As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Motorcyclin' the country side

15354555658

Posts

  • chamberlainchamberlain Registered User regular
    I haven't taken mine back the dealership yet to be winterized, just hoping for one more day that isn't below freezing in the morning.

    It's not going to happen and the ride to get it packed up is going to suck.

  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    Spice wrote: »
    Oh, a motorcycle thread! I just got my learners a month ago and have barely got to ride thanks to the weather. Currently trying to decide between a backpack or tailbag so I can ride to work during the summer.

    57wojge4ot37.jpg

    I always prefer a tailbag rather than a backpack. It keeps the weight on the bike instead of on your shoulders, and it's one less thing to worry about in a crash.

  • SpiceSpice Content Sponge Registered User regular
    Daedalus wrote: »
    I always prefer a tailbag rather than a backpack. It keeps the weight on the bike instead of on your shoulders, and it's one less thing to worry about in a crash.
    Thanks to a belated b'day present from my brother, I now have both a Kriega R20 & US10 on the way. Guess I'll be able to see which I prefer.

  • chamberlainchamberlain Registered User regular
    Hello motorcycle thread! It was 42 degrees this morning. That's warm enough, right?

    This is my very small sports car that I ride on the outside of.

    4yjyea5wbnsu.jpg

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular

    How's the get up and go on those things? I've always wanted to ride one.

  • chamberlainchamberlain Registered User regular
    Not as good as a bike with a comparable engine but it leaves most cars far behind.

    The traction control on mine is a little aggressive, if it even thinks that the back tire will spin it will slow you down, but I believe that has been toned down in newer models. It's dead simple to drive and a good time.

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    One of these days I'll take one for a spin.

    Did you ride a standard motorcycle before? How is it not being able to lean? That seems totally foreign to me.
    I am kind of jealous though.....one of those would be perfect for cruises with the missus. Especially out here in the midwest where good roads are......almost non-existent.

    ......searches craigslist.......

  • chamberlainchamberlain Registered User regular
    I took a riders safety course to get my license but never owned a normal bike. My intention was always to get a spyder (because the missus will ride on it with me).

    It handles nothing like a bike. The closest comparison I can come up with is a snowmobile. I imagine that going back and forth between a trike and a bike would take some getting used to, having heard stories of harley riders jumping on a trike and turning the wrong way as their brains are so tuned into counter steering.

    Regarding roads, yeah, I have the sport version (RSS) and it can be a very bumpy ride. The touring models offer a much nicer ride. Hell, the big touring ones are basically puffy armchairs on wheels. You could ride on one for days.

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    I took a riders safety course to get my license but never owned a normal bike. My intention was always to get a spyder (because the missus will ride on it with me).

    It handles nothing like a bike. The closest comparison I can come up with is a snowmobile. I imagine that going back and forth between a trike and a bike would take some getting used to, having heard stories of harley riders jumping on a trike and turning the wrong way as their brains are so tuned into counter steering.

    Regarding roads, yeah, I have the sport version (RSS) and it can be a very bumpy ride. The touring models offer a much nicer ride. Hell, the big touring ones are basically puffy armchairs on wheels. You could ride on one for days.

    Oh god...yea....I hadn't thought about the counter steering issue. Its so ingrained in my head from track riding that i'd have to make myself a sign and put it on the bars.

  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    Hey, I'm overhauling the suspension on my CBR this summer; does anyone know of any good resources on suspension tuning? Most of the online "guides" just boil down to "set your preload sag to 30mm or so, then fiddle with the damper and compression knobs until it feels good". I was hoping for something more technical and in-depth, hopefully going into detail on building your own valve shim stacks and so on.

  • MadpoetMadpoet Registered User regular
    Some timing on this bump. I just got back from picking up my dad's bike from where he dropped it. As far as I know, he and the bike are just a little scraped up, but still making for a somber night.
    Stay safe out there.

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Wow, no posts in here for a while.

    I moved back to the west coast with my bike (in February, so I didn't ride).

    I've had lots of trips since then, but there's a bigger update here.

    I kind of wanted to get a sidecar for my V-Strom, but they're ~$9,000 by the time you get done with all the fabrication that needs to happen, and it changes the geometry of the bike permanently enough that you can't just take it off and ride around like normal if you want to.

    Then, on my commute, I saw it:
    va1hcyjx1kyk.jpg

    A couple of hours later, in my garage:
    8weqec0hp1f5.jpg

    Two stroke 170cc engine. Manual transmission that shifts via twisting the left grip. An air cooling system that tends to push the limits of what this thing was designed for on hills. More electrical gremlins than you can shake a stick at.

    The thing is so much fun.

