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Phat_Albert posted:Pity bump. I've ridden bikes with and without them, and I'm of the opinion that unless you're stacking it with other mods, it's useless. So...airbox, exhaust, jetkit, and then maybe you'll see some gain from a jet kit. Bandit 12 may take to it more readily though. Pics from my g/f's wadded SV after someone pulled in front of her. It was a mom teaching her teenage kid how to drive. Kid was making a left onto a 4 lane road from her right, pulled out and blocked both lanes. She swerved, would have made it, and then the kid apparently panicked, and let off everything, and the car just barely rolled forward enough to clip her front fork, tossing her from the bike and down the road. She said that she should have said gently caress it and swerved over the double yellow, instead of trying to make it work in the lane (no oncoming traffic). She's alright, thanks to full gear, with some swelling and minor abrasions. Xrays came back ok. Multiple witnesses, so we should have no problems with insurance. Amazingly, the bike only lost coolant, was still full of oil. Pics: Boots:   Jacket:    Pants:    Bike:          
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Oct 16, 2008 01:02
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OrangéJéllo posted:Would those happen to be tour master venture pants? I just bought a pair of those and if that's how they stand up to a crash that manages to scuff up leather something fierce then I'm rather impressed. I believe so, yes. They did a great job, IMO. She caught something sharp as she left the bike, so you can see the chunk taken out of the bottom roughly lines up with whatever took a huge bite out of the boot. She didn't do a lot of sliding on the pants, but they protected relatively well. angryhampster posted:I would just like to say that I absolutely loathe the idiots who ride around with their helmets strapped to the side of their GSXR/CBR or whatever. These people look even dumber than the people who don't own a helmet at all. Agreed. The reason that there are no pics of the helmet is because it never hit the ground. Both of the snaps that secure the visor disappeared for some reason...maybe EMT souveniers?  It just so happened that there was a cop 4 cars ahead, and some EMTs and firefighters right around the corner, and the hospital was a half mile away. So she got very, very lucky in every regard. Everyone was very nice, very helpful, and mostly amazed that she hadn't gotten more hurt. Sucks to get a call saying "I crashed" at 9am, but she's ok, the bike is fixable or will be good for parts for my trackbike, and she'll buy something new or we'll fix this one up all pretty. As far as crashes goes, this one has been both lucky and not very severe in the grand scheme of things. Thing that really sucks is that we had planned her first trackday for thanksgiving weekend. I'm not sure if the bike will be back together by then 
Z3n fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Oct 16, 2008 |
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Oct 16, 2008 01:30
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Taisa posted:I'm assuming added to the end of that is 'instead of on their head'. Don't really see how carrying an extra helmet would irk anyone. Because you have the protection to stop most fatal accidents, but it's sitting, useless, on the side of your bike. You bought it, you care enough to carry it around with you, but you don't want to wear it?  They're almost always the super expensive race rep lids too. Gnomad, those are some bad rear end bikes. The people who don't get it? gently caress'em 
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Oct 16, 2008 02:50
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FluffGrenade posted:The thread is for discussion. Not questions, not new models, not pics. Discussion. The reason we'd keep this in one thread is the SAME reason there's a giant Miata thread; while there are many makes and models of motorcycles, just as there are three and soon four generations of Miatas, not everyone wants to discuss their one model. We had a CB Megathread for Hondas, and that made it three pages and archived. If you want, I'll open a thread for every pithy thing I can think of to discuss. It will receive one pity reply and disappear. Sometimes it's good to have the detritus in one area, because as a whole it's more interesting than it would be on its own. Yeah, agreed. I'm not going to stop posting in the questions thread. And it's easy enough to say to someone "hey, that should go in the questions thread" so that other people can reference it. I'm sure we'll get some crosspost stuff, but if someone wants to talk about shinies/racing/leet motorcyclist poo poo or whatever, this is a place where conversations can follow their own threads without having to worry about making GBS threads up a thread that's supposed to be helpful. If anyone is interested in reading some books, btw, I read Jim Redman's autobiography recently, and it's pretty entertaining. Interesting guy, competing at a very interesting and dangerous time for motorcycle racing. He also was the first rider to really push for safety for the riders, after having 3 of his friends die on the "track (often just city streets)" during events.
