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Jaimec
Posted on Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 10:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Good article:

https://ridermagazine.com/2020/05/05/retrospective -1999-2002-buell-x1-lightning/
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Rick_a
Posted on Sunday, May 24, 2020 - 11:00 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)




quote:

People still complained about the seat, the vibration and a number of other things, but they were just pansies.




I lusted for an X1 when they first came out. The S1, however, just worked better for me.
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Tootal
Posted on Monday, May 25, 2020 - 02:20 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Mr Salvadori doesn't just write about motorcycles, he rides motorcycles. Many years ago I had the pleasure of meeting him at a Rider magazine rally in Cody Wyoming. We took a ride together and I chased him up Chief Joseph. We were both on HD dressers and I had to work to keep up! He is quite the gentleman and I love reading his works.

A picture of Clement taking a break while going up St. Joseph in Wyoming:







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Upthemaiden
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 09:57 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I love reading reviews of older bikes. I used to get subscriptions to motorcycle magazines, because they were $7 a year and I just felt like I couldn't pass them up. You start to notice how EVERY single motorcycle review is exactly the same. You could copy and paste the name of the bike into each review and never know the difference. Every bike is "amazing and powerful and so much better than the old one.... how did we ride that old bike for so long?? I wouldn't stand it!". Obviously we loved that bike 15-20 years ago. It's nice looking back and comparing them with everything we've had since, especially for a normal rider/commuters experience, and not just someone who spends most of their time on a track. What'd I'd love to see is a youtube channel of someone who track down all the 90's/00's bikes and does reviews on all of them now.
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Crusty
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 10:41 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Why not go back and review the bikes from the 60s and 70s? The bikes that were so powerful and revolutionary back then seem tame by today's standards. Of course, the bikes of today are better in almost every way. That's what progress is all about.
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Zacks
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 11:06 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Progress...
I had a part time gig selling bikes in the 80's and remember when the GSXR's hit the States.
'AMazing' 'racebike with lights' 'a revelation' 'commited riding position' etc. etc. - all true.
A number of years go by and I was able to finally find and pick up an '86 750.
Then I got my Firebolt and it gets parked next to the Gixxer.
The Gixxer looks like a limo. Taller, longer, weighs more and is amazingly roomier.
None of which is a knock on either machine (love them both), just proving Crusty's point.
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Rick_a
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 09:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The bikes of today, as capable as they are, are so refined they're boring. They're also going the way of autos in having multiple electronic nanny controls...though usually everything but ABS can be reduced in the level of intrusiveness through ride modes. I'm talking sportbikes, superbikes, super nakeds, and the like. I haven't been following the cruiser scene at all.
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Shoggin
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 10:26 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The EBR 1190's are the LAST of the brutal 175HP sportbikes to be analog motorcycles. Forever.


The lame TC doesn't count (or work, lol) But I feel that any high perforce vehicle should be difficult to drive (or ride). Thats what keeps you alive longer than trusting nannys as blindly dive in at full speed.
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Jaimec
Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 11:13 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I've said it here before: I see NO sense in making motorcycles so powerful you need all kinds of electronic controls to keep you from killing yourself riding it. You learn to count on them and you're up shit's creek if they should ever fail.
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Rick_a
Posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 12:49 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I can never trust the stuff, anyway...and from my experience ABS always means keeping more of a braking distance than I'm accustomed to.

I think such systems can create a false sense of security. Screw up bad enough, and the potential for a bad time is certainly still there. Insurance companies seem to love the stuff...because statistically it saves them money...though not dramatically.
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Pwnzor
Posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 10:09 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

We live in a society where people have to be warned NOT to eat things like Tide Pods... or not to leave half empty buckets of paint next to a baby's crib.

