Motorcycles, and such

well we've(i've) managed to derail a couple threads recently with 2 wheel talk. maybe a place of it's own is appropriate?

for starters, i think i've narrowed down my list of helmets to test fit while i'm home. the top of the list being a Bell Star, though expensive.

and I'm nearly dead set on a photo-chromic/chromatic shield. as long as it works in person, as advertised.

I just bought a '10 Ninja 250. Great bike. What do you ride?

nothing at the moment. looking to purchase over the next 2-3 months. Primarily looking at the Triumph Tiger 1050

Personally, I'm looking forward to this weekends F1 in South Korea

(my attempt to de-rail THIS thread into one about cars..... )

lol, i probably deserve that too

Those Ninja 250's are nice from what i see and read, i would never get on a sports bike again though. i have no interest in two wheeled performance, and they're just to damn uncomfortable for me to use as transportation

The 250R is quite good for what it is - for starters, the 250cc engine is better than just about any other 250cc out there. Personally, however, I don't appreciate sport bikes; my motorcycling philosophy is to ride for fun, but also for practicality - and sport bikes are the least practical around. I'd like to see the same engine mounted in a more rider-friendly vehicle that one could use for low-to-medium-range commuting without destroying one's spinal column in the process.

Another type of bike that I'd never buy are cruisers. They are the embodiment of flashy styling over performance and efficiency, and as such are exactly opposite to anything I've ever thought about vehicles.

As for the helmets, I dunno if you have the same brands we have (unlikely), but just in case, look at Schuberth helmets. They're a bit bulky, but they're safe and the quietest around.

Also, I'm not sure this belongs to mechanical engineering and design...

how DID this get put here? lol

I'll keep to the thread i made for comments

EDIT: this IS the thread i made. duh.

Yeah i feel the same for bike use/purpose. would never get on a cruiser, and have no interest in sport bikes. Now i LOVE me some 4 wheel performance, track racing makes me giggle inside just not on 2 wheels.

That said, one of the first things i think i'll be doing if i do get a Tiger, is retuning. But not because i want to go faster. I want to ensure i eliminate throttle snatch i keep hearing about, if i experience it. and since i already have knowledge/experience in modern fuel injection PCM tuning, there i no reason I cant kick it up to around 70MPG as a few folks have done

saw your comment on the Versys. i actually am fine with the looks. but have some thoughts...

650cc, 65hp. how well and long is that gonna handle 20,000 miles/year with side bags, top box, and possibly tank bag packed full... cruising the hwy at 140kph/85mph? most of the area around here, thats the flow of traffic. slower and you end up stuck in the 18-wheeler convoys - no thank you.

the price is definately nice, and i dont mind the naked sides. i would most definately want a bit more fairing/screen in front though as i do a lot of hwy miles, least for a bike(see above) since i dont know the bike i cant make judgement, but comfort/fit plays a fair bit for me considering the riding i'll be doing, and that i'm 6'1" and 200+lbs with a 34" inseam and equally long arms

I've never ridden the Versys, so I'm going to answer with a mix of stuff I've read about it and my experiences with the ER-6F, which is a very close cousin to the Versys.

The engine is widely considered to be the closest thing to indestructible. I frequent an italian ER-6N/6F/Versys forum, and nobody I know of has yet managed to kill an engine from overuse. A few have killed theirs due to exaggerated tuning or negligence, but if properly maintained it'll keep going for ages.

As for the bags and all... my 6F has a fairly large top box which I leave permanently on. It's ridiculously ugly, but it's a sad necessity, since the bike is my main means of locomotion and so needs to be able to carry stuff other than just me. Along with it, when I travel I also have two soft bags (the ones you hook up under the seat; a proper set of rigid, semi-permanently mounted side carriers is in my shopping list) and a fairly large tank bag. Filled with the usual stuff one carries during a trip, the bike remains agile and easy to ride, and doesn't really feel the added weight. I've occasionally ridden fully loaded and with a passenger; it's not really very different than riding with the passenger alone.

On a more extreme note, I occasionally use the bike as a pack mule; most worthy of mention is when I go to the local convenience store for kitty litter.
See, my mom needs industrial quantities of it for her cats, but she can't drive and so I go get it for her. Problem is, I'm only rarely at her place, so whenever I'm there she's always milking my presence for all it's worth anyway, I usually load up the car with bags of kitty litter, but when kitty litter is needed NOW, and NOW is during rush hour, I get the bike, empty the top box of everything, put on the side bags and tank bag and go. My record so far has been 16 bags (5 in the carrier, 3 in each side bag, 2 in the tank bag and 3 in an old backpack), totaling a massive 80 kilos of kitty litter. The added weight was definitely felt (it was like riding with a pillion passenger), but I got home perfectly OK and the bike felt like it was perfectly ready to take all that kitty litter 300 km from my town if need be

When you consider that the Versys is a lot more suitable than the ER-6 for such heavy-duty use, the whole experience of loading it up should be even better.

