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bung posted:I was going to make a joke about the XR being a 600 lb standard. But then I thought that it couldn't possibly weigh that much. I was right, the specs at the end of the video showed 250 kilos (551 lbs). God drat! That's exactly what it is. But it's as close to an american sportbike as we really have.  blugu24, just don't race her. Let her have her illusions. 
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Jun 12, 2010 06:42
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redscare posted:You didn't do a very good job of convincing me that its a terrible idea. In fact, you just convinced me further that its a great idea. I've been seriously considering buying a used sportster and converting it, although by the time I get around to that, the used XR1200 market might be good enough to just get one of those. I really dont know much about them, but they look awesome, and they're Harleys, so anything you dont like, or want to upgrade, you'll have like 90 aftermarket companies to choose from.
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Jun 12, 2010 07:01
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I'd rock an XR1200. I'd want to have at least another $10K to spend on it though. Fitting 17" BSTs saves something ridiculous like 20kg, plus you can fit proper tyres. Then some Termi pipes, the Storz 55mm Ceriani forks, Ohlins shocks, and maybe get some S&S gear for the motor. I need more money.
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Jun 12, 2010 08:28
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Z3n posted:That's exactly what it is. But it's as close to an american sportbike as we really have. Man, if only someone would take harley engines and put them in a sport bike chassis. I bet that would be nice(and cheap).
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Jun 12, 2010 08:46
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Ever want to mod your seat and had no clue in where to even begin? Well, here you go. http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/
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Jun 12, 2010 11:05
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Slim Pickens posted:Man, if only someone would take harley engines and put them in a sport bike chassis. I bet that would be nice(and cheap). Exactly, with all the talk about taking an XR and modding it, why not get a Lightning/Firebolt and be done with it? To this day I am convinced if I got a firebolt instead of that godforsaken 1125 I would still be riding a buell. The sportster derived bikes were much less... "quirky" (read: were not TOTAL piles of poo poo) than the 1125s, especially the 2008s.
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Jun 12, 2010 17:26
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needknees posted:Exactly, with all the talk about taking an XR and modding it, why not get a Lightning/Firebolt and be done with it? I'm seconding this. The XR isn't a bad bike, but the air-cooled Buell engines are definitely better. If you just want that flat-track look, by a regular Sportster, and put on some Supertrapps and a tail-section.
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Jun 12, 2010 17:51
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needknees posted:Exactly, with all the talk about taking an XR and modding it, why not get a Lightning/Firebolt and be done with it? I don't like the look of the Lightning and Firebolt and I never mentioned anything about modding an XR if I got one. Maybe just lighter wheels and an exhuast.
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Jun 12, 2010 19:29
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Went to the local bike dealership today for demo days. Went for the food/friends mostly but ended up riding three bikes; hypermotard, street fighter and S1000RR in that order. Sadly their test loop is pretty busy and straight so I didn't get a great chance to play with the bikes but I did get a feel for them. Ducati Hypermotard 796 - Good power, pretty smooth and rode pretty nice but it just isn't a motard. It is more of a naked bike with long travel suspension, saying that if I was limited to one bike and wanted something motardish this might fit pretty good. It was just too wide for my liking, I much prefer my DRZ to this even though it is gutless in comparison. Ducati Streetfighter S - What a monster...pulls like it is never going to top out and handles pretty nice. I really enjoyed this bike especially the power and the brakes. Could see this thing being a wheelie machine in the right hands. Just tons and tons of torque everywhere. Idled kind of funny and had a slight hesitation at ~3k rpm but I guess the new software fixes this. BMW S1000RR - Holy poo poo I am impressed. The brakes, the power, the suspension, the entire bike. It turns in crisp, picks up speed way too quickly for me to comprehend and stops even quicker. I had to do two loops with this one. The clip-ons would need a little adjustment if I got one but I really liked this bike. BMW made a hell of a bike. On a side note the most powerful bike I have ever ridden prior to today was my friends 636, I thought that was fast. My whole sense of acceleration was blown away today with the Streetfighter and the S1000RR. Also the food was pretty good.
