Those of you who ride regularly on back roads, how often have to come very close to (or even have) wrecked due to deer, loose gravel, and well, traffic? Do most of you ride alone or in groups? It's not in the cards this year, but next summer I'm considering (a lot of things can change between now and then) getting a dual sport. I've ridden motorcycles/quads most of my youth, but obviously never on the road. I have a lot of backroads and fireroads I would love to explore (heck, there's almost 8,000 acres of mountains just north of me by my cabin). However, the fiance isn't too thrilled. She doesn't like the chance of serious injury, and I have to admit, I can't afford to get hurt during the school year, but kind of like Rob said in a post a while back, you can't live totally in fear of things...sometimes you need to just live a little. I'm trying to get some thoughts from people with experience (to show the fiance plenty of people ride without wrecking all the time "hopefully"):D I suppose an additional question. Have any of you sold your bikes after a wreck or after someone you knew wrecked? Have any of you NOT got into riding solely out of fear of getting killed or seriously injured on one?
Dude, you are in a great place for a dual sport. All the back mountain roads out there would be awesome!! Knock on wood...in the 10 years or so of road riding I have never went down. Few close calls, but I have never went down. I had a good friend of the family that lost it on his bike, and there were over 150 bikes at his funeral. Really a site to see. But it never made me think twice about riding. I have been on bikes sense I was 10. The first lesson you have to learn is to watch everybody on the road...because a lot aren't watching for you. YOu are a small package and they just don't always notice you. If you are looking at dual sports...I highly recomend a Suzuki DR650. It is a great bike for just about everything I have thrown at it. I have never really hit any jumps with it, but it isn't a motorcross bike either.
Very nice. I'm looking at the DRZ400s, as I won't be on the highway really at all, and not sure I need the extra weight and bulk of a 650, although I have to admit, your bike there doesn't look much larger than the DRZ400. Was your friend killed on a street bike or a dual sport? I hope I'm not being too personal. Thanks.
I would like one some day, but I just think I would look odd on one. I'm too skinny to ride something called a "Fat Boy", and personally, I think the CrotchRockets are a joke. Too uncomfortable. I want something that will be joyful to take on a long trip.
Matt, forget everyone else. You need to do for you. When I was around 20 I had a fantastic Honda 650 that a drunk driver took out from under me. I all but immediately bought another bike. I barely put any miles on it but I have to tell you, every day I'm absolutely looking forward to picking up my HD Fat Boy. I miss having a bike. I have a ton of friends with bikes as well and I'm looking forward to the rides. Of course it's safer in numbers as many bikes are visually picked up better than a biker riding alone. You just need to watch out for the other guy (cars) as they don't see you. Ride like no one sees you. I also have a coworker who nailed a deer, he still rides. :d You might remember my post about Barry, a car pulled out in front of him and he laid in the ICU at the hospital for weeks. He's recovered. It is what it is, we can die in a car accident tomorrow. I don't live in fear, there is so much that can get us, getting on a bike is the last of my worries.
Our buddy was killed on a HD Road King I believe. It didn't help any that his BAC was over 2 times the legal limit either. My uncle who lives in Colorado had a DRZ400 and he loves it. It is a lighter weight bike. It was really a hard choice for me when I bought mine. They had a 400 sitting right next to the 600 and they were the same price. My main reason on the 650 is that 80% of my riding is road. My uncle said that 400 would climb a tree if you let it, so I can only imagine. The 400 does have the racing style suspension, so that is a possitive. Another reason I went with the 650 was it being air cooled. Just one less thing to do on the maintenance end. Just last week I rode a buddies 250 Yamaho Dual sport. It is a much lighter bike with a better suspension and wheelies like a sumbitch!! But 250 isn't quite enough for me as I am over 200 pounds. The 250 don't have the low end of my 650, but when you get the RPM's up...it runs. I think I am going to drop a few bucks in mine and add a stage 2 jet kit later this spring and let the cobwebs out a bit!!
