Hello from Minnesota

[Beta Don]

2 hours ago, Mike Chell said:

I teach people how to work on motorcycles and outboards.

I am constantly hearing old bike enthusiast who still swear by points and carburetors.

 

I like my share of 'retro' things, but there are certainly downsides from a maintenance standpoint.  My CBX has six carburetors which need to be kept pretty closely in sync.  At least there are no points to mess with, but the alternator brushes are almost a bigger maintenance problem than points  -  A few guys have managed to fuel inject the old six . . . . there are also a few single carb turbocharged CBX's out there too  -  Six exhaust pipes fed into a single turbo.  When I get to feeling sorry for myself, I always think of Andreas  -  He made himself a V-12 CBX . . . . complete with twelve carburetors!

https://thekneeslider.com/honda-cbx-v12-by-andreas-georgeades/

 

Don

Edited July 18, 2018 by Beta Don

[Fifty150]

Alas, even the Police Interceptor is a front wheel drive with unibody  construction.  

 

some old timers still want to carry revolvers with 6" barrels.   

[Fifty150]

4 hours ago, Beta Don said:

 

I like my share of 'retro' things, but there are certainly downsides from a maintenance standpoint.  My CBX has six carburetors

 

 

 

 

Some of those older motorcycles can be refurbished and kept running forever.  

 

Older Harleys have tons of parts available, a design which hasn't changed much in about 50 years, and are simple.  That gravity fed carburetor into the V-Twin is very simple.  And even the motors can be rebuilt or replaced easily.  And these days, every part on a Harley, from controls, to handlebars, to seats, to fenders, is available in abundance.  There are even guys who will order all of the parts, and build a bike, from the frame up.  

 

Only drawback is that you have custom built, dinosaur technology, which cost way too much.  I always think that I could buy a new bike, which runs faster and better, for less than what I put into the Harley.  If I buy a little Ninja, or CBR, I could get better mileage, ride faster, corner better, save money, and not have to wear leather pants.  Sport bike guys don't look like The Village People. 

 

[Jiquay]

I went FTC because I didn't want "dad's minivan." That ruled out Caravan, Odyssey & Quest...

I saw a FTC that t-boned a Tahoe & the family that walked out of the Ford while first responders worked an hour to get the meat out of the Chevy...

[Fifty150]

11 minutes ago, Jiquay said:

I went FTC because I didn't want "dad's minivan."

 

 

This is not your dad's minivan.  It is not a "Soccer Mom" van either.  While I respect those who think that the Transit Connect looks good.  A lot of people don't, and these vans are not sold by looks.  Nobody that I know has said to me, "looks good".  One of my buddies said, "looks like shit".  I don't care.  The vehicle does what i bought it for. 

 

For me, the need was to seat more than 2 people,  better on gas, and easier to park than the pickup truck.  I have a Honda, but nobody but an infant in a car seat can really sit in the back of that, since the front seats slide right into the back seats.  My Harley has a solo saddle, and nobody rides on it but me.  My Explorer's odometer quit working around 650,000 miles, I wasn't sure what the real mileage was, and the body was rusting out with rain leaking from the sunroof channels.  I wanted to efficiently transport seniors and children.  An SUV was out, because old people even had a hard time with climbing into my Explorer.  So despite the lack of bells & whistles, and no luxury, the Transit Connect saved me about $10,000 in comparison to a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.  And if any of my siblings or cousins don't like it, they can drive the grandparents and all of their kids, in whatever car that they pay for themselves.  They all have nicer cars, because I'm cheap and they don't mind spending more money.  

 

Looks alone, the Transit Connect was unique when it came on the U.S.A. market.  I immediately noticed all the work vans, and the technicians using them.  For my own purposes, it was just too small to be a work vehicle.  Not able to carry a lot of weight, not able to handle 8'X4' plywood, not able to carry 10' pipe, well, no way was I going to forklift load a transformer......you get the picture.  But for some people, it was perfect for what they did, because full size 1/2 ton trucks and vans were too big.  Right off the bat, I knew that it would be great for telecom techs, service plumbers who don't carry pipe, auto parts runners, and all sorts of other trades.  A local police department bought them for the crime scene technicians.  My city's Park Rangers got them (Park Rangers do not engage in high speed pursuits).  

