I have been asked twice this week when I am going to get a bigger bike. Correction, on person said "real" bike. I just don't get it. I even got this attitude when I was first looking to buy the bike. I chose it over a Katana 600. Was basically told I would regret it. And that was from a guy at the stealership. Is it an age thing?
I am 40 this year, and this bike is perfect for what I want. I am confident in both the bike's abilities and my own. I have ridden from Seattle to San Francisco and back and loved it. No problems and bike was perfect. I moved to this bike after having a 79 KZ400. And I loved that bike as well. But I get more grief for having this 500 than I did when I rode my KZ. I go just as fast in traffic as the GSXRs and Ninjas, and I will never go to the track. So who cares if I can go as fast? I have used those things as my comebacks and all I get are raised eyebrows and shrugs like I am missing out.
Anyone else get this attitude from other riders?
My 1994 GS with 87,000 miles on it is pretty beat up looking... I think people don't ask when I'm upgrading to a "real" bike because they see my bike and assume I can't afford anything bigger... When people ask about it, I tell them that it goes plenty fast on the freeway and I enjoy working on it myself. That seems to get the point across.
I get crap from my friends and other riders on supersport bikes also... But in my case i chose a fast car over a fast bike...
Obviously, the people who you have run into, don't know you.
Whenever someone says anything about getting a "real" anything, is just giving you a ribbing (or are just compensating for themselves, such as posers do).
I'm 41 and anybody that knows me has never chided me about getting a bigger, newer bike; mostly because they fear that I'm gonna school them on the GS. That, and maybe it's also because they know I've been riding for 23 years and might know something about riding (not always true, some people have just 'survived' riding 20-something years).
Did you have the two-cylinder KZ400? Those are the best ones!
Scratch, I think the second two lines in your sig sum this whole thing up.
My boss has two Hayabusas, one has 280whp but is being built up to 450whp right now. He hasn't given me a hard time once for my 500. When I told him that I was going to put a V&H exhaust on it, he said "So you're going to keep it for a bit?" And I said "Yeah, I probably won't get rid of it if I do decide to get a more powerful bike anyway...I mean, its only 400 pounds...I can only use so many horses through a corner, anyway"
Thing is, I know with the right rider on it(I'm not that experienced...) my GS could out pace either of his bikes in the twisties. And I really have no desire to attain speeds in excess of 180mph on the street...
I don't care what others may think. They are paying out the nose for work done on their bikes, and I am riding everyday for pennies. I think my bike is cool if that matters.
Ditto scratch...I ask that all the time. Doesn't matter what they ride, I still ask when they're going to get a "real" bike haha. It's funny.
Maybe you should reply with an incredulous raised eyebrow, "Who do I need to keep up with... you?"
I get it all the time. Usually by riders who think a "long, hard ride" is to the bar two towns over. :laugh:
They usually want to race. I say "Sure! I know a good pizza joint in Los Gatos, CA. Last guy there buys!"
TOTAL change in attitude. They know I'm not joking and I'll be waiting for them when (if) they arrive. ;)
I've heard that "when ya gonna get a real bike?" a few times.
The looks on ninja 250 owner's faces after a spirited ride trumps a 1/4 mile time on a boosa for me. Some of them will gush about "Man did you see my line on that one cool turn after the bridge ?!" with so much excitement it's almost embarrassing.
But it's a blast, and I wouldn't care if we were riding mini-bikes or million dollar factory-racers. Just gimmie two wheels and some clean curves !
There are lots of come-backs to slurring a gs. I like to laugh at them while walking away.
I have yet to receive any comments like that. People who don't know motorcycles like the look and assume its fast, and the people I ride with are more into finding twisties than speed. I'm trying to get my friends into riding and they are looking at Ninja 250's. Mostly because we are cheap and I've told the way it goes -- they will drop it.
When they ask that I point to their tires and say "When you get rid of those chicken strips." Mine are high profile tires and I scrape pegs and still haven't reached the edge of the tread maybe a small 1/4 inch of impossible to reach edge, they have low profile tires and I still see 2 or more inches of unused tread left. It's guaranteed they'll have chicken strips because everyone who rides seriously I've met that doesn't have chicken strips aren't dicks about owning a certain type of bike.
Quote from: qwertydude on January 15, 2009, 11:34:45 PM
When they ask that I point to their tires and say "When you get rid of those chicken strips." Mine are high profile tires and I scrape pegs and still haven't reached the edge of the tread maybe a small 1/4 inch of impossible to reach edge, they have low profile tires and I still see 2 or more inches of unused tread left. It's guaranteed they'll have chicken strips because everyone who rides seriously I've met that doesn't have chicken strips aren't dicks about owning a certain type of bike.
carpe chix !
Your riding with the wrong people. I ride with a South Florida sportbike club with over 1,000 active members. About every two weeks there is something planned (group ride, dinner-moview night etc...) with anywhere from 10-60 riders attending. Not once has anyone mentioned to me about getting a larger bike. As a matter of fact, we have quite a few riders on 250-500cc bikes, and many others have smaller cc motards.
We are a pretty responsible group. So, we usually run the speed limit in town -where super bikes have no advantage anyway. When we do go for a high speed rides in desolate areas, the faster riders take off, but they are happy to wait up for the slower riders at pre-designated locations. On our last swift ride, I wasn't the slowest, but I did have the smallest bike.
As riders mature and gain experience- they realize It's about the ride, not what you ride.
I no longer own a GS500 but the main reason I switched bikes was fuel injection. I just like the fact that my bike starts instantly and warms up quickly. The other thing I find incredible is how well it delivers fuel, the engine never lugs and always has power.
But I will say that I miss how easy it was to work on the GS. I feel like with my Z750 there isn't as much I can do, although I haven't hit any maintenance on the schedule yet. But I ended up buying a GS1100 just so I would have something to work on....
Anyway, the end result is that it doesn't matter what you ride as long as you're safe, you always enjoy riding, and you ride as much as you can.
Quote from: scratch on January 15, 2009, 03:34:46 PM
Did you have the two-cylinder KZ400? Those are the best ones!
Yepper. 79 KZ400H LTD was my first bike. I got from my old room mate whose Dad was the original owner. I used to post over at KZ400.com (RIP Odd Ivar).
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/KZ400/Seattle%2079%20KZ400H/Bike003.jpg)