Have you ever road on a crotch rocket? Just curious... Everybody says they are uncomfortable and I ask them that. 90% of the time, they respond with "well they just look uncomfortable." These bikes are not that uncomfortable. You aren't leaning forward per say. Your body is just rotated around to that position. I am willing to bet that I could put more miles on a crotch rocket then I could on my dual sport when it comes to comfort.
Exactly, Mitch... I had a Yamaha FZR 600 which I put the first mile on and ended up logging over 10,000 on... crotch rockets are NOT uncomfortable. I've had everything from my Honda V-65 Magna in undergrad school to my current bike wich is a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT which I bought last year when gas shot up over $4 a gallon and my feul budget shot up over $600 a month working in outside sales... The 51 mpg sure came in handy when I routinely put 250-300 miles a day seeing hospitals. I got my first bike when I was 16, a Honda CM185T. There were years when I was a struggling college kid that all I had was a bike (the V65 at that time) and rode year-round. I've never been scared of wildlife, though I'm a bit cautious when coming up to pockets of woods where they reach real close to the road. It's just using common sense, like anything. I used to do a lot of "canyon carving" on my FZR, and I did scare myself a bit once when I popped up over a hill and it made a blind curve and there was an adjoining gravel road where some cars had pulled rocks all onto the road... My knee was about an inch off the ground with my right hamstring nestled onto the seat pad at full lean when I encountered it... picked the best line I could through it and came out unscathed, but I puckered up a bit on that one. But that was once, out of a couple dozen years of riding? I've always said it this way: A bike is the safest vehicle on the road until you get in an accident. I can't tell you the number of accidents I've out-braked and out-accelerated that if I'd been in a car I would have been calling my insurance agent about.
It's funny, too... I mentioned my Vulcan Classic LT.. the whole reason I just logged onto the 'net is because I'm about to research prices for that bike as I'm about to put her up for sale in a couple weeks. My company's finally getting us company cars and gas cards, and the wife and I are looking at buying a travel trailer soon to travel the country as we home-school our kids and I can use it for hunting too. I'm excited about that now since we've got a couple kids and it's harder to enjoy the family on a motorcycle
Thanks for the responses, guys! Very helpful. You all have interesting points of view on this. Rob, I know I need to make my own decisions and do what makes me happy, I just like hearing everyone's thoughts on it, because, well...most of you guys have opinions I respect.
I have owned many bikes over the years...all "crotch rockets" and all suzuki's. All the way from the mid 90's 600's to the newer 1000's. I have ridden several busa's. It is all about the ride...it is much lie deer hunting it is either in your heart or itt's not. I can only recomend that if your fears are the pavement, animals, wrecking...etc. then please do not get one until you put all that away. I am by no means telling you what to do only my opinion from years of riding and seeing ALOT...both goo and BAD
I have owned many bikes over the years...all "crotch rockets" and all suzuki's. All the way from the mid 90's 600's to the newer 1000's. I have ridden several busa's. It is all about the ride...it is much lie deer hunting it is either in your heart or itt's not. I can only recomend that if your fears are the pavement, animals, wrecking...etc. then please do not get one until you put all that away. I am by no means telling you what to do only my opinion from years of riding and seeing ALOT...both goo and BAD
Yeah, I'm also eying up the KLX250s. I hear with a few simple mods (jet kit, regearing, even the 330 bore kit ), and it does very well. I like the idea of a 6spd nimble bike, and since I'm only 160lbs, it would be fine. However, it's about the same weight as the DRZ400, so I figure that would be my best bet.
