Who here rides a bike?

[SViper]

2006 Honda VTX 1300C

 

[SooperDave]

I've got a few. All Jap stuff, cruisers and sport-tourers. Had my share of super sports over the years. Getting older now. I might get one more super sport and have one last hurah.

 

[Ben90]

94 Suzuki RF600RR

 

[MixMasterTang]

2011 Kawasaki Z100 for me. Itching to ride but weather hasn't been cooperative in the Midwest.

 

[Zargon]

07.5 Aprilia Tuono 1000R
93 FZR 600

has a slew of others before

Yea, typo. I thought the 848 Streetfighter was a Monster. Whoops. What's the difference between the Monster & Streetfighter line anyways?

streetfighter is the superssport chasis/engine, the monster is its own chasis(or atleast was) and engine

streetfighter > monster, also streetfighter $$ >> monster $$$

 

[WackyDan]

2008 Can Am Spyder - 21,000 miles since bought

Came off of several bikes prior to looking for a nice touring setup... hence the Spyder with the hard cases and the front trunk/bonnet storage. Love it.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yea, typo. I thought the 848 Streetfighter was a Monster. Whoops. What's the difference between the Monster & Streetfighter line anyways?



Loved my GS500, that bike taught me to ride well since I had to make up for the smaller engine and negligible suspension when riding with guys on supersports.

The Monsters are all air cooled (well, the current production bikes anyway-there were liquid cooled Monsters in the past), the Streetfighters are based on the 1098 and the 848 superbikes so they are liquid cooled and have more power than the aircooled Monsters but the I know the Streetfighter (1098) has some handling ills that I don't think I'd like to deal with. Difficult to get it to turn in from what I've read.

 

[Greenman]

2003 Bandit 1200S

You should have said a Shetland, I'd have laughed my ass off.

 

[BATCH71]

2004 Honda 919

I ride when I can in the summer thru fall.

 

[kamikazekyle]

2011 Honda CBR250 for a daily commuter/around town/tight twists. I like how flickable it is and how confident I feel when in a full lean. Somewhere around 2,000 miles since I've been using it almost exclusively for my short commute thanks to the cold weather. The Multi's air cooled engine can't even warm up to operating temp.

2006 Multistrada 1000, modded to hell and back, ~32,000 miles and after this weekend's silly antics, two heavily scratched farings Right now it's more utilized for a touring bike since the few real twisties around here are better suited for the CBR, and the Multi's handling is a bit goofed with a stuck preload nut in the front fork (helped contribute a little to the scratched fairings).

 

[crackerjacks]

thought I was going to take the bike in to work this morning just to get some saddle time, but @5am it was about 25 degrees and everything was covered in frost. The heated seats in my GTI sounded much better than the heated grips on my bike.

Is it spring yet?

 

[JulesMaximus]

2011 Honda CBR250 for a daily commuter/around town/tight twists. I like how flickable it is and how confident I feel when in a full lean. Somewhere around 2,000 miles since I've been using it almost exclusively for my short commute thanks to the cold weather. The Multi's air cooled engine can't even warm up to operating temp.

2006 Multistrada 1000, modded to hell and back, ~32,000 miles and after this weekend's silly antics, two heavily scratched farings Right now it's more utilized for a touring bike since the few real twisties around here are better suited for the CBR, and the Multi's handling is a bit goofed with a stuck preload nut in the front fork (helped contribute a little to the scratched fairings).

I rode past Palomar Mountain yesterday and the temps were in the low 50s at best at the base of the mountain. Didn't ride up because I knew it would be at least 10 degrees colder up there. Typically my bike shows 4 (136C-160C) bars on the temp gauge but it dropped down to 3 (111C-135C) bars out of 7 total.

 

[Nemesis13]

Any of you ever rode deals gap, I'm thinking of heading up there this year. The 11-mile stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves.

 

[pauldun170]

08 CBR1000rr
93 ZX-11D1
---
85 gpz900R (S)
83 CB750 (S)

 

[blackangst1]

Any of you ever rode deals gap, I'm thinking of heading up there this year. The 11-mile stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves.