Linked brakes, traction control - nanny state bullshyte.
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Jaimec
Posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 11:16 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Over on the electric motorcycle forums I constantly see people claiming the Generation 2 Zeroes NEED traction control (Generation 3 bikes, the SR/F and SR/S already do). I keep telling them it isn't necessary and that there are an INFINITE number of power settings between no throttle to WFO. I swear to God, these idiots seem to think a throttle only has TWO settings!!

When you have all of that torque right off idle you don't need traction control... you need a functioning BRAIN. As Reg Pridmore used to say in a C.L.A.S.S. session I took once: "Crashes happen when this (pointing to his right wrist) becomes disconnected from this (pointing to his head)."
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Upthemaiden
Posted on Thursday, May 28, 2020 - 12:06 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

"Why not go back and review the bikes from the 60s and 70s?"

I think just because they were before my time haha. I don't specifically need bikes reviewed, I know they're all fun, I just like reading about them for my own entertainment, and get really bored of reading the same reviews all the time. I get a lot more enjoyment out of people talking about bikes from the past, like that recently posted Kaplan America video with the S1/X1, than any of the typical bike reviews.

The 04-05 Ninja ZX10R is the one that sticks out in my head as being one of the last crazy bikes before computers started to take over. It had FI, but as far as I remember, that was it. Just a crazy fast bike easily capable of(and involved in) plenty of people killing themselves all for the sake of just being a crazy bike. 174hp, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember that bike having any traction control, ABS, ride moves, or any of them. It was also the end of what I considered good looking sportbikes. That's around the time when in *MY* opinion, sportbikes went from being visual works of art, to having faces that only a mother could love. The 90s through early 00's was a great time for motorcycle styling.
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Shoggin
Posted on Thursday, May 28, 2020 - 03:18 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

You could lump Air BAGS in that valid point about false security. Nevermind 63 MILLION of them are re-called...That false security has created untold amounts of accidents.

'I'll just cut off this semi truck in my Prius because I have air bags'

I would prefer the NHTSA required a sharp blade installed on the center of every steering wheel. I GUARANTEE people would drive MUCH more carefully

Bonus! You could tell a bad driver right away from the mark on their forehead!
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Pwnzor
Posted on Thursday, May 28, 2020 - 04:05 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

sportbikes went from being visual works of art, to having faces that only a mother could love.

Yep







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Jaimec
Posted on Thursday, May 28, 2020 - 04:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)


quote:

I would prefer the NHTSA required a sharp blade installed on the center of every steering wheel. I GUARANTEE people would drive MUCH more carefully




That's my line. A foot long, chrome steel SPIKE in the center of the steering wheel, replacing the airbag.
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Rick_a
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 08:39 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)


quote:

The 90s through early 00's was a great time for motorcycle styling.
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Shoggin



True...though the late 80's had a few good ones.









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Crusty
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 10:00 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Beautiful Motorcycles? Here are two of the most beautiful bikes ever made:







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Shoggin
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 02:54 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Today I can't even tell what the heck most of them are?!?

The Mfg's are so busy copying each others plastic body panels that none of them are bedroom wall poster material anymore.
This:
was right next to this:

Maybe I had a thing for pink? LOL.
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Ducxl
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 05:47 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)


quote:

I lusted for an X1 when they first came out. The S1, however, just worked better for me.




I was onsite march 1999 cash in hand to buy that beautiful white/Blue 1998 S1W BUT i saw the crate with the new FI X1 and bought it immediately. At 24k miles i may ride it again someday
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Ducxl
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 05:52 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

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Pwnzor
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 07:54 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

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Aesquire
Posted on Friday, May 29, 2020 - 10:22 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

When I got my M2, I let a buddy, pro bike racer and owner of a shop, take it out for a ride. He came back 45 minutes later, handed me the keys, and said "No matter how much I beg, never let me ride this thing again".

He later explained he'd been riding up a mountain road he was intimately familiar with and KNEW that he could safely ride at 70. He was thinking the Cyclone was nice, but a bit slow, thought he was doing 60. When he looked down at the speedo, it read 90.

