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TheNothingNew posted:I'm trying not to focus on displacement too much, but I'm all too aware that my insurance will. As a rule of thumb anything with 5+ gears on it and more than 30hp will keep you setup as long as you want to be. You'll trade up eventually same as anybody, but you won't ever be bored or noticing obvious limitations with what you have in the meanwhile. Bikes are cheap as poo poo to insure. My 83 750 costs me $75 a year as a multi-policy married guy over 25. Even before being 25 and married I think the most I ever paid was like $120 a year. You may want to call your agent and get a quote - if you have state farm and don't have a ton of other poo poo with them shop elsewhere they rip off hard for just single car/bike policies. The C50 in my earlier pic came from Road Track & Trail. Not a bad place, and they had a great selection when I was there for their 'midnight madness' sale this Summer. Some friends have been back since and came away with a different impression, saying all they had was beat to crap junk. The sale I was at was a 3 day extended hour sale with intent to liquidate as much as possible to make room for snow mobiles and stuff over the winter. I think anything really worth having went out the door right then and there. Odds are good I eyeballed that very same bike when I was there lol TheNothingNew posted:Rust, gummy carbs, and needed TLC are all deal-breakers for me. To re-appropriate a phrase from earlier in the thread, I want a bike, not a project. I have minimal tools, no garage, and no clue what I'm doing. So I'll be bothering this thread quite a bit, I think. You're probably going to be wanting to save more than $1k or start looking into some used Ninja 250's or something. It's going to be pretty tough to find a no-maint daily runner for that tag. You're actively looking at an 83 with 70k miles on it for that price... you need to look higher or expect to spend a bit of time with wrenches. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 19:39
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Halo_4am posted:Bikes are cheap as poo poo to insure. My 83 750 costs me $75 a year as a multi-policy married guy over 25. Uh, well congrats on living somewhere cool. I'm 29 with a clean record, and my DL650 is costing me $2,100/year. 
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Nov 27, 2012 19:53
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Halo, is there an option /modification to add mid controls (or less forward controls) to soft tails etc? That might be an option.
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Nov 27, 2012 21:15
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Comedy option: VRSCR Street Rod
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Nov 27, 2012 23:33
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Halo_4am posted:You're probably going to be wanting to save more than $1k or start looking into some used Ninja 250's or something. It's going to be pretty tough to find a no-maint daily runner for that tag. You're actively looking at an 83 with 70k miles on it for that price... you need to look higher or expect to spend a bit of time with wrenches. Yeah, I'm getting worked up over this, and that's not good. I'm gonna walk it off, sleep on it for a week or so. Just wanted to say thanks.
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Nov 27, 2012 23:44
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Halo_4am posted:She's 5'5" with a 27" inseam.
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Nov 28, 2012 01:50
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epalm posted:Uh, well congrats on living somewhere cool. I'm 29 with a clean record, and my DL650 is costing me $2,100/year. I doubt you two are talking an apples to apples comparison here.
