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My knowledge of 80s and 90s bikes is fairly limited. Here's hoping one of you wise souls can narrow down a range of features into a few models. This isn't a "recommend me" thread, as I'm not planning to buy anything and I'm more curious about the heritage (and confirming the existence) of such a beast. As a side note, what has me thinking of this was the recent posts (Z3n and others) about sport bikes turning into touring bikes once their tech was a couple years old. So, does this monster exist: - 80s or 90s bike with a 600cc+ performance oriented engine - Dual round headlights and full fairings (ala '89 FZR) - Won't look retarded with moderately large bags (soft or hard) - Sport touring ride position (with or without mods to make it that way) OrangeFurious fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Jun 11, 2009 |
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Jun 11, 2009 04:28
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Thanks for the suggestions. Having never ridden any of these myself, does the ride position allow them to be used in a touring capacity? Realistically, that is. Would you go five hundred miles on one in a day, with luggage? Side note, I love these awful 80s sport colors.
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Jun 11, 2009 18:52
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Sunny Sixkiller posted:Sorry if this is too non-technical for the thread (I definitely didn't think it'd merit it's own post): I'm a filmmaker in Los Angeles looking to put together a trailer for a movie set in the 1950's. The movie has a ton of motorcycles involved. I want to make sure everything looks authentic/accurate in the trailer, but I'm having a tough time tracking down places that rent classic bikes for non-exorbitant prices. Let me introduce you to my Thruxton:  Though technically a 60s design. I'd look out for Triumph's "Modern Classics" designs, particularly the Bonneville and Thruxton (again, technically based of '60s bikes but not that much different), and the less flashy Harley and Indian designs. You might also have some luck with Honda VT1100s and VT750s (ACE and Aero models specifically), as they're based on vintage cruiser designs. Alternately, depending on exactly what your setting is, you can try hunting down a vintage bike club (LA has a good brit bike club, though I don't know about other styles) and offering them a nominal fee to ride around in your background shot. OrangeFurious fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Jun 20, 2009 |
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Jun 20, 2009 23:29
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8ender posted:I'm completely drawing a blank right now but someone here had a sweet custom tank made for his Triumph to increase fuel capacity. Its polished steel and its the prettiest thing ever. That was Rope Kid, and as I recall it cost about a million bazillion dollars.
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Jul 4, 2009 06:34
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CADPAT posted:Yeah that's what I've been doing. Just throwing a 10L jerry in my rucksack when travelling, but I'm lazy and don't want to fuel on the side of the highway. How much is a million bazillion dollars in say US or Canadian dollars?? You'd have to ask Rope for the details, but from what I've seen custom built tanks can cost as much as, if not more, than a good used bike.
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Jul 4, 2009 18:58
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Cypher posted:I have a friend who's looking to get into bikes so I felt obligated to make some helpful recommendations (like talking him out of getting something that will kill him). Here's the catch though, he's 6'7 and all legs. I had him take a seat on my SV650 and the grooves in the tank that normally accommodate my legs comfortably (I'm about 6'2) end up poking him right in the thighs. He might want to consider one of the VT1100 series Honda cruisers - ACE, Sabre, Aero, etc. They're fairly large bikes and should be able to accommodate his size. The VT1100 seems like a big engine, and has a bit of oomph, but it's not going to get him in much trouble. Proll'y less than a Ninja 250. They're also cheap, reliable, and easy to mod for even greater tall-guy support (e.g., highway pegs). The only concerns I can think of are style and weight.
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Jul 10, 2009 21:26
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sirbeefalot posted:As far as "renting" goes, would it be roughly as cost effective to just buy something used and sell it again when we get back? From what I've seen bike rentals are usually in the $100+/day range. Sometimes there is a huge deposit involved. Depending on market conditions you might be better off just buying something.
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Jul 12, 2009 07:05
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DiscoKid posted:Hey guys, Does the noise occur if you shift into neutral instead of first? Second? Is there anything noticeable if you are at a dead stop when you shift to first?
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Jul 13, 2009 04:09
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100 Years in Iraq posted:Speaking of rubber... I too would appreciate rubber advice. The tires on my Thruxton have a nasty habit of losing about a third of their pressure over the course of a few weeks. They're two year old Metzler Lasertec's with plenty of tread and about 6500 miles on 'em. No evident punctures. Reparable or should I be after new rubber? If it's new rubber I need, what should I be looking for? I've had Avon RoadRider's suggested but have no personal familiarity with them.
