big bikes vs. small bikes

[vegbiker]

I have a friend who learned to ride on big bikes (sport tourers, etc.) and has always ridden bikes in the CRB1100 or Hayabusa categories. Fast as hell, but heavy too.

I like my GS for a lot of reasons, partly cuz it's easy to manouver and it's light and fun on the twisties. But big bikes can do twisties too. Now I'm a smaller person (120 lb girl), so I have an added reason why a light bike is ideal for me. But I know bigger people (guys especially) adore their GS500s.

Can you explain to my friend what - for you - is the appeal of a smaller cc, lightweight bike? He will read this post, so be nice

[dgyver]

I have 2 bikes...a TL1000R and a GS. There is a major difference in how they handle. The TLR is sluggish compared to the GS. Don't get me wrong about the TLR, I have learned how to work her in the twisties and have put my knee down on the street several times. I have been out-run by a 'Busa in the twisties before, but he knew the roads better than me. I used to ride a RS125 and that is an incredibly nimble bike, just hate tuning a 2-stroke. The GS has been a great track bike. I don't think I would like it too much on the street though, since I do alot of rides around 300 miles. The TLR is more comfortable for me (6' and 180#). I love the power on demand which my tiller provides so willingly, something that the GS lacks but I am working on that. The GS can keep up with most riders in the twisties but will fall behind in the straights.

[Cal Price]

My two-pennyworth is that it's a matter of Horses for Courses. It depends a lot where you live, where you do most of your biking, your size, weight, bodily strength and simply what you fancy.
I seriously considered buying a Touring bike from Honda's Deauville 650V right through to a Pan-euro ST1300 but eventualy got real and bought for the type of riding I do most of, commuting and country-lane-twistee hacking rather than for one or two long trips a year but then I only have a short ride to work. I would not want a bike that I could not pick-up if I dropped or flipped it and at 58 my upper body strength aint what it was at 35. I have only recently got rid of a Honda CG125, bit of a joke for "big" bikers but for in-town riding or if you do most of your riding within urban speed limits it's brilliant and at 105 miles to a UK gallon its the cheapest transport apart from walking. I settled for a "middleweight" as its great fun handling and acceleration-wise whilst being "good enough" in town or the odd long trip. I have a big screen, slipstreamer-turbo bought with the longer trips in mind but find that I leave it on, gives me almost touring comfort whilst staying light and nippy around town.

[octane]

Cheap and easy to maintain and insure. I'd love more power, but the damn bike is so fun to toss around and so cheap to keep, I just can't seem to get rid of it.

[raven]

I've been argueing with my ol' man for weeks about our next bikes - he's got his heart set on the Yamaha XJC1300 - think the GS but with a foolishly large engine. I'm trying to stear him in the direction of the Triumphs (we both want bikes for touring, and the Speedmaster and the Sprint ST are sweeeeeeeeet)... or even better, my GS when I upgrade.

R.

[TR]

Can you explain to my friend what - for you - is the appeal of a smaller cc, lightweight bike? He will read this post, so be nice

20 years ago I had a small 125cc 2 stroke bike, it was able to keep up with liter bikes up to 80 Kph (50 MPH) from one traffic light to the next, so it was ok for the city, light enough to ride on the street, sidewalks, trough parks, among cars, and very easy to park, but lack of power, so I think my GS is now to those really big bikes (ST1300) an upgraded version of what my old 125cc was to a Honda CB750F or a Kawazaki KZ1R.

[Gisser]

Can you explain to my friend what - for you - is the appeal of a smaller cc, lightweight bike? He will read this post, so be nice

Ask your friend what the appeal of a 5 foot 5 inch 120 pound girl is compared to a 6 foot 1 inch 200 pound Lindsay Davenport (tennis brute).

[werase643]

sooooooo
size matters to some people
and
others think its not the size but what you do with it

very interesting.... :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:

[Diderich]

One of the big reasons i like the GS is because it is a lot of fun at non-insane speeds.  My buddy's aprillia falco and father in laws monster s4r are way better handlers and i can go much faster on them, easier.  However, they are so confidence inspiring and solid that the thrill comes from raw speed and acceleration.  This is naughty fun.  The GSes thrill comes from it's relative dartiness.  This is good clean fun.  