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Nov 28, 2012 02:02
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Linedance posted:Halo, is there an option /modification to add mid controls (or less forward controls) to soft tails etc? That might be an option. Not on Softails, it's on the Dynas, but she's sat on a few with those and thinks they're too close. She likes the forward controls but just wants them less forward... I know. Collateral Damage posted:Comedy option: VRSCR Street Rod This is the only Harley I would seriously consider owning for myself, but I'm told they're not real Harley's either.  Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Those Softails are all over 700lb if I'm not mistaken. I'm 5'8" with 30" inseam and they're huge by my standards. I know this isn't helpful, but I think she's just crazy if she wants a Harley. The smallest ones they make are around 560lb, as heavy as the heaviest touring bikes I've ever owned, and she already ruled those out as too small. High 600's before you add on all the heavy as poo poo shiny chrome stuff, highway bars, etc. So yeah this one will be 700+ lbs. She wants what she wants, and will continue to want it for reasons I don't understand. It's all image and reputation, and lets get serious... that's the biggest reason people buy them if not the only reason. She's held her own on a 77 wing for a stint which was about this big and heavy and far more top heavy. I'm not overly concerned about the weight so long as it doesn't handle like it. Bovril Delight posted:I doubt you two are talking an apples to apples comparison here. Keep in mind this is for a $1-2k valued 750 the whole time. Price goes up on pricier rides, and I've never had an accident or more than 1 moving violation in a 12 month span. I've never been quoted anything remotely close to $1,000 a year from anybody but State Farm. Halo_4am posted:Specifically I'm looking at this 2002 Softail FXSTI that I'd hope to talk down to $7,500 then pay out the rear end in finance and paperwork fees. Went and checked this out today and it was less clean than pictured. Lots of rust inside those shiny pipes, rusty bolts, tear in the seat, and other very minor but very annoying cosmetic things for a bike I'm about to spend more than all my cars combined on. I asked they start it up so we can hear that famous Harley rumble and the battery was dead from sitting on the floor so long. That was enough to just take a pass at the whole thing. I expect that stuff from private sales, but I expect a dealership to have their poo poo together and at least start or charge a bike every couple of months. On the plus side she fit fine on it. Can flat foot with boots and pushed it back and forth just fine (on a flat showroom floor). So we're pursuing the model and I called and confirmed that this 2005 was the fuel injected model. We're checking it out tomorrow. A little pricier but it has all the fancy chrome bits, a windshield, and bags on it, and is a few years newer. Maybe I can use the crumb one to work the price down $1-1.5k but I'm not holding my breath. My problem with the first bike's pipes just got upgraded to 'Screaming Eagle' though. I guess I'm finding that 'Harley sound' isn't Harley at all. I can't find a single listing with stock pipes! :edit: A bit off topic and what not but I have to say I am downright overjoyed my 'big purchase' argument with my wife amounts to buying an overpriced heavy as poo poo motorcycle. I could be having a more costly conversation about needing a minivan with a rear view camera or the desperate need for designer furniture. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 03:48
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I've got a guy willing to meet me about 45 minutes away from our two places to sell me his Honda shadow Aero 750, an 07. Less than 10k miles, he was deployed before he could get any real miles on it. Basically brand new, garaged and maintained, has title, all that legit business stuff. His new place won't have room for it and I suspect he's just not into riding anymore. Asking 3200. Was 4000 but its been up there for over a month I believe. I can't make a move until the end of the month, but is 3.2k a fair deal provided the bike is as good as advertised? He'd let me take it to a shop for them to check it out. I have 3k to work with and was thinking I could get a 07 in the mid 2k range but maybe I'm off the mark with that thought. E: Another thing, but I believe I know the answer already. I really like the Honda shadow RS but I can't find any used. I assume it's a recent model. I shouldn't do a finance thing on a first bike.. Right? Lothire fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 06:39
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Halo_4am posted:My problem with the first bike's pipes just got upgraded to 'Screaming Eagle' though. I guess I'm finding that 'Harley sound' isn't Harley at all. I can't find a single listing with stock pipes! No-one wants stock pipes on their Harleys other than police departments though, so surely you can just go to e-bay and find a set of new-to-you HD pipes?
