If you want a fast cruiser bike, there is only really one. Say hello to a Yamaha Vmax. As an alternative I have heard many good things about the Suzuki M109 line of cruisers.
Thanks for the replies guys, I should have specified I like riding cruisers way better. I like being able to drive it across a couple states without killing my back on a crotch rockets and I'm 6'5. I don't need to go crazy fast, I think any bike 1600 & up would be good for me. I've kind of been looking at this bad boy lately, anybody heard anything about Victory bikes? My buddy says they have a pretty good reputation, but doesn't know too much about them. Plus I think this bike looks pretty sick with the black and white scheme. http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ ... rview.aspx
One of the local dealerships used to specialize in Victory/Triumph sales. While looking at a Triumph Speed Triple, one of the salesmen convinced me to try out a couple Victories. At the time I was more into sportsbikes, so I wasn't really interested in them, but figured I'd give them a fair shot and try them out. They felt to me pretty much like the equivalent Harley feels to those models. Same power bands, weight, handling, etc... Keep in mind this was quite a while ago, and they'd only really been out a couple years I think. The downside seems to mostly be with the resale. My mother and her husband bought a Victory and later spent about a year and a half trying to sell it. This was also back when the economy was better. I've had several sport bikes, including a Honda VTR1000, and an Aprilia Mille, but currently am riding a Harley Fatboy. I won't say I like it better, but I wish I had the cash and space to own both a sport bike and a cruiser. The Fatboy IS a lot of fun on long road trips, but there are so many time when I miss being able to lean over and take a turn at a decent speed. And, feel free to laugh here, one of the reasons I actually went with the Fatboy when looking at cruisers was that that's the bike Arnold rode in Terminator 2. After seeing that movie, I'd always really wanted one. And for the record, I'm 6'4, and a pretty heavy set(muscle, not fat) guy.
I love my Fatboy, but it´s a 700 pound gorilla of a bike. For Christmas, I need new riding leathers. The weather where I am fluctuates from 90 in the summer to mid 40s in the winter (lower than that, and I´ll take a vehicle with climate control). Any recommendations?
For Christmas, I need new riding leathers. The weather where I am fluctuates from 90 in the summer to mid 40s in the winter (lower than that, and I´ll take a vehicle with climate control). Any recommendations? If you have the money, you cannot beat ordering a set of leathers from one of the custom shops in the USA. Vanson, Bates, Z custom, Zooni, Johnson Leathers, Langlitz are all high quality stuff that will just last you for the rest of your life with a little care. Of course you are looking at $800 for a jacket and probably $600 for pants. As for off the rack, take a look at Newenough.com. They have most of the foreign made brand names at pretty good prices and great customer service.
Just got back from the UK bike show, highlights included the BMW inline six concept bike (which produces 170bhp, no idea what's going on there), the first time I've sat on a the new s1000, and a Norton with a clear fuel tank. I'll put some photos up in a little while if you guys want. Also had my first look at Victory bikes in the flesh. God damn, their big bike is an ugly fucker. Does anyone know anything about Joe Rocket riding gear? I can get the Big Bang jacket pretty cheap but I'm not sure if it would be worth much in a crash.
Joe Rocket is very common among sportbikers. I actually have a pair of their gloves. As far as a jacket goes, Joe Rocket will be as good as any.
Los Angeles just had our bike show to. Saw the new VFR, Ben Spies superbike and sat on Rossi's M1, wish I had pics. Put up the pics of the clear tank. Norton had their bike from the TT up on display.
I picked up a brand new 09 Kawa Versys. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever. But I have a question: I noticed after riding today that when you roll the bike, you can hear a light scraping coming from the front wheel. I had my friend roll the bike and it sounds like it's coming from the caliper. I rode around the block and made sure not to use the front wheel, and when I came back both the caliper and rotor were cold. Is it normal for a brake to make sound as it wears in? I'm going to ask the dealer tomorrow but they might be quick to pass off problems to keep costs down, particularly ones that don't seem to effect safety.
It should be fine. It may go away if you lube the pins/bolts the caliper moves on, if they ever do start to stick seriously, you'll wear out the pad on one side very quickly. I've seen that happen on older, neglected bikes. If you do want to try to lube those parts yourself, I suggest this stuff. I use it on every moving part on my bikes. I've even used it for assembly grease on two-stroke engine rebuilds.
The V Max is great, and I honestly can't say mine is better. But if you're looking for a cheaper, slightly slower but still badass bike, go with the Honda Shadow 1100 or larger. I have an 1100, it wonderful.
I agree, Shadows are one of the best bikes ever made. The 1100's are shaft driven, very low maintenance and have plenty of power. They sound great with a set of pipes. I liked the really long third gear, there is so much speed and power in thrid, it was great for the mountains around home.
