What kind of bike is that in your avatar?

ZX-14

Ricky Gadson got into the 8’s on a stock ZX-14.

Thats what I thought. Fast ass bike. They have a good fuel capacity as well.

The bike is perfect for me being a bigger guy. It has all the speed I need and then some. It's comfortable for up to like 4+ hours of riding which is all I need unless I am doing a long trip. It has great handling too for anything short of the track. The bike I am intrigued by at the moment is the BMW R 1200 GS. For the most part I see myself on a ZX-14 for sometime and then maybe adding something to it. My dirt bike is a KTM 380 MXC.

I like those BMW Adventure Bikes. I looked at the F 800 GS but ended up with the Tiger 800 XC.

How do you like it?

I like it a lot. Very elastic bike. The Three Cylinder runs like a dream and the bike handles very good. It has been very dependable
The longest day I have put on it was 7 hours, and it nearly killed me. I felt like I had been running a weed eater all day.
I do a lot of Gravel Roads and Fire Roads. Use it mainly as a tool to go trout fishing in the Northeastern region of Iowa and into Wisconsin.
If I planned on going to Alaska or something like that..it would not be on this bike.

....I'm spying a local Bobber.

sigh....yeah I know....
poor mans Harley.

I do like it though. plenty of power for two riders at 75-80.

I looked at some of the new metric models over the weekend. The Honda Fury and Yamaha/Star Stryker were very very nice bikes. Though, I've noticed the cost of them (metrics) creeping up a tad for new bikes (new models as of about 2011 I believe). Used market is still flooded with them. However, the used (and new market for that matter) market is virtually nill for those two particular models.

I've always liked the Stratoliner visually, and after sitting on it, I can tell I would love it.

I'm still torn, like I always am between metric and HD. I've had absolutely zero issus on the 3 metrics I've owned. I'm sure there are a ton of HD owners who will say the same thing. However, it's that small group that have had issues with less than 30-50k miles on their HD. The used market for HD is great, and there are excellent bikes for that $10k-13k figure (and below).

My brother keeps trying to get me to go to that. May have to do it next year.

I remember looking at that Fury when it first came out. But I believe it starts at around $13k. :eek: And that's before you have them put on some real pipes. :D

I bought my 2005 Shadow with only 8k miles. In the 3 years that I rode it, the only major issue I had was the ignition switch shorted out. Melted the wiring around it and some of the switch inside.

My first Harley I only owned for only about 12 months. It had 29k miles on it but I never once had any mechanical issues. It always started and ran well. The only thing I ever did was change the oil. One very minor issue was that it went through a little oil. I'd have to add about half a quart every month or two.

Yep. and, on the Fury, the fenders were ****ing plastic. wtf . Awesome looking bike, comfortable for what it is....but good lord. You're getting into HD territory price wise - you'd better do more than plastic. I did some looking online after I got home, and man.....there are hardly any Fury's at any dealers. I'm surprised at that. I could understand being a limited used market, but 'new'?....surprised.

The Stryker and Raider had metal, if I recall.

Lost a friend this weekend. He was cruising 7 Hwy on a crotch rocket when an old farmer pulled out in front of him. He ran up the back of his trailer. Died on impact. Don't know how fast he was going. Highway patrol didn't indicate he was doing an extreme amount of speed but he must have been scooting right along.

:huh: man, sorry dude.

Yeah, I've railed a few alphabets up near Excelsior springs back in the day. Same deal - lots of farm equipment etc, kicking up crap onto the road - ie stuff that wasn't there earlier in the day even.

RIP

Wow, sorry to hear that Phil. It can happen quick. Where I live on skyline is like the autobahn of mountain roads. High performance cars and motorcycles everywhere along with bicyclists and knuckleheads pulling into traffic and oh yea, lots of deer. No wonder everyone tries to get me off the bike. I hope your friend didn't have kids, that's the worst.