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Nov 28, 2012 08:06
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Lothire posted:I've got a guy willing to meet me about 45 minutes away from our two places to sell me his Honda shadow Aero 750, an 07. Less than 10k miles, he was deployed before he could get any real miles on it. Basically brand new, garaged and maintained, has title, all that legit business stuff. His new place won't have room for it and I suspect he's just not into riding anymore. That seems like a fair price for <10k <10year bike. It's hardly a screaming deal though and this time of year you should be shopping for one. The RS is a really sharp looking bike but it's completely crippled power-wise. I wouldn't go near it, and especially not for a higher price than what other 750's are going for. It's a 2011+ model I think, maybe 10 but certainly not further back than that. Saga posted:No-one wants stock pipes on their Harleys other than police departments though, so surely you can just go to e-bay and find a set of new-to-you HD pipes? Here's hoping. BLUB BLUB BLUB BLUB BLUB WHAT BLUB DID BLUB YOU BLUB SAY? BLUB BLUB BLUB going to get old quick at stoplights. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 15:42
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Lothire posted:E: Another thing, but I believe I know the answer already. I really like the Honda shadow RS but I can't find any used. I assume it's a recent model. I shouldn't do a finance thing on a first bike.. Right? Blah blah blah, you'll drop it, blah blah blah, depreciating asset, blah blah blah, gold, blah blah blah... Short answer, get a real loan from a real bank/CU, don't sign up for one of the "0% interest for 24 months, then jumps to 27%" credit card/loan deals they toss on some bikes. Get full insurance with gap coverage (bank will require full comp anyway), and realize you're gonna be making payments on it for 3-4 years. Calculate your payments and don't get stupid. Realize that if you want/have to sell the bike in a year or two, you're probably gonna lose some money on it. Other than that, no big deal. Tons of people finance bikes. You think all the newbies taking the MSF at a Harley dealer and riding off on their first road king paid cash? That looks like about an 8k bike new, with it being the off season I bet you can score a deal on a 2012 anyway. Interest rates are stupid cheap right now.
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Nov 28, 2012 15:53
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The real reason it sucks to finance a bike is that if you discover 3 months down the road that you'd much rather be riding a dual sport, or you're tired of dragging floorboards all over the place, or the seating position destroys your back on longer rides, you're stuck with 2k+ in depreciation. More if you so much as ding the thing. If you buy used you can probably find an older, solid cruiser for what you'd pay in depreciation alone for turning the key on the bike and riding it out of the showroom. Then after a year or so, 5-10k miles, go out and buy whatever bike you want, and you dont have to worry about dinging up your dream bike makimg a newbie mistake and you can actually be sure that it's the bike you want to ride for a long time. Z3n fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 17:04
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TheNothingNew posted:Sorry, nothing about the bike. I put my vstars's balance on a credit card because financing it that way was cheaper than any of those options. As a bonus, the title wasn't all tied up with a bank. clutchpuck fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 17:52
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Halo_4am posted:This is the only Harley I would seriously consider owning for myself, but I'm told they're not real Harley's either.
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Nov 28, 2012 19:06
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Halo_4am posted:That Norge is a rare sight so it probably was the same guy. Was he older, scrawny with big ol glasses, really loud and excitable and maybe demonstrating a nervous tick/grunt? If so that's my guy. He used to race back in the 70's and had his share of falls, and as a result his already amped personality is all kinds of weird. He takes that thing all over since he got it this summer and so he could be in McHenry a lot. Nah, turns out isn't the same guy. Thanks for the recommendations on where to ride. I'll keep those bookmarked for when March rolls around and the weather warms up a bit. My bike is already sitting at my parents' house outside of Champaign for the winter.
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Nov 28, 2012 20:32
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Is home now. Very well maintained and she fit fine on it. Wiggled it out the door for 8k + tax and $125 paperwork fee. Boring dealership and finance chat This marks the first time ever purchasing something from a manufacturer's dealership. We got a little tour of the shop after signing on the line, and they handed us goodies from each little area while insisting we can get whatever and add it on to the financing. All in all we got a bag full of a battery tender, t-shirts, pens, etc. Kind of a fun little perk compared to driveway sales. We also got quotes for like 3k in accessories based on mentioning a thing or two here and there about what we didn't like about the bike when negotiating price. "Ehhhh, not quick release saddle bags? Not happy about that." Resulted in a post-sale quote of like $400 for various mounts and chrome on chrome accessories to make it a quick release saddle bag. $10 for some finger nuts, rubber washers, and reverse threading a couple bolts should do the job nicely... thanks though fellas. Fortunately, we made it out of there with nothing but the bike and free stuff. My credit union wouldn't finance us with my wife as co-signer, and part of the reason for financing is to build her credit up and so we're sitting at a 12% dealership rate. There are no fees for additional payment so I'll be knocking that down quick over the next year. Leaving a piddly amount on it to show a good payment history on her