Maggot motorcycle stoke thread

[Blatant]

why don't one of you fckers buy my oneal boots in the swap?

[Trackhead]

Nice. Might I suggest to you that that big dual sport light package on your rear fender be removed and replaced with something less likely to break. Those things usually snap off pretty quick when the going gets going a bit.

Let me know when you're in Utardia..........I might also be doing one or two day loops from SLC to your neck of the woods and back kind of rides this summer.

[phattypowpow]

Good call on the rear light. The bike has a lot of projects on the list. So far, I've got new knobby tires and a skid plate and a jet kit and larger tank are on deck. On Sat I got out for my first solid day of riding over the hill in Idaho.

Definitely a few muddy spots still:



But open and south-ish facing stuff was fine. Riding up to the ridge



Overlooking the south fork of the Snake:



That's more like it:



Man vs Cow:



High speed cruising back to the truck:



Overall a great day. In over my head a few times but I was expecting that. Looking forward to a lot more adventure this summer. TH, I'll definitely let you know if I'm headed your way.

[Trackhead]

This type of terrain is my favorite stuff. Fast double track, slightly burmed corners, buff dirt. Third gear brap.

[nicolaib211v]

Old bike... 2001 Suzuki GSX-R 600



New bike... 2007 Honda CBR600RR




And on the track...
http://msi.exposuremanager.com/p/1_p...ate/ho0g037335

Unfortunately that was in 2008. Blew my knee in 09 and didn't get to race at all. Maybe back on the track this year, who knows...

[crank54]

^^^ Nice. Love those 07 CBR's.

[mtnbiker/boarder]

PHATTYPOWPOW......i ride a drz as well....you may want to do risers and new bars on there....i went with pro taper bars with a slight rise in them. I flet that i was to far over the front end with those stock bars .....so much better standing up....also a pair of riding boots will keep your ankles and toes together.....congrats on your drz and it will take a beating trust me......maybe get to catch up with you and trackhead some time out west for some riding.......

[mtnbiker/boarder]

Also phattypowpow look into the BAJA kit for your turn signals.....it gets really old putting the stock ones back on all the time.......it will also eliminate that big ass black thing that shoots down from your fender, just cut it off.....

[nicolaib211v]

^^^ Nice. Love those 07 CBR's.

Thanks man, they go like hell!

I actually got it off a guy who tipped it over in his driveway. Big discount and I don't use the street plastic anyways. Win-win!

[Nomad79]

i think i've hit my midlife crisis, so its time to do something stupid, like get a bike. currently looking into rider safety courses. can anyone recommend any good beginner/intermediate bikes? I have ridden before (in India) but the bikes there were tiny compared to here (350 - 500 cc was considered BIG). I'd like something that i could be comfortable with and enjoy for the next year or two, before moving onto something i can post about on this thread! Advice?

[highanxiety]

Some more DRZ love.... My 06 motard...

[Trackhead]

i think i've hit my midlife crisis, so its time to do something stupid, like get a bike. currently looking into rider safety courses. can anyone recommend any good beginner/intermediate bikes? I have ridden before (in India) but the bikes there were tiny compared to here (350 - 500 cc was considered BIG). I'd like something that i could be comfortable with and enjoy for the next year or two, before moving onto something i can post about on this thread! Advice?

Don't buy a bike to "learn" on, it's a waste of money and you'll be bored in 3 months. Buy what you want right now, then learn on it.

[Jethro]

Don't buy a bike to "learn" on, it's a waste of money and you'll be bored in 3 months. Buy what you want right now, then learn on it.

This is true, but on the other hand you will need to be reasonable. As a noob, I would stay away from 1000+cc sport bikes. My first street bike was a Honda VTR1000F, But it is a more docile v-twin, and I rode dirt for years prior. Just be super aware on pavement, because no one sees you.

[Trackhead]

^^^^Yeah, with street bikes that's probably a wise answer. I was thinking more along the lines of dirt bikes.

[anotherVTskibum]

i think i've hit my midlife crisis, so its time to do something stupid, like get a bike. currently looking into rider safety courses. can anyone recommend any good beginner/intermediate bikes? I have ridden before (in India) but the bikes there were tiny compared to here (350 - 500 cc was considered BIG). I'd like something that i could be comfortable with and enjoy for the next year or two, before moving onto something i can post about on this thread! Advice?