Yeah. It's rough. He was a solid guy. 38 years old and left 3 young daughters. I'm busted up about it. We weren't BFF's but he and I were building a friendship because he was in my business and we talked once or twice a week and bumped into one another at lumber yards. But mostly, he was part of a very tight softball community. He was incredibly funny and helpful to everybody. It's an obvious risk that guys take but it still sucks.

My condolences.

Yep. That's a risk that all bikers are aware of. We do it because we love it and want to enjoy life.

Condolences Phil, truly sorry to read that.
Hope it doesn’t sound insensitive but this is why I haven’t ridden my scoot since my son was about 2. Every time I throw a leg over it I’m risking more than just my own hide.

That's really my only consolation. He died doing what he loved to do. We should all be so lucky. Still way too soon though.

Sorry to hear that.
Motorcycles...so fun...so deadly.

all gear, all the time. Not sure how Phobia's buddy went down, or if gear would've saved him etc.
the only thing one can control is how they ride, and riding with gear. beyond that....

So true.
I had a buddy go down on his Ducati this spring.
Broke his Tib/Fib, smashed his Metatarsels and lost a good portion of his calf.
Still recovering. But if it wasnt for his gear he woulda died for sure.

damn.

I low sided my ZX-6R about 10 years ago doing about 45-ish. I was wearing full gear, and suffered a broken rib and a broken bone in my hand. After the wreck when I got home, I noticed a quarter sized chunck missing from the back of my helmet. I would've been dead I'm sure.

riding pants with armor, jacket with armor, racing boots, gloves saved my hide and ankles for sure. No road rash. Just sore as shit for the next week.

Sporties?

I'm in love with the Nightsters. when done up proper, they looks so kick ass. I've never ridden a sporty, but I'm really really leaning towards one. I love the look of both the lower drag style bars as well as the mini-apes. The mini's + forward controls looks awesome.
http://www.erictomorrow.com/gallery/...DSC_0014bg.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...er09MAY104.jpg
http://xlforum.net/photopost/data/655/midnyte1.JPG
I'm not interested in gobs of power (my previous 2 sport bikes satisfied that urge); and not interested in riding hundreds of miles at a shot (no time for such). I do like spending a couple hours riding around the outskirts of the city; like backroads to Lawrence, Leavenworth, Topeka, Warrensburg, St. joe etc.

Mostly looking for something fun to get out of town on and to buzz around the city.

Anyone own one , or have owned one - a 1200 sporty?

I like the top one.

I'm going to check out a few on Saturday. Don't think they have any with the apes or the lowered bars, but it'll at least give me an idea of size, seat height etc.

I have a Iron 883. I did forward controls and mini apes. I love mine. I know I could handle something bigger with ease, but that sporty is too fun. On the plus side, I've liked matte black before it was cool, so I didn't have to spring for a custom paint job.

Nice. Any other things you like or don't like about them?

The stock seat has to go. I'd almost say that should be done first. Fuel range is a downer when you're on a longer cruise with the bigger bikes. 3.3 gallons is not enough. Power is lacking, but you can do engine mods that would double stock horsepower for far less than the cost of a bigger bike. If its the style you're after, and I know I was, it's hard to beat without going full on custom.

Cool; thanks dude.

Those Nightsters look pretty cool. But what's up with the middle and bottom one having the tank go up at an extreme angle like that? Looks funky.

My buddy has a V Rod and he's always needing to stop for gas way before I need it. He says it's a 5 gallon tank. :hmmm: Good thing about a Harley (newer models), though, is that it displays how many miles you have left to go before you run out of gas once it hits 40 miles to go. Although I think that mile estimator is not completely accurate, at least it gives you an idea.

He wore gear. He rode hard. Generally, the highway patrol indicates whether a high rate of speed was a contributing factor. They didn't in this case. But they also didn't indicate it was a motorcycle. Their official statement said that he hit the back of a trailer and was ejected from his vehicle where he died on the scene. I'm not sure how to read between the lines on that. Usually I can discern what an official statement means.