I couldn't agree more Matt. I respect a pile of people on here and if every single one of them told me NOT to get a bike because they are dangerous, I'm buying a bike because I want one. :d
The bike doesn't make a bad person the person has the control of throttle and their behavior,groups give bad names more than a individual.I have rode cruisers and more recently crotch rockets...or as I call them turperware torpedos.Last time I slung my leg over two wheels it was a drag bike,bumped up ZX9R,punched from 899cc's to 985 and up the compression to 14.5:1 from 12.5:1,stretched the swingarm dropped the gearing and last thing done was air shift and ignition kill to shift.With a big boy on it it should run mid/low 9's in 1/4 mile...with me I may get high 8's! But if I was going to return to daily riding I would be all over the KLR or Suzuki DR in 650 class! They can pace with traffic enough to be safe and handle dirt back roads with practice and patience.My last spill was on a ZRX1100 and drilled feral hog at 65-70 mph...it wasn't the bike or speed it was just the way things happen,ride within your abilities and take the MSF course and enjoy!Oh yeah I walked away from my wreck with some bumps and bruises...I am a very blessed person!
Top Gun bike was Kaw GPZ 750 I believe!The Interceptors were cool for slow twins...at least they weren't Susuckmei's! I am ill from all the locals beating their chest "GSXR GSXR blah blah blah" The new CBR's are good looking and the locals can't handle the Kawi ZX10's! Just my 2 cents there.
Matt, I grew up riding quads, and while I never owned one I rode a lot of dirt bikes as well. I went through college with plans of getting a street bike, but honestly just never trusted myself to get one. I had a pretty lucky accident in my car just when I was getting serious about buying a bike, I lost it at well over 90mph and only ended up hitting a road sign and going in a ditch, but it could have just as easily ended up with me and my passenger dead. When this occurred, I knew for me the temptation was just too much. I ended up building an even faster car after this incident, and doing some pretty stupid things with that one as well, but I just didn't put myself in that situation with a bike. I'm pretty low key these days but still just don't trust myself with a bike, I just become too insensitive with what can go wrong so quickly with these sorts of things. I suspect you have a bit more self control than I would with something like this, so don't let me sway your decision..........but for myself I think it would end up being a really bad combo............
I strongly recommend taking one of those advanced motorcycle classes. The civilian version of what the bike coppers take. I rode a teensy bit as a kid on my brothers dirt bikes, then, in my 30's I took the motorcycle class. 30+ people started the class, only two passed. (myself and another gal.. go us!!) You'll drop your bike so many times in that class that you'll lose count. (I'm not kidding about that, everyone drops their bike repeatedly) It's a harder class for folks that have ridden for awhile because they have developed bad habits. In the end, you'll learn a bunch about truly controlling the bike. The instructors started calling me 'speedy' by day two tho' I swear I was driving conservatively. It was easy for me to get carried away while zooming around on my little crotch rocket. anyhoo... I never did end up buying a motorcycle because I moved away from the city and became much less suicidal. This made my mom very happy. Three of my brothers have almost always had motorcycles. They've all crashed a couple times over. So far, broken bones and a concussion are the worst of it. (knock on wood) My cousin was killed on his motorcyle. I have several childhood friends who have been broken in various ways in bike accidents. My dad did an end over end on a motorcycle. He didn't get seriously injured but he did come home all bloody which was rather disturbing to me at the time. They are a ton of fun, fuel efficient and you get a freedom with them that you can't match with a car or truck. On the other hand, I believe it's not if you'll crash, but rather, when and how badly.
From the era that I infer Jeff was alluding to, I'm pretty sure all the Interceptors were V-Fours. I had a couple posters of them on my walls as a teenager... the red, white and blue one (which was the color scheme I later bought my FZR in), and the special-edition all-white one. And I always thought the Top Gun bike was a 1000 Ninja... but I forget how small Tom Cruise is/was... you're probably right; it probably was a 750! :d
Regardless of which style of bike you're riding, it must be done sober and with complete common sense. Just because a crotch rocket will do 170+ mph, there's no time ever it should be done on the road, take it to the track where there are no other cars or deer... Always and I mean always be on the look out for others because they're not always looking out for bikes...