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Jun 12, 2010 20:35
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They had Triumph demo days at Theil's Wheels in Upper Sandusky this weekend and got to test ride a Scrambler and Tiger. The Scrambler was a fun bike with a pretty upright position and low pegs. It had decent low end and mid torque, but the top end wasn't all that, it felt like you'd be better off shifting short. They had an Arrow can without the silencer on and it sounded wonderful, the best sounding bike in the lot, including the Harleys. The Tiger was a smile maker, lots of torque over 3K and I had to let off a couple of times when I felt the front rise. You could get yourself into a lot of trouble quickly on this machine. The handling was much more precise than the Scrambler, however they both ate up bad road like dessert. I didn't try the anti-lock, but the brakes seemed more than up to the task when I found myself hitting triple digits.
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Jun 12, 2010 23:08
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I also went to the dealership today. I went over to the Aprilia dealership just to check out the RSV4 Factory in person. It is a great looking bike and it is tiny. Tiny and narrow. It isn't as small as a 250 2 stroke as some writers have been suggesting but it is the size of a small 600. The seat is a touch too tall for my 30 inch inseam so with my very flat pumas on I was on my tip toes. The seating position is aggressive and the foot pegs are pretty high but I prefer that kind of riding position. I got offered a test ride because I'm an old guy who's been licensed a long time (when it isn't a demo day they only do test rides on a case by case basis) But unfortunately I didn't have my gear with me because I drove down there in the car. I'll test ride it later preferably just before or after California Superbike School so I can get a comparative benchmark with the S1000RR. EDIT: Also as a side note although it is probably not as fun a ride as the XR1200, I am really digging the new H-D Sportster Forty-Eight. http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/2010_Motorcycles/2010_motorcycles.html?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US#/model/xl1200x I do wish though that the footpegs weren't so forward. Yuns fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Jun 13, 2010 |
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Jun 13, 2010 00:31
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A Sportster wouldn't be hard to put mid-pegs on. I'd be surprised if a dealership didn't have a set laying around that they'd give up for cheap.
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Jun 13, 2010 01:55
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Deeters posted:A Sportster wouldn't be hard to put mid-pegs on. I'd be surprised if a dealership didn't have a set laying around that they'd give up for cheap. I speak from experience when I say they have mountains of take off parts. Mids and fronts are less than 10 dollars a piece, rear sets are much more expensive though.
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Jun 13, 2010 02:45
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Z3n posted:That's exactly what it is. But it's as close to an american sportbike as we really have. I think I saw a Fischer MRX the other day.
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Jun 13, 2010 20:23
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Finally got my knee down after having been trying on this one circular (completely good surface, visible, etc.) onramp on my way to a friend's place. It's so unreal having learned on UJMs that scrape after like 45 degrees that you can actually lean so drat far on a sportbike. I was concerned that my F2's pipe would scrape but I was hanging off like a chimpanzee so it all worked out. And I STILL have about a centimeter of unused rubber on each side of the rear tire, and about 5mm on the front. Sigh, why are trackdays so prohibitively expensive?
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Jun 13, 2010 21:36
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:Sigh, why are trackdays so prohibitively expensive? If you're lucky a local rider forum will have the hookup with a local org. I got a full day for $80 (8 15 min sessions) along with the CCS license class - which is like (I don't remember) 4 hours of instruction, 3 on-track sessions, and a mock race. When I went it was a big race weekend for CCS - USGPRU was there and Josh Hayes stopped in to our class (6 people were in the class) and spoke for about an hour. BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jun 13, 2010 |
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Jun 13, 2010 22:02
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My experience with kneeing down was getting close to the edge of the tire on two sport/sport touring bikes. This led me to get some leather pants with sliders. The first time I wore them, I went to hang off my 636 around a turn and went "HOOOOOOOLY poo poo these are slippery". That day I ordered those tank grip pads, despite always thinking they looked like garbage. I get foot down all the time, though. 
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Jun 13, 2010 23:04
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:
Yeah I hear you. I want to do some track time but need the gear. Just ordered some Alpinestars s-mx 5 vented boots. Full suit I'm gonna try and find for around $500 and then another $100 for gloves. Then Our track days cost $185 + $50 for the school that is mandatory.
