Are Harley Davidson Owners Missing Out On Riding If They're Wrenching? Let's Discuss! 

I know that feeling of not riding for reasons. When the wife got diagnosed with ST 3 cancer, I hardly rode anymore. Chemo, recovery, and bucket list were way more important than riding. With her being healthy again, this is the first year where I feel like I am not losing my best friend wanting to enjoy every minute possible together. She is strong enough to ride her Spyder, again so we enjoyed riding together, again. I put 5k on my popo glide this year so far and counting. The first 1.5 years ... 600 miles. Life is good 👍 thanks for all the new member content. Hope you get the plague defeated soon 🤞🤙

I think another thing to really consider with this is do you enjoy working on your bike if you do, then that can be just as nice is going for a ride

You're on the right track for sure. Feel better soon.

It’s a labor of love. You smashed it Sir, now you can say you have done it. Now go freaking ride.👊🏻

yes and no actually..I mean look at my current situation with mine where quite sure if I was to work on the motor myself I'd been back up on the bike riding already not just now fixing to drive back up to south dakota to pick the bike up to ride it back. Granted will say the dealer is not giving me any kind of good vibe at all about the bike motor work being done completely by the dealer because not only I didn't pay them 1,400 bucks right away and decided to wait on the parts for warranty work instead. That said hence I've not been on my bike nor on one now for over a month and yes my therapy has been taking a huge hit this past month bigtime. I'm gonna be so happy and yet nervous about the motor until I get it back to the house here in TN and 1,067 miles later on sunday all day which I will be live from the bike either here or tok not sure which yet. So if I was to be wrenching on my own bike I'm sure I could've gotten aftermarket parts had them here within a week and could've had the bike back up and running by the end of the 2nd week i'd say. So there is some give and take on both sides of that coin of wrenching vs letting someone do it for ya. Take care Monkey and sorry that you took my comment on your IG post to heart it seemed about the chopper only rally was just messing with ya...Mrs, lil, old monkey and yourself stay safe out there and keep on riding see ya around sometime..

I have the privilege of picking up my grandson from school. He was vaulted to ROCKSTAR status at daycare/after school care the 1st time I showed up on my bike. His elementary school teacher’s drool right along with his classmates every time I show up my HD. Appreciate all you do!

I think @Professional Monkey getting a picture of him riding on the back of a bike would be a great perk for us channel members.

Look Monk, you didn't lose a year, you gained a treasure of experience and content. You fulfilled some level of builder-ness that means something...... Don't worry about it, continue on your road as you see fit. You appear to have good vision. Enjoy the trip as I suspect you will.

I prayed for you to get well quicker Mr. Monkey. I recently sold my main bike which was a BMW and I've been wrenching on 2 older Harleys that are my main bikes now. I've had a lot of different bikes but always at least one Harley. I love wrenching on them but like you said also hate it sometimes. Again prayers for a quick wellness. I've almost got my 2001 Heritage ready and then I'll start the 2003 Road King. I'm thinking about a OE+ Fueling conversion with the 525 cams for the King😊

That’s why I sold my buell x1 lightning, and bought a Honda st1300. I spent entirely too much time repairing the buell.

Glad that I got 2019 Road Glide FLTRX I have remorse that got rid of my 94 heritage Softail but I'm not wrenching I've be getting My WIND THERAPY On. I'm 76 years young be riding till last breath. Like your Chanel Get better soon Brother. 🤟

Building isn't necessarily wrenching though, it is more like preparation for something more. you can choose when to ride and when to wrench but it gets pretty hard when your still working as we are. No builds, quick easy installs is nothing too bad but always enjoy life no MATTER .

As an over the road truck driver. I stay out anywhere from 3-8 weeks. I come home for 7-10 days. But me and my wife make it a point to take atleast 1 day to get on the bike. It’s needed. I ALWAYS make it a point to get out on the bike at least once.

One of the few benifits of living in a four seasons climate is we actually have a wrenching season

Oh wow dude you are so right keeping my 20-year-old Road king alive with all the seals and gaskets that decided to take a big dump that I had to replace rocker box gaskets and primary and stuff like that and then overheat a little bit an oil cooler and went to power vision and wiring things up. I actually worked more on my bike and I rode this year and you’re right. It sucks For mental reasons. thankfully where I live in Northern Nevada I get the winter off from riding which sucks but I get the wrench on my bike more. I didn’t this last year due to certain economy issues but I’m gonna do minor things now November not stop until the snow melts and then ride season on

Well, if you don’t fix it, you ain’t riding at all

Everyone within a 20 mile radius of Salisbury has had that shit for 4 weeks now! We keep passing it around.

Ride while you can, TJ. Old age is coming for everyone, where you spend more time looking at your bike wishing you were riding than the time you get to spend, or even feel like, riding. Since my heart issues kicked up I'm in that category and it sucks. Ride all you can, because you'll want to have those memories to look back on. As the saying goes, you'll never regret the memorable rides you took, but you'll regret every ride you never took. I'll admit that I'm a poster child for regretting rides not taken. Don't be one yourself.

