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5 Common Wear and Tear Items on Motorcycles
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jcwhiteParticipant
Awww, come on Madjak, look at this guy: The quality of the filming is pretty poor, but it’s worth a look. He shows you the outfit on his bike at around 2:00.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drOAFm_bYDw
He may be an absolute nutbar, but it’s pretty cool. I’ve read a bunch of his postings on the cbr125 site, and he drops the bike pretty regularly when he’s in that much snow, but it doesn’t really matter (because it lands on snow). Not sure how well that would work with a full size sporty. I also really enjoy the way he avoids roads and takes pedestrian paths as much as possible.
jcwhiteParticipantStill riding it, but I’m in the market for a new one. That’s 20 months, with no off-season, because I commute year-round. It’s also a depressingly small 12k kms. I need more big road trips in my life.
jcwhiteParticipantCurious. That’s about what I was expecting, but this board is probably friendlier to small bikes than many forums, given who we have around.
I was interested because I ride a CBR125R, and I’ve heard a lot of people say that it can’t be highway capable. While I certainly wouldn’t take it on a six line interstate (I live on Vancouver Island, we don’t have those . . .), I’ve had it on four lane highways with logging trucks before. I won’t pretend it was a joyride, and I won’t pretend I could pass someone in 2 seconds at those speeds, but it was just fine and it got me home safely. I’ve periodically had debates about passing at 120+kph (which I would be effectively unable to do), I contend that you really don’t need to.
I’ve never seen a situation on a road that you simply must get in front of on a highway (any idiot will blow past you if you let them), and at parking lot/intersection speeds the little bike still has plenty of juice. I usually (even when driving a car) prefer to drop behind a dangerous driver than race in front, so that I’m not forced to stay in front. That’s just my opinion though, and I’ve been wrong before.
January 6, 2011 at 4:23 am in reply to: One possible tactic for cars making a left turn toward you #29004jcwhiteParticipantHUGE props to Eon for referencing his sources! I just finished reading the paper, and could form my own, reasonably informed opinion, because I knew where to find the information he used. This is the first time I’ve seen someone reference in an online chat forum, and it restores my faith in humanity. Thanks Eon.
Just wanted to point that out. It’s a pet peeve of mine. Sorry, getting back to motorcycle safety discussions now.
jcwhiteParticipantIs kawi marketing the new 400R in the states? I’m in Canada, and it’s the one that I’m far and away the most excited about – it’s more or less a 650R with a smaller, parallel twin engine, EFI, and it fits nicely into the cheapest insurance bracket (which is scaled by CCs). Take a look at it:
http://www.kawasaki.ca/model/ninja-400r:1256I know you folks have less of a market for smaller bikes, but I would have thought they’d make that available to the south.
jcwhiteParticipantThey’re great. I’ve got one just like that (well, 2007), and I regularly have people tell me they love the look of my bike – I enjoy it when their jaws hit the floor after I tell them it’s just a 125.
And then I take full advantage of its very respectable acceleration to stop them punching me when I tell them how much I pay for gas.
jcwhiteParticipantI’m riding a CBR125, and while I don’t pass too many people that are going over 110km/h, it does just fine. I can cruise comfortably at 100 – I’m a bit smaller than you, but if you stay off highways you shouldn’t have to worry. Sure, if you find a steep hill you may have to gear down, but you don’t lose much, if any, speed (if you use the gears right). The only time I really feel the lack of power is trying to accelerate from highway speed to passing speed – as long as you’re under 80km/h I can keep up with just about anyone.
Something to consider: If you’re riding around a reasonalbe city in Venezuela, I’m assuming the traffic is a nightmare, and traffic laws are mostly suggestions. In a situation like that, having a lighter bike that you can throw around easily is great. If you end up slightly off balance (because some dog ran out or whatever), you can catch the bike and hold it upright. With a larger bike, if it gets off balance it’s likely going down (and I’ll guess that you don’t want to be in the middle of one of those streets with a downed bike).
Mine is a perfect city bike, I just don’t go on road trips over 500km (I’ve done 450 before). Also, my friends hate me when I complain that it took almost $7CAN to fill up my tank.
jcwhiteParticipantTrialsRider, are you wearing Minnetonka’s regular high-topped moccasins, or a more protective intended-for-motorcycles style? If b), could you link a site that mentions them or sells them? All I’m finding when I google around is fashion-weight leather that I’m not sure I’d trust against asphalt. (If you are just wearing the fashion-weight ones, why? You seem a pretty safety conscious sort of person)
I’ve been wearing the male Tourmaster Solution Waterproofs for a year and they’re still doing fine. I wear them all day, because I don’t like to bring another pair of shoes to campus, and with an aftermarket insole they’re quite comfortable. Most people don’t recognize them as bike boots (they just see black semi-dress shoes), but another rider will periodically see the shifter pad and strike up conversation.
jcwhiteParticipantMuahaha.