    Obligatory terrified dog (we're working on it):
    65dki6ogzup6.jpg

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    edited October 2019
    This is my first year with my own motorcycle that actually runs, a lightly used Honda CRF Rally that I bought back in June. I've put about 1800 miles on it since, as well as 1064 miles on my buddy's Kawi Versys 650 in California when he let me borrow that for four days back in September. I plan to ride as late in the season as possible, which is basically until I can no longer fit more wool under my Klim Traverse suit

    I really love the CRF Rally as a light ADV-touring bike, as the fairing does it's job well, the ergos are cozy, and it's fairly stable all the way to the top of its speed range. Would like to put better tires on (probably Shinko 705s) and get the suspension tuned soon. A swap to the 289cc piston and crank from the CB300F (which shares a block, cylinder, and head) might happen eventually for better torque, but that's a huge commitment for now and I don't super need it.

    Mortal Sky on
  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    I dont know too much about the ADV side of the hobby, but as a track guy i can tell you to avoid Shinko tires at all costs. (maybe they make great adv tires, but their sport/race tires are absolute garbage)

    The rest of it sounds positively awesome!

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    Oh yeah a lot of people I trust re: tires seem to like Shinkos within the dual-sport realm, even relative to the European counterparts like Pirelli or Heidenau which are available for those tire sizes

  • LikeaBoshLikeaBosh Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Sweet the motorcycle thread is back. I haven't posted in here for a long time. On July 31st, 2017 my wife and I rode our two 2016 Yamaha XT250's from our home in Seattle all the way to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We then flew our bikes to Houston and rode all around the South/Eastern US before returning home. The trip took 10 months to ride over 27,000 miles through 14 countries. Some of the Latin America driving habits are hard to break now haha. Since then we've adopted a small dog and taught him to ride on the back. He loves riding out to campsites in the woods.

    DSCF1360orig.jpg

    Day%2B64.JPG

    DSCF3323.JPG

    DSCF3646.JPG

    DSCF3802.JPG

    johannadesertqueen1.jpg

    DSCF4114.JPG

    DSCF4208.JPG

    DSCF4493.JPG

    S0434651.JPG

    DSCF4697.JPG

    IMG_0361.JPG

    A lot more photos of the trip can be found here if anyone's interested:

    http://www.advjb2.com/2018/06/photo-recap-moto-trip-americas.html

    We did a lot of damage to those bikes and they've since been donated to the Barber Museum. But we bought two more of the same and have them fully farkled up, just as it gets too cold to ride anymore.

    DSCF5440%255B1%255D.jpg

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    That looks like a fantastic trip. What did you do for the Darien Gap? Ferried around?

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Also, even on the scooter it's not too hard to lift the sidecar off the ground in a right hand turn, unless one of my bigger friends is in there. If it's empty I can balance it for a hundred feet or so.

    I went to a sidecar class and tried out some Urals, too:
    vqcw5cywator.jpg

    They're fun, but not good motorcycles for an insane $17,000 MSRP. I'll bet the two wheel drive mode is incredibly fun in snow and mud, though.

  • LikeaBoshLikeaBosh Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Doc wrote: »
    That looks like a fantastic trip. What did you do for the Darien Gap? Ferried around?

    From my understanding there unfortunately is no longer a ferry option. We sailed on the Stahlratte, a 100+ year old sailboat which loaded what we were told was a record 21 bikes onto the deck and sailed us from Panama to the San Blas Islands then to Cartagena, Colombia. It was an awesome way to do it.

  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    I did my compulsory basic training in August, so now I have a Suzuki GN125 which I can ride with L plates

    I think I've missed the window this year to do my full bike test - most places are reluctant to offer tuition in poor weather, and it has basically trained solidly for about two months at this point

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    I'd love to have the time necessary for a serious ADV trip. Probably needs to be between jobs, so maybe 2-3 years out

  • LikeaBoshLikeaBosh Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I'd love to have the time necessary for a serious ADV trip. Probably needs to be between jobs, so maybe 2-3 years out

    Yeah I know some people try to work while traveling, but that is exhausting and tough to find internet a lot of the time. We quit our jobs, sold everything we owned, etc. You can live on the road really cheap, we managed to do it for about $35,000 for 2 people ($17,500 per person) for those 10 months. So it's a lot cheaper than regular living in the US. We also got really lucky and were offered our jobs back. That helped a lot with reacclimating to US life.

