[WeaponZero]

Personally I tend to disagree. Getting on a road where you can open it up to about 80-85mph and just leave it there, whether its an interstate, a turnpike, or whatever, is an absolute blast. It’s both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time for me.

[WeaponZero]

the GSX650F is too new to the market to be able to say whether its a “good” bike or not . . its gotten excellent reviews tho, and the katana (the bike it replaced) was an excellent bike as long as you knew what it was before you bought it and didnt have any beliefs that it could hang with a 600 supersport

[WeaponZero]

Bear in mind Budd that the ninja 250 is not a normal 250. Its way faster and way quicker than other 250s, and it should be regarded as an exception to all the generalizations people say regarding 250s. What you say about what your bike can do is not a statement about 250s in general. It is light years beyond the performance of, say, a Rebel/Nighthawk 250, GZ250, V-Star 250, etc

[WeaponZero]

And where do you get the idea that “more power when needed” translates to wanting to do wheelies or impromptu roadracing? Also, I don’t know what kind of fantasy land you live in where traffic actually moved at the speed limit, but if you’re pushing your bike to do 80, then it has no business being on the highways. As I said above, oftentimes I have to do 90 just to keep up with the pace of traffic on some of the highways here, despite the speed limit being 65. Oh, and there’s Bigelow Blvd; a street that, despite having no intersections for miles, has a 35mph speed limit. Traffic moves at 65-70 on that street, and it is a part of my morning commute.

No, I would never recommend a bike to anyone that has to be pushed to its limits to keep up with the flow of highway traffic. And since the traffic in my area can be expected to be moving at up to 90mph, that means the bike must be able to comfortably cruise at 90mph.

[WeaponZero]

The speed limit isn’t the speed traffic travels at. I have seldom seen a road where traffic moves at less than 10mph over the speed limit, both in Florida and up here in Pittsburgh.

[WeaponZero]

I think that the reason 150cc bikes aren’t available in the US is because in the US to get anywhere you usually have to get on hgihways, and engines that small just aren’t comfortable at highway speeds. They top out at what, 70-80mph? On many highways I’ve seen, traffic can be moving at up to 90mph.

[WeaponZero]

It really is a shame because I’ve been a fan of the Ghost Rider comics for years, since the early ’90s in fact. When I heard they cast Nick Cage as Johnny Blaze I knew right then and there it was going to be horrible. I do think Christian Slater would have been a good choice. They sure did butcher his origin story tho.

[WeaponZero]

Amoryl: the light bikes felt like there was nothing beneath me. I’m a pretty big guy and I think I weighed more than the bike I was on, which is a bad thing. It just felt like I wasn’t riding something that was designed to be able to support my size and weight.

[WeaponZero]

Upshift refers to higher gear, not higher foot movement

[WeaponZero]

I didn’t switch it. I bought it from a guy who set it that way because he also had a track bike and track bikes are required to be reverse pattern, so he modified his street bikes for reverse pattern since it’s easier to only use one. He showed it to me both ways and let me try it both ways. Reverse pattern felt more natural.

[WeaponZero]

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

[WeaponZero]

Our instructor was a cool guy. Name was Bernie Hauger (pronounced Hogger) and he insisted everyone call him by his last name. He rode a 1982 Honda CB900F with saddlebags and a touring windscreen. He would jokingly refer to the 2 girls who brought along their automatic transmission scooters as “cheaters” because half the exercises didn’t apply to them, but he still made them go along anyway. It was funny because their automatic transmission scooters couldn’t slow down to the required speed for the “clutch control lane” exercise.

Also, being on those bikes really showed me how much I rely on torque to carry me through, and those bikes just didn’t have it even at those low speeds.

[WeaponZero]

What would being in first gear have gotten me there? Pulling into a busy intersection and getting hit from the left or the right?

[WeaponZero]

What I meant was that a person not wearing a seatbelt could never be the cause of the accident, thus not presenting a danger to other vehicles on the road, while a rider not wearing a helmet could be the cause of an accident, endangering others on the road.

If the law were to start worrying about things like remorse and how it affects the family, then they might as well ban motorcycles, bungee jumping, skydiving, or eating fattening foods, because those can be a lot more hazardous than making the morning commute without your seatbelt on.

My point of view in this matter comes from where the law should be looking: immediate danger to other motorists.

[WeaponZero]

I grew up in a state where the helmet law was lifted before I became old enough to even get a driver’s license (Florida), and when I moved away from there, I came to a state (Pennsylvania) also with no helmet law. Well, there is one, but it’s weird:

If you only have a motorcycle learner’s permit, or have had your Class M license for less than a year, then you are required to wear a helmet. If your bike only has liability insurance (bare minimum legally), you are required to wear a helmet. Otherwise, no legal requirement.

I don’t believe in seatbelt laws because when you choose not to wear a seatbelt the only person you’re endangering is yourself. Helmets are a different story. While riding I have been hit by debris that hit my helmet hard enough to make a very loud sound. If I wear not wearing a helmet, that debris would have hit my head and it likely would have hurt a lot and I would have lost control of the bike. For that reason and that reason alone I do believe in helmet laws, despite never having lived in a state that had one.

[Author]

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