I'm not one to speculate on these much, a good person died and that is sad no matter what....but I would guess he had to have been hauling ass to not be able to stop in time. If the farmer was hauling a trailer, it takes a long time, comparatively speaking, to get a trailer with whatever is pulling it out into a road and turned to where he would have hit the back of it. A bike stops a hell of a lot faster than most vehicles as well.

Unless it was something like the farmer was driving on the side of the road and he was going to go around them, and then they suddenly pulled out into traffic or something.


Either way, sorry for this man's family and their loss, and I am sure that the farmer is in sore shape as well for having any role in it what so ever.

Probably. Perhaps even very likely. I'm just confused by the HP statement or lack thereof. They're usually not shy about attributing something to high speed if that's what happened. His funeral is Thursday. Be my first funeral in 4 years. So I'm blessed in that regard.

Not necessarily true. There is a lot of debate over this. It depends on many factors such as type of bike and weigh, rider skill, whether the vehicle has ABS, etc. According to the Kansas Motorcycle Handbook:

My understanding is that the vehicle pulled out in front of him. If he's going 70 MPH on 7 Hwy where the speed limit is 65, it's possible he couldn't get stopped or take evasive action. It doesn't really matter what happened though. He's gone and there's nothing anybody can do about it except maybe learn to be safer. I almost killed a kid in a mustang 2 saturdays ago. I was turning across traffic on a residential street, entering a neighborhood in my big ford. Mustang popped up over the hill cruising about 70 or better in a 35. Fortunately, he hit his brakes, skidded and managed to get over into the lane I vacated. Glad there was nobody behind me.

Ill tell you this much, the ZX14 stops WAYYYYYYYYYYYY faster than either of the last two Harleys I rode. Friggen day and night. Most high performance bikes stop pretty damn fast. More than likely he came around a corner and the farmer was there. They go down like flies on skyline from that and deer in the morning as well. I used to ride that road hard, not so much now. Truth be known riding is far and away the most selfish thing I do. Between skyline and 280 which is by far the fastest freeway here and loaded with traffic and San Francisco every weekday I log thousands of miles. I need to make a change soon and really dial it back. Riding Pescadero on weekends and maybe taking the bike in on really nice days is one thing but putting myself at risk daily like that with a 6 ear old is probably not the best. Every time I hear of another bike going down I rethink this even though I consider myself to be an outstanding rider.

Your kid can not be 6 already, Troy.

Yea, they grow up fast. HE is into his martial arts classes and rock climbing right now. I can't imagine leaving him because I am being a knucklehead. He is just getting old enough now to start liking football although it is pretty much about the Ducks when he does. Next year is probably a good time to introduce him to Arrowhead. Maybe I will take him down to SD for a game down there. Right now I am just making up for lost time when he was up north. Planning on taking him to Disneyland for Halloween. BTW we have a dirt bike that is a little big for him right now. He keeps getting trouble for jumping on it. I think I might have a rider on my hands.

dirt is absolutely where he shoud learn to ride a bike...sold my supersport..still miss it to this day.

six? wow!

tank raise kit. probably 2".

makes it look like an old school bobber / chopper.
especially with the mini-apes

I've grabbed a handful of front brake on the highway before, and after it slowed to about 45-ish, the back wheel came off the ground. Sportbikes have incredible brakes.

Yup, huge difference between them and a cruiser/bagger style such as a Harley. I don't recall if Phil said what type of bike.

Sport bike, “crotch rocket” are the words I think he used.

I wonder what skill level his buddy had. I'm not implying he was a novice at all, but I've seen new riders (especially those new to sport bikes) target fixate and run into everything from curbs, wash-out crap outside a white line, and even a wall (glancing type blow) when railing through some clover leafs. It's amazing what being spooked can do to your reflexes/mind. Instinct is simply to hold on and grab brake; sort of 'locking up' your body / not knowing what to do. I've been guilty of it too. That last time I was spooked was when I went into a curve too hot and started to target fixate where I 'thought' I would end up, rather than where I wanted to go. I remembered, for whatever reason, to just leans that sumbitch over and power through. I scraped the outter sole of my boot and when I got home, the knee of my right mesh pant, was chewed up. after that incident, I've gone in a tad too hot again, and just remembered me previous experience. Now....going in too hot is on the rider, so it was my fault in the first place. Best to avoid doing so lol.

if one has the clearance, bikes maintain an amazing amount of grip - short of asking the tires to do too much, like braking AND turning, or turning AND hard accelerating.

