For non-fair-weather-riders, is one bike enough?

Energy One
No H2O

No H2O

Active Member
Personally I'm limited space-wise to two bikes but with hot summers, cold winters, urban, and rural environments all rolled into one area I could need:
1. a chopper for profiling
2. a general-purpose bike that's good in bad weather (morning frost, non-sticking snow, etc.) commutes.
3. an easy to mount lightweight bike for short errands / parking in the city
4. a sport bike for spirited rides during off hours (minimal cars on the road)
5. a comfortable cruiser for long trips (not my case but I can see people needing this one)

Assuming (1) is going to be terrible in bad weather, how many bikes do you own for purposes 1-5 above?
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
I have a "pack mule" 2012 cvo street glide with just under 32,000 miles that I would take out in just about any weather.
My 07 K9 Is soooo hard to keep clean( better since I added the chrome wheels and accessories) that I seldom head out anymore if I know it's gonna get bad. With this said, I have ridden the K9 from Suffolk Virginia for the Delmarva Bike week a few years ago and didn't have any weather related issues.
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
before we lost our house/dog setters my wife and I rode on all the road trips we took. So, we bought a bus and now take the dog with us. Riding in the pouring down rain isn't fun, but the time we spent on the bikes on the road versus riding in the bad weather were well worth it. You just can't buy those kinds of memories.
 
No H2O

No H2O

Active Member
pknowles said:
I have a "pack mule" 2012 cvo street glide with just under 32,000 miles that I would take out in just about any weather.
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Not sure if the suspension is better quality on the street glide but would you take a fat boy out in any weather as well?
Right now I'm, on the fence but that may be because I haven't had the fat boy that long and still getting used to "feeling more of the road" than I'm used to
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
castledog.jpg

This pic was taken on a trip out to kentucky a few years ago. You don't get these settings on a local ice cream run normally.. as far as the fat boy i wouldnt hesitate to head out on it. My wife rides a 2011 heritage with over 37,000 miles on it.
 
No H2O

No H2O

Active Member
dentdude36 said:
I think no matter how many bikes I had I wouldn't ride in the rain and crappy weather it's just not enjoyable to me
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Definitely not enjoyable to me either but after all the rain gear and waterproof gear has been put on, and I'm struggling to see out of my visor through all the rain, I look over at the stop-and-wait cars in the non-express lanes and would still rather be me than them
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
No H2O said:
Definitely not enjoyable to me either but after all the rain gear and waterproof gear has been put on, and I'm struggling to see out of my visor through all the rain, I look over at the stop-and-wait cars in the non-express lanes and would still rather be me than them
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:old2:
 
No H2O

No H2O

Active Member
pknowles said:
Picture of my wifes 2011 heritage "touring bike".
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Very nice bikes, I'll gradually start riding the fat boy in worse and worse weather.
Now the question becomes ... would you ride your Big Dog in rain/non-sticking snow/morning frost? (from a safety and handling perspective, not from a cleaning/maintenance perspective)
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
No H2O said:
Very nice bikes, I'll gradually start riding the fat boy in worse and worse weather.
Now the question becomes ... would you ride your Big Dog in rain/non-sticking snow/morning frost? (from a safety and handling perspective, not from a cleaning/maintenance perspective)
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Some people do but I wouldn't . And it's not the safety aspect , it goes right back to the amount of detailing it takes to keep these things looking respectful. Mine is nowhere near the "show" quality as some on here but I spend more time riding and less cleaning. Even with the cool weather this year at Bikeweek we put over a thousand miles on the dog and the heritage.

Some where on the forum there's a picture of one of the more prominent members "RAYWOOD" riding in the snow on his Chopper. Personally, I'm not riding any street legal motorcycle in the snow.
 
No H2O

No H2O

Active Member
pknowles said:
Mine is nowhere near the "show" quality as some on here but I spend more time riding and less cleaning.

Personally, I'm not riding any street legal motorcycle in the snow.
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So the fat boy has a lot of chrome, all I do I meguiars wash it down with a big sponge and spray immediately to prevent the "dried bubbles" look. I use simichrome polish on any rusted areas and that's it. Sure it's not going to look like a show quality bike but I really only do this a handful of times a year and it takes maybe 30 minutes.

Just to clarify, when I ride in the snow, and what I'm looking for to do so, it's snow that's coming down but not actually sticking to the ground.
 
Th3InfamousI

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
No H2O said:
So the fat boy has a lot of chrome, all I do I meguiars wash it down with a big sponge and spray immediately to prevent the "dried bubbles" look. I use simichrome polish on any rusted areas and that's it. Sure it's not going to look like a show quality bike but I really only do this a handful of times a year and it takes maybe 30 minutes.

Just to clarify, when I ride in the snow, and what I'm looking for to do so, it's snow that's coming down but not actually sticking to the ground.
Click to expand...
I've ridden my bike in rain on trips it's not enjoyable and I will say only if I had no rain and just a hundred miles in a day do I get lucky enough 30 minutes will suffice just to wipe the dog down.

I'm about 8-10 hours of detail work after a 2-3 day weekend trip. Just the day trips it's still a good 3-4 hours to polish the wheels and controls and wax the bike.

That's the price I pay to have a clean BigDog and I know a lot of people don't want that or won't do it. And some people clean their bikes better than mine ever will.

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
No H2O said:
So the fat boy has a lot of chrome, all I do I meguiars wash it down with a big sponge and spray immediately to prevent the "dried bubbles" look. I use simichrome polish on any rusted areas and that's it. Sure it's not going to look like a show quality bike but I really only do this a handful of times a year and it takes maybe 30 minutes.

Just to clarify, when I ride in the snow, and what I'm looking for to do so, it's snow that's coming down but not actually sticking to the ground.
Click to expand...

If it's cold enough to snow, and is snowing I'm not riding. people seem to get a little paranoid when driving in the snow and visibility diminishes so to me it's not worth it.
 
Th3InfamousI

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
pknowles said:
If it's cold enough to snow, and is snowing I'm not riding. people seem to get a little paranoid when driving in the snow and visibility diminishes so to me it's not worth it.
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Yea cold enough to snow? Nope not riding. I fucking love riding but snow? Nope hell I'd even stay an extra day at a hotel on a trip if I got caught. I've ducked in early on roadtrips numerous times to avoid rain and hail storms.

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Big D Florida

Big D Florida

Well-Known Member
Troop Supporter
Th3InfamousI said:
Yea cold enough to snow? Nope not riding. I fucking love riding but snow? Nope hell I'd even stay an extra day at a hotel on a trip if I got caught. I've ducked in early on roadtrips numerous times to avoid rain and hail storms.

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
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One of the worst one I rode in was all the way from Dallas to Tulsa, brother.
75 and 35 are flat and no cover for long stretches, as you well know.
It got a little sporty at times...lol
 
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