30 years ago, was BIG into off-roading our CJ7. Traveled the entire country for events. Upgrades were done in the winter months here in Michigan. Wasn’t gonna miss an opportunity to wheel! My buds still love to bring up the story of swapping in new axles in the driveway, in February, in the freezing cold, in a snow storm. Same for my Harley. Stock up parts, work on it in the winter. At least have a heated garage now.😂

I will say, that is one of the only positives about living where it get cold and snows. You can get all the wrenching done with during the colder months and not feel like your missing out.

Love to be able to afford a new bike or even a good used one,

Personally I like Bob the builder

Bikers are either riding or wrenching they love to do both 😮 IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S PLAY TOY😮😂😂😂

I put TAB'S on my 2024 Fatboy. With zombie baffles. It is the best sounding Harley I ever owned. This is my fourth Harley. I just love it. I had 5" TAB'S on my 2022 SGS. I think the Fatboy sounds better.

If you stop wrenching as much. FedEx will be calling weekly to make sure you're still okay. Lol. Love you guys. Love the vids. Keep up the great work.

On behave of every medical professional (including me) and your future cardiologist do not mix whisky (any ETOH) with energy drinks!!!!! You can thank me by staying not dead for arrhythmias.

To your point, I never wrench! NEVER!!! Reason why?? Simple. I can't! Don't get me wrong. I do own wrenches. I even have a tool kit. Once, I INSTALLED a decorative seat screw on my passenger seat!! (Btw, what made it decorative was a microscopic H-D sticker, which I promptly applied to the head of the screw BEFORE screwing the screw in the screw hole. Translation? Yep, the sticker is crooked) The Lord gave me a heart for bikes and riding, a head for books, and two hand with 5 thumbs each! Not literally, but figuratively. Therefore, I never wrench. Because I can't!

Feel your Pain, my 89 sportster was hit by a car in 1990, the Chopper i built from it came out of the garage early May of 1994, 4 years, and i still kept making changes, i'll post pic's on the Facebook account where i saw this video

That individual's comment, "If you're wrenchin', you ain't ridin'," seems to be - at least from my perspective - inherently contradictory. I would take the argument, "If you're NOT wrenchin', you CAN'T ride." The bikes require constant maintenance, going from a simple TCLOKS before starting to seasonal upgrades/replacements at the beginning and end of the riding year. Part of the love for the bike, for me, is taking out the toolkit and making sure everything is up to spec. This makes riding possible.

The bike I’ve been riding for several years has reached 125,000 miles and has given me trouble the last couple years with break downs. So 3 weeks before I’m to leave for Sturgis it has valve train trouble. I bought a new Street Glide and it’s great not to be worried about breaking and turning a wrench constantly to keep it on the road. My old bike still not fixed yet 🤷🏼‍♂️ 🥃🥃🏍️.

Perk of the NE is the winter becomes project season in your (or your buddy's) garage

Monk, I get it. Most of my friends are older than I. Like you said older friends can teach you things, (lessons like don’t make the same mistakes I made 🤣). I get the wrenching vs. riding thing. I do a lot of my own maintenance, but don’t do a lot of customizing because I don’t want to give up riding time. (Up here in the Northeast we only get about 9 months to ride.) PS. Get better soon.

The orange on the misses bike is great. My vote . Leave it alone.

NOOOOOO leave Bob the builder looks so cool. Probably my favorite one you have done. Enjoy the ride time.

If you're wrenching it's usually by necessity so yeah, you're not riding. My bikes aren't spotlessly cleaned because that takes time. If it's nice out enough to clean, I'd rather be riding!

I have a 1967 Fairlane and have been working for 5 years I have missed all vacations any extra time that's all i have done you bet theres sacrifices

Just got home and started wrenching on my bike, some lil upgrades. I’ll be riding this weekend.

Ya, I’m not spending time during riding season making major changes to a bike. Spring, summer and fall is for riding. Do anything that takes longer than a couple hours during the winter for me.

I moved from florida to wisconsin a few years back(i know bad mistake) but we do our riding alot i spring summer fall. Unless it breaks down i dont wrench. In the winter months we do all our upgrades and wrenching. Kids ride with us and in winter they help wrench

1) There is no such thing as a small project unless you do those very things a hundred times. It’s like any project. There are at least three trips to the parts department, hardware store, etc. 2) The purpose of having a garage full of motorcycles is to be on one of them while someone else is wrenching on your problems. 3) While I do like riding more than wrenching, I think it’s important to be able to do some things yourself. The only way to learn how to do those things is to do those things. So it’s important to to know how to wrench even if you wanna ride more.

Bob the builder swap, I think Blue you don’t have a blue bike in the shop right now. And not just a boring blue but something with a pop.

I don't get much free time as it is to ride. So I try to use any free time I have on the bike. My 12 year old is willing to ride with me now, too. So I get to bring him along on our short journeys. Hope you feel better soon.