credit record. Harley trip report After purchase we put about 50 miles on just tooling around and getting used to the new ride. She kept laughing about accidentally speeding, and seems genuinely thrilled to be on a bike that doesn't start trembling at 50mph. She already scraped the pegs on it and seems right at home. I just putzed around on it in their parking lot where they had the MSF paintings permanent. I did the double spaced cones on it and made the double 90 turn comfortably. I didn't bother with the short cones or the u-turn box on it because I haven't done that on anything since the class really. It does indeed feel like a heavy low riding cruiser, and personally I don't care for it, but her face is hurting from smiling so much today. The only thing I'm regretting on it is the braking ability. The thing is a chrome sled and the single disc brake in front powered by a 4-pot caliper really feels labored. I wish she liked the mid-controls on a Dyna so we could have at least had dual disc front. As far as lean angle and what not it doesn't seem any less capable than the light weight VLX, but we'll see if I still feel that way after jumping back on the 600cc featherweight Honda... that sort of stuff is always way more noticeable to me when going back to what's already familiar. Harley Maintenance and Manufacturer Stuff I didn't realize they actually require premium gas per manufacturer spec and don't list different oil change vs oil filter and oil change milestones. I immediately understand now why so many old school mechanics are convinced premium is magic horse power and mpg boosting juice, and oil filters get changed with the oil every 3000 miles or less. They got their start and training with an air/oil cooled engine that requires it and just apply it across the board. Fun fact: There is absolutely no built in storage of any kind on this bike, and I've been made to believe that's true of any Harley. Not so much as an under the seat glove box for insurance and registration, but you can buy a small fork tube storage compartment or fork bag for that if you want. There is also no toolkit from Harley for any of their bikes, but you're welcome to buy that as well. These are things I've held to be true across all metric and euro manufacturers, and I am legitimately surprised about their absence on what I view as a luxury line of bikes. Off to Ebay and manly man HD forums to find out what it's going to take to give it some additional stopping power. Hopefully I'm not banned for suggesting front brakes are to be used. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 23:19
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So I think I've decided on a bike: The good: 2002 SV650N Completely stock 15K miles Excellent condition The bad: The second and current owner - a girl  - is not sure if the 15K valve adjustment had been done by the original owner (she only had it for 200 miles before deciding she wasn't interested in motorcycles anymore). I understand that this can be expensive?Is $2700 a reasonable price considering I'm in San Francisco? It was listed at $2800, and she also offered to put $1700 on the bill of sale to help with taxes. Every SV around here seems even more expensive or in worse shape. I don't need to get it at a complete steal but I also don't want to get ripped off. KBB and NADA say $2200-$2300 for one with more miles, but I don't think that accounts for location. Anyone want to help me pick it up in Larkspur on Saturday afternoon? 
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Nov 29, 2012 07:18
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It will need doing. The valve inspection bit is easy enough to do yourself - requires a socket set, a set of feeler gauges, a service manual and a sheet of paper to record clearances on. Although I imagine you have to pull the tank off completely to do the rear cylinder on these. If they need adjusting is where things start to get more fiddly and can go expensively wrong if you shim it incorrectly. If you don't want to do it, to inspect and check clearances should be a couple of hours of labour at a bike shop, unless they're trying to rear end-rape you (hint, find out who in your area is honest before taking the bike to them). You may need to replace one or two cam cover gaskets depending on condition and how Suzuki designed them, which can be costly depending on how much of a comedy mark-up Suzuki place on SV parts. Honda usually move the decimal point two places to the right (as I'm gradually discovering to my cost, Subaru go three places to the right). If they need to re-shim, double that and (knowing dealers) assume they will have the bike for up to five days while they decide what they want to order. It looks like a very clean SV though and give the stupid prices you see mentioned on SA sounds like a good deal to me. Halo, black is better than silver anyway. My experience with the early Victories (which had twin brembo four-pots) is that if you add serious stopping power to the front of a big, low c-of-g sled like this, the front will just lock super early. With a long wheelbase and low c-of-g (not to mention often questionable rubber) the bike will tend to push its weight straight on rather than rotate it down onto the front wheel. I would suggest maybe just braided or kevlar lines, take calipers apart and clean up, new pads and a full fluid change. I think even an HH type pad would be a bad idea, as you want cold performance with these bikes. Saga fucked around with this message at 08:40 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 29, 2012 08:30
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Z3n posted:Then after a year or so, 5-10k miles, go out and buy whatever bike you want, and you dont have to worry about dinging up your dream bike makimg a newbie mistake and you can actually be sure that it's the bike you want to ride for a long time. Ya', that all makes sense. I'm getting a bit excited/impatient trying to find a nice deal but not having a lot of places to check out. Cragslist has been my main spot, with a few dealer sites here and there (but they're all asking quite a bit more for similar years/conditions). Not having a bike to play with makes waiting all that much harder!
