The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

One of us! One of us!
One of us! One of us!
:lol: First thing I thought of was the Shia Lebouf "DO IT" crap.

Not really. :p
Hey you can emulate some motorbike characteristics on a bicycle ... you just need to get going really fucking fast. :D

In all seriousness, I do feel like racing bmx actually helped me ride dirt though.
 
Not really. :p

B-B-B-But I was told that it was just like riding a bike...an enormous and extremely fast bike but a bike nonetheless.

I do wish we had MSF courses here, something something gotta get out of here.
 
Not really. :p

You're hardly an expert on cycling. ;) (Or sarcasm, apparently...)


Hey you can emulate some motorbike characteristics on a bicycle ... you just need to get going really fucking fast. :D

Oh man, I would not want to be trying that on a bicycle. What cyclists call "safety gear" has had me laughing nervously ever since I took the MSF.


B-B-B-But I was told that it was just like riding a bike...an enormous and extremely fast bike but a bike nonetheless.

It's absolutely the same thing...except in nearly every way...
 
It's a question of centripetal force affecting gyroscopic precession. :p Maybe if you put 25lb wheels on one. :mrgreen:

It would be a hell of a workout too! :lol:
 
the funny thing is i have never seen Spectre post a picture of his body position when riding, yet critics everyone else as if he is Rossi himself.
 
Air is also not that good as a coolant. :p It makes a good insulator, though.

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This too, since you and I run around in that kind of temp or higher routinely with few problems. :D

Water cooling is cheating. :p My old Honda would happily sit in rush hour and not break a sweat.

I probably shouldn't have kept starting the bike when it conked out as that killed the battery. Next time I'll pull over and give the bike ten to twenty minutes.

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:lol: First thing I thought of was the Shia Lebouf "DO IT" crap.


Hey you can emulate some motorbike characteristics on a bicycle ... you just need to get going really fucking fast. :D

In all seriousness, I do feel like racing bmx actually helped me ride dirt though.

You don't need to go too fast for countersteer to kick in on a bicycle. I've done it at roughly ten miles per hour. When I commuted to work (through a bike trail that led from my house to the ferry) I would out maneuver the lycra crowd on my shity Specialized with five million foot wide mountain bike tires. The problem with most road going bicyclists I encountered is they don't bother to learn how to ride the damn things.

I can't speak for bmx, but mountain biking did help me as well. Shit gravel "trails" and broken helmets makes one appreciate consequences.
 
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Ugh. 91 degree heat and rush hour traffic. That and a dead battery didn't make today a happy experience.

No more air cooled bikes after this.

Sounds like you need a GL1000. Mine has never even come close to thinking about overheating. Honda grossly over spec'd everything for their first water cooled machine. :p

the funny thing is i have never seen Spectre post a picture of his body position when riding, yet critics everyone else as if he is Rossi himself.

That is because we don't ride roads with photographers on them. I've ridden behind him plenty of times, and I can tell you he does not slide his ass off the seat to push his knee down while leaving his torso centered. ;)
 
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So my prints from my Mt. Washington ride a coupla weeks ago came in.

XbyQFay.jpg


And before anyone comments on MY lousy body position, I should note that I was traveling at a blistering 10mph up the road when the photo was taken.:blink:
 
the funny thing is i have never seen Spectre post a picture of his body position when riding, yet critics everyone else as if he is Rossi himself.

It was just a couple posts ago that you claimed that Spectre and others in this thread were comparing street and track riding (specifically MotoGP body positions) unfairly. You have been asked several times to quote where that happened and have yet to do so. And here we are, just a page later, and you are once again comparing other members and riders to MotoGP riders.

Projection is an ugly thing, Manos; you are really starting to see your own behavior everywhere but yourself.
 
That is because we don't ride roads with photographers on them. I've ridden behind him plenty of times, and I can tell you he does not slide his ass off the seat to push his knee down while leaving his torso centered. ;)

More like the only photographers on those roads are the cops and for some reason, they don't want to share. :p

Also, if someone wants to see my regular riding positions, you can easily infer them from the videos on my YouTube channel. Here's some examples.

Centered up (because riding in a straight line):


Not centered up (not riding in a straight line):
 
When talking body position based on a photo, the angle can make it look worse than it is.

Compare those first 2 shots:

IMG_0542-1024.jpg


IMG_0703-1024.jpg


With these two, taken the same day:
IMG_1006-1024.jpg


IMG_1148-1024.jpg


Or this one taken later that same year:
TUE_6925_1280.jpg



Also, yeah, you can hang-off more, and get less lean out of the bike, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

In these shots, I hang-off more, but that's because the bike didn't feel good at all in the corners (I had a 600cc engine in the bike instead of the stock 400 that year):
ST1_0567.JPG


ST1_1418.JPG


ST1_1555.JPG


Then, following year, back with a 400 engine, bike balance much improved, it just felt better to lean the bike more:
DSC_7945.JPG


DSC_7948.JPG


DSC_0138.JPG
 
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I confess I can't judge body positioning. Much.
 
That is because we don't ride roads with photographers on them. I've ridden behind him plenty of times, and I can tell you he does not slide his ass off the seat to push his knee down while leaving his torso centered. ;)

This X2. No one here is saying anything about 'me:Rossi, here's how to ride'. We're just here to give pointers to improve your technique. Those giving said pointers have been riding for as long as you and I have been on the planet. When I went on the Ducati test ride, one of the control riders, who teaches an advanced rider course down in Austin gave me some riding tips. Apparently my left turns can be a bit wonky, my right turns are great though. I've never noticed this myself because it 'feels' fine. Then I did some more consideration: my right turns are smoother because I'm not faffing about trying to get my body lower to be ground to drag knee. You can take one look at my tire and see more evidence. I have about a half centimeter wide to no chicken strips on the right side of the tire. On the left, it's about a half to full centimeter wide, and that's not just due to the crown of the roads.

Instead of rejecting eveyone's input, try and advanced riders course out and see for yourself. I plan to do the same thing this fall.
 
Couple months ago I finally made the decision to start riding. This off course meant I needed something slow to learn to ride, in a way that wouldn't kill me with the first twist of the throttle. So I bought this:

trTAphU.jpg


Now has 1.000km on it. I'm happy to say I haven't crashed yet (knock on wood), and I like it quite a lot. It's got me :):):).
Lots to learn though!
 
Unless you do like me and go for a smaller bike every time you change (650 - > 400 -> 290)
 
Or, like me, upgrade to a bigger displacement bike that produces the same amount of horse power. :p
 
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