I'd actually recommend something relatively small and cheap—an EX250 or 500, maybe a KLR250 if you want more dirt ability come to mind—so that you can figure out how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. Bikes are like skis, no one setup does everything well, and if you really get into it, you'll want a quiver. The EX250 (and I would expect the 500 as well) will both do almost anything, albeit not necessarily well; are cheap to buy, run, maintain, and crash; and are common enough that parts availability (and interchangeability) is good. Better yet, buy one that's already scuffed, and you don't have to freak out when you drop it in the driveway or in the parking lot. After riding a little bike for a year or two, you should have a good idea of (a) how much riding you can expect to do and (b) what kind(s) of bike you want.

If you already know what kind of bike you want—i.e. street, sport, sport-touring, dual-sport, trail bike that you can ride on the street when necessary, etc—then that's a different question, but we'd need to know what kind of riding you expect to do. Knowing how big you are might help, too—with my 29" inseam, there are a lot of bikes that would have been entirely sucky to learn on due to lack of ground-reaching ability. That's something you can overcome, but it would add substantially to the learning curve when you get started.

Personally, I've put a bunch of miles on my EX250 over the past two summers and come to the conclusion that I want a bigger adventure-touring bike (I want an R1200GS, but I don't have that kind of budget, so I'm looking for something like a Tiger, 1100GS, or an exceptionally inexpensive 1150GS...or maybe a Cagiva Gran Canyon if I can get over my fear of working on a Ducati engine). I mention this because, had I been deciding what kind of bike to buy that I'd want to keep for years and years when I bought the 250, I would not have even considered the bikes I'm now shopping for. However, I've also had the 250 plenty of places where it worked better than a sport-looking bike would be expected to, from gravel logging roads to the occasional Class IV Vermont rd, as well as plenty of miles in the twisties and a few visits to the track.

Of course, I do also want a real sportbike (the current Aprilla Factory model would do nicely), a 250- or 400-cc dualsport for real offroad riding, and a supermoto bike for riding around town. But since I can only own one bike right now, the adventure-touring rig takes precedence....something I wouldn't have guessed two years ago when I bought the 250.

[anotherVTskibum]

Don't buy a bike to "learn" on, it's a waste of money and you'll be bored in 3 months. Buy what you want right now, then learn on it.

With street bikes, too, you can usually buy a "learner" bike, ride it for a season, and turn it around the next spring for what you paid for it (or damn close), assuming you found a decent deal when you originally bought it.

[mtnbiker/boarder]

go big or bag it is what i always say...learn on a dirtbike then move to street bikes....HIGH ANXIETY...THAT BIKE IS WAY TO CLEAN AND SMOOTH ..YOU EVER THRASH THAT THING....GET A SET OF EXTRA RIMS AND DIRT TIRES AND LETS RIDE IN VT...I HAVE LOTS OF FUN PLACES TO RIP IT UP....

[nicolaib211v]

I'd actually recommend something relatively small and cheap—an EX250 or 500, maybe a KLR250 if you want more dirt ability come to mind—so that you can figure out how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. Bikes are like skis, no one setup does everything well, and if you really get into it, you'll want a quiver. The EX250 (and I would expect the 500 as well) will both do almost anything, albeit not necessarily well; are cheap to buy, run, maintain, and crash; and are common enough that parts availability (and interchangeability) is good. Better yet, buy one that's already scuffed, and you don't have to freak out when you drop it in the driveway or in the parking lot. After riding a little bike for a year or two, you should have a good idea of (a) how much riding you can expect to do and (b) what kind(s) of bike you want.

If you already know what kind of bike you want—i.e. street, sport, sport-touring, dual-sport, trail bike that you can ride on the street when necessary, etc—then that's a different question, but we'd need to know what kind of riding you expect to do. Knowing how big you are might help, too—with my 29" inseam, there are a lot of bikes that would have been entirely sucky to learn on due to lack of ground-reaching ability. That's something you can overcome, but it would add substantially to the learning curve when you get started.

Personally, I've put a bunch of miles on my EX250 over the past two summers and come to the conclusion that I want a bigger adventure-touring bike (I want an R1200GS, but I don't have that kind of budget, so I'm looking for something like a Tiger, 1100GS, or an exceptionally inexpensive 1150GS...or maybe a Cagiva Gran Canyon if I can get over my fear of working on a Ducati engine). I mention this because, had I been deciding what kind of bike to buy that I'd want to keep for years and years when I bought the 250, I would not have even considered the bikes I'm now shopping for. However, I've also had the 250 plenty of places where it worked better than a sport-looking bike would be expected to, from gravel logging roads to the occasional Class IV Vermont rd, as well as plenty of miles in the twisties and a few visits to the track.

Of course, I do also want a real sportbike (the current Aprilla Factory model would do nicely), a 250- or 400-cc dualsport for real offroad riding, and a supermoto bike for riding around town. But since I can only own one bike right now, the adventure-touring rig takes precedence....something I wouldn't have guessed two years ago when I bought the 250.

^ What he said...

I've been riding/racing for 10+ years and please don't go buy a 600cc (or more) supersport as your first bike. It's literally the dumbest thing you can do. Inevitably you're going to scare yourself on it and if that happens too soon or too badly, you may never get on it again.
That being said, learn in the dirt. My first bike was a Suzuki DR250 and it was perfect. I could ride it on the street, it'd do 65 fairly comfortably, and when I wanted to get on the trail it was light and had enough grunt to do that too. That bike let me experiement with every aspect of motorcycling and I got to see what I liked to do best. It didn't do any one thing exceptionally well, but it did do everything. The best part is that they keep their value very well... I had it for 2 years and I lost $200 when I sold it.
Whatever you get, just put in some seat time. You'll feel more comfortable and be more prepared for that bigger bike when you do get it, and in the end, you'll be a better rider for it.

[nicolaib211v]

Anyone here headed to the Miller WSBK round memorial day weekend??

[milton]

i think i've hit my midlife crisis, so its time to do something stupid, like get a bike. currently looking into rider safety courses. can anyone recommend any good beginner/intermediate bikes? I have ridden before (in India) but the bikes there were tiny compared to here (350 - 500 cc was considered BIG). I'd like something that i could be comfortable with and enjoy for the next year or two, before moving onto something i can post about on this thread! Advice?

Do it. Look for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) courses in your state, most likely on your state's DMV site. If you already have basic riding skills, get your permit and take the experienced rider course with license waiver. Usually you can use one of their bikes if you want, but I'd recommend doing it on whatever bike you decide to get.

anotherVTskibum....are you on nestreetriders.com?

[mtnbiker/boarder]

NOMAD79..i am selling a drz400 with just over 4500 miles..jetted, protaper bars and a few more goodies .. but i live in pa....

[jgb@etree]

While this should technically be in Gear Swap, I figured it would get the right exposure in this thread.

I recently lost another friend to a clueless cage driver & now that we've got a baby my wife is making me get rid of my bike....

FS: 2008 GSXR 1000
LOC: SW CT
4,200mi

Never down. Ridden like it's been stolen, but have personally performed all maintenance and can assure you that it's is *perfect* condition. Runs awesome and has a single scratch on the rear fairing that only I can see. I'm 95% certain the that scratch will be gone with a compound & wax job. Even so, you can only see it if the light is right & you know where to look. I may even get around to compounding & waxing before selling.

Mods:
Akrapovik exhaust
HealTech TRE
Ohlins Steering dampener
SS Braided brake lines
Edit: Forgot to list the PowerCommander III (USB) loaded up with 3 custom maps. 1 for fuel economy (pump gas), 1 for raw performance/speed (pump gas) and 1 for performance/speed (race fuel).

$7750

Will throw in an Arai Corsair V (Edwards replica in Blue) size L with both clear & iridium shields as well as a Chatterbox

Local pickup (Southwest CT), serious buyers with cash only

PM for details & pics

SOLD!

[Nomad79]

Thanks for the advice, I will look into the EX250 and the KLR 250, but I was honestly thinking more about street bikes (naked) than dirt. not sure how much off roading i am going to do. i read an article that highly recommended the buell blast. What do you guys think of that? i am not sure how old the article was, but it may have been written a few years ago, when the buell blast was smaller. there are a couple of cheap ones available in my area as well.

[milton]

Thanks for the advice, I will look into the EX250 and the KLR 250, but I was honestly thinking more about street bikes (naked) than dirt. not sure how much off roading i am going to do. i read an article that highly recommended the buell blast. What do you guys think of that? i am not sure how old the article was, but it may have been written a few years ago, when the buell blast was smaller. there are a couple of cheap ones available in my area as well.

Harley shutdown Buell last year. Still plenty of parts and support out there for them, just an fyi.

[Nomad79]

yea...i read about that while ogling at the bikes on display in this thread. figured it would be fine. also, as an additional plus, the local harley dealership has a rider safety course where you learn on the buell blast, which could be my two day test drive.