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Oct 16, 2008 17:49
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Skier posted:Long Way Down: waaah waah our free helmets might not get here waaaah waaah our staff might not get our travel papers in order in time waaaaaaaah. Long way around was def. a bit better. I need to watch the race to dakar. If you like random motowritings, leanings and leanings 2 by peter egan are a nice look at a different side of riding from your usual "oh god I was going so fassssst" blab. It's just a collection of his columns from Cycle World, plus some other short stories. Good stuff. Nick Ienatch's Sport Riding Techniques is a good book too.
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Oct 16, 2008 19:42
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Eh, I think it'll be fine. Worst case we just get merged back into AI greater.
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Oct 17, 2008 17:47
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bung posted:John Britten There's one of the 10 Brittens in the world parked in the Solvang motorcycle museum. It's  for sure. Everything about it is just...amazing.
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Oct 19, 2008 05:27
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ClockworkZero posted:something I learned today: a 650 single doesn't rev nearly as high as a 750 v4. Bwwaaaaaah-bababababa oh that's the rev limiter! This is a common problem with people who come off I4s and move to singles or V-twins. Ask wafflezone how well the limiter works when leaving pit lane. I did it the first time I got on a SV as well...waiting for the power to hit and BAM the loving rev limiter. Same with when I test rode my g/f's SV. Twins are geared so drat short, and rev stupid fast in first gear.
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Oct 21, 2008 19:01
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upshift! Turns out you need more than one gear to reach highway speed
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Spiffness posted:I-4's are for people who are too fat and lazy to shift gently caress, I counted once: I shift 26-29 times per lap of thunderhill. Figure roughly 10 laps in a session, 8 sessions in a day....around 2500 shifts in one day. I get SV rider's cramp, wrist is constantly bent back from pinning the throttle and my left ankle gets sore from all the loving shifting. I'm starting to wonder, given how much abuse I've laid out on the SV, how much more it can take. 2 seasons of trackdays with the PO, 2.5 seasons of racing with the PPO, one season of trackdays under me...and nothing but periodic maintenence. I've got 3k or so track only miles on it. Still runs fine, fires right up, shifts like a 'zook...so...ride the fucker into the ground, I guess.
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Oct 21, 2008 20:30
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MrKatharsis posted:Literbikes, maybe. My friend's ZX-10 redlines 1st gear at 92mph. He could ride that bike everywhere and not shift it once. The thing that people don't understand about highly geared literbikes is that while you could ride it like that, you won't. Because when you're doing 50mph, you're right at the bottom of the powerband, and any twitch on the throttle will send the front end skyward. Plus, you're slipping the poo poo out of the clutch just to get it rolling. There were times on my 929 when I'd be slipping the clutch up to 40mph to get it to launch nicely, and that was already regeared. Stock literbikes are a bitch in that regard. The thing that really mystifies you on a literbike is when you're doing 150mph and you grab a gear and then you're doing 170 and you have ANOTHER loving GEAR.  Or when you're riding around in 4th gear on the freeway.
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Oct 21, 2008 22:15
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Does anyone still have a link to the ABS study that was linked in the previous megathread? It covered ABS braking in wet and dry compared to non-ABS braking in wet and dry. Edit: Found it. Z3n fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Oct 24, 2008 |
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Oct 23, 2008 18:30
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pr0zac posted:I'd been telling myself if the company I work for hired me full time (I'm currently a contractor) I'd allow myself to upgrade to a nicer bike and not let my stupid girlfriend talk me into selling it this time (really miss that CBR). Seeing as there was talk today at work of that happening, its time to start shopping. So the question is, Suzuki DRZ400SM, KTM 690SM-R, or comedy Hypermotard option? What sort of riding? I'd take the KTM, and spend my days pulling wheelies and stoppies until they arrested me for trying to minimize wear on my tires.