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    LikeaBosh wrote: »
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I'd love to have the time necessary for a serious ADV trip. Probably needs to be between jobs, so maybe 2-3 years out

    Yeah I know some people try to work while traveling, but that is exhausting and tough to find internet a lot of the time. We quit our jobs, sold everything we owned, etc. You can live on the road really cheap, we managed to do it for about $35,000 for 2 people ($17,500 per person) for those 10 months. So it's a lot cheaper than regular living in the US. We also got really lucky and were offered our jobs back. That helped a lot with reacclimating to US life.

    That is absolutely bonkers.



    And i am 100% jealous.

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    Oh yeah a lot of people I trust re: tires seem to like Shinkos within the dual-sport realm, even relative to the European counterparts like Pirelli or Heidenau which are available for those tire sizes

    Fair enough! Sometimes thats the way it goes i guess. Smaller manufacturers dump what r&d they have into one section of the market to try and at least dominate somewhere and let the rest sort of wallow.

  • LindLind Registered User regular
    I’m happy to see this thread again. Sadly I’m currently without a motorcycle as I sold mine for a waverunner. Still i wouldnt say no to a nice (cheap) allroader.

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    Lind wrote: »
    I’m happy to see this thread again. Sadly I’m currently without a motorcycle as I sold mine for a waverunner. Still i wouldnt say no to a nice (cheap) allroader.

    yea but now you have a wave runner.

    Which.


    yknow.


    awesome

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    I feel like you can get lightly used, previous generation Versyses and V-Stroms for >$6000 US (and often closer to 2-4k) any day of the week around my part of the country, as far as all-roaders go

    Like, an older 'Strom in particular is ugly as heck but it'll also probably last >300k miles (my MSF instructor had over 450k on his '06)

  • NinjeffNinjeff Registered User regular
    Tis true.
    My buddy is selling his VStrom 650 for $3200 right now!

  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    Ninjeff wrote: »
    Lind wrote: »
    I’m happy to see this thread again. Sadly I’m currently without a motorcycle as I sold mine for a waverunner. Still i wouldnt say no to a nice (cheap) allroader.

    yea but now you have a wave runner.

    Which.


    yknow.


    awesome

    Don't want to get too far off topic, but at what speed does coming off a waverunner start to hurt, because of the physics involved?

    Thankfully I've only come of my motorcycle at slow speeds, and avoided more serious injuries, but I've always wondered at what speed the physics involved make hitting water... problematic.

    Also, if you flip a waverunner, does it automatically reorient? If not, how difficult is it to reflip?

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I feel like you can get lightly used, previous generation Versyses and V-Stroms for >$6000 US (and often closer to 2-4k) any day of the week around my part of the country, as far as all-roaders go

    Like, an older 'Strom in particular is ugly as heck but it'll also probably last >300k miles (my MSF instructor had over 450k on his '06)

    I love my fugly 650. It does everything.

    Was your instructor's name Pat, by chance?

  • LindLind Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    MorganV wrote: »
    Ninjeff wrote: »
    Lind wrote: »
    I’m happy to see this thread again. Sadly I’m currently without a motorcycle as I sold mine for a waverunner. Still i wouldnt say no to a nice (cheap) allroader.

    yea but now you have a wave runner.

    Which.


    yknow.


    awesome

    Don't want to get too far off topic, but at what speed does coming off a waverunner start to hurt, because of the physics involved?

    Thankfully I've only come of my motorcycle at slow speeds, and avoided more serious injuries, but I've always wondered at what speed the physics involved make hitting water... problematic.

    Also, if you flip a waverunner, does it automatically reorient? If not, how difficult is it to reflip?

    Slightly OT than but waverunners are basicly motorcycles on water.

    Mine is a Yamaha VX Cruiser HO and I've had it since 2017 and I have yet to fall of it (80 hours or so of running time on the engine so far). All models I've tried are super easy to ride and falling of is really only possible if you try to jump big waves or boatwakes. I do fool around a bit when ridning it but mostly it's just crusing on the lake or pulling friends on wakeboards, waterskiis or other type of floaty things like rings. I have fallen when ridning rings and wakeboards and that is usually at speeds of about 30 MPH and can hurt quite a bit. The lifevest is really a must and also usually takes a bit of the impact. Top speed of mine is 60 MPH, I do not wish to jump into the water at that speed.

    One of my friends managed to flip his SeaDoo Spark Trixx and he had it upright again in seconds. It was real easy, he just grabbed it at the end and fliped it over.

    The cost of buying and owning one (gas, insurance and service) is pretty much on par with owning a motorcycle here in Sweden.

    Im the one with a white and black waverunner in the video in the spoiler. It's real nice to be out on a lake when its like this and even better if you tell friends to come to a beach somewhere so you can all ride.