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Nov 29, 2012 09:47
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There should be some cheap bikes right around now on craigslist, tis the season after all. I have a friend who is learning to ride and looking for a first bike, but he's a beast. 6'6" at least and every bit of 300 lbs, it makes it hard to suggest a small beginner bike for him. We've been looking to mid 90s standards or possibly late 80s UJMs, and there's actually been a lot of options for 800-1500 depending. Something like that might be up your alley as well. He's got his eyes on a Yamaha Seca II right now and I'm having trouble coming up with criticisms of it.
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Nov 29, 2012 10:24
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nsaP posted:There should be some cheap bikes right around now on craigslist, tis the season after all. I have a friend who is learning to ride and looking for a first bike, but he's a beast. 6'6" at least and every bit of 300 lbs, it makes it hard to suggest a small beginner bike for him. We've been looking to mid 90s standards or possibly late 80s UJMs, and there's actually been a lot of options for 800-1500 depending. Something like that might be up your alley as well. At 300 pounds, he'll be grinding paint off the lower frame rails won't he? Mind you, fit ground effexx lights and a titanium bash plate and you could charge admission.
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Nov 29, 2012 14:37
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Saga posted:At 300 pounds, he'll be grinding paint off the lower frame rails won't he? 300 pounds is like a normal rider + passenger...
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Nov 29, 2012 14:41
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nsaP posted:There should be some cheap bikes right around now on craigslist, tis the season after all. I have a friend who is learning to ride and looking for a first bike, but he's a beast. 6'6" at least and every bit of 300 lbs, it makes it hard to suggest a small beginner bike for him. We've been looking to mid 90s standards or possibly late 80s UJMs, and there's actually been a lot of options for 800-1500 depending. Something like that might be up your alley as well. As a similarly heavy person, I found a KLR650 to be an excellent starter bike.
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Nov 29, 2012 14:59
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Saga posted:Halo, black is better than silver anyway. My experience with the early Victories (which had twin brembo four-pots) is that if you add serious stopping power to the front of a big, low c-of-g sled like this, the front will just lock super early. With a long wheelbase and low c-of-g (not to mention often questionable rubber) the bike will tend to push its weight straight on rather than rotate it down onto the front wheel. Thanks. This is the best advice I've had so far. I think I'm going to start with pads and lines as they're cheap and easy. If the pads end up locking too much it's easy to go back to stock, and we'll of course do some controlled quick stopping to see what that's all about before getting on the road and finding any surprises in a panic stop. Harley world so far has ranged from I'll rip the spokes out of the wheel if there's too much power, to why would I want a 2nd disk ugging up my wheel, to this absolute gem: quote:Just pull on that leaver harder, it works. If i yank on it hard enough i can lock me front wheel (2000 softail) I'm not going to enjoy asking the internet for advice on Harley poo poo at all. Silver/Black is a temporary color. This will be orange with jack-o-lanterns and such on it shortly after it's paid off. Pissingintowind posted:2002 SV650N Valves jobs are big and scary and sometimes expensive if you have them done elsewhere. Get a manual and spend some time watching youtube howtos... it's not that challenging to do. That's a very sharp bike and looks really clean. If your SF crew confirms it's a fair price I say go for it.