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Oct 29, 2008 06:18
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snail posted:I don't disagree with your comments that they don't fit into the superbike classification. Based on my experience of using one daily, I just said I reject your labels The point I'm trying to make here is: It takes more skill to get a busa around a track quickly than it does a supersport, because it's bigger, heavier, and more limited in terms of cornering clearence than a sportbike. Furthermore, if the rider doesn't have the level of skill where they're grounding out pegs on every (appropriate) corner on a supersport, then a well ridden busa won't have any real limitations compared to the bike. Most supersport riders aren't at that level. Most A group riders aren't at that level. It's going to be basically only the top 30 guys you see in a 60 man 600 class that are riding a supersport in such a way as to exploit the advantages of a supersport over a busa. If you assumed that a busa has, say, 52 degrees of lean, and a supersport has 58 degrees of lean, if the supersport rider isn't using from 53 to 58 degrees of lean through the corner, than a busa would be able to keep up, no problem. It's when you actually reach the hard limits of the bike that it'll end up getting left behind, and as I said...most riders simply cannot do that. Most club racers still cannot do that. It does have some advantages, though, like HP. There is one config of buttonwillow where a friend of mine who is a fair bit slower through the corners on a literbike will stay just in front of me because there's just not enough bends in the track for me to make up time, no matter how much cornerspeed I carry. I wasn't aware there were any tracks where the fastest GP rider lapped slower than the fastest WSBK bike...do you have a link? I was refering to general road courses, and yeah, a busa would be a bit of a handful on a kart track But I still hold that a well ridden literbike (with a rider daft enough to do it) would leave you on the streets. Less weight to deal with, about the same HP, and an easier time through the tight stuff due to a more aggressive setup on the bike. The real reason that you see literbikes get eaten alive is because the riders usually can't exploit the engine the way they should be able to, so a skilled 600 rider can carry more cornerspeed, get on the gas earlier, brake later, and end up pulling a faster lap. I see that every time I go to the track on my SV650...there's a lot of riders who I will pull down the front straight before the HP kicks in because they're not maximizing drive on exit because it's difficult and they're not comfortable lighting the rear as needed. It goes double for the literbike riders, who need to park it and get it sliding and pointed and upright to maximize drive. Watching a real pro do that in front of you is absolutely astounding, and you typically only get to watch them for about 2 corners. 
Z3n fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Oct 30, 2008 |
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Oct 30, 2008 15:41
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Skier posted:I assume you are talking about one of Promocycle's reports. Was actually refering to this one: http://www.ibmwr.org/prodreview/abstests.html Those ones as well though.
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Oct 30, 2008 18:10
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Skier posted:The Promocycle one is quite a bit newer and shows much improved dry pavement stopping with ABS. It was more to show the difference between even a very skilled rider in the wet and a complete novice just trusting the ABS. I want ABS for a street bike, bad.
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Oct 30, 2008 18:35
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pr0zac posted:Yeah this is pretty much the plan. I expect to be limited to a 49cc scooter this time next year. Whats the maintenance like on the KTM? It would definitely be my immediate choice but I'm almost leaning toward the 400SM simply for the gas and forget factor. Looks like the maintenence interval is 6k on the valves for the KTM, so that's not bad. I know that they've been working to make things more reliable. Expect things to be a bit more expensive if you decide to go with teh KTM. Both bikes will be able to do that without an issue. It'll be a little uncomfortable for you if you're pushing it, but no biggy on the bike. Make sure if you're doing long term drones at higher RPM, you keep an eye on the oil, as some of the big singles tend to burn a little oil under long freeway use. Also, if you're into aftermarket farkles, the KTM's going to be a bit dry and expensive there. There's a huge, established aftermarket for the DRZ, so if you want to tweak and fiddle you'll have to be patient on the KTM or pay through the nose.