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Jun 13, 2010 23:09
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I took my wife with me yesterday to Victory's "Fuel it" demo day at the local Austin TX dealer. We were the only non-cruiser riders there, and were the only ones that showed up wearing full gear, so we got some strange looks for that. While we were waiting, there was a brief rain shower for about 10 minutes. After the rain, my wife and I looked on in amusement as *every* single cruiser owner ran outside, pulled a towel from their saddle bag, and started wiping their bikes down so they weren't wet. It was all we could do not to laugh. The demo team guys were pretty nice, and when I told them we wanted to ride a Vision, they asked what I was riding currently to make sure I was used to a large bike. We geared up and hopped on while everyone else put on the free to borrow skid lids that came with the demo truck, and went out for about 20 minutes on the bike with 8 other demo riders, one leader, and one sweep. One guy who was solo on another Vision and was wobbling all over the place at anything under 5 mph, dragging his feet, tipping over pretty far and nearly rear ending another bike. He looked at me as we pulled up to the light. "These ABS brakes sure take some time to get used to!  " Um... yeah, ok. I intentionally let him take off first when the light turned green so I could drop back to the last position in the group, and with only the sweeper behind me I felt relatively safe. I've put about 3,000 miles on a thirty year old GS850, and almost 10,000 miles on my ST1300. Those are the two bikes I am most familiar with and were really all I have to compare the Vision to. I've also taken 20min demo rides on a Triumph Thunderbird (loved it, but not suitable for us both on long trips) and on a Rocket III Touring Edition (didn't like it, ergos were wonky, storage was lovely, engine was too loving big). We're both really happy with the ST, but we also like a lot of other bikes too, and since demo rides are free... why not. The brakes were not at all as responsive as I'm used to on a bike that large. The ST has a linked brake system with dual 3-piston calipers up front and a single 3-piston caliper out back, and I have EBC double H rated pads all around. I can count on it to stop quickly while riding solo or two up when I need it to; I didn't get that same feeling from the Victory. The front brake felt sort of vague and weren't very reassuring, even when used together with the rear. The Vision does have 2-piston single rear disk and dual 3-piston front calipers, but the brakes were nowhere near as good as my Honda. Maybe the ST is set up with more aggressive brakes since it's a sport tourer and not a cruiser. Once I got used to the tiller shaped handlebars, it wasn't bad at all. The Vision felt like it has a lower center of gravity than my ST, which made the bike feel very stable (well, for me anyway) at low speeds. Starting out is pretty easy, the Vision picks itself up quickly and I didn't once feel like I was fighting to keep the bike upright as I slowed to a stop. I didn't feel comfortable doing super slow turning in a crowded parking lot with my wife on the back, but then again I dislike doing that on my ST too. I think after riding the Vision for a day or two though I would have no problem cranking off u-turns with her on the back like I can do now on the ST. The Vision has a 106 cubic inch (1737cc) V-twin and a 6 speed transmission. 50mph in 6th lopes along at 1900RPM with a slight hint rumble from the exhaust. Roll on acceleration in 6th is a bit slow but it's not too bad if you kick down into 5th. The entire bike throbs with V-twin vibration under hard acceleration in any gear. This was one of the first things my wife commented on through our intercom.  There's plenty of power for passing or for working through twisties in lower gears, though the 5,000RPM redline comes up fast when you are looking to get moving. The transmission shifted smoothly, with a bit of a loud ka-chunk as each gear engages. By comparison, the ST's 1300cc V4 redlines at 9,000, and will rocket from 50MPH to 80+ in just a few moments without shifting down from 5th. The Victory wasn't bad, it's just more relaxed, more laid back, more cruiser-touring and not sport-touring.It did have a really smooth ride though, much smoother than the ST. I have no idea what the preload was set to, but the few bumps in the road were hardly felt at all, and the steering was very neutral. The bike handled curves as easily as my Honda and wasn't upset by any roughness in the pavement or by bumps midcorner. The ST is much more sensitive to the road, and doesn't soak up the bumps quite as well as the Victory did - I think the Victory has more overall suspension travel too. However, the ST communicates the road to us both better, and we both agreed that we actually like that aspect of the ST a lot and would miss it. The radio was pretty nice, and I wish the ST had one. The instrument cluster was easy to read, and the fairing and windshield does a better job shooting air up, over and around a pillion than the ST does. With the windshield down on the Vision we both got plenty of air but didn't get beaten by it either. The pillion seat on the Vision is a good bit higher than the ST's, and my wife liked that she didn't have to work around my head to look ahead of us. The pillion and rider seats are comfortable, but there's not much in the way of moving around once you sit in them. On longer trips we both like to shift around some, so in this respect the ST seats come up a little bit better. Storage goes to our ST, hands down. The ST's sidebags are almost twice as large as the Visions, which shocked us both, considering how big the sides of the Vision are. The trunk on the Vision is bigger than my Givi52, but since the Vision's side bags are so much smaller I think we could still pack more on the Honda. In fairness, the Givi box is aftermarket while the Vision comes with the trunk, but the Honda costs about 10 grand less. All in all, it's a nice bike, but at 23 grand it's certainly not on our buy now list, and while we liked the Vision, both of us are not sure it's really a bike we'd want to own. Long story short, it's still a cruiser, and not what we're quite looking for. Raven457 fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Jun 14, 2010 |
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Jun 13, 2010 23:54
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BlackMK4 posted:They aren't, they are like $120 locally for half a day (4 15 min sessions), along with free leather 'rental' if you don't have a full suit. Oh, only $120 for 1 hour of riding? Yeah that's totally cheap.