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Jul 17, 2009 20:02
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Doctor Zero posted:So in reading this article it seems that this was a true accident. For the sake of discussion, is there anything this poor guy could have done to avoid this, or do you suppose it was the rare case of simply bad luck? Hard to say from the article - there's not much description of traffic conditions, etc etc. It seems like he could have swerved and accelerated to avoid the wheel, but there's no way to know for sure.
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Jul 27, 2009 22:36
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On the topic of bags, any suggestions for a Thruxton? I'm taking a few classes next month and will need to carry a 17" Macbook Pro, a heavy textbook, and some random crap. I can stuff it all in a backpack, but prefer not to ride (or crash) with that much weight on my shoulders.
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Aug 5, 2009 18:50
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Z3n posted:Take highway 1 all the way down. It's well worth it. If you end up in the SB area, let me know, we can go for a ride or grab some food or something. There's some very scenic riding around Morro Bay/SLO, but not fun in the twistie sense. Check out Montana de Orro. I proll'y spelled that wrong. Also, for places to stay, don't deny yourself the cheesy extravagance of the Madonna Inn near Morro Bay. Cave room with rock waterfall? Check. Red Velvet room with heart shaped bed? Oh you know that's a check. The SoCal (LA - SLO) part of the ride is fairly dull if you stick to the main roads. Follow Z3n's advice to stay on the 1, or go explore some of the dinky towns on the way. If you're leaving from the South, leave early enough to have breakfast in Solvang. Paula's Pancakes is worth the ride.
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Aug 10, 2009 04:38
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Having just looked at the Ural website, I had no idea those things were so expensive. I realize they all have sidecars (big pain in the rear end in my view), but $12,000 to start? I was expecting about half that price and even then I thought they weren't worth it.
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Aug 15, 2009 03:14
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AncientTV posted:What can I do about a leaky gas cap? I'm trying to use one of those commercial rust cleaning-and-sealing products, but when I started to rinse the tank out, I noticed liquid leaking out the edges of the gas cap at a scary pace. Should I just replace it? It's proll'y not expensive to replace. If you prefer to repair, there's a good chance the problem is the ubber o-ring around the threaded part of the cap (or lack thereof). Shouldn't be a hard item to find at a hardware store.
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Aug 16, 2009 22:37
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Doctor Zero posted:It will probably be fine. Really, the only issue is that if you don't keep it charged, you will reduce the life of the battery. It shouldn't hurt the bike at all. Was the battery connected? I've never seen a battery with the terminals connected survive being idle for more than a few months. Your mileage may vary of course.
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Oct 11, 2009 19:50
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Z3n posted:The best way to keep your bike safe is to just insure it and park wherever, because if they want it, they'll get it, if it's not locked down really hard (IE, chain to ground anchor). One of the few benefits of our new building is the bike parking. We have a huge structure (eight stories at it's tallest) with about a dozen designated bike areas. Most of them have thick steel cables bolted into concrete for linking chains from.
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Oct 16, 2009 19:32
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Gnaghi posted:On the subject of insurance, how does Rider treat riders with tickets? They won't even give me a quote if you say you have 3 tickets in three years. I have 2, and don't want to deal with being dropped if I happen to get another. So far as I can tell Progressive is bat-poo poo insane. They wanted $1900 to insure my Thruxton, but $900 for a Bonneville. Same bike, different ergonomics. Worse, they agreed it didn't make any sense but shrugged it off. Markel is $500 a year.
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Oct 23, 2009 19:10
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TheUltimateCool posted:I have a whole roll that I was planning on putting on my SV's exhaust (mostly to cover up the ugly brown/red that the SS header and pipe oxidize to) but I've been hesitant after reading some stuff about the wrap causing problems, even with stainless steel pipes. I might go through with it this winter though. Have you heard anything along those lines? I've read some of the horror stories about heat-wrap causing the pipes to degrade. The logic tends to be that the wrap keeps the pipe hotter which puts more wear on the metal. So far as I can tell heat-wrap will cause the pipes to degrade faster than they would otherwise, but it's an issue of lasting many decades vs. lasting many, many decades. If you like the look I say go for it.