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Oct 30, 2008 19:44
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echomadman posted:In fairness the ktm comes from the factory with pretty high spec kit anyway, unlike the drz which needs a cash injection to change it from so-so supermotoesque bike to something more wild Err, yeah, I should have mentioned that. Even a stack of aftermarket mods still won't make the DRZ quite as awesome as the KTM. Eventually you could get it there, but it'd defeat the purpose cause it'd be more expensive than just buying teh drat KTM.
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Oct 30, 2008 21:20
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Well said. I find that my walls of text often occur when I'm ducking work too. I don't really think that labeling a busa a "S/T or H/T" bike is unfair. I mean, hell, they made the hypertouring name to go with the busa, 14, and concours 14. It's not a negative connotation by any stretch of the imagination, it just means it isn't an uncompromised race machine. Any bike that I get on that feels like a couch isn't a modern supersport, that's really all there is to it. I agree that you can get a busa close to what a R1 will weigh, but the issue is: Then you're throwing money at it, and where does it stop? You strip down a R1 a little more, and it'll be even lighter...comparing modded bikes to stock ones is like comparing motogp to wsbk. Yeah, they're both racebikes, but if you throw more money at one, it will go faster, and that goes for any bike. And unfortunantly, you're not going to get the same performance out of a busa as you will a properly setup R6/R1. A fully track prepped bike is something that's typically totally loving absurd with how quick it steers, how stable it is, etc, and you can't adjust wheelbase, geometry, etc. with a couple of spanners. You're looking at a heavy list of custom parts to get a busa set up like a racebike...and even then, it won't be well suited to it, because you're just slapping more aggressive geometry on a bike, frame and wheelbase not designed for it. It seems like it's 90% rider, 10% bike...until you start to get deep into the A group/racing stuff. After a year of constant trackdays, schools, etc. I'm finally starting to hit the laptimes where there are riders who are faster than me simply because they have better hardware, and I don't have a prayer of catching them because to ride at their laptimes are simply not possible on my bike, regardless of who is riding it. A SV650 will never do a sub 1:58 at thill unless you've spent 10k on building the world's most perfect engine, and even then it's probably not going to happen, whereas there are guys on 600s running 1:58s all day long without any issue, and still not running at the front of the grid. Either way, I agree with basically everything you said... I also bet you go faster on your literbike
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Oct 31, 2008 04:48
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Tentacle party, glad it worked out so well for ya  Simkin...AHRMA does vintage racing in the US. Not sure about canada.
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Nov 5, 2008 22:07
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bung posted:I had done some work on my old Speed Triple that caused me to disassemble the top half of the bike. When I put everything back together, I put the key in the ignition and turned it on. Nothing. No power at all. After about 10 minutes and right before I started to disassemble everything again, I noticed that the kill switch was in the off position. I never use the kill switch, as per Triumph's instruction, so I didn't think to check. Ahh, i've done the same thing. Except I spent 2 hours trying to "troubleshoot" the ignition system. Both coils failing at the same time? Nah...couldn't be that...both ECUs failing at the same time? No way... Of course the killswitch is off... 
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Nov 13, 2008 06:19
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Let's talk about supermotos for a moment. I know we have a few riders here who are experienced with their sumos... What are your thoughts on freeway use? Or long distance trips? I've got a 3k mile trip that I'm planning on taking next year, up the coast of cali into OR and WA, and finally ending in Vancouver, BC. It'd be with an...odd assortment of bikes (KLX, W650, Softtail, Z1000, and whatever I have), so it's not like we'd be ripping down the freeway at 90mph or anything, more likely a more sedate, backroadsy sort of run of things. I'm young and stupid, so wind protection and the like aren't huge concerns, more concerned with blowing the engine halfway through the trip. So...supermotos that can be effectively geared up, can run all day long without exploding, and that I won't feel like I'm destroying by running on the freeway for a hour or 3 here or there. More than 3k on the maintenence interval would be nice too. Budget is...up to about 8k. Used, new, whatever.
