motorcycles

Comshaw said:


Yep, sounds just like me, until I got a peek at the new Harley V-Rod.
Ever try to replace the belt on a Harley? Good luck.

Why would I want a HD with 107 HP when I can get the same HP in the KTM LC8 with half the weight, a real off-road suspension for less than half the money? My interest runs towards Adventure Touring - I like to go where my nose leads me, and it often leads me off the pavement, even off the road if I feeling really frisky (handling a 500 pound bike off-road takes some effort, I prefer my Suzuki DR for that kind of work).

If I am going to buy a big road only bike it is not going to be a HD - it will probably be a Honda ST1100 or if I get really desparate for luxury a Gold Wing.

STG

Here is a really old photo of me riding my Trumpet when I was stationed back in Virginia. Yeah, that's right, no leathers, just jeans and a shirt, and yeah that's a sissy bar on back - I was young and foolish then, and I loved that bike, leaking Amal and all.
 
Chuckus said:
I prefer crotch rockets myself. I do like sport tourers as well. Hell I like em all........but my preference is something along the lines of a

Kawasaki ZX9, GSXR 750 (for short fun bursts and short duration rides of less than 6 hours)

The ninja or the ZX9 itself?

I'll take the 900 Ninja... one of the few bikes that fits me well for whatever reason
 
Svedish_Chef said:


The ninja or the ZX9 itself?

I'll take the 900 Ninja... one of the few bikes that fits me well for whatever reason

I actually like the ZX-9 and ZX-11 for a good mix of sport and touring as they both have plenty of power and are rather comfy to ride distance on, they don't handle like the GSXR's but then again they are not a pure hyper-sport bike either.
 
Chuckus said:


I actually like the ZX-9 and ZX-11 for a good mix of sport and touring as they both have plenty of power and are rather comfy to ride distance on, they don't handle like the GSXR's but then again they are not a pure hyper-sport bike either.

Yeah I need the leg room... that and the weight is so well distributed.... mmmm nice
 
Svedish_Chef said:


Yeah I need the leg room... that and the weight is so well distributed.... mmmm nice

Ditto to that..........I like the Honda VFR also........I do like to ride the pure hyper sports bikes, and in fact used to do some mild racing with my older ZX-7 once upon a moon ago (totally modified bike from heads to wheels). I need the leg room and space but I don't particularly like the cruiser bikes as they have way more chrome on them then I want to clean. Does that make sense? I like all bikes, and am not one of those "crotch rockets only" guys. I don't like when people just say "Harley's only" or "If you don't have a Harley/Cruiser/whatever then you don't have a bike". If you are riding a motorcycle who cares?
 
Chuckus said:

Does that make sense? I like all bikes, and am not one of those "crotch rockets only" guys. I don't like when people just say "Harley's only" or "If you don't have a Harley/Cruiser/whatever then you don't have a bike". If you are riding a motorcycle who cares?

I just hate how you can't go fast enough on harleys... some of them are like fucking trucks!

I like 300kph... and I'd like to see it occasionally
 
Svedish_Chef said:


I just hate how you can't go fast enough on harleys... some of them are like fucking trucks!

I like 300kph... and I'd like to see it occasionally

Touche' . Not that I am going to always go around and run at least 100mph but I want to know that if I NEED to burst up to 120 or so, that I can with relative ease..........
 
Here's a bike I've had a ride on and loved...the Yamaha SRV 250 if they had just slotted their 535cc engine in there (same physical size as the 250) I'd have bought one
 
I lost my urge for triple-digit speeds a long time ago and I'm a lot more interested in a comfortable seat than I am in acceleration, so I'm a cruiser man. (Of course, I ride a Honda, so the comfortable seat still eludes me. *g*)

A few months ago, a guy was arrested for going 160 miles an hour on a bike here on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It WAS the middle of the night, but 160 mph? Man, you hit a discarded toothpick at that speed and you're airborne.

BTW, Motorcycle Consumer News ran a two-parter recently on rebuilding a salvage bike. The subject bike was a fairly new Ducati, and if I remember correctly, it ended up with the writer, an experienced wrench, saving only a few thousand bucks off the price of a new one.
 
OUTSIDER said:
You know harley riders have a saying that when the world ends the last man on it will be riding a harley......will he fuck, he'll be riding a honda C90 cub, those things run forever and about two years ago a guy rode one around the world !!!!!

