| Author | Message | ||
     Reepicheep |
Crap. I just added a 17 RWHP bike to the stable, right before trading the Saturn econo-box in on a Saab Turbo. Does this mean I am getting as old as Court!?!?  | ||
| Court |
Aww. . . the wonder of youth. Dare not make that statement in a group of competent riders. I've ridden with the likes of Joe Boyd and still revel in the story of Erik Buell on the Gold Wing in Japan. That's a statment that should be true; but it's not. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Oh, and for the record, I don't think this bike will be at all "lazy", I just don't think it will particularly inspiring. Trying a wring the neck of a Suzuki DR400SM on the street in order to keep up with a Buell and a Gixxer 600 was enough to shy me away from anything with less than 60hp. | ||
| Dbird29 |
I believe Jerry when he says his RK can "hang". I have seen him ride off into the distance.  | ||
| Xl1200r |
Court - Again, I don't disagree that there are people out there that can do some AMAZING things with a big heavy bike, but no matter how good the rider is, a slow bike won't go faster, and it won't lean over any further. You put a skilled rider on a Road King, tell him to run a road course using all the throttle and all the lean the bike has. He'll be faster riding in the same manner on a sport bike. I'll go back to my other point - When I see a Gold Wing take a trophy among sportbikes, I'll change my mind. Until then, I'll let physics rule the earth. | ||
| Slaughter |
Jerry speaks the truth. It is quite humbling to have to work so hard to hang with him on his bagger! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
See, I think we just have a different definition of lazy when it comes to motorcycles Spike: it's quite possible and reasonable if we do. By that definition, almost no modern motorcycle could be defined as lazy, assuming you allowed some flexibility in rider skill and kept things to a street pace. disagree. my definition, admittedly hazy, is the ability to hang with a well-ridden sportbike. i made no mention of "flexibility in rider skill." "street pace" depends on the definer, i suppose, so maybe i should make it "the ability to hand with an aggressively well-ridden sportbike on a technical road." i believe the new Honda will possess this ability. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 05, 2008) | ||
| Spike |
Just to clarify, you did include your FLH and your ability to hang with well-ridden sport bikes. Are you now claiming that if you were to swap rides with the sport bike rider that the FLH would still be able to hang on? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
You claim that your Road King can hang with well-ridden sport bikes (and I'm assuming we're not talking about 125cc Aprilias here). If that were the case, some guy would be racing Road Kings in professional ciruits and doing at least respectfully. i couldn't be clearer that i'm not talking about the track. i'm in real danger of sounding like a braggart, for which i apologize, but the fact (not speculation, fact) remains that my Road King can hang, and has hung, with aggressively well-ridden sportbikes on technical roads. i don't know the two gents i sparred with on Monday, but i can tell you they were full-size sportbikes, that they were aggressively well-ridden, and that they are still shaking their heads in disbelief. sorry if that sounds like bragging. sorry if that sounds like a Road King should rule MotoGP. i'm NOT sorry if that sounds like a big ol' pig like a Road King can, in fact, possess respectful "performance" capabilities when compared to aggressively well-ridden sportbikes on a technical road. But there is no such person, because a Road King cannot hang with a well-ridden sport bike. that's an incorrect statement, at best. A bike which weighs twice as much, has half the power and half the lean angle of it's competition will not hang with said competition when both bikes are being ridden by riders with equal skill on each machine. Race track or not, it's just how it works. there IS some truth in this statement. same rider (me, for instance) on my Road King versus a "real" sportbike, and i'd have an easier time hustling down a technical road on the sportbike. but again you've missed my point. I don't doubt you were hanging with some guys on sport bikes - but next time, tell them to go balls out and see where you end up. It won't be on their tail. i don't know these guys, doubtful i'll ever see them again, but they were indeed balls out, and i was indeed on their tail. believe me or not, i really don't care. but it's the truth. I've reread some of your posts and found the same comment - that this new Honda may "surprise" those of us who doubt it. I will agree that it might, however... cool, we agree on something.  -It won't be as fast as a CBR1000RR -It won't handle like an XB12R -It won't tour like a Road King (or Gold Wing) agreed. -It won't get as good mileage as a sensible scooter you're probably right, but what's a "sensible" scooter? -I don't believe it will do anything particularly well aside from look "different". i couldn't DISAGREE more strongly. The bottom line is this bike will probably only really appeal to folks who don't really like motorcycles. hey, it appeals to me, and i like motorcycles. i guess that's MY bottom line. | ||
