 I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807
3/4 Throttle
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OP
3/4 Throttle
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807 |
...when used in reference to our bikes. To me, cruiser conjures up images of an overweight, chromed-out, low-slung armchair-on-2-wheels more suited to motorway and straight A-road jaunts, rather than the agile, sleek, hooligan-antics-inducing thoroughbred that prefers the hills to the flats and the curves to the straights that the Triumph twins are. I feel somewhat embarrassed when people ask what a Speedmaster is (which they invariably do, because no-one's heard of them) and I have to reply "Well, it's like a cruiser but with less chrome and less weight and...".
So, my question: what alternative name does anyone use to describe what we ride?
I kinda like 'roadster'.
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 Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2 |
Roadster sounds like you're riding a Can-Am Spyder.
Not all cruisers are as you describe. You're riding a cruiser. Don't obsess on the terminology.
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,463
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,463 |
they used to be part of the Classic Range. For some reason Triumph re-classified them as Cruisers. Probably about the same time as the America lost the Bonneville bit of it's name.  but yeah.... don't stress, ride. 
Gina
03 America - Pretty stock - except the TBS wheel... 
06 America - missing, presumed in bits. With it's TBS wheel... 
09 America - It's very blue....
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5 |
I don't like when I enter a bike show, that I have to be in the "metric cruiser" class. Then I get lumped in with all the Yamahondasakis. I have discovered the "open class" though. None of this is really what you're talking about...
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,668
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,668 |
Quote:
So, my question: what alternative name does anyone use to describe what we ride?
I kinda like 'roadster'.
I call mine a "cruise missile". 
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come; He will guide you in all truth:
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
I don't like when I enter a bike show, that I have to be in the "metric cruiser" class. Then I get lumped in with all the Yamahondasakis. I have discovered the "open class" though. None of this is really what you're talking about...
Same issue with Victory, a bike made in USA. The up side is that a metric American bike seems to confuse HD riders.
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,726
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,726 |
I always refer to my bike as a "sport cruiser". The big Harleys with huge windshields, bags, etc., I refer to as "baggers". Our bikes are not "sport bikes" but they don't really fit what most think of as "cruisers". So, "sport cruiser" seems to fit the bill.
Bob
2005 America, 904cc - sold. 2014 Trophy SE.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 6,432 Likes: 1
Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 6,432 Likes: 1 |
Quote:
Not all cruisers are as you describe.
True enough, just take a look at the "Biker" in the Village People... 
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5 |
Quote:
True enough, just take a look at the "Biker" in the Village People...
which one, the bike cop or the dude in leather? 
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,440 |
That looks like a scene from my local HD dealership. 
'08 America Blue/White; Custom Headlamps, Custom Lowers, Clearview 20", Bafflectomy
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,721 Likes: 5 |
I didn't know Victory was metric. Makes sense for international sales though.
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
That looks like a scene from my local HD dealership.
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,623 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
I didn't know Victory was metric. Makes sense for international sales though.
Dave, my understanding is that new products after a certain year are required to be metric. It's all good.
Kevin - Luceo Non Uro
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821 |
"Roadster" 
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 730
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 730 |
A guy that I work with who owns a Yamahondasakis cruiser and two sport bikes refuses to call my bike a cruiser because he has to be on one of his sport bikes in order to keep up.
Let my dying thought be that every mile was fun and let my tombstone read,"They never made one fast enough for me."
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 228
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 228 |
Quote:
...when used in reference to our bikes. To me, cruiser conjures up images of an overweight, chromed-out, low-slung armchair-on-2-wheels more suited to motorway and straight A-road jaunts, rather than the agile, sleek, hooligan-antics-inducing thing that prefers the hills to the flats that the Triumph twins are. I feel somewhat embarrassed when people ask what a Speedmaster is (which they invariably do, because no-one's heard of them) and I have to reply "Well, it's like a cruiser but with less chrome and less weight and...".
So, my question: what alternative name does anyone use to describe what we ride?
I kinda like 'roadster'.
How about "Factory Bobber" 
My name is phil . . . I ride a TRIUMPH
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
My best guess as to why our bike would fall into the "Cruiser" category is probably best stated with one simple question here:
(Q)- Where do we place our "little footies" when we're ridin' these babies around?
