The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

[Blind_Io]

Unfortunately I can only afford one and only have the space for one - so it has to be the Swiss Army Knife motorbike.

Most of the reason riders are faster on 600cc bikes is because they feel more confident on a lighter bike and the savage throttle on many liter bikes is scary.

[Karoug]

Then they should try a turbo-charged literbike!

Anyway.. I'll probably have to sell the gixxer soon.. Looks like i'm going back to school..

[Blind_Io]

That sucks. I hate parting with a bike, even if it's an upgrade.

[Karoug]

Yea, it's gonna suck but as long as I can keep the Husaberg i'll be alright. That's the bike I love! Though it has given me so much pain...

[smib]

Well, since you guys are talking about all around goodness, any first or second-hand knowledge of how my object of desire, the Triumph Street Triple 675 is?

[Karoug]

^It's brilliant. Not too sure about the build quality though, after all it's brittish...

[tripbeat]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Unfortunately I can only afford one and only have the space for one - so it has to be the Swiss Army Knife motorbike.

Most of the reason riders are faster on 600cc bikes is because they feel more confident on a lighter bike and the savage throttle on many liter bikes is scary.

Oh yes, owning my first ever 1000cc bike I have to admit that I drive slower in the corners now - will need a few more kilometers to adjust to the power and the weight. My VF1000F is about 280kg fueled but it feels very driveable. And I love how it develops power from 1800rpm on. I just love this V4 engine... having it for a week now.

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

I have a question that could be considered interesting or stupid; but here goes anyway...

What in your mind constitutes too much maintenance? On certain bikes, (Hondas come to mind) there is little or no maintenance needed and if an accident, such as not replacing oil, happens it isn't too detrimental. On others, considered "high-maintenance" (for example BSA bikes), certain monthly maintenances are required and necessary for proper operation. But is "high-maintenace" really too much to do? The BSA Goldstar for example, requires decoking (read: scrubbing off excess fuel) the cylinder heads once a month. Certainly more maintenance than a Honda, but is that fairly simple task really too much to do?

Don't know if that was said in the best way, but I would like some opinions.

[Redliner]

Alright, alright, I was messing around. I love the R1 but I agree it´s over the top.
Seriously, the italians have the best looking ones.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by freeferrarisdonotexist

I have a question that could be considered interesting or stupid; but here goes anyway...

What in your mind constitutes too much maintenance? On certain bikes, (Hondas come to mind) there is little or no maintenance needed and if an accident, such as not replacing oil, happens it isn't too detrimental. On others, considered "high-maintenance" (for example BSA bikes), certain monthly maintenances are required and necessary for proper operation. But is "high-maintenace" really too much to do? The BSA Goldstar for example, requires decoking (read: scrubbing off excess fuel) the cylinder heads once a month. Certainly more maintenance than a Honda, but is that fairly simple task really too much to do?

Don't know if that was said in the best way, but I would like some opinions.

A lot of what is too much maintenance depends on the rider and how much they ride.

Let's take the every-3000-miles valve adjustment service required of many classic Ducatis. If you're Joe Halfasshardleyableto and you only ride 2500 miles a year, well, that's not going to be too onerous.

If you're me in a good year, you're riding 30,000 miles a year. That means ten relatively major services a year where I would have to partially dismantle the bike. (This is also why serious riders gravitate to lower-maintenance machines.)

Also, you're just going by scheduled maintenance - it's the unscheduled maintenance that's the most annoying.

[SMN]

Any of you have experience with the new ducati monster?
I need a new bike, because I can't drive supersport/sport bikes without pain in the back and the left shoulder . I had 3 surgeries now and it won't get better than this. In driving school I drove a CBF500 and it was now problem to drive 3hours non stop. Now though on my CBR600FS I can't ride 45mins without pain and having to stop... that sucks, destroys all the fun... damn shoulder...
I'm not big with/on (my english...) touring bikes, so I thought of the monster. Is its driving position comparable to a tourer like the cbf?

[Blind_Io]

Which Monster did you have in mind, the 696?

I've ridden it, and despite the demo bike being small for my frame and not tuned for my weight it was a brilliant ride. It's by no means slow, with a wonderful power curve and nice lump of low-end torque and more than enough revs to keep you happy. It's got a comfortable riding position that could be easily adjusted with different bars or moving the pegs.

One thing I have heard from more than one Ducati owner is this: When you get your new Ducati, don't baby it. Red line it out of the showroom and all the way down the street. Whail the snot out of the motor right away. The Desmodromic valves will actually seat in better and result in fewer valve adjustments. Remember, the valves were built for racing.

Another, less expensive option might be the Ninja 650. It's also a more upright riding position, my girl is pretty much set on getting one because it's cheaper and has lower costs of ownership.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

One thing I have heard from more than one Ducati owner is this: When you get your new Ducati, don't baby it. Red line it out of the showroom and all the way down the street. Whail the snot out of the motor right away. The Desmodromic valves will actually seat in better and result in fewer valve adjustments. Remember, the valves were built for racing.

*Looks into it*

[SMN]

At first I thought of the 696, yes. But then I saw that there is a 1100. And now I want this one... .
The sound should be nice too. If its anywhere near the 1098 Superbike sound I will faint right there at the dealership.
It's hard to get a test drive on a ducati here...
Thanks for the input Blind_Io!
The thing with the valves will be odd. I am used to gently drive cars/bikes for the first 1000km...

[Blind_Io]

The Monster 1100 uses the same motor as the Hypermotard.



Enjoy!

[Spectre]

Well, I've been shopping for some replacement panels for my battered PC800. Seems that almost everyone who's dropped or wrecked their PC (thus converting it into a parts bike) has done so on the right side. The right side front fairing panel is very difficult to find used as it is usually destroyed. There are plenty of left front fairing panels. Almost no right ones.

I managed to locate one in Tempe, Arizona after two days of searching; it should be arriving Friday afternoon.

Strange that everyone seems to drop them on the right side.

[shad_68]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Strange that everyone seems to drop them on the right side.

Hmm, maybe low speed drops while pushing it around (i.e. out of a garage)?

If not that, maybe Honda hid a pavement-magnet on the right side.

[Spectre]

No, because low speed "parking lot" drops won't actually hurt the big plastic panel - those little stub wings that stick out from the fairing bottom actually protect it (along with the mirrors).

Here's someone's 89 PC800 to demonstrate:

The little stub wing is below the big air vent. You can see this one's been scraped up already. There's another stub wing back at the trunk's front corner - that also helps protect the bike's plastics when it tips over.


I checked inside the plastic - no pavement magnets.

[shad_68]

Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't Honda, but Harley who installed the magnet out of spite. Somewhere really devious... maybe in the blinker fluid?


But in all seriousness, I actually found something similar when I was looking for XT600s. Basically, the plastic panels around the air intake apparently get cracked rather easily - and judging by the availability of replacement parts, with a strong preference for the left side. Weird stuff...

[Spectre]

There's a similarly strange "WTF?!?" on the Nighthawk S models like mine. For some strange reason, the bikini fairing and instrument cluster always gets destroyed. They're quite literally the most sought after replacement parts on the bike. (I'm going to be able to sell the spare cluster off the parts bike I bought for more than I paid for the entire bike, for example.)

The tanks, plastic side panels, rear cowlings, forks, wheels and handlebars all seem to survive okay, but the percentage kill of instrument clusters on salvage bikes seems to be 90%+. Weird, because you'd expect the rest of the bike to be pretty bad off if you manage to crash hard enough to get to the instruments. I'm still trying to figure out how that works.