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Nov 13, 2008 07:40
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cmorrow001 posted:Honestly I hate riding the DRZ on the highway. I won't do it for more that 15-20 minutes. To be fair, my comparison is only with bigger bikes (gsx-r600, speed3) but I feel like I get blown different directions all the time. Ok, so it looks like I'll have to take the bikes out on the freeway to really figure it out. I've heard of a few adjustments to the suspension that can be done to make it handle freeway better (ie, getting some more weight over the front wheel) There are the used larger KTMs available for the price. Why am I sold on a motard? I've owned just about anything else...standard, supersport, s/t, 600, 1000, twin, triple, 4, blah blah blah. I want something that I can wad without significantly damaging learning to wheelie and roll stoppies on, that I can take off road, on road, where i can go up fire roads, that's entertaining. I've learned after some long trips that distance on a naked bike isn't bad, so...why not a supermoto?
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Nov 13, 2008 18:21
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Whoa. Wife Turds posted:I basically assumed this as well but my double thick Carharrts only have a couple of tiny holes to show from the accident. They protected really well...can't really explain why. It probably has a lot to do with how I fell. I was also lucky enough to not even scuff my (expensive) helmet. You got lucky and rolled more than you slide. They didn't protect well. Glad you're ok, though. Consider investing in some cheap offroading knee/shin guards if you wanna be able to look relatively normal while still being somewhat geared up.
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Dec 3, 2008 20:39
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Oakey posted:It's not just Florida. My aunt and uncle just bought scooters. They showed me a picture of them on them. 'Don't we look cute?' I'm pretty sure they do have to get licenses for those things.
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Dec 4, 2008 17:32
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MrKatharsis posted:In Florida, no license is required for a scooter under 50cc that can't exceed 39mph(I think). Are there even any scoots under 50ccs that people would refer to as scooters and not as mopeds or something like that? Most people say "Scooter" and it means at 125cc+ vespa or the like. It's good that florida is making steps in the right direction...but i read about those laws and they are absolutely absurd. You emergency brake when someone cuts you off and get the back end a few inches off the ground, and you can get a 1000$ fine? What the gently caress. I'm pretty sure that the second violation on any of those is a felony as well, which just doubles up the
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Dec 4, 2008 19:41
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Zenaida posted:I brings the Ruckus to the ladies. Wow, I could have sworn the ruckus was a 75-125cc bike. No wonder I always see them riding up the shoulder on the faster roads. 
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Dec 4, 2008 20:45
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:i've still yet to sit on mine because i'm waiting for parts to put it back together. there is in fact one (only one) guy in AI who has a new guzzi and rides it. but i can't remember his name. maybe he posted in my thread? check hnasty's link. Bentron has one. But I only remember his XBL name, not his SA name...
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Dec 5, 2008 05:58
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Phat_Albert posted:It'll probably flop in the states. "LOOKS LIKE A GOR DAM JAP BIKE I hope it flops in the US so that I can buy one for pennies on the $ when depreciation hits.
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Dec 5, 2008 18:01
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TripleZ posted:I don't understand the strong dislike for Harley. I know that during the 70's and 80's they were chastised for breaking down a shitload but both my uncle and father have owned a variety of Harley models in the past decade and they haven't had any trouble. Neither of them are fat bearded men either, because I know that is the stereotype. I think another thing that rubs people the wrong way about harleys is harley owners that act like their bikes are god's gift to mankind/riderkind/the used market. I also don't really recall there being people who say "If you don't ride a Honda, you don't ride a real motorcycle!". They're not bad bikes. I like riding Harleys, just like I like riding any other bike. The problem is: They're not particularly good bikes, either. They jump through hilarious hoops to hide the fact that they're no longer carbed, that they're water cooled, to continue to sell an image. In the end, I think that's what irritates people the most...those who have never ridden in their lives, yet buy into an "image" rather than a hobby. The same goes for sportbike riders, scooter riders, etc. but most of them aren't such grevious assholes about it. gently caress, I had a Harley guy turn his nose up at my track SV sitting in the back of the truck when I stopped to help his broken-down rear end on the side of the road. Good for him that I'd just gotten back from the track and had every tool known to mankind, including in half imperial/half metric sizes to fix his POS. Those fuckers are the absolute worst. Needless to say, I still fixed his bike, but he was a hopeless dickhole about it. On the flip side, I've met plenty of nice, badass riders on harleys, including one ancient, mid 80s guy up at Alice's who had a kickass full custom harley flattracker type replica that weighed around 400 pounds wet. He had to get rid of his normal harley because it was too heavy for him. That guy was awesome. There are posers in every line of everything, especially in riding, which is such an image concious hobby. Harley riders just take it to the extreme.
