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Help for a Nervous Rider

skibum69 said:
No fear of heights, I just rappelled off of a 360' wind turbine yesterday but the weird neurotic image I get riding over grate bridges is falling off and having my fingers go through the grating and getting ripped off. :ha

Here's my teammate on his way down. First drop working for a new company.
IMG_3623_heic-L.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow, I've always had a fear of heights, cost me office hours and a stripe but it was the lesser of the two evils IMO.

Much respect for people that can perform in that type of work. My ex FIL was an iron worker, loved the heights.
 
skibum69 said:
No fear of heights, I just rappelled off of a 360' wind turbine yesterday but the weird neurotic image I get riding over grate bridges is falling off and having my fingers go through the grating and getting ripped off. :ha

Here's my teammate on his way down. First drop working for a new company.
IMG_3623_heic-L.jpg
Click to expand...

We had a lot of grated ("Humming") bridges when I was a kid. No real fear other than knowing you have minimal traction.
 
skibum69;1216226 Here's my teammate on his way down. First drop working for a new company. [IMG said:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Mistras-work-and-sightseeing-in-Tumbler-Ridge/i-CG5vgjd/0/cf584d4a/L/IMG_3623_heic-L.jpg[/IMG]
Click to expand...

I love to see that stuff. The absolute most fun I had in law enforcement was fast-roping (not rapelling) out of a Huey helo in the mid-80s. However, it was only 60 feet, not 360. I never tried "Australian Rappelling":

Screen Shot 2020-08-13 at 5.07.58 PM.png
 
I've never bothered with an "Aussi" rappel but I did do a fun forward entrance to a 100' or so rappel many moons ago in North Carolina in the Devils Courthouse. Never did any fast roping, I was too heavy to get on those fire crews for fast roping or smoke jumping.

Working at height is only a head game, my longest drop was 1000' in the elevator shaft at Churchill Falls hydro plant. That was lit all the way down so you could see what you were stepping into.
 
Mackinaw Bridge

36654 said:
I can't remember if it's the Mackinaw or 1000-Island Bridge with the grate floor. The grate induced wobble didn't bother me, but I had to remember to not look down or my fear of heights would kick in.
Click to expand...

The Mackinaw Bridge has grates. It's freaky.

Jerry
 
Traditional, Aussie, buddy, rappel and fast rope... off fixed and rotoarywing platforms. Fringe benefit of being an infantryman in Ranger Battalion in the 80’s... when ropes got passé we’d strap WWII silk to our back and jump out of airplanes with 200lbs of gear on concrete runways in 27know winds.... you know, for fun!

Good times, good times.
 
Since we know he's on a Road King - Do they still come with the "flat profile in the middle" Goodyear tires? And at what pressure are they?

The profile is just wrong and the "corner" of the sidewalls feels twitchy when trying to take a corner. If the pressure is low, any tire will squirm around more.

Many years ago, I had a girlfriend with a Sportster, stock tires. She was scared to lean at all, ever - not good (first bike and zero training)... When they were due for replacement, I treated her to a set of ME880s. She also most fell over at the first turn out of the shop! I had to explain why tires were rounded, not squared off like car tires, and it took a long time before she built enough confidence to trust them. Part of that was I put her on the back, took the helm and showed her what decent tires can do. (With quality tires, I never had any problem scraping the low-hanging parts on either side of my Sporty or FLH.)

Getting back to his Road King - does he have the Heim joints on the engine mounts? If they're not properly adjusted, the rear wheel WILL be out of alignment and it'll Never handle "right".
 
Pauls1150 said:
Since we know he's on a Road King - Do they still come with the "flat profile in the middle" Goodyear tires? And at what pressure are they?

The profile is just wrong and the "corner" of the sidewalls feels twitchy when trying to take a corner. If the pressure is low, any tire will squirm around more.

Many years ago, I had a girlfriend with a Sportster, stock tires. She was scared to lean at all, ever - not good (first bike and zero training)... When they were due for replacement, I treated her to a set of ME880s. She also most fell over at the first turn out of the shop! I had to explain why tires were rounded, not squared off like car tires, and it took a long time before she built enough confidence to trust them. Part of that was I put her on the back, took the helm and showed her what decent tires can do. (With quality tires, I never had any problem scraping the low-hanging parts on either side of my Sporty or FLH.)

