159 Comments
User's avatar
Sherman McCoy's avatar

0-On the contrary, I do not care about motorcycles, motorcycle customers, motorcycle companies, or people foolish enough to want to devote capital to the attempts of motorcycle companies to attract motorcycle customers. Along with jet skis, basketball, the UFC, bowling, Golden Corral, and many other things, I believe that the world would be a vastly better place if motorcycles had never existed.

1-Luigi might very well win his 8th title in red. What a story for F1, and Ferrari, and the lad from Stevenage, and Kim K if that were to happen!

Matthew Horgan's avatar

I think I get it now-the striving, the moral autism, the seething distaste for low status whites. Those people hurt you when you were young, and the tip of the blade broke off and never came out.

Maybe a Good Will Hunting moment is in the cards?

Sheesh, I’m basically a shrink now. Time to print that diploma and open my practice!!!

Scott A's avatar

"Little man syndrome," also known as the Napoleon complex, is a social stereotype suggesting that shorter men overcompensate for their height through overly aggressive, domineering, or attention-seeking behavior.

Joe's avatar

I exhibit no tendencies towards napoleon little man syndrome… just saying.

Scott A's avatar

Fortunately it is a disease that does not strike all short men.

S2kChris's avatar

When one comes from low class routes, he feels he must denounce them absolutely in order to prove he belongs to his new ‘high class’ cohort in a way that someone who has belonged there all along doesn’t consider.

Jeff H's avatar

...although... is Sherman really "high class" because he made some coin off a butthole-showing website?

S2kChris's avatar

Note the quotes.

Scott A's avatar

Rumor has it sherman makes less than bark

Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

Bark reproduced.

Scott A's avatar

At least twice!

Ice Age's avatar
3hEdited

When the billionaire CEO of the multinational computer company announces his company's revolutionary new OS to a worldwide audience of starry-eyed fanboys, what he's REALLY saying is, "Yeah, I'll bet Becky Slater knows who she shoulda gone to the prom with NOW!"

Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

Apple's Tim Cook is likely thinking of ~Brad~ Slater.

Gianni's avatar

Hey Jenny Slater, hey Jenny Slater.

Landon McMeekin's avatar

Reading this makes me want to buy a motorcycle even more.

silentsod's avatar

I went up a mountain on a dirt bike today with a brother-in-law and, while I think two strokes are trash, it was a good time with beautiful views.

Stan Galat's avatar

Nay I say -- nay my good man.

2-strokes are internal combusion's gift to hick-town, white-trash, wannabe boy-racers (like this aged out juvenile delinquent), friend. They're God's perfect engine.

silentsod's avatar

No two combustion events are the same! Madness.

Stan Galat's avatar

All true

... and yet, pound for pound, there's nothing like 'em. I was Midwest bred and buttered on 2-stroke dirtbikes. Funnest motorcycle I ever had as an RZ350 2-stroke street bike. It was just insane when it came on the pipe.

Jeff Winks's avatar

Had an RZ 350 race bike. It was fun.

Scott A's avatar

Wave runners have never been the same since they went four stroke

Speed's avatar

2 strokes are one of those thing where i like it becuase its flawed

i do very much want to fiddle around with an old 750 mach iv though

Stan Galat's avatar

You've summed up my entire shtick, young man. If it's a deeply flawed platform capable of running way WAY better than it has any right to, I'm going to climb all over it.

I play in the very deep end of the air-cooled VW T1 world where each and every HP comes at a price about 10x what those ponies go for in GM/FoMoCo/Mopar-world. Don't care. Love 'em.

Scott A's avatar

Two strokes, when they work, are awesome. Same power half the displacement. Just some wasted fuel

Speed's avatar

preaching to the choir

my favourite engine is the flathead ford and that has to be the worst power per dollar mill out there

its so awful i spent some time studying the architecture to design a new block that would be improved in nearly every way but completely interchangeable with stock parts unlike the aluminum one motor city flatheads prototyped years ago

Stan Galat's avatar

I don't think I've ever read 52 words that made me want to buy several motorcycles more than these.

Thanks for your continued service to the ACF community, Sheman.

Steve Ward's avatar

Same. And I don’t even own a motorcycle, and probably would kill myself if I did (due to having no skill combined with a need for speed).

Sherman McCoy's avatar

Moments ago, while walking to Whole Foods, I observed a 20-something BBIPOC woman, walking a dog with a bullring through her septum (the woman, not the dog) … wearing a HARLEY DAVIDSON baseball cap.

Jack Baruth's avatar

The European equivalent of this person is wearing Rosso Corsa.

