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RE: Magazine Gone?
I missed out on the slide rule thing. I was an HP-11c guy in the Air Force and at the FAA academy. The FAA required every student use a TI-35 in class to keep us HP folks from having an advantage. I was the plug and chug king after the formulas were stored! Hey..didn't the HP-35 kill the slide rule? I am in the technology business and believe me, technicians are becoming obsolete too! Most of our new gear comes with a warranty and contract support. No component level repair required. Just replace the whole unit.Getting the thread back on track...I think the 'interactive' part of the blogs and e-zines is addictive and print will never be able to compete again.
On the other hand while the method of magazine transmission is changing, there will be no robot-writers replacing real people. Good writing is an art. So while I may be at home while the young folks they hire to replace me swap circuit cards, people like Kittrelle and Minton will still be writing somewhere ..and we will all follow the good writers wherever end up...digital or not.
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10ecjazzman
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07/23/10 04:15pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Magazine Gone?
Hey..the few times in the past when I have ventured outside this forum into the main part of the website I got ATV rider something or other...After that was fixed I would go the the main page to watch the Demae De Rocher videos :W. The rest of the site is a little thin. I figured that was normal for a website that supplemented a print magazine. As I said before , the forum gives me everything I need. Thats not going to work for everyone. Some folks are going to want a real magazine. If this is all thats left of American Rider then I understand the groaning from the readers that are used to the regular magazine. This site is a lot of things but its not a magazine. It doesn't look or feel like one. If it gave the former subscribers what they needed then they wouldn't care if there was ever another printed issue. I imagine that if American Rider digital version was a slick as some the other magazines on www.zinio.com, then there would have to be a subscription fee. Heck... some of the guys here would probably pay the fee to have their magazine back the way they are used to seeing it.
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10ecjazzman
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07/22/10 08:50pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Magazine Gone?
If you look around you will see that all print media is slowly winding down. I never even saw an issue of American Rider prior to finding this forum. I'll have to admit I have learned a lot more from this forum than any magazine. Maybe a digital version of American Rider? Its my opinion that forums and blogs just like this one are helping kill the paper print media. I don't have to wait for a magazine to get around to covering what I want to know about. I can come on this forum and have a wealth of information the same day. Some of it I can actually use!:B And the interaction between the folks on the forum is great. Since my iPad arrived I have not read one paper magazine. Not one. If I see an article I like, I can share it by printing it or e-mailing with a couple of taps. My 1250 page 2007 Harley Touring Maintenance Book is also on this computer and my iPad. Whatever I'm working on..I can print out those pages and I'm off to the garage. Like it or not, digital media is here to stay. I like my motorcycles 'old school' but I'm all for enjoying the benefits of today's technology. I hope the folks at American Rider find a new place to practice their craft.
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10ecjazzman
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07/21/10 07:57pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Iron Butt !!
Great pics. I just got back from my own iron butt ride . I just finished 1456 miles in 4 days. That is a personal best for me with a 500 mile day at the beginning and end of the ride. I just got back from riding wonderful West Virginia. I can't even describe how beautiful it is! All of the visitors centers there have motorcycle tour brochures that highlight the best rides. I even made it into an exhibition coal mine in Beckley! Of course Nashville was flooded when I returned..but I'll save that for another post. Like Ride Slow said...a bunch of ibuprofen!
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10ecjazzman
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05/02/10 05:17pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
Some are just outright copies no doubt but lets not flatter ourselves. There are not too many variants on the basic design of a motorcycle, much like the bicycle. Handlebars, frame, motor, two wheels. The copied style I agree is because they want a piece of the harley pie for sure. As far as technology goes the Harley twin is full of marvelous engineering it is not 'outdated' as some say. It is a very high-tech 'old' design. HD uses that design because they 'want' to and we demand it. If anybody kills the MoCo , it will be us. So fickle are we every time they try something new...say ...like the Vrod. I never heard such trash talk among HD owners about that bike. Its not a 'real' Harley and so on. Some folks never even considered a Harley until the Vrod came out. If we force the company to stay right where they are and avoid anything new, I promise you it will not survive another 107 years. Of course...we won't be here to post about it...so I digress... I would buy that 8-ball Vision and knock off those silly handrail things on the back...but I will never sell my FLHT...sometimes I like apples...sometimes oranges..!
