That's correct Yvonne, Cruisers are straight highway bikes and wouldn't fare well off road. they are soft riding and heavy to lessen all of the tiring stress of long miles. Enjoyable video, many thanks !
I worked for a cycle repair shop way back in '77 & '78. My job was to tear the engines down so they could soak overnight in a vat of what I called de-gunker. The next day I would scrape off any leftover gaskets and built up grease. That was the extent of my cycle knowledge. The owner of the shop didn't think putting the machines back together was "woman's" work, although the cleaning part was ok to let a woman do. I was just happy he gave me a job. But the shop did teach me to ride my own 1970 Harley Sportster. We had to remove the seat, and replace it with a thin leather pad so my tippy toes could touch the ground. My first day riding, I learned all about kick stands, after I laid my bike over on my leg. I still have the scare from the hot muffler. It was a fun couple of years going on trips all over Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
Heh ... That was 'Jim Bronson's' bike in the tv series ... an 884cc was it not ? Skinny front tire I always thought
You're correct Michael. Down here for many years it was considered a bike for sissies, but for a small person it was great. There is no way I could have handled a cycle as large as a regular Harley. I admit part of the attraction for me was being told just how unladylike such an activity was.
Hmmmm ... " A bike for sissies ?" ... A Sportster ? ... what town are you from ? In the 70's we ALL wanted a Sportster .... Monsters like a Honda Aspencade were for old age and touring with some future wife after the kids grew up and left, lol ! ... and the tv series 'Then Came Bronson ' made the desire for a Sportster even more so .... At 900 cc's it was a large engine for it's time as most were riding street bikes in the 500, 650, and 750 range .... And the Sportster compared to the bulky look of British and Japananese cycles ala BSA, Triumph, and Kawasaki were futuristically 'swoopy' with that Western longhorn look rather than snubbed and boxy looking ...not to mention that in the larger engine sizes, the Sportster, even in 2017 is still the only truly reasonably priced Harley of the lineup .... Pa. is a sportster paradise ,lol !
@Michael Santi , I've lived most of my life in Houston, TX. In the '70's, if you weren't riding a Harley Hog, you weren't riding a motorcycle, which we just called bikes. Sportster came out in the mid '50's, but by the way Texans acted, you'd have thought they were newly from some alien world. We had some pretty bad biker gangs back then, and so the repair shop saw many of them, and that's where the sissy title came from. It was also around the time that they were extending the front forks, so your were a sissy for not having those as well. Down here about the only exception was the old Indian. The first one of those I saw came into the shop in pieces in boxes. The owner took it apart, but then couldn't figure out how to put it back together. He also had a BSA, in more boxes. You do see many of the newer bikes around today, but Harley's are still king, (and queen), around here. But now, the biggest threat to cyclists around here is the average automobile driver. My granddaughter and son-in-law were run off the road twice in the last 18 months. The last time they were knocked off the road, they both spent over a week in the hospital with back and neck injuries. At least they were wearing helmets, which we were too knuckleheaded to do back in my day.
Yah, drivers were the main reason for the LED work ... I want to be visible as possible .... The problem with Pa. suburbs is that the major highways and the bar parking lots are often perfectly level and almost the same strip of road ... When they leave some even think they are still on the lot ... Texans must have had money even back in the day ... running into hogs here in the 70's was not quite as often as you are speaking of ... The gangs of course made the usage trend a lot different ...