Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

How do they fit anything in the back of there? It is too narrow!

The galley on the side is a REALLY cool idea though. I need to watch my weight though; any additional doors will add weight!

in 1974 motorcycles didn't have all that plastic on them, and the footpegs folded up. You could get one in about 14 inches until you got to the handlebars!

We ride with a bit more beefy of a machine than that. our normal ride is one of these (in red):


But are saving for one of these (in white, just like the one below):


Which, believe it or not, is nearly 3 feet wide... With the mirrors folded in!

Yes, they have a bit more design to them these days. Still, that Triumph is probably a lot of fun!

Oh, yeah. I've ridden some older Hondas that looked just like that Triumph. It's amazing how zippy they are -- it's almost like riding a dirt bike.

Most of our riding now demands more comfort and safety, now that we can afford it. Once you've tried one of these maxi-scooters, you'll never go back to riding a motorcycle again. The 650cc ones are like a Goldwing crossed with a Hayabusa.

The closest I ever came was the Honda CX500 I had in the late 70's. In the early 80's they increased it to 550cc and rebadged it the Silverwing. It ws pretty nice with a driveshaft and a Vetter Quicksilver fairing.

This might be a solution to your fabric problem. There was 2 tears at the first ITG at Minden the were made from dacron airplane material than heat shrunk and doped. Made them light but the dope made the fabric more solid. That was how cloth planes are made. You could maybe use marine epoxy instead of the dope if you wanted to.

Gary

Not to hijack this, but the Silverwing was a real nice ride. I had a '80 or '81 that saved us a ton of cash when I was in college. Single mono-shock air ride rear suspension and adjustable air in the fronts. My wife and I put about 20K miles in two years on that bike. If there was no snow, it was our transportation. Factory hard bags and a trunk that fit all my textbooks and we even did our grocery shopping on that bike. My mother-in-law freaked out when I told her we were adding the sidecar for the first kid, we didn't but it was sure fun to mess with her head.

We are the same way with our Reflex. It's paid itself off so many times with parking fees around here. We go everywhere on it -- we've even devised 2 backpacks, one for my dog to ride in, and a smaller one for hers so that the whole family can ride the bike anywhere. We get funny looks, but it's worth the savings in gas and parking!

We're around 2k miles per year on the Reflex -- waaay less than you. That's a ton of riding!

Do you still ride? I'm always curious what types of bike people end up with.

I don't ride on the road anymore, too many crazies with cell phones. Still ride off-road and 4 wheelers. I do have a vintage 84 Honda 750 interceptor that is in process of restoration, so I will ride again but very limited. Besides when I passed 40 my wife asked me to stick around for the kids.

I don't ride anymore, either. I rode virtually exclusively for years, then had a series of close calls in the last year that made me decide the open road was no longer open enough for me. It's a shame, because I really loved it.

I know how you feel. I'm still young enough to shake it off, but I'm hoping that I will have fewer and fewer close calls as I get older. They're gotten a bit better, but every once and awhile, I'll get run out of my lane by an idiot or have to come screeching to a halt because someone "didn't see me."

All that is part of my motivation to get the Burgman instead of my Reflex. The Reflex is nice, but the Burgman is stronger, bigger, and brakes far better than my Reflex. I still won't feel safe -- but I'd much rather be riding a big scooter and enjoying ride than be crammed in a cage (especially on vacations, when I'll have the TTT ).