    Lind on
  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    Doc wrote: »
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I feel like you can get lightly used, previous generation Versyses and V-Stroms for >$6000 US (and often closer to 2-4k) any day of the week around my part of the country, as far as all-roaders go

    Like, an older 'Strom in particular is ugly as heck but it'll also probably last >300k miles (my MSF instructor had over 450k on his '06)

    I love my fugly 650. It does everything.

    Was your instructor's name Pat, by chance?

    Oh man I am the worst with names but he was younger than the other instructors (mid-upper 30s?), and had done a stint at the California Superbike School, before moving out Virginia-wards a couple years ago

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    Doc wrote: »
    Mortal Sky wrote: »
    I feel like you can get lightly used, previous generation Versyses and V-Stroms for >$6000 US (and often closer to 2-4k) any day of the week around my part of the country, as far as all-roaders go

    Like, an older 'Strom in particular is ugly as heck but it'll also probably last >300k miles (my MSF instructor had over 450k on his '06)

    I love my fugly 650. It does everything.

    Was your instructor's name Pat, by chance?

    Oh man I am the worst with names but he was younger than the other instructors (mid-upper 30s?), and had done a stint at the California Superbike School, before moving out Virginia-wards a couple years ago

    Nah, older guy in WA, later moved to CA. He had a 650 that he took everywhere and a 1000 with a sidecar. To say he loved VStroms is an understatement.

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    I would love to eventually have one of the various mid-size ADV-touring bikes. I pretty thoroughly loved my friend's Versys and really need more seat time on a Strom. The new Tenere 700 is also pretty much exactly what I consider cool. My problem right now is lack of extra funds and also garage space for a second bike, plus honestly the CRF250L's motor is plenty for East Coast needs. If I lived out West, I'd be champing at the bit for more motor

    I also spend a lot of time considering whether I want a bigger second bike to be another ADV bike, or a different sub-genre like a cruiser (I would love to build out a "clubstyle" Harley FXR) or sport-tourer (would kinda love to throw saddlebags on a STriple)

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    The Honda Africa Twin is another bike that I would consider if I were in the market at the moment.

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    Funny enough, I'd consider the CB500X as well - stock, it's pretty well and good albeit a tad more muted than the other brands' 650 twin soft-roaders, but then you talk to the folks at Rally Raid Products in the UK and all of a sudden you get the TransAlp of the 2010s

  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    That there CB650R is uhhh...

    very much my jam, friends!

    https://motorcycles.honda.com.au/Naked/CB650R

    Those headers! Ungh...

  • LikeaBoshLikeaBosh Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Doc wrote: »
    The Honda Africa Twin is another bike that I would consider if I were in the market at the moment.

    I've test rode the Africa Twin (including one with no clutch, it was weird). They are good, solid feeling bikes, but in my experience would not be a good adventure bike. It's way too heavy and bulky. We met a lot of people when we crossed the Darien Gap that were on big BMW bikes, and they all regretted it. Lightweight is key for adventure bikes, especially if you're going to load it up with luggage too.

  • DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    LikeaBosh wrote: »
    Doc wrote: »
    The Honda Africa Twin is another bike that I would consider if I were in the market at the moment.

    I've test rode the Africa Twin (including one with no clutch, it was weird). They are good, solid feeling bikes, but in my experience would not be a good adventure bike. It's way too heavy and bulky. We met a lot of people when we crossed the Darien Gap that were on big BMW bikes, and they all regretted it. Lightweight is key for adventure bikes, especially if you're going to load it up with luggage too.

    No doubt. Reminds me of the scene(s?) in Long Way Round where Ewan McGregor couldn't upright his bike on his own.

  • Mortal SkyMortal Sky queer punk hedge witchRegistered User regular
    edited October 2019
    Doc wrote: »
    LikeaBosh wrote: »
    Doc wrote: »
    The Honda Africa Twin is another bike that I would consider if I were in the market at the moment.

    I've test rode the Africa Twin (including one with no clutch, it was weird). They are good, solid feeling bikes, but in my experience would not be a good adventure bike. It's way too heavy and bulky. We met a lot of people when we crossed the Darien Gap that were on big BMW bikes, and they all regretted it. Lightweight is key for adventure bikes, especially if you're going to load it up with luggage too.

    No doubt. Reminds me of the scene(s?) in Long Way Round where Ewan McGregor couldn't upright his bike on his own.

    That generation of the R1150 was one of the heaviest adventure bikes ever made even before luggage-filled hard boxes and other accessories, but the general idea holds up for any bike much over 200kg - this is part of why I'm so hyped for bikes like the RRP CB500X or the new Yamaha Tenere 700, which aim for a true "mid-weight" adventure bike

    Mortal Sky on
Sign In or Register to comment.