The Motorcycle Thread

I will not stand for Hello Kitty!....now if we're talking My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake you could have something there.

 

Agreed. I don't dislike Harleys myself, I just can't afford one.

Even though I have a metric bike, I try as hard as I can not to be a squid. The fastest I've ever ridden it is 88 mph (somehow I didn't make it to 1985). My friend who races his TL1000 saw 145 on my bike when I first got it, but I don't have that much of a death wish.

Idiots who ride their sportbikes too fast without helmets, gear, etc. are the kind of people who give sportbike guys a bad name.

 

Fantastic weather this weekend and today. Considering it was snowing last Thursday night, I thought for sure my riding season was over and I was just about ready to cancel my insurance for the year. So glad I didn't - almost in the 70s today.

As to the HD vs sport bike debate... I'm kinda a bastard. Got a 2000 Buell Cyclone. Love it.
Ran into a problem the other day though, seems I've lost my speedo and odometer. Cluster's still backlit, so I'm not so sure it's just a loose connection. Haven't had a chance to look into yet though.

 

I am 5.11/200 and am looking for a first bike to use for learning and commuting the 10 miles thru Boston for work. I am thinking in the 600 - 800 range and I am looking for recommendations. What to look out for and what to dismiss in the used bike market. My riding experience is limited to small dirt bikes, mopeds, and scooters.

I'd like to get an enduro because I think they look cool but something tells me that I'd be spending money on features that I'd never use in my environment. I do like the body position on dirt bikes but I can see it being uncomfortable on longer rides. Other then commuting, the longest ride I would be on is 4 hours to my place in Maine.

Any suggestions and advice ?

Thanks.

 

Where's your place in Maine? I've got a summer place near Sebago, and there's hundreds of snowmobile trails that make for great dirt riding if you're considering an enduro/dual sport.

 

I will offer my free advice as to a good first bike. Yamaha makes a small dual purpose bike called the TW200.

It has a low seat height and extremely wide tires. It is very stable at low speeds, is freeway legal the engine is very understressed. I am not sure you can blow one up if you were trying to. This bike is very easy to ride and not intimidating.

A beginner could buy this bike, learn to ride and then upgrade in a year or so. If you did not sell the bike at that time, it will make a great off road play bike for the rest of your life. A very good friend of mine bought one new in 1987. He has had probably 30 bikes in his lifetime so far. Guess which one he has always held onto.

 

To go with the above post about the TW200, the same friend I mentioned before has a Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM. It's a little dual sport (enduro) with street tires. It's a great bike and lots of fun. The downside is that you'll pay a sportbike price for a DR-Z because nobody wants to part with them.

I commute on a 2004 Yamaha FZ6. It's basically a de-tuned R6, and it's been a great bike so far.

 

I would stay away from the TW200, i really didn't like it at all. I owned a XT225, and my friend had the TW200. Only thing that wide tire is good for is sand. It was just not nearly as nice as the XT225. Plus if you get a 07 an older it has a 6 speed and with the little extra power it made the world of difference.

 

Does anyone have a favorite online blog or website that reviews upcoming bikes or has other useful content about maintenance or buying? Paper magazines are good too, I reckon.

 

I really am not a fan of the dual sports. To me they try to be a jack of all trades, master of none, but end up being miserable at everything. They always seem too underpowered for legitimate street use, let alone 2 up riding, yet the suspension is not strong enough for actual offroad use. Dirt roads seem to be the only thing they can handle well.
If you're a total beginner to motorcycles though, I guess these things really wouldn't matter, as you're going to be focusing on the more mechanical things - clutch/throttle control, balance, etc.

Some of the supermotards out now are ridiculous though. I'd love to have one of them.

 

I like Motorcycle Daily for general info on new bikes and racing.

Sportbike World used to be about the best m/c site on the web, but its traffic has drastically fallen off in the past year because the new owners tried to milk every last cent of advertising dollars out of it and ran off all the best members. It still has a vast amount of new rider and maintenance info in the archives.

This one is perhaps the best. The site is maintained by a engineer/physicist who actually uses real data instead of baseless opinions to draw conclusions. He has also logged over a half-million miles on motorcycles. Be sure to check out his section on oil and filters.

 

I'm thinking about this bike:



Suzuki DR650SE

I just want a bike which is comfortable to be seated on that is a reasonable commuter bike. To be perfectly honest I am at a loss as to what I should go for so I am heading in the direction of an enduro bike.

They are not too expensive here (in Aus) either...

 

Unless you're planning on doing some off-road riding, I'd recommend something like a V-Strom, Gladius, or SV650, or a Kawasaki Versys or ER-6, or a Honda CB400 or CB600. All of those have engines that are much better suited to commuter duty than the DR650. I'd love to have a CB400 ABS in the blue/white/red color like the old Interceptors. Unfortunately, it's hard to sell a bike under 600cc in the States.

 

I am going to say the same thing as zzr, if you aren't going to be doing any off road riding, go look at the bikes he listed there. If you are going to be doing off road riding, it depends on how much and what type. The DR650 is a big bike and is really only made for cruising on off roads, logging roads and stuff like that. Which by no means is a bad thing, but if you are looking for more of a dirt bike dual purpose it will be to heave to fling around and act like a dirt bike. So if you want a nice bike that can cruise with no problem on the highway and have fun on some dirt road the DR650 is great, i would also look at the KLR650, there are tonnes around here. If you want a bike you can really have fun with offroads while still maintaining power for the street, i would look at an older DRZ400 or a newer DRZ450.

 

Quick question. I recently got the bug to start riding again after seeing my buddy's new bike (Triumph TT). My first bike was 1977 Yamaha XS750 Triple that I got for cheap and put back together. I posted about it on RMMB. Well its been sitting and I have tinkered with it and decided it's not worth the upkeep. Fuel injection and reliability would be great.

I dont want another cruiser but I also do not want a cookie cutter sport bike. I'm looking to find a deal on a used (around 600cc) naked street bike.
My first choice is the Suzuki SV650.


It's a v-twin so the torque would be better around town than a Yamaha FZ6 ( I-4).

Does anyone have any experience with this bike or naked street bikes they'd like to share? Thanks,

 

The SV650 is an excellent all-around bike, comfortable seating position, good torque in case you need to get out of a jam and awesome handling (I know a few guys that kill sportbikes in the canyons with their SV's). Long story short you can't go wrong with an SV.

However, you might also take a look at the Kawasaki Ninja 650R. Another excellent twin-cylinder standard. http://www.kawasaki.com/products/product-specifications.aspx?id=372

 

Has anybody been obsessing over any bike in the 1600-2000cc range lately? After I start getting my Uncle Sam money I'm looking for something a bit faster than my 1100 Shadow. There are one or two I have my eye on, but I don't know much about the bigger bikes.

 

Why? A liter sportbike will outrun a 1100cc Shadow any day of the week. If all you want is speed, go with a Honda RC51/CBR 1000, a GSXR 1000, a R1, or even a bigger bike like a Hayabusa. If all you want is speed, any of those will suit you fine.