A bike choice question
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From: dusty on 29 Jul 2010 22:34 On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:30:26 -0400, "Datesfat Chicks" <datesfat.chicks(a)gmail.com> wrote: >"sean_q" <no.spam(a)no.spam> wrote in message >news:6Gc4o.41001$4B7.25410(a)newsfe16.iad... >> >> In your situation I'd forget about the 500cc limit and get a Suzuki >> V-Strom DL650. That's because the ergonomics (for me) would be >> the most comfortable for touring. > >The bike weighs around 450 lbs. I think (I'm too lazy to look it up). > >Anyway, I'm going to get one myself eventually. One thing I was looking for >is whether it would cruise comfortably on the freeway at maybe 80 mph, and >by all accounts it will. > You're lucky to live someplace where you're allowed to cruise at 80mph. In Canada, highway speeds are restricted to 60-65mph. In eastern Canada even those speeds can be hair-raising when you consider that game animals, moose, deer, fox, et al, can pop out of the woods when you least expect it. I'll settle for a cruising speed equal to the legal limit with an occasional burst to 80 when conditions allow. I would prefer to be around to wallow in the joy of my experience than in a hospital bed, grave or hung up waiting to pay for a speeding ticket. :) >There is a forum devoted to this bike and its no-longer-made larger cousin, > >http://www.stromtrooper.com/ > >You could post subsequent questions there. > >Datesfat
From: J. Clarke on 30 Jul 2010 05:52 On 7/29/2010 10:22 PM, dusty wrote: > On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:18:45 -0700 (PDT), "?" > <breoganmacbrath(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> On Jul 29, 1:48 pm, dusty<hard.ri...(a)the.big.roundup.com> wrote: >> I'm only 5'8" so would gravitate more to a >>> low-rider. Something like a 84-02Honda Shadow or Nighthawk or a Yam >>> Virago or maybe a VStar. Keeping ground clearance in mind of course. >> >> Dude! Forget the cruisers for touring, they are just for boulevard >> cruising. > > I'm not sure I take your meaning. Are you stating that a 500cc > motorcycle shouldn't be on the highway? Because they can't go fast > enough (legal speed limits)? Aren't powerful enough to carry my weight > and it's own up a hill or something? What does, "just for boulevard > cruising" mean? > >> >> The cruisers you listed will kick your butt in about an hour of riding >> because of the >> feet forward position. > > I cruised the Autobahn for hours on a BMW 500 without a problem, why > would a Shadow or Virago be any different? All the controls are in > exactly the same places. Are they in different places on a touring > bike? Walk into a BMW dealer, find the closest bike to your 500. Get on. Stand on the pegs. See what happens. Now walk into a Honda dealer and do the same on a Shadow. Now walk into a Yamaha dealer and do the same on a Virago. Now walk into a Suzuki dealer and do the same on a DL650. >> Forward controls prevent you from lifting the weight off your butt >> with your leg muscles when you see a bump coming, you have to pull the >> bars instead. > > "Forward controls"?? Can you explain how that would be different from > the V-Strom? Most cruisers have the footpegs below or slightly ahead of the handlebars. Standards and dual sports have them farther back. On a standard or dual sport you can stand on the pegs to get better control on dirt, relieve some weight from your aching butt, or just fart as needed. > I've looked at some photos of it from 2004, when they > came into production, to now, but can't see how they are anything but > the 'forward control' type you're warning me of. Is there another > control, auxiliary control configuration available for them? Like on > racing bikes where the shift and brakes are on the back pegs and the > bars are lower on the front forks so the rider can lay out on the seat > and padded tank to avoid wind resistance? > > Can you elaborate for me? Don't look at photos, go sit on some bikes. >> But, don't worry about needing a lower seat height. >> >> The best bike mentioned in this thread for medium/light touring is the >> Suzuki DL650 V-Strom and the seat height can be lowered down from >> about 32 inches to about 29 inches by installing a set of longer >> aftermarket "dog bones". >> >> The longer dog bones allow the rear shock absorber relay arm to rotate >> a bit further up into the wheel well, lowering the rear chassis. >> >> A lady who sometimes posts to this group under the nickname >> "TexasShadow" is only about 5' 3" and she rides her V-Strom solo all >> over the western USA. > > With a low-rider I won't have to buy anything extra or adjust > anything. Except a new butt after a long day. >> You can buy a DL650 equipped for touring from the factory. > > I think I posted that I wasn't buying new. Least of all do I want a > 'touring' bike. So