OT: Talking Cars Tuesday - Biggest & Bikes
Tuesday Again!
I'm hosting about 10 people from one of the Big 3 at my plant today, so I've got to get this post up and out of the way. Two potential topics today:
First, what is the LARGEST vehicle you've ever driven? Could be a uhaul, could be a 36' old Cadillac.
Second - where are the MGoMotorcycle Riders? I know nothing about motorcycles, so I'll get my awful sportswriter hat on and ask "Talk about Motorcyles."
August 4th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
For me it was this past weekend. I rented a Moving truck from Ryder. A 26' truck. Had steps to get into the cab, air brakes, a heavily suspended seat, etc. Most UHauls are big pickups. This is a small Semi.
http://www.ryder.com/truck-rental/rentalitems/straight-truck.aspx
After driving it to the Chicago burbs and back into the city to our new place I do not envy Urban Truckers.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
Ditto... watch out for those step bumpers. Lower than the regular bumper, painted black and not visible in the rear view mirror. In June, I took out the edge of a rock wall in front of my house with it. Doh.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
I had to reroute myself due to one overpass, luckily I saw it early enough. Also curbed it once, but I thought that wasn't too bad.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
I moved twice using the 26' Ryder. The power lift gate in the back was huge. I think that's the biggest one you can get without a special license.
I ended up clipping a tree and costing myself $600 because the top is not insured.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
Drove from Indiana to California in one of these. 22 hours straight to Denver (I was alone in the truck too . . . soooo boring). Then, 24 hours straight from Denver to Oakland. The Sierra-Nevada mountains are a bitch in this truck.
Then, 5.5 years later, drove from California to Tennessee in one too . . . that trip was more normal, stopping in the evenings at hotels etc.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^
Remember back in the day when they were sticks rather than automatic trannys? You didn't dare use first gear in town -- always start in second gear!
August 4th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
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August 4th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
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Me too
August 4th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
My MGoMotorcycle is a Ducati Monster. It will make your arms longer if you don't respect the throttle.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
My dad has a 900 Monster with Termignoni racing exhaust that I've ridden a few times. Fun bike.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
Mine is the 620 and I ditched the single headlight for a duals and put a lot of carbon on it. Even though I have the smaller engine, it's a lot of fun to throw around on curvy mountain passes!
August 4th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
Sounds like a nice ride. Don't feel bad for having the smaller engine. I'd much rather push myself through a twisty corner than go crazy fast in a straight line (though that's still fun every now and then). I wish we could get some of the small displacement European and Asian 2 strokes here in the States.
August 4th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
Tread carefully there... I lived in Japan for a while and the 400cc segment is very popular because of licensing and insurance reasons... but I rode a 400cc Ninja back in the day and it was a dog -- a glorified scooter.
I am the original owner of a '97 Valk, and it can still stretch arms. maybe me and the Monster can have a tug-of-war?
You should see what it will do to your wallet of you don't keep her valves in spec...
;-)
August 4th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
Either the M1070 military transport towing an Abrams tank, or driving the M1A2 Abrams tank, one was really big, the other the heaviest at about 63 tons.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
Unless anyone's in the mining industry...
August 4th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
is a BMW K75S which I bought new in 1991.
Embarrassed to say I have only 13,000 miles on it. Dream Bike is a Ducati 1299 Panigale R:
August 4th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
She's barely broken in! I'm lucky not to have far to travel for really nice rides. One of the benefits of living in SE Ohio's Hocking Hills (Road & Track does comparisons in the area fairly regularly).
August 4th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
August 4th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
Hey that's not fair! I have two daughters under 6 and still manage to put 5 to 10 thousand miles a year on my bikes. I don't get to ride for "fun" much anymore, but I have a really nice commute. Plus I save a lot on gas compared to my truck. It's a win/win.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
I know, it's not fair to generalize. My ex-wife never discouraged me from riding when we had kids, she actually bought me a bike as a birthday present once. In hindsight, maybe she was trying to get rid of me...
I have 2 sons, 15 and 20, and I was worried about them getting the itch, so I scaled back my riding a lot. The older one definitely wants to ride but I have successfully kept him off of bikes (to my knowledge) so far. Young men + motorcycles + NYC metro area = sad, tragic news every week.
Commuting on a motorcycle is great. When I used to take the train into the city I'd ride to the train station, easy to park.
August 4th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^
Depends on what kind of bike she got you! That's funny. I understand your position completely. The only time I've felt really scared in traffic was riding through Boston. Too bad that you couldn't share your love of riding with your sons but I'm sure you all enjoy the cultural and other advantages of living in NYC.
Lovely K-Bike. Try riding a Panigale for more than an hour and I'll bet your appreciation for what you have will rise. In addition to my aforementioned Valkyrie, I have owned a string of BMW Boxer RTs. The design and execution have magical qualities...
<IMG SRC="C:\Users\Desktop\R1150RT.jpg" Width=850 height = 435>
/eager to see what first attempt to load an image looks like...