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Nov 29, 2012 15:35
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Pissingintowind posted:So I think I've decided on a bike: If all of the consumables are in good shape, brake pads, fluids, tires (age is a factor here), chain, and sprockets, then it's an ok deal. I'd probably offer $2300 or maybe even less depending on what maintenance it needs, considering a valve check will likely be $400 at most dealerships, although I know a few trustworthy mechanics who will do it for cheaper.
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Nov 29, 2012 16:14
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Everything else is fine - tires and battery are new, and consumables and fluids were definitely done by the previous owner. Plus, that stuff is cheap. I offered $2500, which is where the "firm" counter of $2700 with $1700 on the bill of sale came from. loving Bay Area price inflation - every SV I've seen listed here starts in the $3000s.
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Nov 29, 2012 16:23
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Halo_4am posted:She's biased against them because Buell != Harley and Sporty = Beginner bike. It doesn't matter how true or not those statements are, that's how it is. Sounds like a strap-on would be a cheaper and easier way for her to 'compensate' (She may be a woman, but the way she's acting about it kinda reminds me of the stereotype of man-with-micropenis-compensating-by-buying-large-manly-truck/bike-because-he-is-insecure) Reminder folks: being 'cool' is a state of being, not something you acquire via your possessions 
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Nov 29, 2012 16:31
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Halo_4am posted:It's all image and reputation, and lets get serious... that's the biggest reason people buy them if not the only reason. Buell's and Sportsters don't have the rep a full size hog does. End of story on that really, and if you're shelling for one you may as well not compromise. She was content on the VLX and has been for years now, but always got a dreamy look around big ballsy bikes that go "BLUB BLUB BLUB BLUB". I started the whole new bike conversation and this is just sort of where it ended up. I spent some time swapping between the Softail and VLX last night. The handling is virtually identical, and maybe even a small advantage to the Softail if you can believe it. It's certainly a lot more planted on 0-20 for turns after lights, which the VLX would easily drift on if your butt wasn't exactly center. Pushing it around the garage is an entirely different matter. It's going to be a big problem should it ever fall over and I'm pushing to keep the silly crash bars on it for that reason. I am really going to miss that VLX when I'm pushing things in and out of my garage to get at things stashed on shelves. That being said I never cared for the handling on the VLX and I don't care for this either. The pipes are loud, but not overly so. I would say they're no more obnoxious than the MAC's I have on my 750. Lots of deep bassy sound, but not a crazy amount of decimals. They'll probably end up staying on after all. Getting to 30 and slamming on the brakes has the VLX stopping several feet shorter every time. I haven't got as scientific as chalking lines in the street and measuring but it's very obviously at least half the length of a car. This will be fixed one way or another before Spring for sure. My neighbors loving hate me right now. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 29, 2012 16:47
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Pissingintowind posted:Everything else is fine - tires and battery are new, and consumables and fluids were definitely done by the previous owner. Plus, that stuff is cheap. I offered $2500, which is where the "firm" counter of $2700 with $1700 on the bill of sale came from. loving Bay Area price inflation - every SV I've seen listed here starts in the $3000s. Eh I'd probably get a quote from a couple of local dealerships on the valve adjust and see if you can knock her down a bit more. Cash in hand helps too. 2700 feels a bit high for a gen 1 thats all stock, but if it's been well maintained you'll get solid use out of it with minimal depreciation.
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Nov 29, 2012 16:49
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Safety Dance posted:As a similarly heavy person, I found a KLR650 to be an excellent starter bike. That's a good suggestion and one that I've made, they're kinda hard to come by tho. I think he's shying away from dual sports but he's definitely open to suggestions. They made those in a bitching yellow/purple paint scheme right? :m: Mid 90s standards or dual sports are looking like the best option tho. Saga posted:At 300 pounds, he'll be grinding paint off the lower frame rails won't he? On a Seca? No worse than on any 500 or 250. Honestly I've convinced him that those bikes are the best starter bikes but I'm just not sure they'd work in his situation.
