if u do go for a drz, get an S, not an SM. more power, better suspension, and the wheels won't suck for dirty riding. ... something I've learned over the last summer. the E drz has the most power, but not streetable legally in some places. 2 cents

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on February 24, 2011, 12:48:41 AM
if you cant wait that long, ( yes i know it happens,) take it EASY on any bike until warmed up then give her hell

I don't get to do this, the neighbors don't care for my exhaust, haha. I start it up and take off, but I'm just super gentle on the motor until I know it's warmed up.

Quote from: ohgood on February 24, 2011, 06:21:11 AM
if u do go for a drz, get an S, not an SM. more power, better suspension, and the wheels won't suck for dirty riding. ... something I've learned over the last summer. the E drz has the most power, but not streetable legally in some places. 2 cents

It's definitely gotta be an SM. I may get off road on a random occasion, but it'll be rare. I live in the city so it's much more likely to see me riding down some steps and jumping over curbs than hopping over some logs and running down dirt trails. I heard the SM has the forks from the RMZ, does the S have the same ones? Even if the suspension on the S is better it wouldn't be set up for the road. 

Nope, the S has standard forks...the SM has the inverted and 17" rims, better brakes and taller gearing...much better for the city dweller...

I always liked the XB9S and the XB12S, but they are too small...wish Buell had made bikes for 6 footers...naked bikes I'm talking, not the Ulyses...never was much for the SS bikes, so this new "toy" does nothing for me...

Still pyning for the MT-01...damn budget constraints...

Later.

Oooh, yeah it's gotta have the inverted forks. I've always loved them, and now that I have a bike with them, I'll never go back haha. Plus I've never really done stoppies, but I'm pretty sure if I have a supermoto I'll do them all the time, so the better front brakes are a big plus. 

They're definitely not the best size for tall guys. There are plenty of guys on the forum who are 6'0-6'5 who love theirs, but I'm 5'8 and think it's perfectly suited to my size. When I bought it, it was the lowered SCG version and I thought it was even too short for me. Might've been good for guys who were used to cruisers with low seats, but I'm used to being tippy toed and that's what feels natural to me now. I've always hated the seats on the SS version. They don't flow well with the rest of the bike at all. some guys have put the S seats on the SS bikes, or you can also but the SS forks, rear shock, and side stand on a normal S since everything is interchangeable. The xb feels much smaller than the GS does.

I'm pretty sure the 1190RS is significantly bigger than the XBs though. Check out this picture of Erik tucked in on the race version. You'd swear he was only 5 foot. I actually have no idea how tall he is to compare, but he definitely makes the bike look full sized as opposed to the XBs, which are roughly the size of a 250cc GP bike.

i had debaffled screaming eagles on my frankensportster ( jug transpolants to 1340) and briefly a supercharger THANK YOU HD SWAP MEETS !, yeah neighbors didnt like me either. quite civil when underway,. but a fast idle warmup she was LOUD

Even though the sound of an I4 doesn't really do much for me, one thing I can appreciate about them is if you keep the engine below 5-6k rpm, it just has a subtle growl to it. My bike makes a racket at idle, and only gets worse from there.

Quote from: tt_four on February 24, 2011, 09:11:07 PM
Even though the sound of an I4 doesn't really do much for me, one thing I can appreciate about them is if you keep the engine below 5-6k rpm, it just has a subtle growl to it. My bike makes a racket at idle, and only gets worse from there.

i am an HD man myself,BUT i like my I4's and 6's as well. that new bmw 6 is to die for ( youtube ftw lol ) but still a 41 hd with jockeyshift through the dragon, while its owner rode my gs was the trip of a lifetime

Quote
If it wasn't for the Monster, Ducati wouldn't even be around anymore. That bike carried Ducati through the 90s, and it's the same old style of air cooled 90some hp motor that seems weak compared to other bikes.

I would say that would go for a lot of makes. If it was not for the Ducati Monster I dare say there would be no SV650 or Buells. It is a bike that definitely inspired and set a benchmark for a true naked bike.
Like you said - a street bike made for riding on the streets not a race bike with registration. Could not agree with you more there and the other comment about Jap bikes looking bland even though they produce 170+ HP. I admire them but I feel no desire at all to own one.

Quote from: Twisted on February 24, 2011, 10:44:04 PM

Quote
If it wasn't for the Monster, Ducati wouldn't even be around anymore. That bike carried Ducati through the 90s, and it's the same old style of air cooled 90some hp motor that seems weak compared to other bikes.

I would say that would go for a lot of makes. If it was not for the Ducati Monster I dare say there would be no SV650 or Buells. It is a bike that definitely inspired and set a benchmark for a true naked bike.
Like you said - a street bike made for riding on the streets not a race bike with registration. Could not agree with you more there and the other comment about Jap bikes looking bland even though they produce 170+ HP. I admire them but I feel no desire at all to own one.

Buell was making bikes before the monster was around, but they were more focused towards racing. It's likely HD would've never been involved and we wouldn't have seen a lot of the tubers from the late 90s and the XB series. I think he would've skipped right over it and headed towards race versions of bikes like the 1125, since a lot of those designs are things he came up with back in the 80s. Like I said though, it's pretty common for a mom to drive past me when I'm parked in the target parking lot and ask me if my bike is a ducati, haha. It's more fun when they're 100 feet away loading their bags into their truck, I start my bike and they'll whip their heads around thinking they're gonna see some guy on a hog, and instead they see me. Definitely get some confused looks like a portion of their brain just exploded.