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Jun 14, 2010 01:52
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At least I have the gear part covered. Bright-rear end red Fieldsheer suit in a size 38 from a local shop for $300 complete with some butt road rash. All I can afford this summer is a trackday up in Loudon in August, and maybe some new tires before that.
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Jun 14, 2010 01:57
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Well, sod's law strikes: I didn't ride up north and instead of pouring rain today, it was mostly sunny and loving gorgeous. Certainly can't complain about it, but it was a bit of a bittersweet thing to wake up to this morning.
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Jun 14, 2010 02:44
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teknicolor posted:Oh, only $120 for 1 hour of riding? Yeah that's totally cheap. I've never heard anyone complain after having gone to a track day. You are paying a lot for a little time on the track but you've got control riders helping you out, tons of people to ask questions in the pits, suspension guys to help you set up, not to mention tire vendors and all sorts of other crap. Some of them even offer one on one training for a bit more money. It's definitely pricey but from everything I've heard it helps you become a better rider much quicker than dicking around on mountain roads hoping you don't get killed. I've never been to one personally so can't say for sure but I've heard enough good things from enough people to sign up for Streets in August.
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Jun 14, 2010 03:07
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CSi-NA-EJ7 posted:Then Our track days cost $185 + $50 for the school that is mandatory. Trackaddix? 
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Jun 14, 2010 03:13
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Raven457 posted:The brakes were not at all as responsive as I'm used to on a bike that large. The ST has a linked brake system with dual 3-piston calipers up front and a single 3-piston caliper out back, and I have EBC double H rated pads all around. I can count on it to stop quickly while riding solo or two up when I need it to; I didn't get that same feeling from the Victory. The front brake felt sort of vague and weren't very reassuring, even when used together with the rear. The Vision does have 2-piston single rear disk and dual 3-piston front calipers, but the brakes were nowhere near as good as my Honda. Maybe the ST is set up with more aggressive brakes since it's a sport tourer and not a cruiser.
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Jun 14, 2010 03:27
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I've done trackdays with two Ducati shops and both were $150. The first shop had three groups (A, B, and C) and three twenty minute sessions per hour with 7 sessions per group for the day. The second shop had two 30 minute sessions (classroom group and open group) per hour with 7 sessions per group for the day. I got in good with the second shop and would volunteer to help tech bikes in the morning. Usually tech was done before the first session went out and they would let me ride all day on their demo bikes for no cost. Most trackday organizations will give you a free half or full day if you do corner work for a half or full day. If you are getting tired sit out a session or two and wait for the last one. Most people will have left by then and you'll have more room on the track. The second shop I mentioned above would allow everyone on the track at the same time for the last session and it would run for an hour.
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Jun 14, 2010 03:43
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BlackMK4 posted:They aren't, they are like $120 locally for half a day (4 15 min sessions), along with free leather 'rental' if you don't have a full suit. That's really expensive. Maybe I'm spoiled by CA, but you can get trackdays for sub 100$ in this economy with 7-8 20 to 30 minute sessions. Or open trackdays for slightly more.
