Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Path: urvile.msus.edu!newsdist.tc.umn.edu!umn.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!yeshua.marcam.com!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!olivea!news.bu.edu!gw1.att.com!nntpa!bigtop!rigel!car377
From: car377@rigel.dr.att.com (131AA0000-RogersC(DR8926)273)
Subject: Re: Spokes vs. Cast Wheels
Message-ID: <Cx05yF.Lt6@bigtop.dr.att.com>
Sender: news@bigtop.dr.att.com (Netnews Administration Login)
Organization: ATT - GBCS Denver Labs
References: <Stafford-3009941427500001@199.17.130.55>
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 1994 16:32:39 GMT
Lines: 47

In article <Stafford-3009941427500001@199.17.130.55> Stafford@Ultra1.Winona.MSUS.edu (john stafford) writes:
>
>  Spoked wheels are prefered by Harley riders because
>  they make a better sound with the clothespin/card trick.
>-- 

This post reminds me of my first motorcycle accident.  I was eight years
old, and my peers and I had discovered the clothespin/card motorcycle
sound effect with our bicycles.  It wasn't enough, however, just to 
hear that wonderful "Bap Bap Bap Bap Bap Bap" sound: I wanted to watch
it work as well.  I hadn't been able to keep the clothespin on the 
front forks reliably, but I'd found a place on the rear fender support
that worked marvelously well.  The downside was that pedaling, steering,
and watching the action required too much coordinated effort, so I found
a big hill I could coast down and thereby eliminated the need for pedaling.  
It somehow escaped my eight-year-old intellect that watching the rear wheel
continuously whilst riding also eliminated the steering assignment, or
at least seriously compromised the quality of workmanship.  Thus it was that 
I found myself blissfully immersed in high-velocity scientific observation one 
moment, and demonstrating the classic Flying-W for my cohorts the next.
Somehow, a large parked Harley Pan Dresser had managed to interpose itself 
in my path, and its portrayal of the Immovable Object of legend was 
convincing, to say the least.  My buddies said I bounced off of it like it 
was a brick wall, and the Hog never budged an inch.  I had a few scratches
here and there, and my front tire always wobbled a bit after that, but
I considered myself twice blessed: directly behind the Harley and right
in my erratic flight path was a large pile of trashed nail-studded framing 
2-by-4s, a most unpleasant LZ for a munchkin gone ballistic.  Also, the
owner of the Harley let me live.  ;-)

My gratitude to providence for deliverance from a deplorable demise proved 
short-lived, though.  I soon discovered that the superb sounds emanating 
from my "motor" became even more interesting and unusual when I mounted 
four sound generation units in adjacent positions on the frame strut.  
Soon I was back on the test range again, my newly-discovered moto-cacophony
the envy of my riding companions.  Enlightened motorcycle enthusiasts will 
note that my "inline-4" engine configuration predated the introduction of 
the landmark Honda CB750 by more than a decade.

This memorable childhood episode is undoubtedly the source of my enduring 
affection for Harley-Davidson motorcycles AND Japanese In-Line Fours.

;-)
Chuck Rogers
DoD #0003 KotSBS
doh #0000001340 (One of Two)
--