He also claims the bike started mocking him, and urging him to brake later and dive into turns harder... but we can take that as metaphor. ( I just tell it to behave when it tells me those things... or myself to behave, what ever )

Years later, he explained that every bike he'd ever ridden could be taken to it's limits, which were well within his. Until my bike, which easily passed his comfort zone and was happy to keep going. It was not that the bike scared him. It was that the bike made him afraid of his own limitations.

Can't ask for better, IMHO.
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Tootal
Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2020 - 02:57 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Great story and similar to mine. I had a Cagiva Gran Canyon. 900 two valve Duck motor. It was in race mode at all times. It was a blast to ride the twistys but after 2 hours I had to get off. Very uncomfortable! I rode it to the Buell dealer and took a ride on a Uly. It was so different from the Cagiva. The motor was relaxed, it was comfy but it seemed slow compared to the hyper Duck. That was until I looked at the speedo! Holy crap! I was sold at that moment.
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Aesquire
Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2020 - 04:09 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Took the Cyclone, Buttercup, to a local chopper shop for inspection. Owner had been a Buell mechanic at the local HD-Buell dealer.

After, fresh asphalt parking lot, a couple of his customers were chatting over one's hog, as I started the Cyclone & it begun it's idle happy dance, starting to vibe slowly backwards in an arc. I guessed the trajectory, strolled closer to the guys, as I zipped up, helmet and gloves, ( listening to Buttercup coming closer ) while pretending to admire the hog. Timed it well, just finished the last Velcro on my gear, as they noticed my bike in motion, turned, threw my leg over the seat, clutch, gear, kickstand up, rolling, all in one motion as the guys stood there open mouthed as I rode away on my bike that apparently came to me by itself. ( about 45 feet unattended)

Snicker.
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Upthemaiden
Posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2020 - 10:42 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

"Yep " -Pwnzor

While I agree with you on the comparison, you're comparing a normal sportbike to their budget 600 commuter, which never look as good. The similar version of the ZX10R looked much better than that 650. Still, the most gorgeous sport bike Kawasaki ever made, was the 96-03 ZX7R. I was also a big fan of the 03-04 ZX636R.


"True...though the late 80's had a few good ones. "

You've got some great looking bikes in there. The slingshot GSXR is one of the all time most gorgeous, I like the ducati but I prefer the full fairing. I was in love with the Duke 2 when I was younger, and have always thought the ZRX was an amazing looking bike. Triumph S3 was also beautiful, but I never cared for the Japanese style tail of the early/mid 00's. The best looking version was the late 90's, followed up by the 05/06/07 version I used to own.

"Beautiful Motorcycles? Here are two of the most beautiful bikes ever made: "

I agree on the S2. As nice of a bike as it is, I don't think the S3 compares to it. I know they're very similar, but the S2 has just enough details over the S3 to really make a difference. The junction of the seat/tank/tail, the shape of the seat, the lack of the breadbox...
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Jaimec
Posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2020 - 11:13 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I was always a fan of the original Kawasaki GPz550... the one with the cowling, not the frame-mounted half fairing. I remember looking at that bike but it wasn't available so I ended up with a Yamaha XJ550RJ SECA instead. FUN bike. Peaky as a two-stroke, it was like having two bikes in one. Below 6,000 rpm it was a pleasant commuter. Above 6,000 and it was like getting rear-ended by a truck. The whole personality of the engine changed as the exhaust note became a shriek and keeping the front wheel on the ground was a challenge.

(Message edited by jaimec on June 02, 2020)
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Buellish
Posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2020 - 04:01 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

"I agree on the S2. As nice of a bike as it is, I don't think the S3 compares to it. I know they're very similar, but the S2 has just enough details over the S3 to really make a difference. The junction of the seat/tank/tail, the shape of the seat, the lack of the breadbox..."

+1,even though I owned one of the best looking S3's ever made,it was nothing compared to the 2 S2's and 2 S2T's I owned.









And then there was this....





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