Ah yes. The Dragon's Tail. One of the most famous bike roads in the US. Its on my top 5 rides to do before I die

 

[Vetterin]

Motobecane Fantom Cross Cyclocross and a Felt F5 Road bike.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Ah yes. The Dragon's Tail. One of the most famous bike roads in the US. Its on my top 5 rides to do before I die

Why? There is probably at least a few tracks within a hour driving distance from you. No cops, no running off into a ditch or oncoming traffic, no squids, no dirt/oil/sand on the road that could seriously mess up your day, etc.. Riding on a track will be by far the most fun you will ever have on a motorcycle. After a track day you will ride on the street and wonder how you were ever so stupid as to try that on a public street. Riding on the street is so much more dangerous it's not even funny. On top of that you will not find better curves than what you'll find on a track. Take a corner too fast on the track. No biggie. Just keep going into the grass pasture and slowly make your way back in the track. Go too fast on the street you're gonna be eating a truck grill, barbed wire fences, ditches, telephone poles, etc..

There is no comparison between the two. Not even close.

 

[MixMasterTang]

Why? There is probably at least a few tracks within a hour driving distance from you. No cops, no running off into a ditch or oncoming traffic, no squids, no dirt/oil/sand on the road that could seriously mess up your day, etc.. Riding on a track will be by far the most fun you will ever have on a motorcycle. After a track day you will ride on the street and wonder how you were ever so stupid as to try that on a public street. Riding on the street is so much more dangerous it's not even funny. On top of that you will not find better curves than what you'll find on a track. Take a corner too fast on the track. No biggie. Just keep going into the grass pasture and slowly make your way back in the track. Go too fast on the street you're gonna be eating a truck grill, barbed wire fences, ditches, telephone poles, etc..

There is no comparison between the two. Not even close.

Some people don't want to try and take corners as fast as they can, and enjoy riding and soaking in the scenery.

 

[jaha2000]

Any of you ever rode deals gap, I'm thinking of heading up there this year. The 11-mile stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves.

http://www.photoreflect.com/store/Orderpage.aspx?pi=0QAK00Y9071648&po=1648&pc=1800

That me from last year.

Deals gap is fun. As far as the cops, go during the week if you can. They are pretty cool as long as you are not being stupid. The even overlooked my ummm less than DOT tires on the supermoto i brought up one day. We have been going every year for a week for the last few years.

But there are LOTS of squids, and a lot of people that will either hurt themselves or others. There are thousands of miles of roads there that are as good or better than the gap, just not as famous.

 

[jaha2000]

Some people don't want to try and take corners as fast as they can, and enjoy riding and soaking in the scenery.

If you are soaking in the scenery and not focusing on the road at Deal's you WILL go down i promise you. There are roads there for that, the gap is not one of them.

 

[Nemesis13]

I want to go my only concern is some douche running up on me or into me.I have watched vids of people doing any where from 70-120 plus on the thing, I'm not saying im gonna slouch throughout but its not a damn racetrack. Like this guy uses it as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcOZVxheOXw

 

[WackyDan]

Any of you ever rode deals gap, I'm thinking of heading up there this year. The 11-mile stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves.

Been on the Dragon plenty of times... Best during a week day - less bikes/tourist traffic, but more trucks...

If you want a real treat, take Rt. 209 out of Waynesville, NC and head north past Hot Springs... Fantastic ride.

 

[jaha2000]

I want to go my only concern is some douche running up on me or into me.I have watched vids of people doing any where from 70-120 plus on the thing, I'm not saying im gonna slouch throughout but its not a damn racetrack. Like this guy uses it as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcOZVxheOXw

Those guys are the 1%, trust me.
People are not going to run into the back of you. Last time i was down there, some DB on full dresser harley blew a turn and i passed him on my right while he was going the other direction. He then flipped me the bird, real nice huh? The video you linked is either early spring or late fall, when the leaves are up, 90% of those turns are totally blind. You need to be more concerned about people crossing the double yellow.

Not trying to scare you away, if is an incredible place, the Skyway, Foothill parkway, moonshiner 28 are IMO, better roads to ride. The dragon is so tight and crowded, it makes me nervous. Pictures on top of the overlook just dont do the place justice.

 

[DirthNader]

2011 Honda CBR250 for a daily commuter/around town/tight twists. I like how flickable it is and how confident I feel when in a full lean.

I didn't understand "flickable" until I rode my Ninja 250R after a few weeks on the SV650S.

The same steering input I put into the bars on the 650 to get a moderate lean around a corner had the 250R damn near on the pegs in an instant.

I can see why experienced riders enjoy the small 250s.