 

Then with the new body style, my city acquired an entire fleet of LWB wagons for personnel deployment.  If you need 100 street sweepers at a special event, you have them all report to the maintenance yard headquarters, transport them in Transit Connects, and then send trucks out with their gear.  For certain agencies like Adult Protective Services, Child Protective Services, and Homeless Outreach Team, the LWB has worked out really well.  

 

 

[HeRodeCBR]

Hello CheesyRider;

 

Just joined this Group. My name has a form of the word "Ride" as well, so I could not imagine a more appropriate Post to introduce my self in. I Enjoy motorcycles and traded my 2001 E350 Powerstroke for a 2015 Transit Connect XLT 2.5L Petrol. Yes my main concern was fitting two motorcylces and all my gear into a vehicle which could almost ride in back of my VanDiesel.

 

So far I am very pleased with my new purchase. Have to go to work early tomorrow so I will type at 'yall later. I will finish up my profile and so on later.

[Fifty150]

I would like to see a photo of 2 bikes & gear in the back of a Transit Connect.

[HeRodeCBR]

Hey Fity;

 

You are right I would too..!! gonna be tight. On Christmass while visiting my son we actually got one of his and one of mine in at the same time. I have a photo on my home computer as soon as I figure out how I will post it in this thread. Maybe even make it my Profile pic.!!! Thanks for the Feedback.

[HeRodeCBR]

OK lets see if I can actually post a photo here. Ha...!!! It worked. I am sooo Happy. Yes Fity there is only One motorcycle here in VanTransit. But get my Phat Arse outta there and ther is plenty of room. 

[HeRodeCBR]

So I am still a novice on how to best use this site for adding text and photos. Not quite sure wether This is all one post or how the heck I got two of the same shots in the first post. I will keep messing with 

[Fifty150]

I am only guessing that you pushed the bikes in there by hand.  No way you could have driven the bikes up that ramp with a little bit of clutch friction zone.  I'm surprised also that you were able to strap the bikes down, and transport them without them tipping over.  Kind of hard to tell in the photos where you anchored your ratchet straps.  I guess I'm too old and used to doing things the old fashion way.  I just don't think I can do that with my Harley.  I am used to having a bigger ramp, and actually riding up into a pickup truck bed, where I already have a wheel chock mounted for the front wheel of the bike, and truck bed has anchor points for the tie downs.  

 

Now I want to go buy a little sport bike, just so that I can drive around with it in the back of my little van.

 

Maybe one of those little Honda Grom bikes.  Those look like a lot of fun.  

[HeRodeCBR]

Hell Yeah Fity!

 

Those Groms are a lot of FUN never rode one. The go cart track I ride the "Little" bike on the passenger "Right" side is a 125 has a hell of a time keeping up with the Pros riding on those Groms. Amateurs on them really do not give me too much trouble.  I use the new style crappy ratcheting cargo straps. I prefer truckers knots on some good 3/8" Burlap. I do use a "TrackSide" brand portable wheel chock for the front wheels. It fits perfectly in the resessed low portion of the floor behind the front seats. The road racers fit easily, even the bigger 250 Aprillia on the driver's side (Left). You should see the DRZ 400 Suzuki in there. If you are real nice I will even show you that photo as well....(you don't really have to be that good).

 

I do have to walk the bikes in. I used to have a 54 GMC Truck (5 window) that I would ride up in like you Fity, but ever since my van era starting in 1974 I have been forced to shove them in ever since. Nice Posting with ya dude.

 

SIncerely

 

Herode.

[Jiquay]

I found out yesterday that my brother has the last of the Freestar vans.

He only gets a flat floor if he wrestles 200+ lbs of furniture out of his van & finds space in the garage to store it.

 

GK

[mrtn]

Looks just like Windstar.

[Fifty150]

15 hours ago, mrtn said:

Looks just like Windstar.

 

17 hours ago, Jiquay said:

 my brother has the last of the Freestar vans.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah yes.  Back in the days of Ford Vans that nobody bought.  Your brother may have the last of the Freestar vans, AND the only one sold in his zip code.

