Let's Argue About Motorcycles


And if you want sexy in a small package, how about my old '75 400cc inline 4 Honda. It will run with most Harleys up to about 80 mph. By far it's my favorite run-around-town bike.

But what the heck, I like Harley's just fine for somebody other than me. And I respect the tests that show that some models (I suck at all the names Harley models) are good long-distance cruisers. I'm acquainted with the gal, Dia Mattheson, who owns the Anchorage Harley shop and two other Harley shops in Alaska as well as three Harley shops in Arizona; she forgave me for not owning or riding a Harley.

Got a friend that runs a nitro Harley at the local dragstrip (The Alaska Raceway Park). When I was last there three weeks ago (I think I put a pic of the gf when she was sunning herself there on another forum entry) the timing lights were being replaced so don't recall the time but I recall that he was going about 185 MPH at the end of his run. His goal for this season is 200 mph.

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And if I want to go fast down the road or through the twisties with a V-twin. my Suzuki SV1000S can do that chore.

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It's Spenard Bike Week. (Spenard is still regarded as the seedy side of Anchorage. Spenard Road used to be lined with "massage parlors" and at least one "gentlemen's club." To old-time Alaskans, a "Spenard divorce" is where the wife shoots the husband or vice versa. The Harley guys are the most active but most of them think my little Honda 400 is sexy as hell. I had a good time at the Harley dealer where there was a car and bike show. That, and I really like Dia. She owns the Harley dealer in Anchorage and 2 nearest to Anchorage plus 3 dealerships in AZ. She's a good conservative.
My choices as the coolest rides
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Hot dogs were free but the beer wasn't (liquor laws and tax laws being what they are). It was a 65-70° sunny day that contributed to good feelings.
 
Ya gotta love it. 1950's version of 'cowl induction'. 450 A/C and enough room in the back to haul a little fat girl in the back to keep traction!
 
Survived part of the Combat Vets MC annual Frozen Nipple Run (from Legion Post 1, Anchorage to Houston, AK (about 75 miles up the road to Fairbanks) and back. About 75 or 80 riders started the run. Most were on Harleys. I was on my little but sexy CB 400 -- it drew the most attention of any bike.

After some yakking and praying, the gang took off in groups of 20. Since I was a rookie, I followed everybody, including the 3-wheelers that were consigned to the rear of the ride (don't know why). We stopped at the weigh station about 10 miles up the road. I don't know why. Then we got to the Denali Harley shop in or south of Wasilla. There the gang had a great big BS session that caused me to think about doing my own thing. BTW, I rode my little 1975 CB 400. More folks looked at it than any Harley or other bike. I didn't expect the attention that it got so that was fun. I suppose that since it was the smallest bike on the run it had novelty value. But it is sexy and has no trouble keeping up with traffic. Probably the next smallest bike, at least in displacement, was one of those ubiquitous KLRs.

I headed east off the highway through the north part of Wasilla to my son's marijuana grow operation. I wanted to see him as he had just gotten out of the University of Washington med center where his cancerous femur was replaced by a chunk of stainless steel. He's getting more bionic by the day.

No doubt I was in the back of the picture probably drinking coffee and finishing off a cinnamon roll that my baby (Dana) got for me at a farmers market -- where she was again buying oysters, steamers, and lions mane mushrooms.
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Once got a thousand dollar ticket at this weigh station. Sourdough pulls trailers for American Fast Freight. We just hook up and go. Neither American Fast Freight nor Sourdough's freight yard (we use the moving division scales) has scales. So we just pick up what we're told and boogie to Fairbanks or Kenai. Perhaps the guys on the American Fast Freight dock might want to figure out how to distribute weight in a 45' box. BTW I handed the ticket to American Fast Freight and it was promptly paid but when I last checked, there's still a record of it in my permanent CDL file. My claim to fame as a driver was getting the biggest overweight ticket ever handed out at that scale.
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I didn't realize how large this dealership is. It's owned by Dia Matteson. She owns Harley shops in Anchorage, Sterling, and this one. And she owns 3 Harley dealerships in Arizona. That and she's a good gal and a good conservative. A month or so ago, Dia even taught me how to tie dye a Spenard Bike Week t-shirt.
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FYI, in the pic below, the top blackish thing is a cooked lions mane mushroom. The other black thing is a spiced and baked kale leaf -- even if babies in utero don't like their moms eating kale (they like carrots), Dana and I like spiced (with that Special Shit seasoning as pictured in mndriver's posts) crispy kale. Otherwise I hate the stuff.
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