My names Dornuss and i have a Suzuki GSXR750K4. With that out of the way... Absolutely great bike. Won bike of the year in some competition that year. Good power, great handling and relatively comfortable and roomy for a sports bike. Although we don't like to dwell on the bad times, i like hearing some of the disaster stories when it comes to bikes (please, no need to tell me about your friend who was turned into liquid for doing 150 in a 30 zone, that is definitely not what i want to hear about). What happened? Did your friend jump on your bike and accidentally ride through your back fence? Did you drop your baby while exiting the dealer? Did some guy in cage clean you up? What did you learn? Personally, i have come off a bike three times. 1. The first was a beginner mistake, simply shitting my self mid corner and running wide into some gravel. No real harm done except to my ego. 2. The second i was knocked off by a car on an on ramp at 4am. Here i learnt the importance off good footwear. As the driver drove off (hit and run) i had to walk 30 metres back up the on ramp and collect my sneakers, then pick up my bike and wheel it off the rode. Unfortunately i had to do all this with a couple of broken toes and a fractured ankle with no help in sight. 3. The third and most spectacular involved me doing a stoppie while the car in the lane right of me turned into the driveway left of me. Unfortunately i didn't actually manage to stop and i ended up doing a forward flip like movement over the handle bars when the car hit me and i flew over his windshield, onto the bonnet and on to the footpath. This crash actually shock me up and proved to me that people in cars can do ANYTHING at ANYTIME, and no matter what i do, i WILL come off second best. I actually had nothing but a sore hand and a scrape on my leg after this crash (no leathers worn, just a helmet, gloves and boots). The cars front passenger door, rear passenger door, and bonnet had to all be replaced. And my bike had a couple of cracked fairings and fucked leavers. All up, pretty lucky. To those who have never ridden. I believe in one rule above everything else. Ride like you are invisible. Because you don't want to have to rely on that car seeing you.
For six years my only mode of transportation was my '03 Yamaha R6 until it was stolen a few months back. Damn I loved that bike. For my next one I'm leaning toward either a Harley Nightster or Buell 1125. Maybe with Buell going out of business I can get a deal. Having a sportbike was great, but I never used its potential, plus my dad has a Harley and it was much easier to work on-changing the plugs out on my bike was a BITCH. Also, I gotta admit, a twin with open pipes sounds fucking badass.
ugh, I didn't read their descriptions, but that top 10 was all over the place. I think they were trying to catch to many people with the same net. Riding a cruiser is different than a sport bike. But if you've never ridden a motorcycle before, that changes things as well. Ducati and BMW? no. Costs are going to be too high for a "first" bike. Especially if (when) it's dropped. That's just in general, beyond that, it depends what you're looking for in a first bike. Almost anything under 500cc will be acceptable to learn (if you need to) how to control the throttle, brakes, shifting, etc. as well as general motorcycle riding standards. I find, if you're thinking about starting riding, you find someone who has done it for a while and talk to them, so you get a bit more of a personalized advice. There's a very large difference between someone who has never ridden a motorized two wheel vehicle, and someone like me who grew up riding dirtbikes and just needed to learn the "street smarts" That being said, I don't think there's a case where a small Ninja is a bad first bike. Edit: starter recommendations My gut says start with a 250/500. Ninja is an obvious choice, and I've heard good things about the Honda Rebel. Sportster I wouldn't say no to, but if you're buying it you'll probably end up paying the HD premium, which could be a turn off. Personally I'm not a fan of "dual sport" bikes, so I'd avoid those. If you have some riding experience, a lot of the manufacturers have models which use an older version of their 600s. (Like Yamaha's fz series) These bikes can still produce enough power to mean trouble, but insurance is usually cheaper, and if you're riding strictly street (not track) you'll never push the bike's limits.
To be honest I wouldn't suggest anything below a 600, I went straight from a learning bike that was a 250 cruiser straight to a 96 600 ninja and my brother bought a 500 ninja, to say the least the comparison was embarrassing, felt like totally two different bikes and the 500 definitely didn't feel like a motorcycle to me at least felt like I was riding an oversized peddle bike.
I agree that if you have any experience whatsoever, go with something larger than 600. I have an SV650, and I find it very easy to control. Buying a 250 may be selling yourself short, and you'll end up bored real fast.
I realise this is an outside opinion because I have no experience in riding bikes (my dad rode one for a long time, though), so I think that sort of thinking is a little silly and only applies when you *want* to go fast. But then, if you have that in your nature, you're never going to look at that 250 anyway. What about the sort of people who just like to ride their bikes, with not a lot of interest in breaking the speed limits? A 250 would be perfect for someone like that.
For a beginner, which I would define as someone who has zero experience riding a motorcycle, I would try and find a used dual purpose bike of around 250cc. You are going to drop that first bike. You are going to forget to put down the kickstand sometime or you are going to lose your balance while getting on the bike or something stupid is going to happen. You do not want to do this to happen with a brand new street bike. It is very expensive to fix the cosmetic parts on a bike. If you learn on the Dual Purpose bike for a few months to a year, when you buy your dream street bike you will still have a good off road bike for those times you want to hit the trail. Kind of like bicycles where you would have a road bike and a mountain bike. Focus: on that list I like the dual purpose bikes they showed. However I would never recommend a Ducati or BMW of any type for a first time owner. Those bikes are just expensive to own regardless of price paid. The maintenance is expensive compared to Japanese bikes as well as the insurance.