[Fifty150]

On 7/21/2018 at 9:19 AM, HeRodeCBR said:

 

 

You should see the DRZ 400 Suzuki in there.

 

 

Where I live, those are police motorcycles.

[Fifty150]

The City of Oakland, on the other side of The Bridge & Tunnel, uses Transit Connects.

[HeRodeCBR]

Yeah Fity I know about the motorcycles being ridden in San Francisco by SFPD. I did not know that Oakland used Transit Connects. Although I am now living in Florida I grew up in The McClaren park area of "The City". On one of my yearly visits to see family there I spotted a DRZ400 just like mine outside the grocery store on Townsend St. Now that would be a job for me I thought. Riding around the park on Dirtbikes. You see during the sixties I was one of the kids being chased out of the park by the equestrian mounted police (officer Ferrack usually) for riding my Mini Bike after school and on weekends. I lived just up the street from Louis Sutter Playground. Looks like you are South of Market? 

[Fifty150]

Jackson Square. Next to Chinatown. Where the old Embarcadero Free at used to be.  Right across the street from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[mrtn]

Yup. Gotta keep an eye on the matter.

[HeRodeCBR]

Fity This is what a DRZ Looks like in VanTransit. Can you figure out how I did it?

[Fifty150]

11 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Jackson Square. Next to Chinatown. Where the old Embarcadero Free at used to be.  Right across the street from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

 

I typed "Embarcadero Freeway used to be". 

 

Weird how the algorithm works to correct what you typed.  

 

There used to be a very short freeway, with 2 exits, and both exits went to Chinatown.  Local politicians thought it wise to spend billions of dollars to tear down a freeway, which cost billions of dollars to build.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there is a lot of corruption and graft behind those kinds of actions. 

 

About as crooked and corrupt as The City of Mountain View passing a law to ban businesses from opening a company cafeteria to give their employees free lunch.  

 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php

Mountain View’s unusual rule for Facebook: No free food

Wendy Lee and Roland Li July 23, 2018 Updated: July 23, 2018 5 a.m.

 

 

 

• 
  1 of 10

  Steve Rasmussen (right), owner of Milk Pail Market, greets a customer. Rasmussen’s shop is near Facebook’s future office.

  Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
• 
  2 of 10

  WeWork is managing Facebook’s facility and is considering a public food hall on the first floor.

  Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
• 
  3 of 10

  A shopper walks past the front entrance of Milk Pail Market. The market’s owner hopes that a Mountain View rule forbidding free corporate cafes will benefit local businesses.

  Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
• 
  4 of 10

  Mountain View, after seeing the effect of corporate cafes on businesses in the North Bayshore area around Googleplex, is moving to restrict free meals for employees.
• 
  10 of 10

  Zendesk does not offer catered or cooked meals, encouraging its San Francisco employees to go out to nearby restaurants instead.

  Photo: Nathaniel Y. Downes / The Chronicle 2015

When Facebook moves into its new offices in Mountain View this fall, a signature Silicon Valley perk will be missing — there won’t be a corporate cafeteria with free food for about 2,000 employees.

 

In an unusual move, the city barred companies from fully subsidizing meals inside the offices, which are part of the Village at San Antonio Center project, in an effort to promote nearby retailers. The project-specific requirement passed in 2014, attracting little notice because the offices were years away from opening.

 

It came in response to local restaurants that said Google, the city’s biggest employer, was hurting their businesses by providing free meals, according to John McAlister, a Mountain View councilman.

 

[Fifty150]

19 hours ago, HeRodeCBR said:

Yeah Fity I know about the motorcycles being ridden in San Francisco by SFPD. I did not know that Oakland used Transit Connects.

 

The City & County of San Francisco also has a fleet of Transit Connects.  Just not for police use.  Dept of Health, Public Works, Park & Rec Rangers, Child Protective Services, and most city agencies.  The cops have a few new Transit 150 vans for personnel transport; when you need to deploy dozens of cops to a protest or riot.  SFPD is still using the Econolines for prisoner transport, and that won't change any time soon, since they are still driving Crown Victorias and F-Series pickup trucks from 1997.  Down in the basement of The Hall of Justice, I saw a couple of cars leftover from the 70's, that still had the light blue paint job.