets bumped around by those winds sometimes, so it's not a freaking fairy tale, I can assure you. Plus even on a highway, if you are on a 400-500lb bike and an 18 wheeler goes by you, you can't tell me you don't get pushed around. That's just not true.

 

There was a short story by Peter Egan talking about how many bikes a person needs. I think the number he came up with was 6. I think it was a Harley touring bike, a sport touring bike, a sport bike, an adventure bike, a dirt bike, and a classic. I have 5 bikes, but 3 are classics. I can live without the adventure bike, and I still need the dirt bike/enduro (again).

And yeah, my garage is tight (4 bikes, and room for a car and a truck). I have one classic and my riding lawn mower in a storage unit. I also have an ATV in a 6x12 trailer.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree. My Street Glide is very stable in heavy cross winds. My FJ09, not as much. My former lightweight enduros much less - you can really feel it. Rider weight is the same on all the bikes so removing that, simple physics tells you that it's much harder to move 900 pounds vs 475 pounds.

 

[QUOTE=GOV5;19587817]Sounds like my buddy's place... Some people have all the luck.

 

These are from my Alaska run in ‘017… You can see that the boys were a bit better prepared than I was for the north…



Destruction bay which is just west of Whitehorse… I’m pretty sure I was heading east, and the two fellas on the ADV’s we’re actually heading to a campground only about an hour and a half away from my house… that campground is a stopping point for many world travelers, and there’s a couple of weekends in the summer are they congregate at… It’s on Kooteney lake, Just north of Nelson… And I’m pretty sure that even Ted Simon has been there… The place is called “Toad Rock”… Lots of motorcycles there.


This is in Whitehorse… And this group of motorcyclists were from South America… They kept the bikes in storage somewhere in the US… And flew up every summer to travel on different roads.

 

Hey Rocky, they were on Adventure bikes and you were on a Harley. Would they even acknowledge your presence? I ask because I encountered ADV riders who would not even say howdy while riding Lolo pass on my Road King this summer. Reminded me of some Harley riders when they encounter Rice riders.

 

Actually, I had Lunch with them... a lot of the ADV'rs that I talked to had admiration for me that I would take an Electraglide above 60... even the paved roads are rough, and there is a lot of construction, and lots of them are very long... Yes, you can ride them up there... but you best watch out for road construction, and potholes... not all are marked... the big difference is the speed you can travel... I seldom took the glide over 60, and most of the time it was between 50 and 60 mph... I saw Harley's up there, mostly in the City's... but most bikes are ADV type... If you see a Harley outside of the city and packed for travelling, you stop and talk to them... they are few and far between... as I have said before, I though about running the Haul road to Prudoe Bay, but it was suppose to rain all the way up and back, so i stayed off of it... that rain chased me all the way to Ontario where it finally caught up with me.

 

Yea I can wholeheartedly disagree with that one. When I crossed the San Mateo bridge, just south of San Fransisco, there were whitecaps on the water below. There were gusts that had to be hitting 50-60. The weird part is there was only a 15 or so wind on shore. Never been on that bridge before, or since. I have ridden through many storms and winds I never should have been in, but these winds actually hurt. There is no stopping on that bridge, there is only getting to the other side.

My sportster, 560lbs wet, loaded hard saddlebags, about 40lbs, bag on the sissy bar, about 15lbs, windshield and quick detach hardware, about 10lbs, plus my rear end (180) dressed to ride about 195. Thats about 825lbs, well short of the 1,000lb GVWR of the bike. My bike was in tip top condition, suspension, brakes bearings, everything, so there was nothing wrong with the rider, or bike. Those winds were blowing me hard. The problem with those kind of winds, is you brace against them when they blow, and when they let up, you relax. When you relax, the wind hit you like s truck, and WILL shove you across a lane.

I have ridden 125cc bikes that were affected less. I am convinced it had to do more with weight density and how much surface there is for the wind to hit. Go stand in the wind, alone, and then go get a piece of plywood, your size, and plant it on the windy side. It will knock you over. My riding buddy and his wife behind me on that bridge were barely affected. His Limited, was loaded, with 2 riders, all luggage bags full and a large duffle on top of the tourpak. MUCH more weight, larger tires, stronger frame, etc. I do think the fairings vs my windshield made a difference as well.

 

In my neck of the woods, a real dirt bike is basically a MX bike that has to be fast, light, and nimble in order to ride the narrow single-tracks through pine and poplar forests, often on whoop-de-doo sections, at a fairly high rate of speed. Anything that weighs over 250 pounds is a pig or a "foo foo" bike. There are "Trail" bikes and Dual Sport bikes but they are not real "Dirt" bikes. Trying to haul *** through the woods on a narrow single track with a dual sport bike can get you hurt, or at least tired, in short order - been there, done that..
For open country off-road riding, like out West, you can use something other than a MX, Enduro, or Hare Scrambles bike but you won't see Dual Sport or ADV bikes on Michigan's trails.
Back in the day, every adult (no kids) trail ride was basically a Big Dog ride. If you couldn't keep up, you didn't go. If you didn't have a "MX" bike, you couldn't keep up. We used to hone our skills in local gravel pits that had flat terrain to race on and steep hills to climb.
"Dirt biking" for me, is hard and fast riding on a MX bike. Trail riding can be done with kids at a slower pace; that's what we used our Honda XRs for.
I understand that everyone's definition of a "Dirt" bike is not the same thing.

 

I think most have just given up on Harley folks since they are typically the least friendly.

At least the "real" bikers are anyways. 😁

 

The difference between a Biker and a Motorcyclist... a Biker will ride across town for a Beer... a Motorcyclist will ride across the Country for the same beer... I am NOT a biker...