Getting back to his Road King - does he have the Heim joints on the engine mounts? If they're not properly adjusted, the rear wheel WILL be out of alignment and it'll Never handle "right".
Click to expand...

AFAIK, Harleys are being sold on Dunlops for the most part. Could be different in various parts of the country though
 
I see on the HD website that they sell Dunlop and Michelin at their shops; either one should be an improvement over the old Goodyears... but the tread pattern on some of the Dunlops still look iffy...

I also see that the R/K has the fork-mounted windshield - that will detract from overall handling too.
 
I rode Harleys for 15 years, still do. I can tell you that for the last twenty years the factory has used Dunlop exclusively on the regular line up. The CVO models might had some other brand, buy 95% of the new bikes sold had Dunlop.
 
Ah Ha........Perhaps this

Yesterday I was bopping along on one of my favorite roads when I came up on a Ram 2500 Cargo van which slowed me down a bit. However, the van driver was pretty good so the ride remained enjoyable. But, within a short while, the van and I became a much slower train behind a metric cruiser that was negotiating the curves at a painfully slow speed. While I appreciated the rider for wearing a hi-Viz full-face helmet and long sleeve tee-shirt, sturdy leather boots and gloves, they slowed to a crawl at every curve.

Then I got it, or I think so. Although the bars weren't ape hangers, the rider's arms were fully extended when going straight. There was minimal range of flex to push or pull on the bars. Whenever the rider attempted to turn, they had minimal means of initiating the lean........so they slowed way down to make the turn.
 
36654 said:
Yesterday I was bopping along on one of my favorite roads when I came up on a Ram 2500 Cargo van which slowed me down a bit. However, the van driver was pretty good so the ride remained enjoyable. But, within a short while, the van and I became a much slower train behind a metric cruiser that was negotiating the curves at a painfully slow speed. While I appreciated the rider for wearing a hi-Viz full-face helmet and long sleeve tee-shirt, sturdy leather boots and gloves, they slowed to a crawl at every curve.

Then I got it, or I think so. Although the bars weren't ape hangers, the rider's arms were fully extended when going straight. There was minimal range of flex to push or pull on the bars. Whenever the rider attempted to turn, they had minimal means of initiating the lean........so they slowed way down to make the turn.
Click to expand...

Ergonomics is important. There is way too much form over function in motorcycle design, by both manufacturers of some models, and certainly among customizers. To complicate things, some ergonimics will work for some folks and nor for others. I can provide two personal examples. 1) A leg forward position as on highway pegs strains my lower back. I can tolerate it for only a mile or two. 2) A forward lean as on Voni's R1100S causes me to tilt my head back to level the eyes to the horizon. This causes neck stingers after 50 or 100 miles. I can do it but it hurts.
 
PGlaves said:
Ergonomics is important. There is way too much form over function in motorcycle design, by both manufacturers of some models, and certainly among customizers. To complicate things, some ergonimics will work for some folks and nor for others. I can provide two personal examples. 1) A leg forward position as on highway pegs strains my lower back. I can tolerate it for only a mile or two. 2) A forward lean as on Voni's R1100S causes me to tilt my head back to level the eyes to the horizon. This causes neck stingers after 50 or 100 miles. I can do it but it hurts.
Click to expand...

+1 on everything you say, Paul. The forward lean on my F800ST is mild enough, and I am conditioned to it, that I seem to have no issues riding all day long, but any more forward leaning is too much.
 
Ergonomic Choices

Ergonomic or stylistic choices relative to comfort is one thing. When those choices impact your ability to maneuver the vehicle that's a different matter.
 
PGlaves said:
Absolutely! Ape hanger bars are a perfect example.
Click to expand...

:laugh One of buds rides a HD with apes. Complained he couldn't keep up in the twisties. Told him take the apes off and put stock back on. His reply was "it's all about the image". To which I replied "I thought it was about the ride". He wasn't too happy with that comment :eat
 
brownie0486 said:
:laugh One of buds rides a HD with apes. Complained he couldn't keep up in the twisties. Told him take the apes off and put stock back on. His reply was "it's all about the image". To which I replied "I thought it was about the ride". He wasn't too happy with that comment :eat
Click to expand...

Unfortunately or fortunately the image is "silly".
 
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