Motorcycles

[otc]

The bike is my only motorized transit...I think it is workable in a modern urban environment even though the winter gets cold.

I got it as a toy partially...but also for when I need to get places far away or get somewhere quickly. In the winter, I lose some of those options, but it also matters less (for instance, I use my bike to get to sailboat races on time...none of those in the winter).

I also have good public transit and a bicycle that I can use year round. Finally, the modern city part--Zipcar.

I have had a zipcar (actually, iGo, a local version) account for years. It takes care of most of my car needs just fine...if I need to move big crap, I can have a car around the corner to do it and even if I use it a lot, it is a fraction of the cost of actually owning/maintaining/parking a car in the city.

So I have all of these alternatives available...if I got rid of the bike, I wouldn't replace it with a car, I would just accept a reduced amount of mobility. The only way I would get a car would be if I moved to a building with a parking spot and decided I needed to be able to tow/cartop a boat or frequently get my bicycle to distant places...everything else would be better served by zipcar and occasional weekend rentals. Doubt I would drive it to the office at something like $2500-3000 a year to park (with the corporate discount!) when I have spots I can park the motorcycle for free and the office has showers and a bike room if I take the bicycle.

 

[MarioImpemba]

Dat tire doe.

 

[Pennglock]

So Ive been reding for about a month and feel like I am getting a handle on the fundamentals. There is one thing thats still a mess though-- the sequence of simultaneously breaking and downshifting with throttle blips. Im bouncing up and down on the forks way way too much most of the time.

I would love to see some slow-mo vidoes of high level riders doing it, to get a feel for the rhythm.

Do you guys have any resources or tips?

 

[epb]



Motorcycling is a tough sell and definitely needs a huge rethink. We live in very risk averse times, and not to dump on this generation, but they are very conformist which runs counter to jumping on a motorcycle everyone screams you're gonna die on. Like I said the practicality aspect is kind of bogus, at least out in the open country... for folks in cities, motorcycles are a legitimate option, especially where parking is scarce. That requires buy in from the municipalities too though, which is tough... Bloomberg for example was very anti-motorcycle, towing motherfuckers and forbidding them to park anywhere in the city's interior with aplomb. But you go to Europe, cities like Paris are overrun with bikes and scooters.

I think there are a few markets to tap:

- Cheap asses... riding can be super cheap if you are OK with the risk and the slight goofiness of riding around in the right gear
- Auto enthusiasts... a lowly SV650 has straight line performance and engagement you would have to pay 6 figures for on four wheels (at least outside of **** like the FF 818, Ariel Atom etc)
- Hipsters- nuff said
- City folks- like I said my bike was my only ride for a while, because my wife and I needed a way to get around and more importantly out of NYC

There's no way to really tap the cheap market - they can pick up an old bike for less than you can make anything new. I like the Sym Wolf 150, Suzuki TU250X and CCW Misfit, but they're around $3k - my CB400T was $1k and hasn't been a lick of trouble and similar deals abound. Insurance is dirt cheap ($300/yr) and so on. It makes good sense in the city and rural areas, where it can be more fun and just as cheap; I owned my first CB400 in KY while in my 20s.

As someone else mentioned, the Hipsters are on old Vespas and similar, though some are moving to small displacement bikes like the CB200 and the like. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has some girls thinking small bikes are cool, but I don't expect they'll want to care for a bike older than them (I don't think Lisbeth did, either).

I really don't see a solution. I've seen lots of young guys admire my bikes, but few want to ride - there's an attitude with injury and death are inevitable, and people really cling to the stereotype that it's not something you can control despite most bike accidents being single vehicle, just like cars.

I'll say this about Harleys...if you're going to go down the route of owning that style of bike, I feel like all of the other brands like Victory, Yamaha, etc all feel like pale facsimiles of Harleys - even if they're technically better.

I dunno - I only like the Sportster and I'd get one of the imitators before I'd buy one; there's just not enough there there with the Harleys - if you don't love the brand, it's tough to reason your way onto one. I'd likely get a Bolt if I were in the market for a cruiser-type bike but for cruising I'd want a CB1000 anyway. Not a fan of the foot-forward thing...

 

[archetypal_yuppie]



Not to replace the Ultra Glides but just to supplant them. I think if they just came out with some basic motorcycles they could get some new riders.

Do you mean supplement? Supplant means replace...

 

[otc]

wtf...one of the assholes in the motorcycle gang was a cop
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...ow-Smash-Video-SUV-Biker-Brawl-226892961.html

(he was an undercover cop, but it should be noted that his assignment was not infiltrating the bike gang, he was just there for fun)

 

[brokencycle]



wtf...one of the assholes in the motorcycle gang was a cop
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...ow-Smash-Video-SUV-Biker-Brawl-226892961.html

(he was an undercover cop, but it should be noted that his assignment was not infiltrating the bike gang, he was just there for fun)

Yeah, I posted that in the wtf overzealous cops thread

 

[Cool The Kid]



Do you mean supplement? Supplant means replace...

Damn autocorrect... yes thats what I meant.

And the point about used bikes is a good one. Especially considering the near standstill of development by some companies. Tehre is zero reason to buy a 2013 Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha supersport/liter bike, for example. Prob the same deal with Harleys too.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

 

[brokencycle]

2.3 lbs/hp? That's not asking for trouble. The Suzuki Hayabusa is 3.5.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

2.3 lbs/hp? That's not asking for trouble. The Suzuki Hayabusa is 3.5.

Are you sure? Busas make just under 200 hp last time I checked but weigh almost 600 lbs. And I would assume the wheelbase on the SuperDuke is shorter as well.

 

[TRINI]

Watching those Super Duke videos almost makes me want a Speed/Street Triple.

 

[Cool The Kid]



2.3 lbs/hp? That's not asking for trouble. The Suzuki Hayabusa is 3.5.

Hayabusa's P/W ratio got smashed long ago. Last class of literbikes smashed it I think.

One bike I'm kind of warming up to is this FZ-09. "Only" 100HP, but then, it's only $8000 new. To put that in perspective, a Ninja 650 & the SFV650, w/like 50 less HP, much shittier suspensions and generally lower build quality cost about that much. Honda's CB1000R has about the same power and quality and costs $12K. This one looks like a game changer. I had no idea these bikes were that expensive.

 

[Pennglock]

2.3 lbs/hp? That's not asking for trouble. The Suzuki Hayabusa is 3.5.

Hayabusa's P/W ratio got smashed long ago. Last class of literbikes smashed it I think.One bike I'm kind of warming up to is this FZ-09. "Only" 100HP, but then, it's only $8000 new. To put that in perspective, a Ninja 650 & the SFV650, w/like 50 less HP, much shittier suspensions and generally lower build quality cost about that much. Honda's CB1000R has about the same power and quality and costs $12K. This one looks like a game changer. I had no idea these bikes were that expensive.

FZ09 seems like a knockout on paper. Reviews point to major flaws in the fueling, though. May be worth waiting for the second year model for Yamaha to sort it out, unless people have success with ECU tuning.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Hayabusa's P/W ratio got smashed long ago. Last class of literbikes smashed it I think.

One bike I'm kind of warming up to is this FZ-09. "Only" 100HP, but then, it's only $8000 new. To put that in perspective, a Ninja 650 & the SFV650, w/like 50 less HP, much shittier suspensions and generally lower build quality cost about that much. Honda's CB1000R has about the same power and quality and costs $12K. This one looks like a game changer. I had no idea these bikes were that expensive.

No one pays MSRP for Japanese bikes though, esp the long in tooth Honda.