Whatever the reason, it sucks he lost a dude. No one will probabl ever know the scenario.

Thought you guys might like a quick peek of the view I have on my ride into work.

:harumph:

Jerk... Jutting kidding, beautiful.

That's beautiful. Need a pic of the road course.

I went to Worth over the weekend. wow. what a great place. tons of bikes; did't give you any shit for sitting on bike. all the bikes were keyed up and could be fired up at any point. no on gave you any shit.

I think I'm in love with the Sportster 72. I have been scouting the Nightster forever and didn't realize they no longer make them. which might explain the sort of inflated prices on the used markets.

The 72 is basically everything I wanted to do to a nightster any way. and, I LOVE the SoCal 60's styling. Shit loads of metallic flake in the paint. they had tons of new 2013s left that they were trying to get rid of and the guy said one could be had for under $10k.

Hmmmmm. Now I'm wondering if I should pick up on now in the fall, or in the spring lol.
They felt really comfortable, though I would push the apes a little forward. Killer looking bike for someone looking at an HD that won't break the bank; someone who doesn't plan on huge long rides. Something to buzz around town, and maybe go on some quick hour or two rides just outside of town.

http://www.hdforums.com/forum/member...1421-bike2.jpg

http://www.chopcult.com/news/images/...1386_album.jpg

http://www.h-dog.com/inventory/2337/DSC03795.JPG

http://community.oldbikebarn.com/upl...1_n.jpg?32ebce

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8...f301a9b0_o.jpg

I'm not a big fan of the flat black, but that first bike is pretty sweet. Love the pipes, too.
I also dig the metallic flake paint on the red and green ones.

Good advice
 

http://ksdotblog.blogspot.com/2013/0...24223699590737

Be defensive at all times


By Mike Bright
I would like to talk about motorcycle safety. I carry no particular credentials in this area other than 44 years of riding. For as long as I have been riding, the motorist who “didn’t see him” seems to be the most dangerous hazard to a motorcyclist. I personally have had a number of near miss incidents involving this situation. For me – it is a part of riding that I accepted many years ago.
What frightened me the most was on a dark rainy night in Kansas City. My wife, who rides her own bike, was following me in traffic. It was dark but her bike has a unique headlight than I can pick out in the mirror amongst the other lights on the road. As I did my customary scan of my gauges, traffic ahead, side-to-side glances and a check of my mirrors she was suddenly gone. I began to slow and working to determine what had happened to her. I began to work my way to the shoulder of the road to get pulled over. I finally got to a safe location to pull off and began to scan the traffic.
Did we just get separated or did she go down? Finally, after what seemed like an eternity she emerged from the traffic and we spotted each other. Once we got back together she related to me, an SUV changed lanes. The problem was, the SUV was moving into the space she was occupying. Literally moving over on top of her position!
Because she is a good defensive driving she was able to take evasive action and kept from being run down. She was okay. For me, for a few frantic moments I thought I had lost my wife to an errant motorist who simply “didn’t see the motorcycle.” They would have felt bad and certainly didn’t intend to harm anyone but it would not have changed the simple fact that my wife could have been seriously injured or worse.
As a result of that event we plan our trips through most metro areas during off-peak traffic periods and if at all possible we avoid the metro area completely. The other thing we have done is adopt a more conspicuous approach to riding. Much of today’s riding apparel has reflective stripping built into it. We wear the gear! We have added some additional lighting to the bikes. In this situation she was doing everything right but could have still been hurt. It is incumbent on the rider to secure their own safety. A lot of times it feels like the other motorists really don’t care about us!
A motorcyclist today MUST be on the defensive at all times. Wear the protective gear that enhances conspicuity. Take a rider safety training class. Be physically and mentally fit to ride. What might be a simple fender bender for a car will be a trip to the hospital for us – at the least, a trip to the morgue at the worst!

