Thread: Motorcycles

how's that ride? i've been thinking of picking on up, but they look kinda small, not sure a big guy like me would fit on one.

This bike is insanely balanced; It literally feels like you’re hugging the ground. It’s also an awesomely comfortable ride in terms of positioning of the seat and handle bars. I know 250 is considered small these days, but this bike has balls for torque and unless you’re an adrenalin junkie into bullet bikes, the rebel has all the speed any one needs. I’ve ridden some bigger Hondas that were top heavy and that is just the opposite of the rebel. Besides looking cool, this is a way cool and comfortable ride. I highly recommend taking one for a test drive.

Originally Posted by morganholda

This bike is insanely balanced; It literally feels like you’re hugging the ground. It’s also an awesomely comfortable ride in terms of positioning of the seat and handle bars. I know 250 is considered small these days, but this bike has balls for torque and unless you’re an adrenalin junkie into bullet bikes, the rebel has all the speed any one needs. I’ve ridden some bigger Hondas that were top heavy and that is just the opposite of the rebel. Besides looking cool, this is a way cool and comfortable ride. I highly recommend taking one for a test drive.

How does it feel at 70mph?

my line up includes:

89 GS500E suzuki (it is kinda sold to a friends son for his first bike but i totally rebuilt the thing and mounted CBR600f4i top and tailsection, ported and polished the heads and made a hindle titanium pipe fit)

05 SV650 suzuki with race fairing and all the goodies, god i wish i had time to take it out this year, it seriously almost brings me to tears when i look at it

00 GSXR600 suzuki it was crashed pretty badly so the front forks were actually bent at about a 60 degree angle, but believe it or not the frame, motor and tail are perfectly straight, it is a fixer upper i might ride or just sell (insurance is crazy for me even at age 25)

Harley Sportster hardtail prostreet custom that i have been building for about 1 year. i used a 1200 sportster motor with ported heads, big valves, roller rockers and a nice mikuni witha Kuriyakin breather (with the neat flaps like a muscle car). my pic has it with raw tins but it is finally painted and i just have to find the time to finish it. i should post some more pics as the paint looks real nice.

thats all for now. hopefully more soon as i love them all.

How does it feel at 70mph?

-like 40 mph when you attach a wind shield, which I do-

Seriously though, it's a smooth ride. With a windshield, it really does feal just as smooth at 70 as it does at 40 to 45. If you get a chance, take one for a ride. I've talked with other guys online who bought 250 rebels for their wives but once they drove them, they decided to keep them for themselves. It really is an awesome bike. It doesn’t have the prestige of a Harley or a Triumph, but then it doesn't have the maintenance issues either.

Originally Posted by morganholda

It doesn’t have the prestige of a Harley or a Triumph, but then it doesn't have the maintenance issues either.

Harleys maintenance problems are all about who works on them i can assure you. i have worked on many and my dad and i have many guys who tour extensively and have anywheres from 250 000-365 000 km on them with no problems. the big problem is that a lot of harley owners like to work on them themselves, which mostly spells disastor. sorry to jump on one little quote but this one gets me sometimes.

Harleys aren't for everyone though, though it does seem like everyone and their brother has one now-a-days. mine is far from traditional in the sense of a Harley. not much chrome, minimal lights and it wil handle really nice. Japanese cruisers are pretty well put together from my experience and there are some really nice looking ones out there. i have never ridden a Triumph so i can't talk about them.

as far as i'm concerned if your on 2 wheels and loving it then i will ride with you. as long as it isn't just a statis symbol then thats great. i hate posers. but hey if i had NO money i'm sure i could still afford an old beater and still enjoy it.

cheers

Sorry if I was a little offensive. I’ve heard Harley’s have a lot less problems these days than in yester years.
The reality is, every bike has it’s strengths and weaknesses. I know guys who won’t ride any thing unless it’s German and others who wouldn’t go near anything made in Japan. I also agree, American, Japanese or German, cruiser or crotch rockets, it’s all about the freedom of the steal horse. Only two kinds a bikers I don’t get along with: jack asses on crotch rockets who annoy the hell out of regular motorists who in turn take it out on the rest of us and the posers you mentioned in your post. Have weals, will ride… damn straight!

Originally Posted by chee16

as long as it isn't just a statis symbol then thats great. i hate posers.

I'll plus one that. Unfortunately, with gas prices the way they were, there are a lot of posers out there just trying to be cool. Instead, they give the rest of us a bad name. There's one guy that lives near me that shouldn't be riding at all. Every time I see him riding, he pushes off to start (often kills it), then walks it to a stop. Not to mention the bike sounds like it hasn't had an oil change in a few years.

Let me first start by saying ride what you got. I ride everything. Right now I've got a Harley, a Triumph and a KTM dirt bike.

I'm in my third Harley in 10 years. I started with an Evo and the last two were an '02 Twincam and an '05 TC. I had a few of the standard issues on the Evo, but they were easily remedied. Almost anyone who's got one did these mods and after that they're bulletproof. My second TC was an '02 FXDXT Dyna. I put about 30k on it. Rode it to Alaska (see pics below) and back, and did the Denali highway. It was as solid as any other bike I've ever ridden. I only changed the fluids for the three years I owned it.

Now I'm on a big touring Road Glide. I love it. I was doing so many freeway miles while touring I felt I could treat myself to something comfortable. I am a big fan of twins, and there's not a twin out there with the personality Harley's got.

All that said, you don't have to pay Harley money to get something fantastic, but if you want a Harley and the only thing stopping you is a fear of their reliability, think again. They're not what they used to be during the AMF years.

Hope a word from the audience won't be unwelcome. I've never owned a motorcycle, and at this point (incipient, if not full-blown, geezerhood) who knows if I ever will, but I've always been drawn to the classic English bikes--BSA, Norton, especially Triumph. But I always heard that their downfall was reliability, or the lack thereof. Have they improved as much as the post-AMF Harleys?

~Rich