Gene's avatar

Please tell me the dog was a pit bull.

Sherman McCoy's avatar

It was!!!

I saved that in case someone asked.

Jack Baruth's avatar

" I believe that the world would be a vastly better place if motorcycles had never existed."

Jesus, dude, even (some) Redditors can see the appeal of a motorcycle. You sound like a ten year old griping that "Porky's" was ruined by the shower scene.

Scott A's avatar

This is the man who called me, a 5 time and current motorcycleist , “risk averse”

Sherman McCoy's avatar

Are you not a Redditor yourself?

Anyway, I can recall a time during the late 90s, during which my family was driving back from the lake house to our “regular” house with a boat in tow. This necessitated crossing over the Appalachian Trail at least once (or taking a VERY long detour).

There we sat, just north of the AT (at Hogpen Gap). On a hot, summer Sunday afternoon. In a Toyota Land Cruiser that was wheezing with the twin demands of the boat behind us and maintaining some semblance of air conditioning. We sat still in the thin(ner) air because a motorcyclist had ridden directly into a sheer rock face at what appeared to have been impressive speed. The local authorities were cleaning up the guts, etc. as the road finally reopened.

My father said: “That is such a shame … he’s going to leave a stain on that beautiful rock face.”

S2kChris's avatar

1. “Year of the Dragon” I don’t think I already told this story, but we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Boston this year. As we were walking back to our hotel in a large crowd following the fireworks in the hahrbahr, my 13 year old daughter says loudly “I can’t believe it’s the year of the dragon.” I said “oh, is it the —“ and she yelled “year of dragon deez nutz!” The crowd on the sidewalk exploded. I’ve never been prouder.

2. The wokesters are even trying to cancel people who went to the UFC fight. Social media is all aghast at comedian Nate Bargatze, perhaps the most benign inoffensive human on the planet who also manages to be pretty funny, from poor Tennessee roots and is a big UFC fan, went to see it and now want him stricken from society. I cannot imagine having enough free time to possibly care.

3. Any thoughts on the tempest in a teapot that is the MA lacrosse team that had (kind of) to forfeit their spot in the playoffs because some of the seniors were photographed smoking cigars at their high school graduation in violation of the school’s anti drug/alcohol/tobacco policy? Reading the WSJ comments, they are pretty split between “they signed a policy and violated it” and “OMG WTF who cares about a cigar?” I’m pretty far in the latter group, and think it’s a pretty fascinating commentary on the types in education today who can’t introduce any nuance or judgement into their policies and enforcement, and might not realize that a celebratory cigar at a graduation might not warrant the same punishment that, say, a blackout kegger in the woods or being caught with a baggie of nose candy or black tar heroin might. But ‘rules are rules’, amIright? Link here if anyone wants to read it.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/ipswich-lacrosse-cigars-graduation-photo-2e4152c2?st=BG3Zt1&reflink=article_copyURL_share

Joe's avatar

Good on your daughter! Well done!

Scott A's avatar

My friend used to smoke cigarettes between matches at high school tennis tournaments. It was probably frowned upon. The war on nicotine has been a giant mistake.

Also, women...

Jeff Winks's avatar

I remember being able to buy cigs in jr high school no one cared. Now I’m all hopped up on Zyn and they’ll probably ban that.

Scott A's avatar

I use zyn to lose weight. I think it’s probably safer than ozempic

Ataraxis's avatar

Father of the Year!

Shooter's avatar

Damn, Baruth, from Falco to Philip Glass, with a whole lot of great moto content in between, you are definitely not Koyaanisqatsi.

Gianni's avatar

I always preferred the After The Fire version.

Acd's avatar

Thank you for giving me a reason to listen to Der Kommissar.

Jeff Winks's avatar

Koyaanisqatsi…I haven’t heard that word in a very long time.

MrFixit1599's avatar

I don't care about UFC, or whatever it is, but I'm glad it happened. I was prompted by YouTube to watch a replay of the opening ceremony, with Zack Brown I think singing the National Anthem. That flyover is one of the best things I have ever watched. I highly recommend watching it.

https://youtu.be/UOlxpAcmRIs?is=_a-IUKMpHoK59Iue

I COME IN PEACE's avatar

I will readily admit that the flyover was top notch

Josh Arakes's avatar

Concur.

Speed's avatar

holy shit that was awesome

Frank White's avatar

Will be interesting to see if Thai hawgs trade at a big discount in the used market.

I would suspect ‘yes,’ but I also know that most people have no idea or care where stuff comes from.