BTW check out a book called "the travels of jupitor" I htink thats the name.
It is "Jupiter's Travels" by Ted Simon. I met Ted last year in California, an interesting guy, and he is redoing his travels this year, on an BMW Airhead GS this time around.

But I like Helge Pederson's book better - "Ten years on Two Wheels". Chris Scotts book on Adventure Motorcycling is a good handbook.

I guess I got the biking bug when I saw a slide presentation by Danny Liska of his Africa trip when I was very young - ever since then I have wanted to ride a bike to new and strange places.

STG
 
Thomas Paine said:
I lost my urge for triple-digit speeds a long time ago and I'm a lot more interested in a comfortable seat than I am in acceleration, so I'm a cruiser man. (Of course, I ride a Honda, so the comfortable seat still eludes me. *g*)
Try a custom seat - a Russell, a Mayer or if you are really desparate a Corbin (hit and miss fit/quality). I am lucky, I have a good seat builder close to me. A lot of touring bikes have better seats and seating positions than Cruisers, and most Cruisers lack any kind of wind protection being mostly bare bikes. After an hour or two of 80+ MPH that gets old real quick. That is why I got my GS to supplement my DR - the GS being a lot better for long trips.

A few months ago, a guy was arrested for going 160 miles an hour on a bike here on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It WAS the middle of the night, but 160 mph? Man, you hit a discarded toothpick at that speed and you're airborne.
But speed is so fun!:D

STG
 
Thomas Paine said:
A few months ago, a guy was arrested for going 160 miles an hour on a bike here on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It WAS the middle of the night, but 160 mph? Man, you hit a discarded toothpick at that speed and you're airborne.

I got bounced off the back pegs riding 2 up on a Triumph Daytona at 150mph... I'm still a speed freak... the hardest thing was getting my long legs back on the FUCKING pegs.

Mmmm speed
 
Chuckus I ain't ridden the 2000 spec bike but with the fuel injection system usin' a 16-Bit engine management computer and the double-valve throttle , I can imagine the fun to be had :D:D.


I think the meanest and scarriest bike I ever had a go on was back in the late 80's I was only about 19/20 and one of my mate's went out a got a Yam RD500LC done up in the marlboro racin colour's , What a beast that was . Took it for a spin a few time's and every time it made my ass pucker :D:D
 
posted by Shy Tall Guy:

Ever try to replace the belt on a Harley? Good luck.

Every bike has such problems. If you rode that TR for very long you must be aware of Lucas the Princess of Darkness, or the vertically split cases that left more oil on the garage floor than in the sump.
How about changing an alternator on an ST1100? A common occurrence with that bike. The whole damned engine has to be disassembled.
BMW oil head surging, Yamaha Venture water pump whine, each and every bike has such problems.

Also posted by STG:

Why would I want a HD with 107 HP when I can get the same HP in the KTM LC8 with half the weight, a real off-road suspension for less than half the money?
My interest runs towards Adventure Touring - I like to go where my nose leads me, and it often leads me off the
pavement, even off the road if I feeling really frisky (handling a 500 pound bike off-road takes
some effort, I prefer my Suzuki DR for that kind of work).


First lets get some miscommunications out of the way, shall we?
That 107 hp figure was at the rear wheel. If you want the crankshaft figure (which is 102 hp on the KTM by the way) it's 115.
weight; the KTM weigh's in at 416 lbs dry. The V-rod at 595 lbs. dry.
the KTM has a 179 lb. advantage. Not quite half though. The KTM would have to weigh in at 297 lbs.

Less then half the money? So your saying the KTM's price is around $7,500.00? That's half what the V-Rod's price is. I don't think so.

Now why in the world would anyone want off road suspension on a cruiser? While I'm sure the LC8 is a great duel purpose bike, it will not do as well what the V Rod was designed to do.
Stop light to stop light, even though the KTM has a 180 lb. advantage, the V Rod would win. Why? Because of the drag race bred and designed chassis. Stopping? The V rod, because of it's long wheel base and large disk brakes would again win.
Off road? The KTM would run off and leave the Harley wallowing along.
Each and every bike has a purpose it was designed for. The KTM looks like a great bike. I would probably choose it if I were going on a tour where all kinds roads were to be navigated.
But it wasn't designed to cruise the ville, look good and still have the sound and power to impress. That is the turf of the V Rod. That is what it was designed to do.