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Dec 5, 2008 23:41
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Completely random point, but does anyone favor any term of pronunciation other than the standard "motorcycle"? I somehow never really dug the word, so just for the sake of it I tend to refer to it as either a "motor-sickle" or "motorbike". Anyone else? No, I call it a motorcycle. Or a bike.
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Dec 6, 2008 02:44
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redscare posted:My speedo/odo decided to go out on me the other day. Guessing your speed by engine speed/flow of traffic is fantastic. I won't even be able to get to it until Saturday since it gets dark so early these days. I think it might be the little hub thing on the wheel that went out. Bah. Probably just a broken cable, that happens a fair bit. It's a 10 second check, just check it at the front like we did when it came out before.
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Dec 9, 2008 18:27
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stuff breaking
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redscare posted:Pretty sure I figured out what was causing the RPM launching into orbit issue...apparently when z3n and I were putting the airbox back onto the engine, we didn't clamp a couple hoses on properly and they came off, thus screwing with the vacuum for the carbs. Guess we should have actually taken the tank off.
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Dec 30, 2008 01:15
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redscare posted:Nah, I managed to get them back on there proper with the tank on. We just shouldn't have been rushing to get the gently caress out of there for Mexican food is all. Hey man, sorry, Mexican is more important than your bike running right. I thought you'd know that.
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Dec 30, 2008 01:57
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My vote goes for red as well.
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Jan 8, 2009 16:42
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Phat_Albert posted:Something about race rep factory paintjobs is super awesome to me. The Repsol Honda, the Alstare and Telefonica GSXR's, the Smokin Joes CBR's, all of them are sweet looking, even if the latter three are getting older these days. Konica Minolta paintjob...  I love race reps. It's obvious that the people riding them aren't professional racers so...who cares? Also: Check ebay for fairing kits and convert your own bike! The quality of the kits graphics wise is pretty good but fit can be poor (as it always is with fairings).
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Jan 13, 2009 17:39
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Linedance posted:you mean this one? Yup, just like that...and the trials bike in the backround is pretty badass too.
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Jan 14, 2009 18:02
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Whelp, I'm tossing in my long post hat. All hail nero, the new king.  Anyways, that Evinrude engine is loving amazing. I'd love to see something like that on a bike...but I'd imagine it'll never happen I wonder how complex and heavy the engine is as a result of all of those modifications...plus 5 hours on no oil is pretty as well.
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Jan 15, 2009 04:28
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http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t31492.html Pretty cool project. It's been around for a long time, but I just stumbled on it again, and figured it was worth sharing.
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Jan 19, 2009 06:08
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Simkin posted:Well, there's always the comedy option of having someone fab up a straight pipe so that the exhaust dumps at the normal location, just without any baffling/restriction whatsoever. I'd do this. Slashcut the end of the exhaust for additional  It's not horrifically loud because you have still have the restriction of the cat. Normally I wouldn't say that you should just cut the mufflers off...it's not horrendously loud, and a longer pipe will quiet it down a little more while maintaining a nice rasp, and if you're still within the legal limits, then hell, go for it. Shouldn't be more than 30-50$ at a local muffler shop to get it done. I don't think you're going to see a huge change in performance, and I'd pick up a jet kit to play around with, more to improve throttle response and feel than anything else Count on a hit in gas mileage to get better throttle feel, though...so if MPG is a big concern for you, I'd just get a longer pipe set up and call it good.
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Jan 27, 2009 20:04
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I pull stoppies in school zones to entertain the children.
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Jan 30, 2009 00:59
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