/looks like crap, is what it looks like. *sigh*
;-)
The pani is a pure stone cold killer - but designed for the track. These bikes simply are not designed for street comfort.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
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August 4th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
I mean, do you do long hauls only? There was a Coke Semi parked in the lot of the drug store next to the old apartment, that guy knew how to drive in the city... unreal skill
August 4th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
My largest vehicle ever driven is an International tandem dump similar to this. What it lacks in cornering, it makes up for in the ablility to make people get the hell out of your way. I also ride a 1983 BMW R100CS (sitting in the lot at work now) and a 1999 Suzuki DR350.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
This is my R100. I wish I had a more scenic pic, but it's the only one of either bike I have on my phone.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
JeepinBen hosting the Big 3, Earl, Bubba & Cletus.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
One of these guys except mine was burgundy, had Cragar five spoke mags, a fipped air cleaner, air shocks and about 2.5 miles of pin-striping. Oh...and an aftermarket 8 track player.
Your basic chick magnet car.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
Biggest was one of these guys:
Also a rider, current bike is a 2008 SV650S. Slightly more relaxed riding positioned compared to the supersports I've owned, and I love the V-twin grunt.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^
my Dad had a '55 Cadillac Eldorado. I was about 7-9 when he had it, so all I really rember was him going on and on about "DUAL QUADS" and that it had a photoelectric sensor built into the dash to automatically dim your brights if it sensed oncoming traffic, which blew my mind, since it was a '55.
Right before he sold it, my Dad let me take a suervised and very slooooow cruise around the property. More of a coast around an oak tree, but at the time it felt like I was parking a battleship.
ironically he got that car by trading an '82 Harley FLH Electra Glide for it.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
Largest vehicle driven: an ancient Uhaul, was told by my boss it was the largest you could drive without a CDL. And it was stick. That thing was a "blast" to drive. old GMC White I believe.
Largest vehicle owned: 87 Grand Marquis
Motorcycle: In the near future I will own a Honda CBR of some sort.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
August 4th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
Mine is a 749 Superbike, but I stopped riding on the road a long time ago, just the track. I haven't been on it in a few years though, ever since I had kids... :(
Had a 749. Despite it being the better bike, I actually miss my old 748 even more.
Which track is this?
August 4th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
I moved from Orlando to Fort Wayne with a 22 Foot Penske while towing our Equinox behind. Definitely an interesting trip to say the least. Driving through the mountains took FOREVER.
August 4th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
Current bikes are a 2015 H-D Night Rod Special and a 2015 Street Glide.
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August 4th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
August 4th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
a 20 ft something U-haul powered by a Dodge truck. Old enough to have a one speaker AM radio and a metal dash. Loved it.
Motorcycles...
I've ridden maybe a couple, but they aren't my cup of tea. I think Ducatti's are beautiful though; and I love the BMW jug bikes as cruisers. The GoldWings look neat too if you are riding a long way.
*not* a fan of Harley's. Just went out west as they were gearing up for Sturgis. I hate those pipes and that blatting, ear splitting exhaust pouring into my window. I know its a 'safety' thing supposedly but that's crap to me. I'm just as, if not more, conscious of a GoldWing or BMW in my area than I am a lower slung soft tail with its loud pipes.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
Driven?
A 10 wheeler that my father had borrowed over a weekend to move some stuff. He was out, so I "stole" it to pick up my girlfriend to take her on a date, without letting her know what I'd be driving. Good times.
Owned?
My first car, a 1974 Mercury Monterey, which was like a boat - except only selling it would rank in the happiest days of my life. Length was 226 in and wheelbase about 125, with the thing weighing in at about 4500 lbs. 402 cubic in. engine.
It's speciality was not bongo jazz, but rather sucking copious amounts of fuel during an era of high gas prices.
Miraculously, it was longer than the 1976 Suburban I drove afterwards which - while also a gas hog - was an absolute riot to have in my late teens. Like the Monterey, I bought it because it was what I could afford and could do work on, not because I wanted something that big.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
really driven anything big; probably our Yukon XL or a 15 passenger van.
Currently ride a Yamaha R6
August 4th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
It was a 1976 Mercury Colony Park Wagon that looked exactly like the pic below. This thing was long. As you can see in the pic below it's as long as these people's house.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/42353480@N02/3918605254/in/pool-47311443@N00/
I delivered the newspaper in this thing in the winter when I was 14 or 15. Rear wheel drive but no amount of snow could stop it.
August 4th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
Not the biggest, but my favorite "big vehicle" I owned was a 1990 Lincoln Town Car with 20 inch wire rims (note: not my car below . . . mine was silver with lots more chrome and a black cloth top).
I have driven a motorcycle about 4 times in my life, 3 of the 4 were on dirtbikes, as my wife hates them and is certain I will die within 34 minutes of purchasing one. Though I wouldn't mind a 1947 Harley Knucklehead. 
August 4th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
Keeping your pimp hand strong...