(A)- Forward, "maybe"!
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 251
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 251 |
i try not to pigeon hole my bike(s) in a particular genre.. it was bought as a "factory custom/cruiser". I ve had it since March 07.. it has been a bobber, cruiser, Brit, new classic ??  I suppose if I had to choose I prefer the custom phrasing, however it is what it is...  it's mine...  and i ride it...
Mike.
Veho Liberate
Iustus Paratus Prohibeo Penuriosus Effectus
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56 |
Quote:
"Roadster"
And what a sweet roadster that is! Wendy's bike has been classed in "other" a couple times going against quads and mini bikes, other times in "metric" against crotch rockets and such and I don't like that either. It isn't the right designation in my opinion. Also "metric cruiser" that's closer but still makes you think Jap. bike. The really good events I have been to it was classed in a British class. Some only had 1 British class some had "classic British" "British custom" and 1 or 2 other British classes but those events were few and far between.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 18,825
"Lighten up, Francis."
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"Lighten up, Francis."
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 18,825 |
A cruiser is a class of motorcycle and that's what we have, primarily due to the lowered seating position, fatter rear tire and forward controls. Get over it.
A roadster is a convertible sports car.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,616
Check Pants
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Check Pants
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,616 |
Q - what kind of bike is that? A - its a Triumph  Q - When did Harley start making those again? A - they dont! Its a Triumph! Q - then what kind of bike is it? Final Answer - Its the perfect kind! Start up and ride away.
SOLD: 07 Black BA, 39mm FCRs, TPUSA stage 1 head, TPUSA 813 cams, TPUSA 10.8:1 pistons, TTP #3 igniter, Specialty Spares Long Cannons, Tsukayu Hard Bags. 82HP/55tq
NEW: 19 Goldwing Tour DCT
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
A roadster is a convertible sports car.
And here all this time I was thinkin' a "roadster" was a male chicken that didn't quite make it across the road before that 18-wheeler came barreling through!!!
(nope John, I think one could also safely call certain motorcycle styles "roadsters", too!)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56 |
It isn't cruiser I object to at all. What I object to is being lumped into the same class with all the rice.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
...BUT you have no problem with these bikes being lumped into the same class with all the HAM...meaning of course: HOGS, huh???!!! (hmmmm...for some reason I'M gettin' MIGHTY HUNGRY right now...maybe that's 'cause I haven't had my lunch yet!!!) Sorry Ian, but I'm thinkin' there juuuuuust might be a little "Double Standard" there, ol' buddy!!! Look! A "Cruiser" IS a "Cruiser", no matter WHERE it's made, ya know?! (but if you don't "rice", far be it from ME to shove it down that throat o' yours, dude!) 
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56 |
Nope don't like that either. Like I stated above some of the events I go to have a few different British classes. That's the way I like it. To be fair, some of the events don't get enough British stuff to justify a class.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Well, I hope EVERYBODY here realizes that this WHOLE ISSUE here ALL boils down to the "idea" that our preferred machines are widely considered to be, as somebody around here recently so astutely observed, "Neither Fish nor Fowl"!
Because Triumph never before produced a FEET-FORWARD model that has a stretched-out rake and a fat rear tire(until our bikes came along anyway), many many folks consider it "an abomination"(to maybe put it a little too strongly) of Triumph's "Heritage".
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,194 Likes: 56 |
True, I consider it a design that was a long time coming and way over due. I was looking at the BA and SM because many of the mods I would do were already done.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Yep! That's pretty much the reason I've always felt I was drawn to these machines too. Well, that AND the fact that I figured I better buy a feet-forward motorcycle, which I figured MIGHT help slow me down a bit, 'cause I found myself going WAY too fast a lot of the time on that old Sprint o' mine. Though sometimes I STILL find myself ridin' a "little" too fast up some canyon roads on my BA. (...so much for "Grand Plans" sometimes, huh?!)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term 'rhetoric'...