Another post by STG:
If I am going to buy a big road only bike it is not going to be a HD - it will probably be a Honda
ST1100 or if I get really desperate for luxury a Gold Wing.

Both of these are good bikes. Can't argue with either one, and I agree about the Harley. The Road King isn't my type of bike.
Personally I like the one I'm riding now. A 1983 Yamaha Venture. It was the first to blur the lines between a sport bike and a tourer.I've been looking for something to replace it, but so far nothing that I've found comes close. Am I a bit bias? Nope, I'm a lot bias! Anyway. Ride safe, have fun, and keep this in mind: I read an article on registered motorcycle riders in the U.S. about five years ago. It was in one of the big time bike mags (Motorcycle I think). According to that article, motorcycle riders account for only .6 riders per 100,000 population. We are a very small minority. We can disagree with each other on what bike to ride, We can call names and yell and spit, but be assured if your ever broke down on some lonely stretch of highway and I happen by, I'll spend what ever time and money it takes to get you home just because your astride a bike. That is part of being a rider.
By the by, here's what I was riding in 1972. It's a 1971 K1 750cc Honda (the Gold one, the other was the wife's 1972 K5 450 Honda). WhoooWaaa! I loved that bike.

Comshaw
 
Comshaw said:

Every bike has such problems. If you rode that TR for very long you must be aware of Lucas the Princess of Darkness, or the vertically split cases that left more oil on the garage floor than in the sump.
Brit bikes do have that reputation yes, but mine had no such electrical problems, even the old pre-unit TT I had worked fine. The TR3 and TR2000 cars both has Lucas electrics too, and they kept the road lit as well as when they were new. The TR3 did have crappy quality welds though.

How about changing an alternator on an ST1100? A common occurrence with that bike. The whole damned engine has to be disassembled.
As you pointed out, every bike has its idiosyncracies.

BMW oil head surging,
The surging only occurs on a minor percentage of the bikes and there are procedures to fix it permanently. Other EFI bikes suffer from surging too, including current manufacture Trumpets. Personally I prefer carbs, which is one reason why I own an Airhead and not an Oilhead.

First lets get some miscommunications out of the way, shall we? That 107 hp figure was at the rear wheel. If you want the crankshaft figure (which is 102 hp on the KTM by the way) it's 115. weight; the KTM weigh's in at 416 lbs dry. The V-rod at 595 lbs. dry. the KTM has a 179 lb. advantage. Not quite half though. The KTM would have to weigh in at 297 lbs.
Okay, your figures are correct for claimed dry weight. Weight does make a difference especially when HP is very close, or the weight diff is significant; my DR350 keeps up just fine with a Heritage Classic in stop light to stop light racing, a bike with almost four times its displacement, but easily twice its weight.


Less then half the money? So your saying the KTM's price is around $7,500.00? That's half what the V-Rod's price is. I don't think so.
I can see you haven't priced a HD on the showroom floor lately, especially a new in demand model. What the Motor Company says they will sell it for, and what it is priced on the showroom floor at are almost invariably quite different.

Now why in the world would anyone want off road suspension on a cruiser? While I'm sure the LC8 is a great duel purpose bike, it will not do as well what the V Rod was designed to do.
Touche' - but as I said before, I don't like Cruisers, and they do very little that any other bike doesn't do better, except for their poseur value.

Stop light to stop light, even though the KTM has a 180 lb. advantage, the V Rod would win. Why? Because of the drag race bred and designed chassis.
I have to disagree - "drag race bred"? Hardley!;) I have yet to see a stock Harley that wins stop light to stop light with much lighter bikes, including dirt bikes with much less HP - I used to do it all the time. In acceleration weight matters. Once above 80 MPH or so the would walk away from me every time, but then that was approaching the DR's top speed anyway. My GS at a much closer weight, yet still giving away 30% in displacement keeps up or betters most Evos right up to top speed, and that was before I did a little tuning. If I were to want to really excell at stop light to stop light I would get either a Super Motard or a Crotch Rocket.