Stan Galat's avatar

I can tell you this much -- in the middle of all the kerfuffle, it was possible to buy a gen-u-wine 'murican (York factory) HD used for pennies on the dollar, as all the heartland bikers sold them off to buy Indians. I got a 15k mi. Road King with hard bags and some extras for $5000.

I frankly love it.

Steve Ward's avatar

Good for you. I also tend to like finding screaming deals on out of fashion stuff.

Stan Galat's avatar

Thanks, Steve. I generally (that reads "always") overpay for stuff I REALLY want.

This time I didn't. I wasn't jonesing bad for a Road King, but it was on my radar as a "someday" thing for at least a decade. The time was 100% right in late 2024.

I spent $1200 making it exactly what I want (different seat, fix the cruise control, etc.), but I love this thing a lot more than I thought I would.

Like, a LOT a lot.

Jeff Winks's avatar

Fender guitars

Ice Age's avatar

UFC is emphatically NOT "human cockfighting."

It's human douchefighting.

Jack Baruth's avatar

That phrase came from a fellow with a lot of interest in human cocks.

Speed's avatar

sounds like a harley enjoyer then

Scott A's avatar

I did mma for a bit. I never fought in a match but i knew a lot of guys who did. They were slightly douchey but mostly good guys

Ice Age's avatar

Obviously, I'm talking about the day-glo personalities UFC promotes.

Joe's avatar

Rumor has that Harley is also bringing back the Sportster in nearly the same configuration as the one they cancelled a few years ago, only the 883 though, not the 1200. I don’t care one way or the other about lgbtq or whatever the acronym is, and I wish that Harley wouldn’t virtue signal with the group, I don’t care about what an individuals sexual proclivities are, and I wouldn’t want to be known by mine, when we are talking about the rainbow crowd , we take merit out of the equation. It just seems like identity politics to me, and it’s just another way to divide us.

Jeff Winks's avatar

This is true. I’m stoked. The 883 is fine and can always be bored out.

Jack Baruth's avatar

The conversion kit is what two grand and you get all new parts.

Joe's avatar

And it’s not that difficult to do.

S2kChris's avatar

Also, you reference the Mask movie. The Mask movie I know was the dreadful Jim Carey flick, notable only for introducing my friends and I to Cameron Diaz and resulted in us all sitting silently, mouths agape in my buddy Chris’s basement when she strutted out in that red dress. Holy shit.

Ice Age's avatar

Harley's stuck. Badly.

They can't change AT ALL without losing their Harleyness.

Ataraxis's avatar

Are we certain they’re not making more money from selling t-shirts to Boomers?

Ice Age's avatar

That'd be A LOT of shirts.

Ataraxis's avatar
1hEdited

I enjoy seeing all the Harley guys out wearing their uniforms.

Speed's avatar

"NYSE: HOG"

made me lol

"Klein is the mook who wrote this about having his foster kid yanked back away from him, probably because the agency was worried about additional tattooing taking place"

how weird do you have to be to get a child repod without getting cps called

"But now the vibe has shifted and the gravy train has come to a halt"

good. i hope they lose money. straight white christian men are very tired of being at the bottom of the pile.

"Hey, gay person, we know you’ve been riding a Harley for 24 years and have 280,000 miles on the road, but now we need you to do the pride thing"

reminds me of that south park episode lol

"It has a pretty strong manufacturing gay subculture, even"

just fabricating homos out of raw materials

"will trip all over themselves to praise the “wonderful comedy” of “Druski” humiliating and parodying Erica Kirk before her husband’s body was five months cold in the grave"

has anyone told erika kirk (not for long as shes changing her name soon) to give a shit about charlie?

"Fernando has put his head down and driven tractors to the podium"

who do i have to bribe and/or drown to get this poor man in a decent car

"They’re all still slower than a Radical SR8, but you do get a better stereo"

thats the tradeoff for being a real car that can be used every day

"It takes serious engineering to make a 200mph bike"

easier when you can just copy what already works and iterate on that

"I can’t say how fast my ZX-14R would be without the restrictor, but I can say that it gets to an indicated 185mph on Ohio freeways without anything like difficulty"

ong we need to get you a supercharger kit for that thing. 350whp at the very least

linearphase's avatar

Geeze, are you trying to kill him? The man obviously has no self control when it comes to speed, err velocity.

Speed's avatar

nah hes got self control

at least enough to have not died on a 1.4l bike

Steve Ward's avatar

Seems more likely he has enough skill to out weigh the lack of self control.