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Nov 30, 2012 01:17
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nsaP posted:That's a good suggestion and one that I've made, they're kinda hard to come by tho. I think he's shying away from dual sports but he's definitely open to suggestions. They made those in a bitching yellow/purple paint scheme right? :m: Tell 'im to quit being a baby and buy mine.  A cross-country ride-and-sell could be kind of fun...
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Nov 30, 2012 12:30
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Halo_4am posted:
I am picturing a Harley with a set of Screamin' Eagles streaming 0.001 0.0023 0.232 0.123 1.232 5.45345 out the tips. Thanks for the awesome / nerdy visual.  PS decibels 
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Nov 30, 2012 18:26
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gently caress me. Mental typo... I work with code and data types all day long so it happens like that sometimes. More Harley trip report. The wife parked on her first incline yesterday. You might not be able to feel the weight of this thing on flat ground but boy was that interesting to watch. She managed, but it was a fairly minor pitch. There's no way she's backing this thing up out of a steep lot or hill. She and I both still flip the right turn signal on every time we go to start the bike. The left/right turn signal not being in 1 place like on metrics is really taking some getting used to. The self cancelling signals being completely distance based is kind of cool though. The ones on my Yamaha are timed if started while in motion, and get obnoxious when they shut off as I'm coasting to a stop because they think I was only making a lane change. The 'jiffy stand' locking setup feels totally unstable and is still unsettling. It's nice that you can't push the bike forward and slide the side stand out, but there is a lot of play when putting the bike on the side stand before it locks. I don't fully trust it and I'm not sure if I ever will. At least this time of year with 30-40 degree ambient temps the air cooled engine and full length exhaust ticks from cooling and shrinking for 5-10 minutes after it's off. It's the same sound as any car, but is amazingly loud when not muffled by a hood and steel frame. Sounds a bit like somebody is making popcorn. It's a smooth ride and all, but I've not experienced anything to change my mind about hogs in general. They're nice bikes, but for the cost there's really no reason to get one over a comparable metric or Victory cruiser. The money is for the badge and satisfying a childhood dream. If you're not preset on Harley I haven't found a reason to give them a second look. On the flip side if some set of circumstances come up and one practically falls in your lap I haven't found a reason to turn it down if you like cruisers. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Nov 30, 2012 |
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Nov 30, 2012 18:55
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Halo_4am posted:The 'jiffy stand' locking setup feels totally unstable and is still unsettling. It's nice that you can't push the bike forward and slid the side stand out, but there is a lot of play when putting the bike on the side stand before it locks. I don't fully trust it and I'm not sure if I ever will. It's the reverse of the older ducati auto-retracting stands...you don't trust it but it works perfectly. On the ducs you accidentally dump it when it springs back and you forget about it.
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Nov 30, 2012 18:57
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Halo_4am posted:air cooled engine and full length exhaust ticks from cooling and shrinking This is how I know when my Buell is happy. It is a wonderful sound. Halo_4am posted:jiffy stand I've had a near miss with a Road King's jiffy stand. I don't trust them either. I'll also second the brake fluid flush and new, good organic street pads. I wouldn't be surprised if it were running on originals.