let's see, you're going to be touring but you don't want a touring bike. That makes no sense at all. > I just want to ride from photo-op to photo-op, town to > town or gas station to gas station until I get to the Rockies. That's called "touring". > Ample > power, speed, reliability are the most important features to me. In that case you want a Gold Wing. > Next > to that would be the availability of parts and service Harley is the big winner here. While the Japanese and European manufacturers generally have the part in their warehouse and one of the online places can get it to you fairly quickly, the dealers tend to not stock much. But unless you plan on dropping the bike regularly it's really a non-issue. > and the ability > to man-handle the bike without help. Start working out. > All of these can be accomplished > with a second-hand, checked-out, Honda or Yamaha 500-650, low-rider. If all you want is a cheap, reliable, lightweight bike with no off-road capability then get a Ninja 250. It's happy on the highway and while it's not designed for off-road at least you'll be able to get on the pegs with it, which you can't with a low-rider. > Having a nice ride is nice but riding is nicer. "Low riders" are all about having a nice ride, not about riding. >> The DL-650 doesn't have any more off-highway capability than the >> KLR-650, but at least you can install some decent tires without having >> to buy aftermarket rims. >> >> So far as the Kawasaki KLR-650 is concerned, the stock Department of >> Transportation approved tires will only last about 3000 miles, they >> don't have much of a knob pattern and the KLR's true character in so- >> called "adventure touring" is to ride a very short distance on a flat >> dirt road from a highway to a campground. >> >> The very narrow (about 1.6 inch) 21-inch front rim helps to make the >> KLR look like a Dakar racer, but the front tire is so narrow it slices >> right into loose sand, stopping forward progress. >> >> I was *very* disappointed at my KLR's lack of off-highway capability. >> >> The KLR off the showroom floor is about 90% highway and 10% dirt, >> unless you want to throw hundreds of $$$ into wider Accel rims so you >> can fit wider tires. > > I would consider the ability to cross open fields, negotiating a > walking type trail and fording a shallow brook or stream the limit to > my expectations of 'off-road' capabilities. Places where you > definately wouldn't take a car. You do NOT want any kind of cruiser for this. > Thanks for your reply.
From: J. Clarke on 30 Jul 2010 05:33 On 7/29/2010 10:22 PM, dusty wrote: > On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:18:45 -0700 (PDT), "?" > <breoganmacbrath(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> On Jul 29, 1:48 pm, dusty<hard.ri...(a)the.big.roundup.com> wrote: >> I'm only 5'8" so would gravitate more to a >>> low-rider. Something like a 84-02Honda Shadow or Nighthawk or a Yam >>> Virago or maybe a VStar. Keeping ground clearance in mind of course. >> >> Dude! Forget the cruisers for touring, they are just for boulevard >> cruising. > > I'm not sure I take your meaning. Are you stating that a 500cc > motorcycle shouldn't be on the highway? Because they can't go fast > enough (legal speed limits)? Aren't powerful enough to carry my weight > and it's own up a hill or something? What does, "just for boulevard > cruising" mean? > >> >> The cruisers you listed will kick your butt in about an hour of riding >> because of the >> feet forward position. > > I cruised the Autobahn for hours on a BMW 500 without a problem, why > would a Shadow or Virago be any different? All the controls are in > exactly the same places. Are they in different places on a touring > bike? > >> >> Forward controls prevent you from lifting the weight off your butt >> with your leg muscles when you see a bump coming, you have to pull the >> bars instead. > > "Forward controls"?? Can you explain how that would be different from > the V-Strom? I've looked at some photos of it from 2004, when they > came into production, to now, but can't see how they are anything but > the 'forward control' type you're warning me of. Is there another > control, auxiliary control configuration available for them? Like on > racing bikes where the shift and brakes are on the back pegs and the > bars are lower on the front forks so the rider can lay out on the seat > and padded tank to avoid wind resistance? > > Can you elaborate for me? > >> >> But, don't worry about needing a lower seat height. >> >> The best bike mentioned in this thread for medium/light touring is the >> Suzuki DL650 V-Strom and the seat height can be lowered down from >> about 32 inches to about 29 inches by installing a set of longer >> aftermarket "dog bones". >> >> The longer dog bones allow the rear shock absorber relay arm to rotate >> a bit further up into the wheel