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,590
Check Pants
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Check Pants
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,590 |
Which I distinctly remember VP Spiro Agnew using to the point exhaustion in 1971 or so. I was in the kindergarten, possibly 1st grade at the time. I also don't like "Agnew", because that's the sir name of a local builder/realtor shyster, who used to flim flam people out of their dollars. He's long gone now............. I used to have a horse that came with the name "Cruiser", so I like that one OK j h
"It's not what I say that's important, it's what you hear" Red Auerbach
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 768
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 768 |
Quote:
Well, I hope EVERYBODY here realizes that this WHOLE ISSUE here ALL boils down to the "idea" that our preferred machines are widely considered to be, as somebody around here recently so astutely observed, "Neither Fish nor Fowl"!
It is what it is and in a class of it's own IMO... It just rocks!
Sometimes it takes a whole tank full of fuel before you think straight
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Re: I don't like the term 'rhetoric'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
Which I distinctly remember VP Spiro Agnew using to the point exhaustion in 1971 or so.
Now WAIT one minute there, John!!!
I DON'T recall ol' Spiro EVER accusin' ANYONE of bein' a member of..."that dreaded CRUISER Eastern Establishment"???
(I thinks you's a mite confused there, BOY)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
Quote:
Well, I hope EVERYBODY here realizes that this WHOLE ISSUE here ALL boils down to the "idea" that our preferred machines are widely considered to be, as somebody around here recently so astutely observed, "Neither Fish nor Fowl"!
It is what it is and in a class of it's own IMO... It just rocks!
Well said, Dave!!!
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807
3/4 Throttle
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OP
3/4 Throttle
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807 |
Spiro Agnew is an anagram of "Grow a penis". Erm, yeah, anyways... Of course it doesn't matter, but I do feel that cruiser is the wrong term. They deserve better!!! Also, what does 'metric' mean? Are our bikes classed as metric?
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Yep, because Triumphs use metric fasteners. Harleys still use SAE Standard, otherwise known as "American Standard" fasteners, that are messured in fractions of inches. (yep, ya see back in the '70s, we done tried switchin' ov'r to that there Metric System y'all use 'round the rest o' this big ol' world, and ya know what?...we's all jus' couldn't get the hang o' that...and BESIDES, the word ov'r HERE is that it was some FRENCH DUDE that came up with that there Metric System, so's NATURALLY there was some resistance to switchin' ov'r to THAT!...y'all BLAME US???)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,689 Likes: 21
Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,689 Likes: 21 |
If you have driven a modern sport bike, ummm, your bike is a cruiser.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,525
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,525 |
Quote:
Quote:
Not all cruisers are as you describe.
True enough, just take a look at the "Biker" in the Village People...
 you guys are to much...........
Erwin
05 America
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807
3/4 Throttle
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OP
3/4 Throttle
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 807 |
Also, why do you lot "drive" bikes?
Do you 'drive' pedal bikes?
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,048
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,048 |
Quote:
...when used in reference to our bikes. To me, cruiser conjures up images of an overweight, chromed-out, low-slung armchair-on-2-wheels more suited to motorway and straight A-road jaunts, rather than the agile, sleek, hooligan-antics-inducing thoroughbred that prefers the hills to the flats and the curves to the straights that the Triumph twins are. I feel somewhat embarrassed when people ask what a Speedmaster is (which they invariably do, because no-one's heard of them) and I have to reply "Well, it's like a cruiser but with less chrome and less weight and...".
So, my question: what alternative name does anyone use to describe what we ride?
I kinda like 'roadster'.
Your description sounds like a tourer, not a cruiser. Keep in mind bike styles and descriptions tend to overlap. Like sport tourer.
Clay
01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Quote:
Also, why do you lot "drive" bikes?
Do you 'drive' pedal bikes?
I say, Neill ol' boy, I'm not quite sure exactly how some of "YOU lot" over on that little island(sometimes referred to as "Ol' Blighty") have gotten the idea that "WE lot" here on the North American continent refer to "riding" a "motorbike" as, "DRIVING" a "motorcycle", as "WE lot" most often refer to these machines which one would staddle in order to operate sufficiently????
(in other words, dude...WHO the HECK ever said THAT 'round here, HUH???!!!)  
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: I don't like the term'cruiser'...
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,254
Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,254 |
well whatever you want to call these here motorcycles thats cool with me .all i know is i dont get enough saddle time to crooze around .and Agnews has always been good to me ,being that it was an off licence (liquor/beer store)that would sell me booze when i was under age
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