| Court |
Everyone has their moment . . . Mine came on Wisconsin State Road 20 . . . Erik and I left the factory late (it was his fault ) headed to Uke's. He figures we'll make up time. . . we are. After seeing God 3 times in 4 minutes . . . I, in a rare lucid moment, began to think. . . I am a construction worker, on a bone stock bike, laden with a CB radio, cassette deck, water, and a months worth of provisions riding on a road I have never seen. I am following an ex-world class (we argue over the "ex") racer, who designed the bike, riding a 120HP bike ("Big Red" - ask 1313") down a road he rides daily. I'm not that bright but soon figured out that of the entire population of things that COULD happen, none were good. I slowed down, watched the brilliant show as he dissappeared in the distance and arrived at Uke's about 4 minutes behind him. Mr. "I ride a Road King" Haughton and I would later share a similar experience on a winding road near Scott's Valley, CA . . . Physics will eventually, once you "normalize" (funny world in the world of Buell) the rider and bike, win out. But I've learned to never impute, based on the bike they are riding, what someone can or can't do. I got my personal ass handed to me on the road to Palomar Mountain by a Concours. In addition, I've ridden Deal's Gap with Chauly (I call him Chuck) on an ST-whoknowswhat and I've seen Josh and the Tiny But Powerful Mariabelene on a FJ. . . Life is fascinating. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Just to clarify, you did include your FLH and your ability to hang with well-ridden sport bikes. Are you now claiming that if you were to swap rides with the sport bike rider that the FLH would still be able to hang on? Spike: i'm claiming that it's naive to assume what a motorcycle is or is not capable of just by looking at it and reading a spec sheet. i believe the new Honda will not possess "lazy" performance characteristics, engine-wise or handling-wise. i also believe that it will have the ability to hold its own against an aggressively well-ridden sportbike on a technical road. i also believe it will be a very good motorcycle at everything it's designed to do. it's just my belief, an opinion, based at this point on nothing more than several educated guesses. i could be wrong. it wouldn't be the first time. i could also be right. frightening. FB (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 05, 2008) | ||
| Jb2 |
I wanna see the look on xl1200r's face when a grayhair blows by him on a pearl white Road King. I could go into all the reasons why I know he's wrong about his assumptions but I'm at work and it'd just fall on deaf ears. And I remember the old man saying, "When you know you're right you don't have to explain why." JB2 (Message edited by jb2 on March 05, 2008) | ||
| Xl1200r |
i couldn't be clearer that i'm not talking about the track. Road or track makes no difference, I only used it as an example because there aren't many ways to compare equal skilled riders on the same road on different machines. there IS some truth in this statement. same rider (me, for instance) on my Road King versus a "real" sportbike, and i'd have an easier time hustling down a technical road on the sportbike. but again you've missed my point. Then I'm lost at what your point is. The good news is you've made mine. you're probably right, but what's a "sensible" scooter? Something less than 250cc. Just to clarify, you did include your FLH and your ability to hang with well-ridden sport bikes. Are you now claiming that if you were to swap rides with the sport bike rider that the FLH would still be able to hang on? Maybe my wording was bad, but this was the question I was trying to get at. No digs at anyone's ability as I have no idea what anyone can or can't do besides myself. I'm just saying that the Honda in question will be slower than a full-out sport bike when ridden by the same rider. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go prove to my buddy that a 1955 Jeep CJ-3B can hang with a Corvette ZR1 on pinewood derby course ;) | ||
| