Motorcycles?

[Bill]

Speaking of motorcycles did a pretty chilly 206mi ride Saturday, gray and overcast with temps in the mid-30's, but still fun thanks to Mr Gerbings. Found a new to me dirt road and some nice lakeside cottages. Sorry about the blurry pictures, looks like the camera on my iPhone XR is fubar. Time to crack it open and replace the camera.

 

[steingar]

True, I had never seen the CB until you showed yours. Is it based loosely on the CBR engine?

Yup. Motor and chassis are both based on an older Fireblade. Mine was actually designed and manufactured by Honda of Italy in Milan. My little Italian Honda. Italian styling and Honda durability.

 

[schmookeeg]

Anyone have time with the honda DCT transmission? I've been toying with the idea of one of those, but I don't hear much about them. I won't miss getting my fat foot caught on the shifter peg

 

[Bill]

Anyone have time with the honda DCT transmission? I've been toying with the idea of one of those, but I don't hear much about them. I won't miss getting my fat foot caught on the shifter peg

What I'm hearing on the Goldwing with DCT is it's quite fabulous, and even diehard moto journos think it works really well. I haven't test ridden one yet, I don't want to be seduced. I had a '98 1500 that I loved, and do want another Goldwing again someday. Strange thing to jones for, but what can I say?

 

[Ted]

What I'm hearing on the Goldwing with DCT is it's quite fabulous, and even diehard moto journos think it works really well. I haven't test ridden one yet, I don't want to be seduced. I had a '98 1500 that I loved, and do want another Goldwing again someday. Strange thing to jones for, but what can I say?

I actually had thought about buying a GL1800. My MSF instructor had one, he let me ride it once and I did find it very comfortable, nice to ride, and very good handling. I like my Harley and it's what I want to keep, but the Goldwings are nice bikes, no doubt about it.

 

[Bill]

I actually had thought about buying a GL1800. My MSF instructor had one, he let me ride it once and I did find it very comfortable, nice to ride, and very good handling. I like my Harley and it's what I want to keep, but the Goldwings are nice bikes, no doubt about it.

I was planning on waiting another year or two, but for 2021 Honda is offering an all black Goldwing, and it pushes all my buttons. I think it looks totally bad ass, and might have to buy early as the colors change every year and this combo might not be available later.

 

[mondtster]

Anyone have time with the honda DCT transmission? I've been toying with the idea of one of those, but I don't hear much about them. I won't miss getting my fat foot caught on the shifter peg

My dad looked at buying a Honda with the DCT and did a fair amount of research on them looking for problems. He didn’t find much negative about them when searching. In the end, he ended up buying a leftover model with a manual transmission but he was really hoping to get the DCT. The price difference pushed him into the leftover.

 

[schmookeeg]

What I'm hearing on the Goldwing with DCT is it's quite fabulous, and even diehard moto journos think it works really well. I haven't test ridden one yet, I don't want to be seduced. I had a '98 1500 that I loved, and do want another Goldwing again someday. Strange thing to jones for, but what can I say?

I've owned more scooters than motorcycles, although a fair number of each -- and I think I just don't like shifting motorcycles. It's an extra set of actions I'd rather not fuss with. I'm not such a natural rider, so I prefer all of the brain wattage possible be focused on not dying.

I like manuals in cars.

I can't explain the jones, but the DCT definitely speaks to my deeps. I remember seeing some sort of automatic honda motorcycle at the big offroad moto store in San Bernardino (Chapparal?) like 15 or 20 years ago.. a hideous thing with some real goofball fairing, can't recall what it was. It sat unloved on their showroom floor for months, and I came close to making them an offer a few times.

...surprised the auto isn't a source of fire and pitchforks actually.

 

[steingar]

I rode a DCT Wing at a demo. Functioned as advertised, with a proviso. I rode a GL1100 from the 80's. I thought a Gl1800 would be loads faster, since there's lots more power and really not that much more weight. I found the thing gutless. I assume the DCT was neutering that 1800cc engine just like automatics turn good little cars into dogs. Important proviso, I haven't ridden the non-DCT Wing for comparison. I'll never ride a DCT anything and I'll always drive a manual. Manual gives you energy control an automatic just can't match.

 

[mondtster]

...surprised the auto isn't a source of fire and pitchforks actually.

Consider the bike it is on. Also, don't forget that a dual clutch transmission is more akin to a manual than what is commonly viewed as an automatic.

