EDC XIII Which knife or knives are you carrying today?

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ferider said:
Yeah, I know that Neanderthal… both my bikes are north of 700 pounds; he manages to pick them up but then likes to drop them on the other side if not very careful :)
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Haha yeah at 700 pounds I could see how that tipping point comes up real quick when you're man handling it up with all your might!
 
ferider said:
Yeah, I know that Neanderthal… both my bikes are north of 700 pounds; he manages to pick them up but then likes to drop them on the other side if not very careful :)
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I am familiar with 700.

I was stationed in Germany from '79-'82 (Air Force) and in 80 decided I wanted a motorcycle. My girlfriend's stepfather at the time knew a German guy who was selling a '75 Honda GL1000 Goldwing for DM 1600. I said no way. I was looking for something to start with, like a 250 class bike. I had never ridden a motorcycle before.

Well Dieter came out one day and Mr Pittman insisted I try it out. I was adamant, no way. For awhile. So after being goaded for a period of time I decided I would give it a careful try. Once I understood the brake and gearbox peddles I was off - clutch and throttle just the same as a car with a stick. And after a few runs up and down the street and careful u-turns I thought, this ain't so bad!

But before I could buy it I had to get my European Armed Forces Drivers License endorsement for motorcycles..... And the only one I could borrow from anyone to take the riding test was a c.1980 Kawasaki 1300(!) Transverse six-cylinder, about 700 pounds, high center of gravity. 😂

So I had a half hour practice on the base during which I pulled up to a T junction, and when I came to a stop it heeled a little and I lost it at that point of no return. I weighed about 150, was fit and very strong for my weight - but I couldn't stop it. All I managed to do was mitigate the fall so it just blemished the fairing that was fitted to it and prevent damage to lever etc.

I could not pick it up. I reached a certain point and couldn't get past it. A guy in a passing car stopped and helped me get it verticle again.

Goldwing was about 600 pounds. That 1000 cc horizontally opposed four cylinder motor affording a much lower center of gravity. Picked it up twice. Once I swung the kickstand down at a gas station and it swung back up. Satisfied by the audible "clunk" I didn't realize it had clunked going back up. It fell as I was walking away. Once I found the right points to grab pulled it right up. Second time the kickstand sunk down in the tarmac in the summer heat. A little tougher that time 😅.

Many happy memories on that bike.

Wiki photo of Kawasaki 1300
Kawasaki_Z1300_(KZ1300_US).jpg
 
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RPZIP said:
I am familiar with 700.

I was stationed in Germany from '79-'82 (Air Force) and in 80 decided I wanted a motorcycle. My girlfriend's stepfather at the time knew a German guy who was selling a '75 Honda GL1000 Goldwing for DM 1600. I said no way. I was looking for something to start with, like a 250 class bike. I had never ridden a motorcycle before.

Well Dieter came out one day and Mr Pittman insisted I try it out. I was adamant, no way. For awhile. So after being goaded for a period of time I decided I would give it a careful try. Once I understood the brake and gearbox peddles I was off - clutch and throttle just the same as a car with a stick. And after a few runs up and down the street and careful u-turns I thought, this ain't so bad!

But before I could buy it I had to get my European Armed Forces Drivers License endorsement for motorcycles..... And the only one I could borrow from anyone to take the riding test was a c.1980 Kawasaki 1300(!) Transverse six-cylinder, about 700 pounds, high center of gravity. 😂

So I had a half hour practice on the base during which I pulled up to a T junction, and when I came to a stop it heeled a little and I lost it at that point of no return. I weighed about 150, was fit and very strong for my weight - but I couldn't stop it. All I managed to do was mitigate the fall so it just blemished the fairing that was fitted to it and prevent damage to lever etc.

I could not pick it up. I reached a certain point and couldn't get past it. A guy in a passing car stopped and helped me get it verticle again.

Goldwing was about 600 pounds. That 1000 cc horizontally opposed four cylinder motor affording a much lower center of gravity. Picked it up twice. Once I swung the kickstand down at a gas station and it swung back up. Satisfied by the audible "clunk" I didn't realize it had clunked going back up. It fell as I was walking away. Once I found the right points to grab pulled it right up. Second time the kickstand sunk down in the tarmac in the summer heat. A little tougher that time 😅.

Many happy memories on that bike.

Wiki photo of Kawasaki 1300
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My first bike was the KZ650 Mini rocket ship!!
 