I think someday I'll buy a japanese I4 sportbike. Either a gsxr750 or something like the 03-04 zx10r, but I'm pretty sure I'll just ride it for a season to see how stupid fast it is, then move on. I could potentially keep the 750 around for a few years, but I'm pretty sure a 1000 would just be too ridiculous. They're good at what they do, but what they do is go from 70mph to 170mph extremely fast. All my rides are between 0-70mph, which is what my bike does extremely well. That triumph I had was an I4, and I felt like I was always looking for that next straight away so I could take off. Now I barely even accelerate once I'm out of the turn. I go into it carrying speed, accelerate out, and then just ride normal until I hit the next turn. The turns are exactly the same, it just saves you the WOT and slamming onto the brakes when you see the next turn. It makes you feel a lot more in control, and you're not always sitting there frustrated because you're stuck behind a car going 33mph when you want to be going 75mph. One of those concepts you never even consider when you're 20 haha.

Yeah, maturity has it's perks...and that is how I ride too...pace riding is more fun for me, and doesn't attract the unwanted attention of th guys with the "blinky lights" on the roof...or behind the glass and grill if you are unlucky enough to be caught by a gray one...

I try to keep a steady pace and ride within 10% of the limit to not attract attention to myself...

Later.

It was really weird that I never even thought about the concept before. When I was younger and had both my ninja 250 and then my Triumph I just rode everywhere as fast as I could. Every turn I came out of was full throttle and as fast as I could get to the next turn, passing anyone that was in the way and slamming on the gas as late as I could into the next turn. I took a break from riding for a few years, came back and was a bit more relaxed, but the first time I went out and rode with one of my other friends we'd ride the turns the same as I used to, accelerate out, but then once you were upright we'd just let off the gas and ride to the next one. It just made so much sense, and I feel bad that I was never patient enough to think about it before haha.

I do pretty good of not attracting attention, I avoid the highway like the plague and do my best to avoid normal roads where the cops would be anyway. I used to use my bike for daily transportation so I spent a lot more time on opens roads where you're likely to get pulled over. 90% of my riding now is just joy rides, so it's easy to stick to areas where I'm not likely to get in trouble. 1 year and a few thousand miles back and not even any close calls with cops!

Oh yea a GS is invisible to cops, you gotta be doing really stupid sheite like riding on the shoulder, or well over 20 clicks over the limit - can the gs even go that fast on highways ? ... I've heard the other thing that cops dont even see is old school R beemer bikes ... sorta screams Geezer ...
Anyway GS is about as non descript as a bike gets I'd say.
Cool.
Buddha.

Supermotos are pretty hassle free as well! They look like dual sports to the general public, and no one is concerned with people on dual sports.

Photo radar doesn't care what you are riding...got a picture of me on my GS to prove it...11kph over (7mph), that sucked...cost me $100...bleh...

Later.

haha, we don't have any of that business here yet. Sorry about your luck though!

Quote from: madjak30 on February 25, 2011, 09:19:20 PM
Photo radar doesn't care what you are riding...got a picture of me on my GS to prove it...11kph over (7mph), that sucked...cost me $100...bleh...

Later.

get a plate diffuser. tag is 100% visible from behind. where it matters, but blurry from either side

Eh, mythbusters did a show on weather or not those worked and the traffic camera caught all forms of it. I've been pulled over twice on Flick once I was riding home from my pain management docs appointment looked like it was about to rain and I didn't have my jacket on. What saved me is that I had a memorial T-shirt on of an officer I worked with that was killed in the line of duty. Guess he was watching out for me that day got me out of a ticket. The second time I was pulled over was complete Said they were checking for stolen bikes gave me a hard time then my wallet disappeared. Went to the dept the next day to see if I could recover it somehow which is when I found out that my grey/black bike had been given a warning for improper passing. Was a two lane road where there was no place to pass needless to say I was pissed. And I don't know of many grey/black gs500F I do know Flick isn't that color!

Mary

true IF its shot from behind it will. and in some locales theyre illegal, i know when i lived in places with a camera at intersections, if i knew i was going to bust it, yes i know a no no. id smack the brakes, would blur pic. just enough.

If Erik Buell played for another team I think his career would be even better.  I think Erik Buell is one of the great designers of our age.  My admiration for Buell makes me view H-D in a more negative light than I would otherwise.  They helped him get started in his career, but then hindered him for a generation and still are.

H-D should have forced H-D dealers to sell and service Buells with a smile or lose the right to sell H-D forever.  They should have sent spy "customers" to go around to dealerships and shop for a Buell and report back to corporate what happened.  What's the worst thing that could have happened?  People buy Buells by the ton and the old iron horse dies a slow death while dealer sales remain steady or grow.  The pushrod would disappear as the V-rod engine is incorporated and modified into Buell designs.  America would be making bikes as good as can be found anywhere.  How awful.  And some people wonder why some of us view H-D dealers as a bunch of heavy-handed goons.

Then again, Buell is a master at overcoming obstacles.  With no obstacles in front of him it could blow his mind and he might not know what to do!

The V-Rod engine wouldn't phase anything out...and it wasn't Harley Davidson that prevented dealers from catering to Buell.  HD Dealerships are privately owned franchises.  When it boils down to it, people didn't buy the Buells in droves because they didn't want it.  "Interesting" sportbikes never last long.