The automated manuals have created a lot of ire in car circles so perhaps it will just take time and manufacturers applying the DCT to all their models for the anger to follow in the motorcycle community.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Still want to take one of these for a spin:

 

[Ted]

Consider the bike it is on. Also, don't forget that a dual clutch transmission is more akin to a manual than what is commonly viewed as an automatic.

The automated manuals have created a lot of ire in car circles so perhaps it will just take time and manufacturers applying the DCT to all their models for the anger to follow in the motorcycle community.

If I can’t push the clutch in by foot or hand, it’s an automatic.

 

[Oldmanb777]

I rode the DCT Africa Twinn before buying my manual. I had one for much of a day. Only took 10 minutes after that ride on a manual to make the decision. I have also ridden the DCT Wing. So in short its great, if you like stab and steer. It's a very good automatic tranny. If I rode in traffic going to and from work, I would have bought the Twinn with the DCT. If you want fun, you drive a manual tranny, its that simple. They are truly great and work very well. There has been a few sensor issues and such, but doesn't seem like many. So what do you want to do with it? Just like a recluse clutch, it takes away from the fun, (for me). I'm sure I can do some difficult trails better with it than the manual, but I'll still stick with the manual. some things are just more fun to do yourself. Like working a clutch and shifting. Sure a coupled AP can do a great ILS, but its more fun to do it yourself.

 

[FastEddieB]

I’m sure a lot of east coast bikers have ridden the Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC. Beautiful ride if you haven’t, worthy of a biker’s bucket list, I think.

Anyway, Karen and I went sightseeing in the Sky Arrow today, and I thought I’d share what the highest portion, peaking at 5,390’, looks like from the air in the snow!

 

[Bill]

I’m sure a lot of east coast bikers have ridden the Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains, TN to Robbinsville, NC. Beautiful ride if you haven’t, worthy of a biker’s bucket list, I think.

Anyway, Karen and I went sightseeing in the Sky Arrow today, and I thought I’d share what the highest portion, peaking at 5,390’, looks like from the air in the snow!

I've been across there more times than I can count. Beautiful shots!

 

[a572mike]

When I was 10, my father got me a motorcycle because I didn't ask for a horse. That first motorcycle was a used 1976 Kawasaki KM100.

Bikes I've owned:

1976 Kawasaki KM100
1978 Yamaha DT175
1986 Honda TLR200
1977 Kawasaki KZ400
2002 BMW R1150R (the yellow one)
2003 BMW F650CS (bought it for a girlfriend to ride, one of the dumber things I've ever done)
1983 Honda XR500R
1993 Suzuki GSX750F

My current ride is a 2013 Suzuki V-strom 650.

 

[EvilEagle]

Great pics FastEddieB! I grew up riding the skyway and the gap - it was so much fun up there before the internet brought all the trolls. Still a beautiful ride!

 

[Bill]

Great pics FastEddieB! I grew up riding the skyway and the gap - it was so much fun up there before the internet brought all the trolls. Still a beautiful ride!

Didn't grow up riding there, but have been riding these roads for 24+ years now. Luckily, there's all sorts of other great roads in the area besides the famous ones. The gap is hardly ridable anymore, and the character has changed. It used to be home of the sportbike, but now it's almost all Harleys and cruisers. Weird.

 

[EvilEagle]

I stopped going up there regularly in the late 90's - before that it was mecca.

I don't have a sportbike anymore so I care less than I used to. I did enjoy the last few times up there on my GSA passing sport bikes and out braking them into the corners. I got some looks at the store. haha

That whole area is great for riding. I just can't believe the number of people up there - I thought it was bad when I was a kid! (I flipped burgers at Wendy's in Pigeon Forge in HS) but the times I've been back in the last 5 years - it's insane! Definitely a waaaaaay different vibe at the gap too. Some things haven't changed - I see Darryl is still up there taking pics.

 

[Bill]

I stopped going up there regularly in the late 90's - before that it was mecca.

I don't have a sportbike anymore so I care less than I used to. I did enjoy the last few times up there on my GSA passing sport bikes and out braking them into the corners. I got some looks at the store. haha

That whole area is great for riding. I just can't believe the number of people up there - I thought it was bad when I was a kid! (I flipped burgers at Wendy's in Pigeon Forge in HS) but the times I've been back in the last 5 years - it's insane! Definitely a waaaaaay different vibe at the gap too. Some things haven't changed - I see Darryl is still up there taking pics.

I look fondly back on the days when you could ride up, get a couple of clean runs thru the gap, and then coax Pete into fixing you a fresh trout sandwich, man those were good! Or when you could ride down to Suches and listen to Frank spin tales about riding or flying, those were the days. TWO is still pretty good, but the gap has totally gone commercial. I hit it maybe once a season these days, and like you, I'm no longer a on sportbike but riding a GS.

 

[EvilEagle]

Haha, Pete was such a bah-humbug old fart but you had to love him! He loved those trout! I always liked an early morning breakfast run down to that place past the lake... (back towards Knoxville - can't remember the name of it - was on the left as you went away from the gap).

Yep, good memories. The place sure has changed - it was really cool for a few years after Pete sold. The next owners did a lot to the rooms and the grounds to make it better but without going over the top on commercialism. Oh well... guess we are just old farts! haha

 

[Oldmanb777]

I was commuting home a few years ago. Hitched a ride on another carrier. The Capt and FO were talking about their horses. I love horses. But after a few hours we were talking about what we were doing on our days off. I was headed to Moab to ride my dirt bike with some friends for a few days. They both said "That dangerous, i would never do that!" So......Comparing injuries. I have been thrown, kicked, bitten, bruised ribs, etc by horses. My sister has had a broken leg, and broken ankle etc. Many friends have had broken bones and injuries. I have had some bruises and a few sore muscles from my murdercycles. But thats about it, and I have been riding since I was in 5th grade. I have many more pains from horses than my murdercycles. I pointed out that the injuries they have talked about on this leg from horses is at least as bad as my injuries from my murdercycle. Dangerous, yes, as dangerous as some other activities, like horses, probably not. besides, i made a living from risk management.

 

[RonP]

Been riding since a kid on mini bikes and when 16 cut a lot of grass to buy a brand new 1972 Yamaha AT2 (125cc Enduro) I still have. Grew into a 1972 Honda 450 K5. Always had antique cars and went down that path with motorcycles with my daily rider now a 1943 Harley (put together piece by piece) and for fun a 1965 Cushman Super Silver Eagle once owned by a Shriner for parade use. The guys in my antique motorcycle won’t fly in a small airplane because it is too dangerous. Then again most pilots don’t have nick names corresponding to their injuries such as Pins, Woody, Stitches, etc.

 

[Oldmanb777]

A few rides.

 

[Oldmanb777]

Got a bike In Edenborough on a layover. It was cold, but the new DL1000 was great.

 

[Oldmanb777]

Portugal layover,

 

[Oldmanb777]

Some others Sorry, got a little carried away there. Pilots do that sometimes.

 

[Bill]

How was Portugal for riding? I looks like a fabulous place for a moto trip!

 

[EdFred]

One of these years I'd like to get the route for Le Tour (Tour de France) and ride it on motorcycle a few days behind them.

(Yeah, I know there's always big gaps along the route and it's not continuous)

 

[Oldmanb777]

Portugal is great riding. If you have never ridden in other countries, its worth understanding the culture of driving. Here is a good one in Portugal. I had drivers irritated with me. I had no idea why. Seemed like when I came up behind a cage, they moved over a bit. I had no idea why, then they got irritated. They expected me to lane spit and go on by them. The toll road guy found it funny that I stopped to pay the toll, motorcycles don't pay the toll. The Gas pump is green for gas and black for "gasoil" Diesel. don't ask how I found that out. I got chewed out by a driver after I parked the bike. I had no idea why. But after an interpreter was found, it seemed I was taking a parking space made for a car. I was expected to park the bike on the sidewalk. The car owner was more than helpful helping me get the bike on the sidewalk. He wanted my parking spot.
If you take a tour, like Idelweis or Motoexplorers, take the day of "practice" that they offer. well worth it. They will train you on what to expect of the local drivers. In Europe they tend to ride very fast, and are very good on the slab, but not so much in the dirt. They just get less exposure to dirt trails. Some places are real restrictive as to where you ride, some places you are free to ride wherever you want. Here if its a marked trail you can ride there, if its not marked, you cannot ride there. that's not the way in much of the rest of the world. Renting a bike in China is almost impossible. Renting a motorcycle in Israel is prohibitively expensive, but a scooter is fairly easy. Say a Suzuki Bergman. And its amazing country to ride in, especially in the springtime. Too hot in the summer.

 

[genna]

Since I’d posted this poll a few things changed. 916 was off road for a while and then I sold it last year. Scooter got no use in 2020(just took it out once to run it), 749 also got very little use.

Having a toddler kind of takes much of the free time away to just go riding.

Wife and I did rent a Boulevard once to go ride to mountains for a day. I really need/want to switch to cruisers, but just not enough time to justify buying it yet. For now, rent.

 

[Ted]

I'm finding myself looking for good examples of a Triumph Daytona 675 (in black) and a Ducati 996/998 (more open to options on the color for that).

The first one for my wife, the second one for me. The Triumphs aren't super easy to find, but not super hard either. It seems as though the Ducatis are very hard to find. But I'm not in a rush for buying either one, more thinking about looking for the "right" ones to have more or less permanent fixtures in the motorcycle corner of the shop.

 

[Bill]

My motorcycle dance card for the summer is starting to get filled! Two 5 day and one 4 day trip on the books now, and am planning on at least a partial attend on the PoA invite thing in Robbinsville. @Morgan3820 , that's your trip, right?

 

[Morgan3820]

My motorcycle dance card for the summer is starting to get filled! Two 5 day and one 4 day trip on the books now, and am planning on at least a partial attend on the PoA invite thing in Robbinsville. @Morgan3820 , that's your trip, right?

Yes sir. Looking forward to seeing y’all.

 

[Ghery]

I rode back in the early 1970s. I graduated from high school and went out and bought a Honda 90. Not a Trail 90, the "bikey" 90. Plastic fins that kept some of the rain off your legs. 3 speed automatic clutch transmission. Gutless wonder. Rode it for about 3 years and then the shift mechanism froze up and I sold it to a high school friend and bought a used CL-175. That bike ran fine until some a-hole ran a stop sign and hit us (my wife and I) broadside. Put us in the hospital for the better part of a week. After we got out and I was in better shape I had it repaired and rode it for another year and a half until we graduated from WSU. She hasn't been on one since the night we got hit and I've been on one twice since we graduated, and the last time was about 40 years ago.

Washington state has (and has had for years) a law requiring that motorcyclists wear a helmet. I've known 4 who needed one (my wife and myself included). 3 had one and are alive today. 1 did not and he died at the scene. Minimal sample size, 100% correlation. I don't like the government protecting me from myself, but if you ride without a helmet you should have your head examined while you still have one to examine. Oh, the the orthopedic surgeon who put us back together kept referring to them as "murdercycles". I guess he didn't like them too much.

The big secret growing up was that my dad had one in the 1940s. Once I bought that Honda 90 the secret came out. Seems he loaned his older brother the money to buy an Indian 45 during WWII. When his brother ran out of ration stamps he paid back the loan by giving dad the motorcycle. They then leaned the secret of gas rationing. When you got a new car or motorcycle you got a new book of ration stamps. They never ran out after that, they just traded ownership of the motorcycle back and forth. Dad finally sold the motorcycle to someone else when they were both in the Navy (my uncle as an officer, dad as enlisted). Somehow my uncle becoming a lawyer after the war seemed entirely in character, even if he did get his law degree from U$C. Dad was a corpsman and his last duty station during the war was a research outfit at UC Berkeley (where mom was a student). The officer he was working for was a veterinarian and turned dad onto the profession. Dad later went the the new vet school at UC Davis (2nd class to graduate from there) and the rest was history.

Back to motorcycles - I'm glad a bunch of you enjoy them, but I'll stick with cars. I will say that I have no trouble to this day seeing them on the road. Perhaps everyone should start out riding?

 

[Daleandee]

I don't like the government protecting me from myself, but if you ride without a helmet you should have your head examined while you still have one to examine.

I agree. I had a nasty accident in 2011 when a guy hit me from behind on the interstate. By the Grace of God and a helmet I'm alive and well.

I have always wore a helmet as my older brother was a paramedic & training officer for EMS for a number of years until he retired. He rides and always wears a helmet. He noted that you can lose a few body parts and carry on but if you bust the melon it's over.

When I met my wife she insisted that I wear a helmet as "it is the law!" I told her that was not true in this state but she responded, "it's Deanna's law." Yeah ... I'm ok with wearing a helmet and agree that riding without one isn't wise.

Now where did I put that Gorilla glue?

 

[ETres]

If the Honda X-ADV ever makes it to the USA, I'm a buyer.

https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/20...adv-first-look-motorcycle-scooter-adv-hybrid/

 

[steingar]

If the Honda X-ADV ever makes it to the USA, I'm a buyer.

https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/20...adv-first-look-motorcycle-scooter-adv-hybrid/

Bleech. Just an uglified scooter.

 

[sport flys]

been riding 50+ years. have 7 at the moment but always looking. may have a problem

 

[Ted]

Laurie's new motorcycle:

2009 Triumph Daytona 675. Much like the one I bought her 10 years ago (and we then sold about 6 years ago), although this one is in much nicer shape.