[HN Gopher] The Greatest Motorcycle Photo
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The Greatest Motorcycle Photo
Author : keepamovin
Score : 88 points
Date : 2025-04-05 17:41 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.life.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.life.com)
| drcongo wrote:
| I find it absolutely wild that he did it in just his grundies.
| bsimpson wrote:
| I'm trying to imagine how he slowed down.
|
| Just keeping his legs clear of that 150 MPH tire is its own
| feat.
| pmdulaney wrote:
| Not to be a kinematics nerd, but the top of that tire was
| going 300 mph
| rjp0008 wrote:
| Not in relation to his body which is the concerning
| interaction. Though contact with a 150mph tire would have
| had similar if not the exact same consequences as a 300 mph
| tire.
| drcongo wrote:
| I _love_ that a throwaway comment about a man in his
| underwear got as nerdy as this.
| HPsquared wrote:
| Relative to the (local) surface of the Earth, at least.
| pandemic_region wrote:
| Aren't the break handles on the steering bar much like a
| bicycle? Never owned or rode a motorbike so I would not know.
| joshmlewis wrote:
| Typically the left lever is the clutch, right lever is the
| front break, and your right foot has a lever for the rear
| break. Not sure what the setup was for the record breaking
| motorcycle though.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| *brake :)
| mikestew wrote:
| Note that the bike pictured does not have a front brake.
| So I'm guessing he went back to his starting position at
| some point to hit the brake pedal. He first probably just
| rolled off the throttle until the bike got to a much
| slower speed. "Probably" meaning, it's what I would have
| done, having already decided that riding a motorcycle at
| 150mph in my underwear is a good idea.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| No. Usually one of the brakes (I forget which) is actuated
| with a pedal, and one of the handle levers (what would be
| brakes on a bicycle) controls the clutch.
|
| https://www.rideto.com/blog/motorcycle-controls/
| RegW wrote:
| Imagine the gravel rash if all goes pear shaped.
| zikduruqe wrote:
| It's typically called "meat crayon". No need to look it up...
| it is like when a crayon is dragged across a piece of paper,
| and leaves behind a line of like color.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| At 150MPH, I doubt he'd be alive long enough to care about
| the gravel rash
| rqtwteye wrote:
| It would illustrate the phrase "rubbing salt into someone's
| wounds" nicely
| WillAdams wrote:
| This motorcycle was also the subject of a song:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kJdrfzjAg
|
| (which maybe is the greatest motorcycle song?)
|
| Wonderful magical machine (for straights).
| rdtsc wrote:
| Hunter S. Thompson loved it, too, and it shows up in his work:
|
| https://www.vincent-hrd.co.uk/hst.html
|
| > Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart
| of the American Dream (1970) > [At the Polo Lounge in Beverly
| Hills, planning to cover the Mint 400 Desert Race in Las Vegas]
|
| ---
|
| "Well," he said, "as your attorney I advise you to buy a
| motorcycle. How else can you cover a thing like this
| righteously?"
|
| "No way," I said. "Where can we get hold of a Vincent Black
| Shadow?"
|
| "Whats that?"
|
| "A fantastic bike," I said. "The new model is something like
| two thousand cubic inches, developing two hundred brake-
| horsepower at four thousand revolutions per minute on a
| magnesium frame with two styrofoam seats and a total curb
| weight of exactly two hundred pounds."
|
| ...
|
| "It is," I assured him. "The fucker's not much for turning, but
| it's pure hell on the straightaway. It'll outrun the F-111
| until takeoff."
|
| ---
| brucehoult wrote:
| In the mid 80s I used to pace the taking off B737s at
| Wellington, on the road next to the airport, on my CBX550F2
| [1] and later on my K100RT. I could get to about 200 km/h
| before I had to slow for the corner. The planes were rotating
| at that point. The speed limit on that road is 50 km/h now,
| it was a little higher back then ... not enough obviously...
|
| [1] https://hoult.org/cbx550.jpg
| rdtsc wrote:
| That is an epic story!
| morkalork wrote:
| Hells Angels a Strange and Terrible Saga is a good read too,
| that last passage made me want to go out and buy one
| immediately.
| 4ndrewl wrote:
| Never ever thought I'd see the great Richard Thompson on HN.
| Thank you!
| WillAdams wrote:
| FWIW, I'm surprised that his Millennial Tour/Concert:
|
| https://www.richardthompson-music.com/2003-1000-years-of-
| pop...
|
| hasn't been mentioned/discussed.
| skeptrune wrote:
| I don't think a photo could capture the vibe of American
| motorcycling any better than this one.
|
| Crazy that he was 47 in it haha. I have always assumed he was
| younger.
| m463 wrote:
| Is it weird I thought about this other sort of adjacent iconic
| photo:
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/Blown_Away_Gu...
| HPsquared wrote:
| That man has complete faith in his rear mudguard.
| pandemic_region wrote:
| welp that did not occur to me, he probably had it fortified in
| a way.
| jcims wrote:
| Anyone that has stepped on a scooter brake in their bare feet
| is wincing at the thought of the supports crumpling.
|
| Fastest roasted nuts ever.
| nathan_compton wrote:
| I beg to differ. This picture of Emile Leray, who disassembled
| his own broken car in the desert and built a motorcycle out of it
| is profoundly better.
|
| https://thekneeslider.com/images/2022/01/leray-citroen-motor...
| dylan604 wrote:
| That needs the help of AI to remove the background, and then
| maybe it'll be a cool picture.