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10ecjazzman
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04/23/10 02:56pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
I remember one morning I am stopped at a light..This guy pulls up beside me on one of the Yamaha Star bikes I think...It was loud and he was lookin' the part. You know; leather jacket...bandana..herman munster boots. He looks my bike over and gives the 'whats-up' head bob. I return the gesture. He was too cool...until he pulled off ahead of me and I saw the 'Hello Kitty' backpack he was wearing. I nearly fell my bike laughing. That made my day. I guess he borrowed his daughter's backpack. A real 'Mild Hog' type!:B
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10ecjazzman
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04/20/10 11:04am |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
I remember a long time ago , a Harley-riding mechanic helped me synchronize the carbs on my GPz. We swapped bikes while he was test riding mine. What a hoot! I guess I am really just a motorcycle fan period. I have ridden so many and every one had its own personality. I actually built my first mini-bike and was blistering the local kids on their Honda trail 50's and 70's. I guess I am lucky that throwing a leg over just about any thing will make me grin from ear to ear. As a kid...if it had handlebars and a motor I was on it and in heaven. I promise you guys that I would have a Leno-like collection if the checkbook and ole' lady would allow it. When I visited the Barber Motorsports museum, I saw every bike I had ever ridden or wanted to ride in my entire life. I would buy one each if I could! Whether we will admit it or not, we are brothers....one in the same with the same passion that unites us. Now say Amen and pass the collection plate!:B
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10ecjazzman
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04/18/10 07:02pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Anybody like the new Road King Custom?
I have a V&H Fuel Pak on a 07 FLHT with a K&N & Rush slip-ons. It does run great; not too loud but I use a bit more gas.
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10ecjazzman
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03/27/10 05:45pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Headed for Daytona this weekend.....
Drink one for us. Like I always say...if you can't be good...be discreet. RIDE SAFE. And take a few pics for us less fortunate.
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10ecjazzman
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03/04/10 04:22pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
Its a funny thing...not funny ha-ha...funny peculiar..Another brand can't look too much like a Harley or its a wannabe..it can't look too different or it has missed the mark. There are tons of Harleys with 200' back tires and tail-draggin bags, fat rear fenders,apes, two zillion different exhaust systems, shaved and chromed everything. Maybe Victory went too far but Harley owners as group, including me, spend a bunch of money trying to make the bike look different than stock. Maybe some of the Victory designs are too custom already. Too bold a statement out of the box. Just idle speculation on my part. Just remember HD was a ten year old company once. Like Alex..I waited until I felt the HDs were a solid product before I came over. That is a lesson Victory will have to learn too. Hopefully they will survive the learning curve....Unless they really didn't make those bikes for the Harley demographic to begin with. In that case they are spot on.
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10ecjazzman
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02/16/10 06:38pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
She has a Honda VT750 Shadow in the garage already. While we are talking hypotheticals...how about I trade her Honda for my new Victory? Just slide it back in the corner..slip on the cover quietly..it could work..:B
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10ecjazzman
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02/13/10 07:37am |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
Well yeah..maybe they spend so much time on the look..because its the look that sells. But its not just a look..its a feel, a sound, and a 'personality' that can't really be duplicated. The other manufacturers know that if they could get all those things close...and have the look close..they wouldn't have to worry about the technology so much. Everyone who rides a Harley has proven that all those intangibles are worth more than any new technology. If you stop using a Harley as the 'standard' that every bike must be measured against you can find out that there are some really cool bikes out there that are not HDs. I like my Harley for what it is and I bet I could like a Victory enough to find room for one beside my FLHT in the garage...Hmm...I wonder if the wife would mind parking her car outside???:h
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10ecjazzman
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02/11/10 07:21pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Victory Cross Country?
I like it. Don't know if I would buy one just yet. I like the crash bar too. It is pre-drilled for lights or hi-way pegs. No way you can't like the view from the rear. All the styling touches are subjective. Everybody certainly will not like them for sure. I like the clean look of the 'air-compressor motor'. No wires, cables . or tie-wraps visible anywhere. But take a second look at the engineering. The bike has a sand cast hollow aluminum frame, a monotube rear shock, inverted front shocks, oil cooler, and floating rotor disc brakes. Thats cutting edge compared to any Harley out there. And by the way...my FLHT sounded like an air compressor before the Rush mufflers. I applaud them for at least trying something new. I would be interested to see how it rides. None of that technology matters if it doesn't perform well.