2007 CBR125. My last tank of gas was 76 mpg, and that’s pretty bad for me. 95% city riding, accelerating hard out of stops. 5% windy fun bits, revving high.
Best tank ever: 100% safe, gentle highway riding (was shortly after getting my full bike license, so I was riding really easy): 126 mpg. I did the math twice.
jcwhiteParticipantI got mine lightly used (under 1000kms, never dropped. it’s an 07 that I got in the summer of 09). I’ve heard of a couple people being very happy with Honda’s financing/gear deal, but it wasn’t cost effective for me to get a new one (and I didn’t want any of the gear they had available). I’ll let someone else take the sticker hit any day, I’m not desperate to have the newest and best.
jcwhiteParticipantI’ve been riding a CBR125 for almost 10 000km now, through all manner of conditions (everything short of snow, but including a few patches of ice). I’ve never seen Yamaha’s 125 outside of a computer screen, so I can’t really compare the two honestly, but I love my CBR.
The comments in the video about lacking top end and struggling up hills have some truth: I won’t pass anybody once they’re going over 100km/h because I don’t have the rapid acceleration at that speed, but I’ve been up to 140km/h. I’m not sure you’re going to get much more than that from most affordable 125s. If I’m not in the power band already, I’ll usually downshift to go up hills between 6k and 9k rpm. Sure it’s a small engine, but it’s a small bike too, so it does OK. It’s worth noting that I only weigh 140lbs, I have heard of bigger guys having some issues and not really using 6th gear.
The Yamaha looks like it has a pretty sporty riding position. I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but one thing that I’ve noticed on my bike (that I like) is that I can easily sit up in a very comfortable standard position for commuting, and yet there’s enough length to the seat that I can also slide my butt back a bit and get into a pretty good tuck if I want to push it through a bendy stretch.
Regarding handling, I’ve had no complaints at all. For city riding, it’s great fun to have a bike that weighs so little, because I can nip into any little space if I have to, and it flicks so quickly into a swerve if I have to. It would be nice at times to have a bit more juice, but as far as I know you wouldn’t get that from the YZF, and that’s never actually been a problem.
Regarding insurance, I pay about $60CAN a month for a reasonable coverage. If I wanted to have big-time insurance for every nick and scrape I would have been paying half the bike’s value every year. I didn’t compare that to any other little bikes, because I didn’t have the option of purchasing them.
One thing that doesn’t affect handling at all, but that I like, is that the CBR has a full catalytic converter in the exhaust system. I probably wouldn’t ride a 2-stroke because I’d rather not be burning more oil than I have to, and the CBR is crazy better than any emission standards that I’ve seen (I think. I haven’t done too much research on that.)
Hope it helps, and good luck
(Oh, and http://www.cbr125r.ca is a canada-wide forum with some good folks on it. They may have found a way to try the yamaha, although it doesn’t seem to be available here. There’s also some fun stuff about riding through 6 inches of snow, with studded dirt bike tires).
jcwhiteParticipantTen cents on the high beams debate: I used to ride with my high-beams on, since I had read that it increased visibility, and made sense to me. I stopped after I had someone flash me (the “you’re being a jerk” signal) with their high beams while I was manoeuvreing in traffic – I was pulling around a slow right-turning vehicle when I was momentarily blinded by the oncoming car (and there was a popular cross-walk right in front of me, and another car turning right off the side street). After that little stunt I decided it wasn’t worth it.
February 3, 2010 at 1:41 am in reply to: Whats the best wayto come to a stop at an intersection/stop sign? #24361jcwhiteParticipantI’m not going to speak to using engine braking vs front brake vs rear brake vs both (I use both brakes and my engine, but I’m curious as to what people think about that part of it). One thing to think about though – if you’re stopped and in neutral, if you see something coming up behind you that you don’t like, you can’t go anywhere. If you’re in gear, you can respond and get yourself out of the way – off to the side or around the corner. Sure, it’s only another half second, but that counts on the road. I’m not sure if that’s in the US MSF course, but it was in my safety course in BC, and it sure seems logical to me.
Also, when you’re learning, be careful with the front brake (as I’m sure you know). Depending on the bike, it can potentially be scary-fast braking.
jcwhiteParticipanthmmm, those are mighty cheaper than a lot of others. How small a bike will those fit? I ride a CBR125, and have heard of a couple of people having trouble with the rear stand not accommodating such a thin wheel (100/80 rear tire).
jcwhiteParticipantThat’s impressive, to say the least.
I wonder how many hours those guys have logged to get that far, because I doubt I’ve ever met someone face to face who could do that stuff clean.
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