As for cruising speed: I can get to 140 km/h very easily. I usually don't, because I rarely travel on the highway, but if need be a flick of the wrist is all it takes. The Versys has a few less horses, but I don't expect this to be a problem.

I dunno about the fairing. My bike has a slim yet full fairing that offers decent protection, but since the Versys is made for traveling and mine isn't, I expect they've engineered what fairing it has to be more protective than what I have.

Tell you what, though - head over to the Kawasaki Motorcycle forums and ask them. They'll surely know more about the Versys than me.

In any case, go to a dealership and ask for a test drive. All the words in the world won't mean squat if you try the bike and find out you have no feeling with it.

Edit: forgot to mention, one thing that the ER6/Versys bikes have that most others don't is the underslung exhaust. I'm in love with the thing, and I can't quite figure out how the huge tubes on the sides of other bikes don't drive their owners to desperation.

Oh, and another thing - the bike is available with an ABS option. It's worth mentioning since cheap bikes like these usually aren't.

wow, thats a lot of cat litter!

i dont wanna have to make time to dig into another forum, so i think i will look at/test one here in a week or so and if i like i'll go digging then the ABS is a good thing, thats one of my make/break points

thanks for the info FW

No problem. Do report on your experience after you've tested it

will do. as of now i'll be testing a Tiger, Sprint GT, F800ST, and the Versys in a couple weeks or so. maybe others if i find anything else i like

still dont know why this is under Mech engineering/design lol

i had the chance to go look at a few bikes today. The Versys is TINY! feels like a pocket bike or something. as i expected, the Tiger is a great fit for a tall person. I'll be going back in a week or two when i have more time to ride them

Tiny? I'll give you that it's smaller than many other bikes of its category, but I certainly wouldn't consider it tiny...

i guess it just feels that way. when i sat on it i felt like this(minus the zombie costuming)

well I just bought this helmet: http://www.helmetcity.com/page/HC/PROD/bel...helmets/starmbk

Suuuper happy to be getting the photo-chromatic visor with it.

said visor^^ f-ing ROCKS. it transitions MUCH faster than I had expected it too. still waiting for a good day when I have time to go ride a few of these bikes.

FW: I got to ride a Versys today, along with a Bimmer 650GS. Both of them are way too small for me. After a few minutes they quickly became uncomfortable. I will admit I was very surprised at how well the Versys in particular performed though. I'll be on a Enduro/DualSport/Dirt Bike tomorrow for a bit just for fun, then the Tiger on Tuesday

No "hawg" dealers over there?

Well, I'm currently back in Jesus and Meth(aka Tennessee) visiting. So there are PLENTY here. I dont know about in Belgium or the surrounding region. I wont ride that style of bike any more than I'd ride a crotch rocket, so it's a null point really.

How bout a sport touring bike? A bike like the Triumph Sprint will take you to work 5 days a week, then handle the occasional club track day on the weekend. Throw on the factory saddle bags, and it'll take you on a weekend trip to the mountains. The first time you take a curve at speed on a sport bike, you'll know why they are "right." Anything else is just a moped with a bigger engine.

well the Sprint ST is too much of a sports bike. sitting in that position for 2-3 hours at a time, possibly 6-8 hours a day would be unbearable.

The new Sprint GT I am going to ride tomorrow, but based on the layout, I expect it to be worse than the ST. same forward lean, and an INCREASE in leg bend!

http://cycle-ergo.com/ this is a fantastic site maintained and continuously added to by one the the advrider forum guys. its not exact or perfect, but it does give you a good idea of riding positions.

The GT is supposed to be more comfortable than the ST. I'm curious about this, can't wait to read your report.

When will you try the Tiger?

Edit: I checked that site, and I question its accuracy. Based on what it says, the Kawasaki 250R is almost equivalent to the 650R/ER6F, which is not what people who have tried both say. The little dude on the bikes also seems to have his proportions wrong.

Well, unless you plan to sit in traffic and stoplights for 2-3 hours, you might find a slight forward lean suits you just fine. If you're talking 2-3 hours of straight, boring highway, the wind holds you up. And if you mean 2-3 hours in the twisties, well then you'd never get tired of the seating position.

If you are talking congested city streets and backed up highways, then take the car!

FW: I should be taking the Tiger for a spin tomorrow also, weather permitting. It rained cats and dogs today, with a forcasted 20% of light rain. Tomorrow is same forecast, but its supposed to hold off till evening...

the ergo site is just a tool, it would be extremely difficult to get it really accurate because there are more factors than whats listed. handlebar width, arm length, etc. But the guy who does the site has improved on it in leaps and bounds over the last few months, so maybe one day

Also, although the ergo site shows equivalent forward lean and more leg bend on the GT vs ST. sitting on the GT feels more comfortable, but still the forward lean alone is too much for me i'm thinking.

kl27x: this bike will become primary transportation over a period of time to build confidence and skills. I will be often in traffic, as well as many hours on the highway. The forward lean isnt something I dislike from experience(though I have been on crotch rockets years ago), its something that is uncomfortable just sitting on the bikes...