well, lowering the rear chassis. >> >> A lady who sometimes posts to this group under the nickname >> "TexasShadow" is only about 5' 3" and she rides her V-Strom solo all >> over the western USA. > > With a low-rider I won't have to buy anything extra or adjust > anything. > >> >> You can buy a DL650 equipped for touring from the factory. > > I think I posted that I wasn't buying new. Least of all do I want a > 'touring' bike. I just want to ride from photo-op to photo-op, town to > town or gas station to gas station until I get to the Rockies. Ample > power, speed, reliability are the most important features to me. Next > to that would be the availability of parts and service and the ability > to man-handle the bike without help. All of these can be accomplished > with a second-hand, checked-out, Honda or Yamaha 500-650, low-rider. > > Having a nice ride is nice but riding is nicer. >> >> The DL-650 doesn't have any more off-highway capability than the >> KLR-650, but at least you can install some decent tires without having >> to buy aftermarket rims. >> >> So far as the Kawasaki KLR-650 is concerned, the stock Department of >> Transportation approved tires will only last about 3000 miles, they >> don't have much of a knob pattern and the KLR's true character in so- >> called "adventure touring" is to ride a very short distance on a flat >> dirt road from a highway to a campground. >> >> The very narrow (about 1.6 inch) 21-inch front rim helps to make the >> KLR look like a Dakar racer, but the front tire is so narrow it slices >> right into loose sand, stopping forward progress. >> >> I was *very* disappointed at my KLR's lack of off-highway capability. >> >> The KLR off the showroom floor is about 90% highway and 10% dirt, >> unless you want to throw hundreds of $$$ into wider Accel rims so you >> can fit wider tires. > > I would consider the ability to cross open fields, A Gold Wing can do this--there's no trick to it if it's just a grassy meadow. > negotiating a > walking type trail Have you done this on a 125 trail bike? If not, get one and learn to do it. No bike with enough power for extensive highway riding is light enough to be a comfortable learner bike for trail riding. Once you've got the skill set down you'll also know what you want in a bike and why. > and fording a shallow brook or stream the limit to > my expectations of 'off-road' capabilities. Places where you > definately wouldn't take a car. > > Thanks for your reply.
From: Mark Olson on 30 Jul 2010 06:49 J. Clarke wrote: > On 7/29/2010 10:22 PM, dusty wrote: >> Next >> to that would be the availability of parts and service > > Harley is the big winner here. While the Japanese and European > manufacturers generally have the part in their warehouse and one of the > online places can get it to you fairly quickly, the dealers tend to not > stock much. But unless you plan on dropping the bike regularly it's > really a non-issue. I agree about Harley being the brand to pick if you want to be able to get your bike fixed quickly on a road trip. Online places don't get me Jap parts as fast as the local dealer. It takes the same amount of time for the online suppliers to get the parts from the warehouse to their location, as it does for the local dealer to get them. Then I have to wait for the parts to be shipped from Ron Ayers/Partshark/Service Honda/Babbit's, etc. to me. I have also found that if my order includes any significant quantity of small items like screws, washers, collars, etc. that it may even be cheaper buying from the local dealer because they do not have a $3 minimum part price like many of the online suppliers do. The secret to making this work for you is to go through a local dealer who orders enough parts to get free FedEx shipping, and places regular orders rather than waiting until they have enough orders from to justify placing an order with the warehouse. The dealer I go to for Kawasaki parts orders every Monday morning and I have the parts on Wednesday or Thursday. If I order from Ron Ayers or any of the other online places it never takes less than a week. I'll still do that sometimes in the case of big ticket items where the local dealer won't compete on price, such as fairing pieces.
From: The Older Gentleman on 30 Jul 2010 07:27
? <breoganmacbrath(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Racing motorcycles and "sportbikes" have rear set controls that won't > hit the pavement when the motorcycle is leaned over at high angles. Usual idiocy. The fact that controls are sited further back doesn't affect the ground clearance at all. If they're sited *higher up*, it does, -- BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Triumph Street Triple Honda CB400F Suzuki TS250 Suzuki GN250 chateaudotmurrayatidnetdotcom Nothing damages a machine more than an ignoramus with a manual, a can-do attitude and a set of cheap tools |