The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

[Mr. Nice]

A Buell was the first bike I rode that had a six piston caliper... a single one, on the front wheel. It was still an interesting bike, and I didn't find it to be that bad. I've never ridden a Ducati, but, I have seen 3 broken down and 1 that had to have its head fixed with a coathanger. Ducatis do have a great deal of allure surrounding them though. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of either Buell or Ducati.

[Blind_Io]

Let's see, thoughts on the 'Tard:

Brakes: in the words of the ride leader, "One finger and a cough will stop the bike, two fingers and a sneeze will endo it." He's quite right. The entire time I only used my index finger right down at the hinge and the bike stopped beautifully.

The bike sits way up high with a dirt-bike style seat and tall pegs. You sit up on the bike, more dirtbike style but it can chuck into a corner with a thought and you can get insane lean angles out of it. When I first sat on it I had been riding my cruiser and I felt like I was going to fall off the front of the Motard. The leader encouraged us to sit forward on the seat, almost on the tank. You can't ride it like a sportbike, with your ass back in the seat and your chest on the tank. If you do that you will loop it. This thing has massive, biblical torque - you really have to watch your throttle hand because you can end up upside down if you're not careful. That being said, this thing is a featherweight with an 1100cc L-Twin motor so it's like riding an explosion.

When you hit the corners it only gets better. The light weight makes the bike very flickable and the harder you lead into the corner the faster it wants to go.

Let's put it this way: the Hypermotard got me from a cruiser to a sportbike, and it did it in 3 corners.

[Brian]

I test-rode the Ducati Streetfighter two weeks ago and it was scary fast, tons of fun in the twisties (far more flickable than my 748), and sounded incredible with Termis. I'm not sold on the LED running lights though; seems a little trashy to knock off Audi on a motorcycle, no matter who is manufacturing it.

[Blind_Io]

Tell more about the Streetfighter! I really want to ride that beast.

[Brian]

Unfortunately I haven't ridden the 'Tard so I can't speak for how it compares. It's definitely too much power for me on the street. On my 675/748 you're at least in a body position that discourages one-wheeled antics from the start. Add in 25-50% more power with the more upright positioning and you have to really be on the ball to stay rubber side down if you're laying into the throttle. The brakes were flat-out astounding: The 748s are meh, not a ton of initial bite, the 675s brakes are easy to modulate with less effort, but have a more vicious initial bite. On the Streetfighter there was almost no effort required for face-distorting rear-end lightening stops. It was very friendly in the bends, not nearly as much effort required at the bars to get your desired lean-angle (took a few turns to get used to). It was also significantly friendlier at lower speeds than the 748 as well (as one would hope, given the geometry and being a 20 year newer design). I really want to try the new Hypermotard 796 when that comes out!

[Redliner]

Thanks guys.
Since it´s arrival, the Hypermotard has grown on and I got myself wanting a 796, in white. Maybe I am getting old.

[hansvonaxion]

Originally Posted by Redliner

T...the Hypermotard has grown into me...

[Redliner]

Alright, fixed it....I should only post simple phrases at 2AM.

[Blind_Io]

Aww fuck! A 1998 Ducati ST2 with sidebags is for sale for $4250 and I'm broke.

[RMurray8874]

So it snowed today, not anything measurable, but enough to scare me into leaving the bike at home and taking the car. With the cold weather coming, does anyone know of any good heated stuff for bikes? I'm looking at either getting heated gloves or heated grips. Feel free to share your experiences with heated gear, good or bad.
I don't plan on riding through snowstorms, but I don't want to put away my bike halfway through October just because my fingers get a little cold. I'm asking this to the biking community as anyone else just tells me to use the car. They just don't get it.

[Karoug]

I made my GSR600 ready for winter today... I'll miss her, but my Husa is still ready for a brawl!

[Joker19583]

endurostyle hand protectors keep the wind away from the hands, thus removing the wind chill
heated grips are nice, but the diameter of the grips will necessarily increase.
For heated clothing you possibly need a 12V outlet on your bike.
But first of all, what kind of gloves are you wearing?

[RMurray8874]

Originally Posted by Joker19583

endurostyle hand protectors keep the wind away from the hands, thus removing the wind chill
heated grips are nice, but the diameter of the grips will necessarily increase.
For heated clothing you possibly need a 12V outlet on your bike.
But first of all, what kind of gloves are you wearing?

I wear a pair of Firstgear "Fargo" gloves. Thick leather with thinsulate 40 gram insulation. There's no outlet on my bike (dunno if I could possibly install one) and I'm not sure if hand protectors will fit on my bike (it's an old metric cruiser).