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Nov 30, 2012 19:05
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Halo_4am posted:She and I both still flip the right turn signal on every time we go to start the bike. The left/right turn signal not being in 1 place like on metrics is really taking some getting used to. The self cancelling signals being completely distance based is kind of cool though. The ones on my Yamaha are timed if started while in motion, and get obnoxious when they shut off as I'm coasting to a stop because they think I was only making a lane change. Good lord, HD auto-cancelling signals, what a horrendous implementation. I'm going to slip into software development mode for a minute (mostly because Halo_4am typed 'decimal' above  ).Most bikes have 3 controls. (1) Signal left, (2) stop signalling, (3) signal right. These controls all adhere to a special property: you can fire them repeatedly and they will always repeat their action. The word for this in the software world is idempotence. Wikipedia describes idempotence as an operation which "can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application". On the HDs I've rented (Softail, Road King, couple of Sportsters), you have 2 controls. (1) Toggle left signal, (2) toggle right signal. These are not idempotent controls. Idempotent controls function like software buttons, but HD signal controls function like software checkboxes. Let's forget auto-cancelling for a second. On a HD, if you attempt to signal left but possibly 'miss' the control (like a typo), you have no choice but to look down and check to see if you really hit it or not. Same goes for cancelling that signal. Now let's bring in auto-cancelling, which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't*. Basically your are forced to look down and check every time you signal, because (A) what if I didn't really hit my signal, and (B) if I did, has the bike auto-cancelled the signal or not? Who the gently caress designed this interface? How long have HDs been like this? How long has it been "distance-based" as you say? (I'm quite certain I've flicked a signal, changed lanes, and it kept on ticking for a full minute before I realized.) * As a software developer, I pretty much spent the whole day keeping an eye on speeds and lean angles, trying to determine exactly when the bike would decide to cancel a signal. Often (maybe a quarter or a fifth of the time), the bike didn't cancel the signal after what I thought was a reasonable lane change (and even some left turns!  ).
epswing fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Nov 30, 2012 |
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Nov 30, 2012 19:31
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Haha the wife's BMW has a pair of toggles, too. It drives me batty. I hit her fuckoff loud airhorn every time I try to cancel the signal on it. And every time she rides the Buell she has the right signal on for the entire ride.
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Nov 30, 2012 19:37
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They're more like option boxes The right cancels the left and vice versa the same as every other bike I've been on. Only difference on that is that they're separate buttons instead of a switch and you can hit both at the same time to trigger the emergency flashers. Maybe on beat up rentals or on older designs they both went all the time without having to hit them simultaneously? You don't have to look down because the signal is high on the forks and the flashing or not flashing light is immediately visible. I understand what you're saying as far as the tank-based indicator, but the actual signal is visible while looking straight ahead on every HD we looked at. They're either mounted high on the forks + shield or right there hanging from the handlebar if a shield isn't installed. The dealership guy explained they don't do the handlebar mount with shield because it creates an awesome glare on the plexiglass if combined. I don't know about for how long but on this 05 it's straight distance. No revs, no lean, nothing else to it but on + x many rotations of the wheel = off. At low speeds this can make for a block or two before it self-cancels, but at least so far it always does eventually. I'll have to make a point of looking at the trip and see if it's always exactly .1 mile or what, but in a day I've already got it for 25 > 55 mph when to turn the signal on, sit at a light forever, and have it turn itself off shortly after the turn is made. I much prefer this to the Yamaha implementation which behaves differently if the signal is flipped when still or in-motion, and uses some inconsistent rev/lean + seconds counting down combo to self-cancel. The result for me is doing exactly what you described having to do with the HDs. Constantly looking down to see if the signal shut itself off when I didn't want to and confirming if it's already off or not after my turns. I hate it and will likely disable it this winter. clutchpuck posted:Haha the wife's BMW has a pair of toggles, too. It drives me batty. I hit her fuckoff loud airhorn every time I try to cancel the signal on it. And every time she rides the Buell she has the right signal on for the entire ride. That's another thing. I'm not sure if it's stock or not but this thing's horn is super loud and I like that a lot. All metrics I've been on have this under powered meep that sounds more like a robotic fart than anything else. I am grateful I'm only hitting the signal by accident when I go to start it instead of the horn button. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Nov 30, 2012 |
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Nov 30, 2012 19:56
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my old Pegaso had intermittent self cancelling signals. Sometimes they would cancel, and I'd think "oh, that was nice of them", and other times they wouldn't at all. I think it had something to do with lean angle, but it never worked quite right. I never did work out what the exact parameters were that would cause it to cancel. My Multistrada has DIY cancelling. Not a problem, I never relied on the self-cancelling on the Peg anyway. Okay, sometimes I end up look like a Floridian retiree while riding down a straight road, but the blinking green light on the dash is pretty noticeable.
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Nov 30, 2012 19:59
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