Stopping? The V rod, because of it's long wheel base and large disk brakes would again win.
Even on dual purpose knobbies my DR can out-stop most Harleys. Again weight is a big issue here, and Harleys are not known for their stopping power.

Each and every bike has a purpose it was designed for. The KTM looks like a great bike. I would probably choose it if I were going on a tour where all kinds roads were to be navigated. But it wasn't designed to cruise the ville, look good and still have the sound and power to impress. That is the turf of the V Rod. That is what it was designed to do.
Yep, that is what I own bikes for - riding wherever my nose leads me - not to cruise the weekly gatherings downtown doing burnouts and making sure people can hear me miles away. Even if I wanted to do that - I would get a Duc or some other 90 deg. V-Twin and put some loud cans on it as I think the sound of a Duc is much better than any HD I have heard.

But to each their own - if someone gets their kicks Cruisers then more power to them, but not very many of them are really suitable for anything much more than Cruising, and if the original criteria of wanting a bike for touring holds, then I recommend against them.
 
Last edited:
Shy Tall Guy said:
Try a custom seat - a Russell, a Mayer or if you are really desparate a Corbin (hit and miss fit/quality).

The only thing Corbin makes for my bike ('93 VT1100C) is butt-ugly and costs a fortune. I'm not familiar with Russell or Mayer, but I'll check into them this winter. Thanks.

and most Cruisers lack any kind of wind protection being mostly bare bikes. After an hour or two of 80+ MPH that gets old real quick.

That's why I have a 17" and a 21" Memphis Fats for mine.

But speed is so fun!:D

I'll wave when you blow by....
 
Just wonderin' if any of you biker's will be watchin' the Moto GP from Valencia on Sunday ? . I know I will watchin' a certain young Italian (V.Rossi) ride the ass of his NSR Honda on his way to the world championship :D:D
 
Thomas Paine said:
The only thing Corbin makes for my bike ('93 VT1100C) is butt-ugly and costs a fortune. I'm not familiar with Russell or Mayer, but I'll check into them this winter. Thanks.
If you think Corbins are ugly and that is an issue (I personally sit on my seats, I don't admire their looks) then a Russell or Mayer is going to be out of the question - a Corbin is a beuaty queen by comparison. Old man Mayer died this year, and his too kids are squabbling over who has the rights to his name, so they are both making seats. So far I have heard decent things about Rick Mayer, but don't know about the other.

Fortunately I live near another not so well known custom seat maker who makes both good looking and well fitting/comfortable custom seats. For a good custom seat it is probably best to go to the seat maker and have him make it while you are there.


That's why I have a 17" and a 21" Memphis Fats for mine.
I assume these are windscreens - that is okay most of the time, but if they are mounted to the handlebars instead of the frame then they can cause handling problems.

I'll wave when you blow by....
You might have to wave with your left hand - I sometimes pass on the inside of corners if Cruisers are going real slow (which they often are) and that is the only way to pass.;)

STG
 
Handy-Andy said:
Just wonderin' if any of you biker's will be watchin' the Moto GP from Valencia on Sunday ? . I know I will watchin' a certain young Italian (V.Rossi) ride the ass of his NSR Honda on his way to the world championship :D:D

Naahhh he's an Aussie just ask him!

And if that doesn't sway ya.. look at the people in the team!
 
Sorry to disapoint Chef but he's a honorary BRIT he live's in London :D:D . I must admit thou he's got a superb aussie crew :D:D
 
Sorry boy's but I'm still a Barry Sheen fan, theres a guy who rode like a demon, drank like a fish, shagged super models and crashed with style......and walked away....just.


I still ride with my lucky #7 patch on me leathers ;)
 
OUTSIDER said:
Sorry boy's but I'm still a Barry Sheen fan, theres a guy who rode like a demon, drank like a fish, shagged super models and crashed with style......and walked away....just.


I still ride with my lucky #7 patch on me leathers ;)

And only just :D:D:D:D


Rossi is something special , I think he's gonna be up there with the great's (Agostini , Hailwood , Doohan , Read ) .
 
I haven't seen GP bike racing in a while. Love it.

Eddie ummmm.........dammit I can't think of his name?

Doohan was a great rider.

I woulda liked to have seen Scott Russell get on a good ride.

What was the guys name who used to ride the Marlboro bike and got in that nasty crash????? God I used to know all the names.
 
Back
Top