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Oct 26, 2009 00:42
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PlasticSun posted:Both Riding Solo to the Top of the World and One Crazy Ride by dirttrackprodcutions.com are incredible. Also see "The Long Way Round" and "Long Way Down" by Ewan McGregor. Books and documentaries. Or were you thinking more fiction stuff?
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Nov 18, 2009 04:06
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Z3n posted:Your prayers have been answered: I realize that's just a render, but drat that is one ugly bike.
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Dec 2, 2009 08:35
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A friend of mine left a brand-new Bonnie in my garage for a year. I started it two or three times in the year, road it around the block once. When she eventually picked it up it ran beautifully, started without problems.
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Dec 31, 2009 22:13
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Watommi posted:so is it bad that I just let my registration expire instead of paying the smaller fee that says I won't ride it? I finally stopped being lazy and got it running right so I can sell it, but it's been expired for like 6 months. Is it enough of a pain to re-register that people will avoid it? Buying a vehicle without current registration isn't too big a pain in the rear end unless it's been expired a long time. It may make it harder to sell though. As a buyer I'd assume the seller doesn't care about the bike and proll'y hasn't treated it well. From a confidence perspective, it's part of the difference between buying a bike and a basket case. That may not be your situation, mind you, just the impression I've always had of expired title sales.
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Feb 21, 2010 01:59
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Pubic Lair posted:I've gotten really good service from Markel Insurance. They used to be called bikeline.com but their new site is http://markelinsuresfun.com/home. I'll second Markel. In addition to being fairly cheap - though by no means the cheapest around - they have fantastic service. This is especially important for novice riders or people considering Progressive which, so far as I can tell, is one of the more ape-raping customer-hating insurance companies around. Markel has paid every cent asked for in both my accidents (around $11k total on two bikes with a combined value of about $13k). In the case of my second accident I wasn't strictly covered under the policy (friend's bike), and their agents walked me though every insurance loophole in the California code so that they would be able to pay out. Markel busted rear end to make sure they paid me. This is all the more surprising given that I'll have to remain with them at my current rate well into my 60s before they can break even on what they've paid out. Side note, my Thruxton is a weird bike to insure. Markel is $450/yr for full coverage. Progressive wanted $1,900/yr.
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Apr 17, 2010 04:31
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Jabs posted:This is a stupid, stupid move on your part. I agree with this except for one thing - doing $100k of damage to someone's car with a bike is difficult but doing that much damage to occupants is surprisingly easy. If you cause any moderate to serious injury to the occupant of a car you hit that $100k is going to look pretty small. Medical bills are huge, and depending on what the injury is and the circumstances around the accident you can end up paying out in all sorts of ways.
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Apr 18, 2010 04:20
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It's a pain in the rear end, but it makes sense from the state's perspective. Registration is focused on the vehicle rather than the owner. The situation discussed in the thread sucks, but it prevents people from skipping registration shenanigans by "selling" the bike to friends and relatives. For savvy buyers it' can be a great negotiating point. I've had people drop the price on vehicles by loads of cash when I bring up past due or near-due registration. California is a weird place and has it's problems, but every state does. At least I can buy booze without going through some weird shenanigans and legal loopholes. OrangeFurious fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Apr 20, 2010 |
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Apr 20, 2010 21:06
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Bugdrvr posted:I guess I pack really light compared to a lot of you guys. The longest trips I've been on were about 1000 miles in a three day weekend on my GS. The only things I brought was my AAA card, AMA card, a multitool, a changeable bit screwdriver, a 1/4 ratchet with 8, 10, 12 and 14mm sockets a few fuses and a small can of chain lube. That's more than I've ever packed for a motorcycle trip. 700 miles, one day, all I brought was my beard.
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May 1, 2010 02:39
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Also, we all hate each other with the passion of a thousand flaming suns. It's only our deep need to talk about SVs and what Z3n's up to that keeps us here.
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Jul 24, 2010 17:17
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Z3n posted:
"We believe the machine you sit on can tell the world exactly where you stand." I immediately thought of Clooney's chair scene in Burn After Reading.
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Jul 25, 2010 22:02
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Z3n posted:Yes, if your clutch cable is too loose it can cause that. It should have about a quarter inch of slack in the bar before it starts to pull on the cable. For what it's worth, every Bonneville I've ridden does this to some extent, as does my Thruxton.
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Oct 1, 2010 22:49
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