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Jun 14, 2010 03:54
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needknees posted:Trackaddix? Yes. $185 on the weekends. $125 for the Monday No sessions track
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Jun 14, 2010 04:50
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Yuns posted:The Vision Victory in touring form is 849 lbs dry weight (street version is 804 lbs dry) and the ST1300 is about 650 lbs dry (and 719 wet weight). The extra 200 lbs of weight could explain part of the reduced brake performance. It sure could - thanks for pointing that out. I'd missed the weight difference; to its credit the Vision didn't feel any heavier than my ST.
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Jun 14, 2010 05:39
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teknicolor posted:Oh, only $120 for 1 hour of riding? Yeah that's totally cheap. If you're complaining about $120 then you need a new hobby or to consider the alternative of going down at speed on a rural mountain road with public traffic. Z3n posted:That's really expensive. Maybe I'm spoiled by CA, but you can get trackdays for sub 100$ in this economy with 7-8 20 to 30 minute sessions. Or open trackdays for slightly more. Yeah, we only have one (ok, now two, I think) facilities here in Arizona so we get hosed. You Cali dudes have it made for a variety of cheap track time. BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Jun 14, 2010 |
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Jun 14, 2010 07:07
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Z3n posted:That's really expensive. Maybe I'm spoiled by CA, but you can get trackdays for sub 100$ in this economy with 7-8 20 to 30 minute sessions. Or open trackdays for slightly more. California track days are cheaper than East Coast track days, partly because you fuckers don't have seasons.
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Jun 14, 2010 18:01
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laymil posted:California track days are cheaper than East Coast track days, partly because you fuckers don't have seasons. Mostly it's because Californians are encouraged to kill themselves at every available opportunity.
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Jun 14, 2010 18:04
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laymil posted:California track days are cheaper than East Coast track days, partly because you fuckers don't have seasons.
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Jun 14, 2010 19:40
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Jabs posted:Colorado has seasons, and 8-hour open trackdays at High Plains are $150. Yeah but back in the day you could ride the good old (pot-holed, rabbit infested, wildly unsafe) Second Creek Raceway in Denver for like $45 for all day. And IMI is still pretty cheap if you don't mind not having a long straight anywhere on the track (go kart track). High Plains is crazy expensive because it's a really really good track. http://highplainsraceway.com/track.html
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Jun 14, 2010 19:59
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PlasticSun posted:Yeah but back in the day you could ride the good old (pot-holed, rabbit infested, wildly unsafe) Second Creek Raceway in Denver for like $45 for all day. And IMI is still pretty cheap if you don't mind not having a long straight anywhere on the track (go kart track). High Plains is crazy expensive because it's a really really good track. Z3n said Cali sessions were cheap. Laymil said Cali sessions were cheap because Cali doesn't have seasons. I don't consider $150 for all day to be crazy expensive, really. =) It's not SCR-cheap, but it's still far cheaper than Teknicolor's theoretical $960/day.
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Jun 14, 2010 21:43
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I'm a member of StreetCar (soon to be ZipCars, they're merging) and today I took out a new BMW 116d M Sport for a few hours... I still love riding, but man I miss driving a car, especially a nice one. I guess that's what ZipCars is really good for. I sure as hell wouldn't want to commute every day in one!
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Jun 14, 2010 23:29
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CSi-NA-EJ7 posted:Yes. $185 on the weekends. $125 for the Monday No sessions track I've been to one weekend day and did the school and have done two MotoMonday's with them at MAM so far. They're a pretty good group. You can buy a 4 pack of motomonday slots that brings the price down to ~107/day. The credits are transferable so you can get a group of people together and go in on it, or sell them off. It's a pretty good deal for track time -- 5hrs, ride as much or little as you want. I really like the open session format. If I can shake whatever got me sick today I'm planning to go there again this Sunday -- they're having their annual ducati demo days. Go flog a 848, 1198 and streetfighter on track? That's my kind of test ride 
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Jun 15, 2010 01:51
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So what happens if you highside one to the moon
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Jun 15, 2010 04:00
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Then you've just bought yourself and fancy new Ducati (sold as-is)!
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Jun 15, 2010 04:11
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So, I've found since installing my new pipe the number of kids who look at my bike and point/clap etc. has increased dramatically. Countdown 'til I get to piss a mother or two off by revving the bike and giving the thumbs up to one of these little tackers. 
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Jun 15, 2010 06:35
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