Seriously, is ragging out a fast go-cart or a big chevy camaro more fun?

They're both fun in they're own way...but it ended up that I got a virtually brand new machine for $3500 that gets 50 mpg costs $100 per year to insure, can be disassembled and reassembled in a weekend and will embarass just about anything on 4 wheels.

[Rema1000]

I have a big screen, slipstreamer-turbo bought with the longer trips in mind but find that I leave it on, gives me almost touring comfort whilst staying light and nippy around town.

Oh!  That's the screen I was thinking looked good, but I've never seen pictures of it on a GS.  Could you post some
(not to hijack the thread or anything)


PS-happy 200th post to me

[oldsport]

Smaller bikes are cuter - and so are the girls that ride them!  :kiss:


OS

[gsJack]

I love to run with friends who have liter size bikes and keep up or ahead of them in the twisties with my half liter bike.  It's all covered by the old saying below my sig.   :lol:  

[GRU]

i love that saying  
i heard you ride a lot, how much miles/kilometers do you have on your gs's?

[gsJack]

i love that saying  
i heard you ride a lot, how much miles/kilometers do you have on your gs's?

The 97 GS that I bought new in Mar 99 now has over 80k miles on it.  It was totalled last summer and I bought it back for salvage price and restored it for my winter/backup bike.

Bought the 02 GS last Sep with 4k miles on it and put another 4k on it before winter hit.  It will get most of my 15-20k miles this coming season.

All together I have put approx 316k miles on 4 Hondas and the 2 GS's.

[yamahonkawazuki]

you got that right gsjack              

[vegbiker]

Ask your friend what the appeal of a 5 foot 5 inch 120 pound girl is compared to a 6 foot 1 inch 200 pound Lindsay Davenport (tennis brute).

For the record, I'm 5' 6"   (teasing)

GSJack, I like your quote too! And to put that many miles on it and buy it back from salvage and restore it...kudos!

[Adam R]

I think it also depends on what you're using the bike for.  Would I want to tour on the GS?  Hell no.  The GS is barely powerful enough for freeway riding in my opinion, or at least on certain LA area highways where average traffic speeds routinely hover around 85 or 90 mph.  

If I'm riding on the highway I like to have the power to instantly put the bike wherever I want.  The GS doesn't have that kind of power.

In certain cases I think the old adage proves true: the best you know is the best you've tried.

[Cal Price]

REMA1000, I don't have a digi-camera at the moment but during last Autumn, Ooops sorry, Fall, on a thread about windshields someone else posted a pic of it. It might have been a thread about the National Cycle F-16 that someone had bought and was less than delighted with, hope this helps. If you can't find it, the screen is very similar to Kerry's "Plexistar 2" pictured on his site. It was a piece of cake to fit, just a bit of bending on the headlight brackets. Once you have thos in shape it can be removed and fitted in a few mins but probably not as quick as the Plexistar which I believe is designed-in quick release.

[scratch]

The reason I like small vs. large is because I don't have to SHUT OFF FOR TURNS! I prefer to be a smooth rider. Anybody can go fast in a straight line. I used to race, but I'm not racing, racing is for the track. Out of all the bikes I ever owned (650 Maxim, 550 Vision, SRX250, FZR400, Triumph 750 Bonnieville for example), I had the most fun out of that little 250, because I could lean it all the way over (ground clearance for weeks), wring the snot out of the throttle without having to worry about running out of asphalt, and hook some serious G's in the corners! It's not so much of a challange to go fast on a fast bike, it's way more fun trying to go fast.

Now, if you want to practice your braking for the turns (I don't like braking, it's so...negative (...I wanna go, go, keep going...)) get a big heavy bike (I would suggest a used police KZ1000).

[Kerry]

Cal, I think you're remembering Rema's 2nd post in the thread F-18 Windshield Useless, maybe not but seems that way....  Good memory!  That took me some searching....

Rema apparently wants to see a Slipstreamer Turbo mounted on a GS500.  The pic he posted was a stock photo perhaps, but it showed the shield mounted on a different Suzuki.  So I guess his question still stands.

Rema, you've been thinking about a larger shield for a few months now!  I vote that you get the Turbo and take those pics yourself, for the benefit of the next guy....  :mrgreen: