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Review of the CFMoto Glory
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eonParticipant
Munch is your best bet on getting an answer to a mechanical question on this forum.
eonParticipantWhich course depends on you and what experience you have before the class. The first level is the Basic Riders Class and is suitable for people who have never ridden before. It spends some time mastering basic skills such as finding the biting point in the clutch, walking the bike around (with and without power). It also spends some time in the classroom watching training videos. The next level up is pretty much the same class but without the clutch control or videos. The actual riding exercises are the same with very few exceptions.
So if you spend the next 3 months riding around your land then you might find the clutch control part boring but maybe the videos would be helpful? Personally I had never sat on a bike before so the basic class was perfect for me, though the classroom portion was boring. I had read Proficient Motorcycling before the class which covers the necessary street smarts needed to survive in much more detail than the basic MSF class. You can even download the BRC booklet and read that on your own.
Both classes typically let you take a test at the end for your endorsement but that varies from state to state so you might want to check with your local class what the rules are. And most insurance companies allegedly give a discount for those who have taken the training but I’m not sure how much that is.
Other considerations might be availability. In my location the BRC is offered frequently but the other class less so. Oh, and I’m not exactly sure what the next class is called these days. When I took it it was the Experienced Riders Class (ERC) but I thought it had been renamed Intermediate Riders Class but my local training company is still using the old name?
If you are riding during the next 3 months then there are plenty of materials out there to help you along.
eonParticipant62 acres? Man, put some knobbies on there and we’ll all come visit!
Sounds like you did your research before buying so good luck to you. And as Madjak says, lookup your nearest training class and sign up. I’m amazed at the number of folks who have been riding for years who don’t take any classes and get stuck at the same basic level. Not only has training made me a better rider than a lot of these people, it makes me safer and increases my enjoyment level.eonParticipantThe zip broke on my Tourmaster Flex pants after a year but they were subjected to undue pressure (hey, they were a small!)
I’ve had Rev’IT pants for 12 months and a jacket for 18 months and had no problems. The jacket gets worn about 6 days a week, pants maybe 1 or 2. I also use the leg zippers each time I wear the pants as well as the zipping them to the jacket. The webbikeworld guys make a big deal about zips on jackets/pants and always point out when a company uses something like YKK. If Rev’IT is not your thing I’m sure there are other brands out there who use quality zips.
eonParticipantWas at the Seattle show on Friday night, don’t remember seeing a Guzzi section which is a shame though we do have a dealer in town where I can go drool. I did like the look of the Honda VFR and of course pretty much every Ducatti. My cruiser friends were impressed by the new V-Star line which even I could tell looked pretty nice. The CBR 250 was on show but not the 125s, not surprisingly. Was bummed though that the specific gear I wanted to go see was not there so I managed to get out without spending anything.
eonParticipantMaybe I’m just getting old but I find it hard to get excited about the looks of a lot of bikes these days. Just back from the Motorcycle show and a lot of the old bikes seem to have clean and elegant lines. The newer ones just seem to have plastic stuck on to differentiate from last years model or some god awful headlamp configuration.
eonParticipantSeems like just yesterday I was posting this for another member but I cannot find the thread. Oh well, here goes again.
Eternal05 on this site is 6’3″ (think I got it right this time!) and rides a Ninja 250. He bought a kit for around $120 that allows you to move the position of the pegs. He now has 3 bikes, one of which is a GSXR-600 that he races around a racetrack. Speaks volumes I think that he kept the ninja even though he races around at 160mph on a GSXR. His other bike is a Suzuki DRZ400S which he absolutely loves. This is a supermoto style bike.
Also, one other point he brought up is it’s not so much the seat height that is important but the seat to pegs distance. Some taller bikes can still feel cramped so be sure to butt test any potential purchase.
eonParticipantGlad to hear from you again. Yeah, though we can ride all winter in this part of the country the real fun days are over for a while. Roads are too cold, wet, sandy to have too much fun. Still, beats having to hibernate for 4 months like a lot of folks do.
You need to get out more and enjoy those great Oregon roads. I plan on getting down there more often next year. I still haven’t ridden around the Gorge yet. I did briefly hit the NW portion as I headed down to Cannon Beach one weekend. That Highway 47 was a lot of fun as was the road into Astoria. Very very bumpy but was still a lot of fun.
Oregon and BC, that’s my plan for next year!
eonParticipantConventional wisdom says it’s better to buy over the winter months when dealers are not able to sell as easily when it’s warm and sunny out. I’ve never put this to the test but my opinion is that these seasonal variations are overshadowed by the boom/bust of the economy. Many dealers still have brand new 2009 bikes in stock sitting alongside 2010 and maybe even 2011 bikes. Now is a good time to buy regardless of holidays, even if you are looking at used.
eonParticipantI would love to see what this guy could do with a bike with an engine!
Great riding and a very well made videoeonParticipantI wouldn’t beat yourself up over it, you are still learning and making mistakes and so far they have been minor (though I can’t remember your other accident). We learn from our mistakes and the fact you are down on yourself I see as a good thing. It means you are taking responsibility for what happened rather than trying to blame the car, the road, karma or whatever.
Personally I have had a 20 mph low side, a standing still drop, a drop when practicing u-turns and countless near drops. All have gone into the experience bank to make sure they don’t happen again (or at least try to not happen again). Have to say at 1000 miles and 4 months you are still very much a rookie. If anything you might be over estimating your ability, but that’s hard to gauge. There is SO much to learn and it takes time and miles under your belt before it becomes second nature. I’ve gone from 12k to 24k miles this year and took an advanced riding class (ie. beyond what MSF teaches) and I am 10x the better rider now than I was this time last year.
So stick with it, it only gets better.
eonParticipantLOL…I do want to try one of those little 200lb bikes you bounce around concrete blocks on, looks like a lot of fun.
If you do a lot of your own work then I can see how a scooter would be a pain. Apart from the automatic you need to take a lot of plastic off to do some basic things, and on my scoot at least its like a complicated jigsaw puzzle with tiny little screws that never seem to quite go back in the way they come out.
And I guess I should clarify one aspect of the automatic belt drive on my scooter that I loathe. Once you have some miles on it develops a ‘grundle’ at low speeds (say <10mph). Any less than that and the clutch is not fully gripping the belt (or something, I have zero mechanical knowledge). Basically it is slipping at low revs which makes a nice grundle sound as you sort of lurch down the road. I think this is a side effect of cheap parts and some folks have upgraded to HIT clutches and report that fixes the issue. Not sure if this is common to all scooters or if it's Piaggio being cheap on the parts.
eonParticipantNo offense taken but not surprisingly I have a different take on things. First off, I obviously have a different background than TR. If I had his years of experience riding before I got on a scooter I might say exactly the same things. But I don’t and a big scooter was my first and still only ride. To me there are good and bad things to say about them. If you are aware of them before you buy then I see no reason why you should regret buying one, but I would say that about any bike.
First off the bad. They are heavy. My 500cc MP3 comes in somewhere around the 540lbs mark. I don’t know why a scooter seems to be heavier than a comparable motorcycle but it does seem to be the case. Just something to be aware of.
Second, they are expensive. Again I don’t know why but again they seem to be much more expensive than a comparable motorcycle. This was the one factor that almost prevented me from buying. If you buy a scooter brand new you are going to take a big hit in the wallet when the time comes to sell it on.
Third, it aint no sportbike. This seems pretty obvious but a ‘big’ scooter engine size is still on the lower end of motorcycle engines. With all that extra weight it lugs around don’t expect to be burning off other bikes at the lights. Still, I’ve never had a problem dusting off cars at the lights.Positives? Major one is storage space. Every scooter comes with a ton of space under the seat (somewhere around 40 liters is common). I’ve added a top box to mine and with a bag in the step through area I can carry a lot of groceries. And this is important to me as I don’t have any other means of transport. A lot of motorcyclists dismiss scooters as toys but IMO it is the exact opposite. My scooter is a workhorse and gets treated as such. It would be much harder to live with just a bike as a sole means of transport. To come close it would need to have top and side bags to match my storage capacity.
Second, protection from the elements. With just about every scooter out there your legs are shielded from the wind and rain. Again, if your bike only sees sunny days this might not be an issue but for me it is a major plus. I went on a ride recently with a V-Strom rider and we got caught in a downpour on a muddy road. Her legs and boots were drenched and covered in mud while it looked like I stepped off the showroom floor. Guess who was wishing they had a scooter that day
Third, they are belt driven. You might lose some power that way but at least you don’t have to clean it every 500 miles.I guess I would summarize them as being immensely practical while being almost as much fun as a regular motorcycle. If you only ever plan on riding on nice days then a Ninja 250 or small cruiser would probably be a better choice. If it has to double up as a means of transport then at least consider one. There are plenty of choices out there from my MP3, to the Burgman to the very sexy T-Max.
To answer some of TR’s points:
Automatic: There is an argument for brand new riders getting an automatic as it allows their limited attention to be focused on the road and not which gear I am in. This is not something I am going to argue one way or the other but I have read more than one review recently of automatic motorcycles. Even hard nosed moto journalists are asking what is the advantage of manual transmissions (though I think those bikes have more sophisticated automatic transmissions than scooters)Visibility: I have no idea why you felt less visible and more vulnerable on a scooter than a motorcycle?
Engine Braking: I actually have almost no engine braking and I thought that was common on scooters. Could be wrong but it is something I hate about my scoot.
Debris: Not sure what you are saying here. Are you recommending popping a wheelie over any debris or potholes you encounter? That might work for you trials guys but the rest of us will swerve around it. And I can swerve just as effectively as a bike.
And lastly (promise, had no intention of writing War and Peace here), for new riders the single most determining factor of how much fun or how fast you can go is you, the rider. I’ve only been riding 2 years but take it pretty seriously and have taken as many training classes as I can. I ride with some cruiser folks on 1600cc bikes who have years more experience than I have but they cannot keep up with me in the twisties. I can shift my butt over easier than they can. I have more ground clearance than they do. I can stand up and they cannot. I love gravel roads and they hate them.
I can see why experienced riders would dislike scooters (unsprung weight and all that), but for new riders they will not be able to tell the difference. After 2 years and 24k miles I am ready to try something new. Once I have a regular bike I will be able to make a more effective comparison, and I might become a hater
eonParticipant“Perhaps we should import police officers from the UK? Based on eons description it seems they are more professional.”
Well I don’t know if I would go that far, there are plenty of idiots in the UK police as well. It’s just that they are held accountable by the public much more than they are here. I cannot explain why they get away with the shit they do here. Videos like the one above are not uncommon, there were two or three similar stories in the news here in quick succession. Huge public outcry but nothing seems to change. As an outsider it’s something that truly baffles me.
eonParticipantTsk tsk, he put a foot down at 1:57.
Seriously impressive stuff. I grew up watching a trials show on tv when I was a kid and it was compulsory viewing for all boys. Sadly I could try to emulate them on my bicycle, no rich parents for me. Here is a snippet of that show, it looks seriously lame after watching your guy. -
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