Cold medicine and Monster is A strategy but Jack and cold meds is The Way

You need to come to Bfree, Texas instead of going back fest you’ll have a blast.

I mean if you have 1 bike then yeah you are probably loosing out on riding while wrenching. Get well soon man

Just get well. The time line on the builds is to tight, take your time. Like they say Rome wasn't built in a day. Don't let someone pressure you to get it done for this year, theres always next year.

Ragweed is in full bloom around there and here. It is kicking my ass.

Take care of yourself! We'll be here to watch whatever mischief the monkeys get into 😂

Keep it Orange…awesome and different. I’ll buy it if you sell it

I feel the same way. Only time i have time to wrench is on weekends and my wife is only home on weekends. Seems i have not rode in months because of not having time or wrenching. After this weekend i should have the bike done and can start driving it to work.

Nope, you aren’t missing out on riding because you have a second bike that runs while you fix the other. Furthermore, you manage the proper wrenching / riding balance.

That’s why I have bars and other parts waiting to go on.. only 2 days a week at home .. same reason I pay someone to do service work while I’m at work so I can just go on the weekend .. western pa .. upgrade season is winter

Imho, every stable needs a couple bikes, a bullet proof super reliable machine, and a project bike that you wrench on because you love.

It's ok I've lost an entire riding season myself, and I don't know when I'll be able to get back in the saddle.

(yes a second comment) Bob the builder should be a candy mix like fire

It depends on what kined of wrenching your doing if its broke then ya that sucks but if your making it better it can be realy fun and feels good when its all done and you take it out the first time

The Advan bike needs miles before it gets to California. Ride it there and report from the road?

We were taking about this when we met. How ironic. Hope you feel better. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

That's my theory. My motorcycle goes, if you like that sort of thing.

Just wanted to say I love the channel brother. I just bought my first road glide because of you, and Im in love with it!

I don’t get a chance to ride nearly as much but that’s because of my regular job (about 60 hours a week) plus a side hustle that’s just busy right now. I’ve ridden twice since getting back from Sturgis.

You are a very well rounded super biker. Even if you quit club life.

Well here in Ohio we ain’t ridin for 6 months out of the year so we got time to wrench 😂😢

Where Im at theres an off season, I try to do it then...with mixed results...

Vitamins and minerals everyday. Your welcome!

Keep your wife's bike orange. Best orange one I have ever seen.

How true this really is!!

took me almost 2 yrs to build my 48 pan in my bedroom mostly

Hope that you would be feeling better soon

Hopefully you are feeling better soon!

hope you feel better soon bro. and I hear tell that Beatrice is one sexy beast!

Great video. Get well soon! Look forward to the coming videos

Speedy Recovery...even sick you have great videos. Always enjoy them.

I miss the red flame bike she should do that

Ok. So because I have a grey beard we have become friends. Lol

a week late, but I hope you're on the mend. I got a case of the crud at Sturgis, lasted for 2 or 3 weeks.... also, I'm always wrenching on my old bike. It's a carb'd hot-rodded EVO. Sure, it breaks a lot, but it's also cool as hell when it's runnin. My buddies ride a '10 Road Glide and a '24 Indian something-or-other. And there's no question who has the cooler bike when we ride out. That said....I also bought a '21 Road Glide Special this year as a backup bike because I like riding....

Great to see you again and hopefully you’ll feel better soon

Get well soon brother!

That was good advice “ if you are wrenching, you ain’t riding” great story and it’s true… Wild turkey American honey straight out of the freezer helps the common cold or sickness ! Hope you get to feeling better

Feel Better soon. We missed you.

Hope to see ya next month in Daytona.

I lost 2 years of riding, not from wrenching , but from back surgery and I'm just now starting again...

Your NOT slowly dying.. Your QUICKLY turning GRAY!

Chicken Soup.

Man. Not riding is hitting me hard this year and probably some of next.

March 2nd I got hit walking my dog and was laid up for several weeks and I just about lost my mind (not that I had one to begin with ). Yesterday was the first day I did a 240 mile day since February and it felt Fking awesome. Can't wait for Biketoberfest

Leave Bob The Builder alone. It is the perfect color and scheme now.

Use monster with Jagar

I came home and was sick AF too.

Feel better soon

Shout out to Chris at Smokeout. He helped me out when my breathing was acting up.

I would keep it orange it looks awesome! Thanks for the video take care and feel better !

snake venom would be cool

Whats up !!!!

Get well soon

Get healthy

Good Subject brother and it's true hope you feel better soon how about the cold meds and the whiskey that might make a fun live episode 😅

Awesome news. All your "wrenching" videos got me through when I was getting into riding and going through the process. Now I have passed my MSF, got my license and got my first bike. I have lots of plans, but riding is the priority. 2024 definitely seems like an great year for ya.

Ride more and make some clips of you riding and having fun with the bikes you have build enjoy every day ,greetings from Belgium 👊

Are you going to Roscoe Chilli cook-off