[Joker19583]

Well, apart from the looks I doubt there aren't any.

From the description I found yourgloves are all weather, which means they do all weather slightly (too warm in summer, too cold in winter) atleast that's my experience with the expression.
I carry at this season an extra pair with me to change on long trips though they all get cold after several kilometers.
If you can get your hands on (in) some cotton workgloves as an extra layer you have some kilometers more till the fingers freeze off. When I worked at Montaplast (plastic parts for cars) they had them in boxes so you could preserve your fingers from cuts while burring the workpieces. They are thin enough to fit under a wide glove.
You find some here (3/4 of the page) but I bet there are more and maybe cheaper sources.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by RMurray8874

So it snowed today, not anything measurable, but enough to scare me into leaving the bike at home and taking the car. With the cold weather coming, does anyone know of any good heated stuff for bikes? I'm looking at either getting heated gloves or heated grips. Feel free to share your experiences with heated gear, good or bad.

Originally Posted by RMurray8874

I wear a pair of Firstgear "Fargo" gloves. Thick leather with thinsulate 40 gram insulation. There's no outlet on my bike (dunno if I could possibly install one) and I'm not sure if hand protectors will fit on my bike (it's an old metric cruiser).

Tour Master, Gerbing, Exo2 and Firstgear all make heated gear, with most people buying the Gerbing or Tour Master stuff. The Gerbing stuff isn't cheap, though.

As someone who rides all year round, I find that winter gloves are nice, until you try to operate the small handgrip switches. Then they're a pain in the arse. They also reduce your sensitivity and grip on the bars. I use "Polar Hands" covers that go over the bar ends,plus some fall gloves. They work great and don't interfere much with anything. There's lots of different clones out there and most work just fine.

As for the electric gear and heated grips, you will have to wire them into the bike and/or fit some sort of electric outlet to it. Not all bikes have a charging system that can handle the load; your VT500's might be a bit marginal - you might want to sheck the Shadow forums to see if anyone's tried it without melting the electrical system.

[hansvonaxion]

Originally Posted by Spectre

As for the electric gear and heated grips, you will have to wire them into the bike and/or fit some sort of electric outlet to it. Not all bikes have a charging system that can handle the load; your VT500's might be a bit marginal - you might want to sheck the Shadow forums to see if anyone's tried it without melting the electrical system.

What about the ones that run on batteries?

A lot of the couriers and delivery guys here use those bar covers, can even get them for your bicycle. They make even more sense for delivery riders cos they would otherwise have to take off their gloves every time.

I found myself riding in the snow once, and I swear I was almost frostbitten.

[Crazyjeeper]

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

What about the ones that run on batteries?

A lot of the couriers and delivery guys here use those bar covers, can even get them for your bicycle. They make even more sense for delivery riders cos they would otherwise have to take off their gloves every time.

I found myself riding in the snow once, and I swear I was almost frostbitten.

Spectre has a great snowstorm/motorcycle story

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

In my day we didn't have no fancy Spec-tres to be tellin' us motorcycle stories!

Anyway, about a year after I started riding I ran into a snowstorm. It was very bad, and I was on a mate's bike (aircooled Kawasaki something, looked like a trailbike). I had no traction, so I just pulled over and walked the bike about a mile. Damn annoying and reminded me not to go out without sufficient tyres in a snowstorm.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

What about the ones that run on batteries?

A lot of the couriers and delivery guys here use those bar covers, can even get them for your bicycle. They make even more sense for delivery riders cos they would otherwise have to take off their gloves every time.

I found myself riding in the snow once, and I swear I was almost frostbitten.

We don't get much snow, but we do get the occasional ice storm. And it does get rather cold here in winter (my jokes to the contrary).

As for the battery powered ones, they chew through batteries, aren't as powerful as the bike-connected ones (usually), and tend to die at inopportune times.

Originally Posted by Crazyjeeper

Spectre has a great snowstorm/motorcycle story

Yup. Short version - you can ride an unprepped Goldwing 1000 at midnight in an ice storm with 2 inches of solid ice on the roads, but it's going to take you at least five hours to go twenty miles. Your hips, legs and ankles are going to hurt like hell, and if you're smart, a number of people will wake up the following morning with motorcycle tracks across their front lawns by the street or in the median (because you can actually get some traction there and you can't on the street).

Edit: I mentioned it before here.

Motorcyclist first, driver second.

[KaJuN]

Riding in snow and having to put your bike away for the winter? What's that all about? I'm just getting started!

I just got back from a fantastic 100km ride and saw some amazing scenery and got to test the little Honda on some corners. It held them pretty well surprisingly. But a touring bike it is not and my butt is killing me. But it was all well worth it.