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10ecjazzman
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02/09/10 07:12pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Anybody like the new Sportster 48?
I never rode a sportster, so I can 't even comment on the bike's finer points. When I first saw the 48' I was not impressed. Being a little long-in-tooth compared to the target market for the 48' , I know its not for me anyway. Having said that, I am starting to feel like the boys at HD are trying different combinations of parts they already have on the shelf to make a few so-called 'new' models. C'mon , its like Taco Bell making 40 menu items from the same four ingredients.
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10ecjazzman
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02/09/10 06:50pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Road trip to Sturgis...
I remember when I brought my EGlide home I bought an HJC full face helmet from a Yamaha shop the day before. I have a huge head 7 7/8 so many of the standard open face helmets wont come close covering the bean. I went to a bike gathering downtown and got many compliments on the new Harley but a few folks told me that HD riders don't wear full face helmets. Can you believe that? Like flhrsi said, I wasn't wearing the HD 'uniform'.
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10ecjazzman
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01/29/10 05:19pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Road trip to Sturgis...
Talking about motorcycle footwear. A guy in my office wore the same clothes on his new 100th anniversary Heritage as he did on any other day. Light blue button-down shirt, navy Sansabelt slacks, and grey hushpuppies. Occasionally he would add a Members Only jacket. It was like Matlock on a Harley.:h
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10ecjazzman
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01/29/10 12:33pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: RIP Buell
It looks like more than NASCAR type rule changes. This is an excerpt from a L.A. Times article blog on Buell "Buell has never really produced a true sportbike. When AMA rewrote the rules to allow the 1125 to race against the 600s that should send a message about Buell's Sportbike." Ouch! I really hope Buell does make it. While we are confessing about bikes we are lusting after..I have been looking at the Victory Crossroads....and I don't know why , but I am drawn to the Triumph Rocket III....and FJR1300!
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10ecjazzman
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10/17/09 09:52am |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: RIP Buell
Buells are cool bikes for sure. I see them as a niche market bike even more so than a Harley. Even if I wanted a Buell, they don't quite fit my 6' 2" 260 lb. body, As far as the business part of this..Harley bought MV Augusta to flip it like you do a house. I am sure there was something that HD needed that MV had even if we will never know what it was. HD has done this kind of thing before but then so has GM and Ford. If the Buell product is such winner in the marketplace it will resurface again. Companies build for who's buying..Buell may have had trouble just because they didn't address the fact that the old dinosaurs are the ones with disposable income and credit! Look around..most businesses are having a little trouble obtaining the profit margins they need...So they are having corporate yard sales unloading unprofitable assets. Surely HD is not the only company that is hurt by the fact that those dollars that used to be free are being held onto. Its really no choice if you can keep your old Harley and still afford your mortgage and your medicine (Dinosaurs need medicine). Pure speculation and opinion on my part.
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10ecjazzman
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10/16/09 02:49pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: I need a new bike.....
I love my Electra Glide for what it is..Having said that , I want a Honda st1300, Victory Crossroads, Suzuki M109, BMW K1300 GT, and Triumph Rocket III, ...oh yeah..a Cam Am Spyder..for when I want that extra wheel!....Now...If I could just figure out how to pay for all them bikes!!:h
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10ecjazzman
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09/26/09 01:29pm |
American V-Twin Board
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RE: Ultra/roadking road trips
I love the bicycle pedal analogy when describing the 45 degree v-twin. The HD motor is probably the most debated feature of our beloved two wheelers. There is a ton of technology in todays engines compared to 1903. Even with all of the advances brought about by new tech and new materials, the basics remain the same. To me, thats one of the cool things about the HD motor. What if Ford built a Model T today, using the same basic design, with the current technology. It would make more power , be lighter, have safety glass, radial tires, ABS, seat belts, and satellite radio but it would still be what most people would call an inferior car by today's standards. I hear that all the time about HD in general. I'm kind of an old school guy ...so I like the sound and feel of the HD v-twin. Are there smoother running bikes out there? Absolutely. Should HD offer the balanced v-twin as an option on the touring models? Yes again. I myself have recently considered the luxury of a balanced motor after 600 miles of shake , rattle and roll across Mississippi roads. All of this , of course, just my opinion. Your results may vary. :h
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10ecjazzman
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09/04/09 11:14am |
American V-Twin Board
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