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| Why?
| nathan_compton wrote:
| I think he is referring to the fact that the photograph is
| actually a photo of the real motorcycle with the photo I
| meant to post behind it, at a museum.
|
| "On display in the Midwest Dream Car Collection museum"
| reads the caption."
|
| I can't find the original, but here is another photo he
| took at the time:
|
| https://static.wixstatic.com/media/103e0a_ac1383d327534f359
| c...
| dylan604 wrote:
| It's like some people don't even look at a picture and
| just scan it like it was text to be skimmed. If you don't
| have time to look at something, then please don't expect
| to understand the comments made by people that did.
| Slow_Hand wrote:
| Maybe if multiple people are asking for clarification on
| a comment it's your comment.
|
| I happen to like it with the photographic backdrop
| because it sets the scene and places the motorcycle in
| context.
| Loughla wrote:
| What possible purpose would that serve
| InsomniacL wrote:
| look at the right hand edge of the photo to put his comment
| in perspective.
| Loughla wrote:
| It's a picture of the motorcycle in a display that
| includes the guy who built it? What does AI have to do
| with that?
| dylan604 wrote:
| It's a picture of the motorcycle in front of a picture of
| the guy that made it with the motorcycle off in the
| distance. So it's not a picture of a motorcycle, it's a
| picture of a picture. So if you want to show a picture of
| the motorcycle, removing the background would isolate the
| motorcycle.
| IncreasePosts wrote:
| Only if you think his story is true. I'm pretty sure it is more
| of an art project though. Mostly because from a survival
| perspective the story makes no sense.
| m463 wrote:
| But with all the photographs he took, he could survive years
| on his fame after a few extra days of tinkering.
| RandallBrown wrote:
| From Wikipedia:
|
| > He was stranded twenty miles from the nearest settlement,
| with only enough food and water to last ten days. To survive,
| Leray used parts of his broken-down car to build a motorcycle,
| and twelve days after the accident was able to drive it to a
| village 20 miles away.
|
| I admire his ingenuity, but I would have probably just walked.
| stephencanon wrote:
| Yeah, walking 20 miles, desert or not, is a far better plan.
| hinkley wrote:
| Figuring out how to carry enough stuff might be a problem,
| but making a sling or primitive backpack from the
| upholstery should be doable with a knife.
| usefulcat wrote:
| 3-4 Mph is a reasonable walking speed, so 20 miles is
| around 6-7 hours. Not saying it would be pleasant, but
| certainly seems doable.
| stephencanon wrote:
| In the desert, you often really don't want to be walking
| midday, but if the moon is out doing 20 miles in a night
| isn't too bad, and doing it split over two days is fine.
| 5 or 6 liters of water plus some food would be plenty,
| depending on what you have available to carry that ~15
| pounds splitting into two days may be more comfortable.
| Either way, infinitely less risky than building a
| motorcycle.
| hinkley wrote:
| 4 mph takes talent, especially over distance. Andthat's
| on hard surfaces. From what I understand walking on sand
| is deceptively taxing. I'd say 2-2.5 and not as the bird
| flies distances. So ten to fifteen hours of walking if
| your feet let you.
| stephencanon wrote:
| The desert in question isn't all sandy dunes; there's a
| lot of rocky or compacted surface (see photo), so you can
| make pretty decent time (but yeah, sustaining 4mph would
| be pushing it for most people).
| HPsquared wrote:
| The surface is hard enough to drive a car on. Walking
| can't be all that bad on such a surface.
| hinkley wrote:
| Why spend three days doing a one-off task when you can spend
| 10 days automating it?
| m463 wrote:
| https://xkcd.com/530/
| DrNosferatu wrote:
| Did he know the next settlement was only 20 miles away?
| Levitz wrote:
| Really, really cool honestly.
|
| Tiny question though, where the hell are his clothes?
| elliottkember wrote:
| The settlement was 20 miles away, but that doesn't mean he
| only drove 20 miles, or that he knew which direction the
| settlement was in!
| DrNosferatu wrote:
| More desert Mad Max shenanigans in just underwear!
| brucehoult wrote:
| And I thought Burt Munro was a character....
| hinkley wrote:
| There were a few years of professional cycling when people did
| this on downhills until they outlawed it. You don't have much
| control when doing this. At least on the salt flats the whole
| point it to try to go in a straight line, so if you need to turn
| you're already in dire straits.
| ftbsqcfjm wrote:
| Amazing shot capturing a pivotal moment in motorcycling history.
| The technical precision required to time this at 100mph with a
| 1/1000 shutter speed is astounding. It exemplifies the fearless
| spirit that drove the sport's pioneers. Truly an iconic image
| that has stood the test of time.
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(page generated 2025-04-08 23:01 UTC)