Mike Bright is the District Four Office Coordinator for the Kansas Department of Transportation

same here. If my budget were a little more, I'd totally get one. they're about $11k. Though, Worth had probably 15 or so 2013's and the guy, without even asking said "we've got to get rid of these. We're letting them go for under $10k". which is good since the base is like $10.5k + about $500 for the flake job.

I've got my eye on an 09 nightster. Called about it and the guy had a buyer who was getting financing together. He didn't leave any earnest money, and he said he's had 3 other guys fall through.
Submitted my loan pre-approval stuff yesterday.

We'll see.

Just got back from the North Shore in Northern Minnesota on Lake Superior.
Man the Adventure Trails there are spectacular!
The Gravel Roads are so perfect for the Triumph Tiger. Hard and Fast. You are on perfect roads that narrow down, get rough, and full canopy of Maple, then all of a sudden you are at a road side tavern.
Anybody that does off pavement adventure touring I highly recomend the North Shore.
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-ge...0/915655hx.jpg

Picture of the Tressel Inn. A small roadside tavern in the middle of the Sawtooth Mountains. Looks like its 100 years old, but made out of an old rail tressel in 1985.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2664/3...0648b603_z.jpg

$6800 - damn good deal.
Hope this other buyer falls through.

http://images.craigslist.org/00Y0Y_d...0S_600x450.jpg
Stage 1 Kit Dyno tuned, V&H short pipes, 4 inch Z bars, Mustang Seat, Forced Air Intake, Saddle Bag, Raised Tank, Re-located Speedometer. all work and maintinance done by HD certified mechanic. Also comes with original seat / mirrors / helmet and bike cover.

Nice Graystroke

looks like a good time right there.

sweet, but get a chain drive put on that :D

Really liking this bike

http://images.craigslist.org/00q0q_a...wW_600x450.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/01212_5...gv_600x450.jpg

have any of yall seen the new honda groms? 125cc little city beasts. I wana sell my yamaha zuma and get one of these babys for my work and around town commute.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...1_2_3_ssss.jpg

Check out the DRZ400SM from Suzuki.

hooligan bike right there lol. fun as shit.

These will get you in trouble. :evil:

http://www.4strokes.com/guests/uploa...9-DRZ400SM.jpg

400s? lol shit fire

Honda cashing in on putting road bike tires on a dirt bike? Finally!

PS, it'd be wicked fun if it was a 2 stroke... but alas, no more.

death cycle but lots of fun.

You would die on the streets of Phoenix on that within a month.

I wouldn't need Phoenix to die on that...can do it right here in Iowa.
Nice bike. Looks like a wheelie fest.

LMAO Go Hawks!

It 'tis. And stairs and sidewalks are no problem either.
:evil:

Test riding a nightster, a 72, and possibly a "big" bike so to speak tonight after work. They have a few wide glides and street bobs for decent prices.

I love the nightster looks, but have never ridden one, so I want to see if I like it or hate it.
Still tempted on the 72 though....damnit

I take it you're handy with a wrench?

"somewhat". Enough to tackle stuff, then ask my brother to help me lol
Simple stuff, yes. Most I've done from a technical standpoint was to check valve clearances on a buddy of mines Ducati Monster..

Ducati. Sweet. I had aBultaco 360 when I was a kid. Completely different animal, I know.
Beyond basic maintenance I'm no good at mechanics, have to take our quads to the shop for work.

Pretty much the same here. If I had a decent set of tools, I would be willing to try a lot more. As it is, my toolbox is anorexic.

Oh well. It's more fun to ride em than fix em.

That's no shit right there.