I had a nice lazy morning with a big coffee, a Sunday crossword, and a looong hot shower. After lunch I was gonna work on the garden shed door, but got sidetracked when cleaning off the bench in the sheetmetal shop and spent a few hours finally tuning up my 8-foot Chicago brake which has been overbending in the center for too long. My stomp shear and that brake are over 70 years old, but they're hand-powered, will last for many lifetimes if properly cared for, and I've been fortunate to find a few sets of original manufacturer's parts and adjustment literature online over the years. After blowing up copies of scanned doc's uploaded by others to the limit of readability, getting through everything I was able to decipher, and working through various adjustments, I was able to get things quite literally straightened out. Aside from making alignment adjustments at the ends, it's really kind of amazing how one can bow and straighten such heavy, thick, and broad sections of steel using the mechanical advantage of trussing and threaded adjusters.

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Anyway, I bought this REX45 Native Chief some 4 years ago on the Exchange and it's received very little carry in that time. I wanted something in that steel and it's really a good knife, but it has an awful lot of overlap with a considerable number of other Spydies that seem to get picked ahead of it for pocket time. I've been trying to decide whether I should sell it or not and figured I'd give it some love to help decide. I enjoyed carrying and using it a bit today after an oiling and wipe-down and am no further along in coming to a decision.

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RPZIP said:
I am familiar with 700.

I was stationed in Germany from '79-'82 (Air Force) and in 80 decided I wanted a motorcycle. My girlfriend's stepfather at the time knew a German guy who was selling a '75 Honda GL1000 Goldwing for DM 1600. I said no way. I was looking for something to start with, like a 250 class bike. I had never ridden a motorcycle before.

Well Dieter came out one day and Mr Pittman insisted I try it out. I was adamant, no way. For awhile. So after being goaded for a period of time I decided I would give it a careful try. Once I understood the brake and gearbox peddles I was off - clutch and throttle just the same as a car with a stick. And after a few runs up and down the street and careful u-turns I thought, this ain't so bad!

But before I could buy it I had to get my European Armed Forces Drivers License endorsement for motorcycles..... And the only one I could borrow from anyone to take the riding test was a c.1980 Kawasaki 1300(!) Transverse six-cylinder, about 700 pounds, high center of gravity. 😂

So I had a half hour practice on the base during which I pulled up to a T junction, and when I came to a stop it heeled a little and I lost it at that point of no return. I weighed about 150, was fit and very strong for my weight - but I couldn't stop it. All I managed to do was mitigate the fall so it just blemished the fairing that was fitted to it and prevent damage to lever etc.

I could not pick it up. I reached a certain point and couldn't get past it. A guy in a passing car stopped and helped me get it verticle again.

Goldwing was about 600 pounds. That 1000 cc horizontally opposed four cylinder motor affording a much lower center of gravity. Picked it up twice. Once I swung the kickstand down at a gas station and it swung back up. Satisfied by the audible "clunk" I didn't realize it had clunked going back up. It fell as I was walking away. Once I found the right points to grab pulled it right up. Second time the kickstand sunk down in the tarmac in the summer heat. A little tougher that time 😅.

Many happy memories on that bike.

Wiki photo of Kawasaki 1300
View attachment 2959298
Click to expand...

Thanks for that cool story. Where were you stationed? Ramstein?

That Kawasaki was infamous - when I was 18 a friend of mine killed himself on one. Very impressive for back then.

I did once teach a former girlfriend riding - on my Fatboy. Low and heavy, and high torque at low revs make it easy I thought.
 
ferider said:
Thanks for that cool story. Where were you stationed? Ramstein?

That Kawasaki was infamous - when I was 18 a friend of mine killed himself on one. Very impressive for back then.

I did once teach a former girlfriend riding - on my Fatboy. Low and heavy, and high torque at low revs make it easy I thought.
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Rhein Main Air Base. I did have a 45 day TDY to Ramstein. Took a max custody prisoner there and there was a requirement for one extra LE for max custody prisoners in the confinement.

The guy that owned the Kawasaki flipped it later. Saw it in the parking lot with dirt on it and grass sticking out of parts of the back end 😂

My Goldwing reached an end in '81 when one night an off duty German CiD officer snapped a u-turn in front of me going out of Frankfurt in his VW Scirocco. Put me in the hospital for about a week and my girlfriend for nine. Hit him right about the hinge of the driver's door.
 
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