When is it a good idea, to shove a Harley out the 4rd floor window of a building?
Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California, United States of America
Answer: When it’s an art object in your living room, and it is time to move to your new digs.
Shoving an 600 pound Harley out the window does not sound all that hard at first, but when you actually go and do it, it's a lot of work. First you have to take the window encasement out. Then build a ramp from the floor to the level of the window sill, and if it can't be fired up, you’ll need a bunch of guys to help shove it up the ramp, and out the window.
V-Rod Anniversary
Now I know there must have been a collective moan from all the sport bike guys reading this who just caught on that they aren’t going to see a Harley splat on the sidewalk anytime soon, but this trend of Motorcycles As Art or furniture is not just limited to Harley's.
In this case the moto-sculpture is a 2003 V-Rod 100 year Anniversary edition in anodized skins, and bone stock. Even if it's not your kind of ride, you have to admit, it is a work of art and a fitting sculpture for the living room ready to entertain the dinner guests. What you may not know is how they get the Bike Art in to the house, or as we see in this case, how the hell they get it out.
out the_window
No problem! The first two parts of removal are shoving it out the window. The next part of the job is a bit more dangerous. You need a crane and a platform to push the bike on to.
Now the fun part. Someone gets to ride the bike on to the platform while three guys push him up the ramp and out the window. Note to self: always check that the front brake still works before proceeding. Sadly, no one gets the thrill of riding the bike down to the sidewalk. That would be illegal. So it gets tied down and away it goes from the 4rd floor window to the street, and into the moving van.
Lower it
touch down
un-strap it
into the Moving van it goes
This story has a personal aspect to it for me, I ride a V-Rod Night Rod Special (my dark art), and I was the crane operator on this job. I see a lot of strange things coming in and out of windows. As soon as I could see that distinctive solid aluminum front wheel roll out onto the platform it put a smile on my face.
If you’ve been reading Mike Werner's article on motorbiker.org titled "31 Motorcycles As House/Home Decorations - Why Not?" Then you know the Guggenheim Museum in New York agrees, even a Ducati hanging on the wall of your living room is art.
Ducati Wall Art
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@marina I wouldn't exactly say co-designed with Porsche. A bit more Porsche then not. All the internal parts come from Porsche suppliers. So I guess I'll work on a brief history / review then.
@marina
WOW! you have an ESR bike in your living room?!?!?
That is very cool...... My girlfriend would kill me......
Totally relevant. I don't know anything about the machine, except that it has an engine co-designed with Porsche, right?
@marina said: So when do we get a review of your dark art then?
I thought about a review of my DX, but it would be about 8 years late. it is a 2007 VRSCDX. I bought it site-un-seen in 2007 when they first came out. just not sure if it is relevant now.....
Ha, you're right, I can't afford it. That's why we put the Honda RS250 in our living room and saved on the crane costs 😉
LOL, I was going to say in the article how many guys does it take to screw in a....... Make that move a Harley. There was actually 10 there you could not see the rest. Three separate contractors on site. If you live in this area of San Francisco money is no object. I think it is best said: if you have to ask you can't afford it