Scott A's avatar

Shame he lost so much weight and i cant make a fat joke

Jack Baruth's avatar

Give me time, I'm gaining it back under the cover of lifting weights

Scott A's avatar

I gain and lose basically by my stress level. Im down twenty in two months after tax season

Speed's avatar

bulking season and so on

Scott A's avatar

Theres some good people who foster. God knows i coildnt do it. My kids are annoying enough but there are a lot if weirdos who do it

Fat Baby Driver's avatar

A shirtless Rob Halford once stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. He didn't even grab my ass.

Speed's avatar

shoot him a dm and ask him to finish the job

Fat Baby Driver's avatar

🤣

Ataraxis's avatar

The three most important factors in real estate AND your comment:

location, location, location.

Fat Baby Driver's avatar

LMAO. It was at a meet & greet before a concert. They signed my Painkiller album. We were posing for a picture.

Ataraxis's avatar

Very valuable context!

Jeff Winks's avatar

A friend in jr high worked at a pharmacy in Milwaukee and they were playing at a local club. My friend said they came in to buy cigarettes the afternoon of the show and were dressed in their leather.

Ataraxis's avatar
3hEdited

Give me thousands more low brow American events from flyover country. Hold them all in DC so the enemies of the USA have a front row seat. It will never make up for the millions wasted on PBS, but it’s a start.

A friendly reminder to all that not one PBS or NPR station shut down after they “lost” their taxpayer funding. Just think of that whenever anyone anywhere in the media propagandizes doom and gloom on any subject. F them.

Here’s the America I want fed into the veins of American youth, relentlessly: https://xcancel.com/Trav_A_22/status/2045136218438955119#m

Ataraxis's avatar

I want that video shown in every American grade school every morning right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Everyday.

We would have much better young men and much better young women who would love those young men.

I COME IN PEACE's avatar

I'm really never going to be in any Harley (or Indian for that matter) demographic, so it's not terrible news per se that they are coming back home. I just wish that decision (any others made by other companies) wasn't purely financial. But that would be stupid right? If you want to stay in business, not piss off the shareholders, etc. etc. you got to play that game.

This morning a small-ish local company hired me on (with benefits), and amidst all the corporate butt-fuckery I've endured and witnessed, part of me is happy. The other part is trying to come to terms with making roughly 70% less money. I am thankful to be working at all; It's more than the token unemployment breadcrumbs that are going to expire in ~2 weeks. Time to suck it up, buttercup.

I am on the fence about going to another interview I had next week - with a vast corporate empire - for a management trainee position(?), and at the outset I am required to show up in suit/tie. And I'm sure putting on a false front shiny happy people person mask wouldn't hurt either.

Jack Baruth's avatar

Easier to get a job when you have a job. Go get 'em.

Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

Please keep us posted

KoR's avatar

Are we getting another Thunder Dome now that the Iran War is winding down? The points in the “Memorandum of Understanding” represent a catastrophic surrender, and make this whole undertaking something that should sink the entire Republican Party and anyone associated with Trump for the next decade.

It’s BRUTAL. The much lamented deal Trump ripped up in 2018 wasnt even this good for Iran!

Speed's avatar

i only hope this will forever prevent the us from doing isreals bidding ever again

100bn to bomb iran then 300bn to give them reparations are you fucking kidding me

KoR's avatar

Hey at least we were able to murder hundreds (thousands?) of innocent people in the process of killing one 86 year old man. That man, it must be said, has been replaced by even more hardline cohort. Who, it must also be said, had a lot for their families killed.

Surely that spells good things for future relations!

I think Trump is an absolute disgrace of a person and a fucking moron to boot. I have thought this for over a decade. Even *I* didn’t think it was possible for him to commit a blunder this bad.

Scott A's avatar

This iran war was happening no matter what. They wanted it 10 years ago. Im very disappointed in trumps falling for it. What is disaster

KoR's avatar
1hEdited

Ripping up the JCPOA was dumb in 2018 and looks even worse now.

Trump and his cabal of the stupid, shameless, and power hungry should have to wear this around their necks for the rest of their political lives.

Scott A's avatar

It’s going to destroy his otherwise positive legacy. He saved us from hilary. Ill never forget thay

Ataraxis's avatar

I’m retired because I figured out he was going to win in the Summer of 2015 when everyone will still calling him a clown, and bet on it in the market when the S&P was only at 2000.

I really knew almost nothing about him, but when he insulted McCain and got away with it I looked into his methodology and realized he’d win.

Jack Baruth's avatar

The only defense I'll give is that Biden/Kamala's people wanted to tangle with China. We might lose the Iran conflict Vietnam style by putting $300B into subverting their society with capitalism. The Chinese would have sunk three carriers and put 150,000 servicemen into caskets before we gave up and let them have their own island.

