reinie

The Bettsville American legion riders are having their 3rd Annual Motorcycle Swap meet and Bike Show on June 28th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Rain or Shine.  Admission is $2.00 or is included with the purchase of a $15.00 Event T-shirt.  There will be Vendors, a Live Band, a Beer Tent, and lots of Food & Beverages.  The Motorcycle Show entry fee is $5.00 and there will be five classes: Custom, Touring, Street, Trike, and Antique.  There will be awards for Best in each Class and a People's Choice Award.  We're also having a Cash raffle and tickets are $5.00 each or five for $20.00.  Cash prizes are: 1st place $1000.00, 2nd Place $500.00, 3rd Place $250.00, and 4th Place $125.00.  Tickets are available at the Post or from any ALR member.  Vendors are wanted, a 10x10 foot space is $10.00 and there are a few limited indoor spaces with power and a 6 foot table for $25.00 each.  After may 15th there will be an addtional $5.00 per space.  The Legion hall is located at 3751 W, State Route 12 on the west end of Bettsville Ohio (about 1/2 way between Fremont and Fostoria Ohio).  For more information contact Doug Long 419-721-3320 or Jim Nagle  419-619-1756

Is there a limit om picture size or megabytes of data that prevented my pictures from uploading? Every time I try it goes through all the motions, then says the upload has failed.

I rode up to Maumee Tuesday as Honda East had the Victory Demo Truck there. I demo rode four 2013 Victory models including the Vegas 8-Ball, the Hard Ball, the Boardwalk, and the Vision Tour. Here's a few pictures:

I know a young guy who tried to start out on a GSXR 750, which he wadded up in a ditch the first day. Luckily he only got a concussion and cuts & bruises but it ended his desire to ride. Yeah a 600 could concievably work for you, but I'm thinking more like a 500 would be better to be a newbie on.

The Victory Motorcycles Demo truck will be at Honda East in Maumee on May 6th & 7th

A guy named Charlie here in town did that with his Ultra. Removed the tour pack and put a low chopped windshield on the batwing fairing. Looks just like a Street Glide with lowers now.

The Guv just signed it into law and it goes into effect on July 1st, so it's real.

These were taken shortly after I got the bike from American Powersports in Findlay. Some of my mods weren't done yet.

D&D Slip-on Mufflers

Stage 1 remap and air filter

Stainless steel extended mirror stalks

Billet Brake Pedal

7 Jurock 14" tinted windshield with "flip"

Victory Lock-N-Ride Trunk

There are plenty of raffle tickets. $5 each and with only 1000 tickets, four cash prizes the odds are 1 in 250 of winning something. Way better than the lottery!

I like the Victory Lock-N-Ride Trunk. Easily taken off and put back on.

Never had a Harley so I guess I don't know what I missed!!! 43 years of owning motorcycles and have had Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph and Victory. Seventeen bikes in all.

A bunch of my fellow American Legion Riders have Ultra Classics and they swear by them. I reckon the Victory Cross Country tour is close to the same equipment wise. My 2012 Cross Country started out being more like a Street Glide but since I added the tour pack trunk with rear speakers it's now a bit more like an Electraglide Classic. No lowers on it.

Honda used to make the Magna 750 which had a version of the VFR motor in it. It used to kick ass on much bigger cruisers performance wise. Not a bad looking bike either.

Those old 1982 bikes didn't really have a feet forward riding stance nor were the seat heights very low. Just stepped seats, buckhorn handlebars, short mufflers and a fatter rear tire. In every way they were just styling changes to standard UJMs. The 1996 Honda ACE 1100 actually nailed it as a lot of people mistook mine for a Harley back when I had it.

I've had a lot of bikes since my first on back in 1970, about sixteen or so. I have had singles, vertical twins, V-twins, inline triples and fours, air cooled, oil cooled and water cooled. All three final drives, chain, belt and shaft. The sizes ranged from 90cc all the way to 2300cc, so I really have had quite a variety of rides in my 42 plus years of motorcycle ownership. The cruiser genre for me started in 1997 with a 1996 Honda Shadow ACE 1100 although I had a couple of inline four cruisers before that, a 1982 Kawasaki KZ550 LTD and a 1982 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim, if you'd actually call them cruisers.

I got my Frogg Toggs at Bass Pro Shops, cheaper than at a motorcycle shop.

Glad to see I'm not alone in my preference towards cruisers with saddlebags (baggers). Seems like this is the biggest segment in the non sporting category by my observation. Maybe I will bump into one or more of you at an event such as the Swap Meet the American Legion Riders are having in Bettsville this June. I'm a member there and on the committee. I also do a few poker runs etc. every summer.

Anybody on this forum into these types of motorcycles? I have been on Cruisers since 1997. Last fall I went from a 2010 Triumph Rocket III Touring to a 1012 Victory Cross Country. I was planning on keeping the Triumph until a small part in the transmission failed under warranty then had a 43 day long debacle with Triumph and the dealer with no motorcycle to ride. This soured me on Triumph and that dealer to the point that I traded the Rocket on the Victory shortly after I got it back. Anyhow I am loving the Cross Country even though it's quite a bit less powerful. The new machine has lots of other attributes that more than make up for that.

Just about any metric cruiser would do the same thing as a Harley and be well within your price limit. Honda Shadows & Sabres, VTXs from 750 to 1300cc, Yamaha V-Stars 650 to 1300cc, Kawasaki Vulcans 800 to 1700cc, and Suzuki Boulevards & Volusias and "M" bikes 800cc to 1500cc. There's a lot of choices out there in this category and all cost a lot less than a Harley.

I've seen his bike over on the Ride Ohio forum. He has more picture of it posted over there.

Ditto on this weak ass moped horn on my Victory.

Kinda new here myself. Welcome

I'm not a sportbike owner/rider but from a cruiser perspective that's like putting a newbie on a Rocket III Triumph, just as nuts!! For a sportbike to begin on I would guess a 600cc is plenty enough to get into trouble on. I would even lean towards a 500cc for a newb to learn on.

Brings back memories of the inline four cruiser styled bikes I once had. First was a 1982 Kawasaki 550 LTD from new in 82 to 1985, then a 1982 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim bought used from 1988 to 1992. Then I went backwards in 1996 buying a 1979 Yamaha XS750 Special triple and unloaded it in 1997 (bad troubles). My last inline four wasn't really a cruiser. I bought a 1998 Honda Nighthawk 750 in 2001 after a kid rear ended me with his grandma's car, destoying a beautiful 1996 Triumph 900 Adventurer triple.

I'm a cruiser guy, well since I got my first cruiser in 1997 (96 Honda Shadow ACE 1100). I've had quite a variety of bikes over the 42 plus years that I've had motorcycles.