Jack Baruth's avatar

Yeah I think so. And I hope this is the last time we go to war for Israel.

S2kChris's avatar

Sucks to go to war for the Jews but also I don’t hate bombing brown people so

Speed's avatar

if its free and involves zero potential casualties of americans then sure but thats not the case

Scott A's avatar

“Why not both” meme

IM KIDDING RONNIE

Sean's avatar

I never thought of wokist DEI as a cover for offshoring but that makes sense. One thing you can be sure the woke crowd cares no one whit for middle America, we are deplorable heathen to them.

As to hareley, good thing they recognize again the core tenets of their durable appeal, made in USA being a part of this. However I hope that their newfound "pride" does not trap them into only making aircooled barges. Id still take an aircooled 750 tracker looking bike that Harley has serialy failed to build despite the inspiration from stroz and others. . . But as Triumph has proven an inspired bike company can remain true to heritage and still rollout a range of bikes that appeals to a wider demographic. The sprtester S was the usal lame non rider corporate cliniced attempt. It looks great imo, and its only short of mid controlls brakes and suspension from being desirable to those who ride something other than aircooled v twins for whom it has no appeal either.

Dont get me wrong, i love my 1200 sportster, its a modern day vincent that starts with a button, well made and full of charisma. It has crap brakes, you can lteraly feel the headstock bend under "hard" braking and these is near zero suspension, which is an upgrade on a hardtail. Its a modern antique, which is really cool, but there is so much mroe Harley could and should do. Yeah we have the pan America, but thats just one bike.

As for the UFC fight my take is slighty different. The whole crowd who applauded the nude and semi nude spectacle that was the Biden Trans gay gathering at the white house, has a problem with a UFC fight as unbecoming the presidency/ As much as trump seems to drop the ball these days, his ability to upset our "betters" and poke his finger in their eye makes his presidency one slaw rolling orgasim for some of us.

BTW gay people I know tell me they are not into the spectacle or into self singling out. The gay motorcyclists I know are lesbians and their motto seems to be that their sexual orientation should not dictate everything else about their life conforming to some marketing idea of what gay is.

I guess I'm nonconformist (tongue in cheek) because on a harley i wear a full face arai helmet, not some pudding bowl fake biker thing. I know i shouldn't judge the sunday ride fake badass biker dentist on a harley but I do. It is but one hobby and we should accept all comers, but still.

Steve Ward's avatar

“an upgrade on a hardtail” LOL.

Sean's avatar
1hEdited

I think certainly an aircooled sportster needs to be appreciated in context.

It’s more modernized antique than modern bike and all the more glorious for what it is. There is no point in expecting good brakes but they are good compared to drums, or expecting anything approaching modern suspension rather one sound just appreciate there is some. It is modern in that it’s reliable and starts ona button .

My 1986 Yamaha 4cyl ujm is objectively superior in almost every way which misses the point.

G. K.'s avatar

Most of us are normal people who aren't trying to make an entire personality out of our queerness. Most trans people are trying to pass as their gender and not to take up too much space, and most gay people aren't out in public wearing butt plugs and harnesses in public parades. What you have is a minority of very outspoken people who take up all the attention and make a spectacle. It's hardly the most egregious thing going on, but it's pretty goofy.

Ataraxis's avatar

Anyone making a spectacle of themselves is annoying and I don’t want to be around them.

What they are making a spectacle out of is secondary.

John Van Stry's avatar

I know a few guys from the ZZR-1200 forum who went to ZX-14's and got them over 200mph. It became quite the thing and there was a point in time I was thinking about doing it, because I've never done 200mph on a motorcycle.

Scott A's avatar

The fastest ive been on a bike was 155. That was enough.

John Van Stry's avatar

I've been over 160 a couple of times. According to GPS 167 is my max.

On the right road, it's not really scary. But I think I'm too old to do that anymore!

Scott A's avatar

On the right road, i would probably do it. Not a lot of right road here

John Van Stry's avatar

I hear you on that.

S2kChris's avatar

Down and back on I-88, no? Check for cops, circle back, go for it.

Scott A's avatar

I did 155 ish on i88 right before naperville road. If i went to dekalb on the r1, yes but i never wanted to go out of my way to do it. I think street triple top speed is maybe 160

John Van Stry's avatar

Coming down out of the hills on I-80 after midnight when there's no cops or anybody else on the 3-lane road was one of the better places. Out in Eastern Oregon during the week there was another good place, though I forget where exactly now. Was out there on a trip with friends.

Scott A's avatar

355 is great but cops police it at 1am. Thats where i got my 40 over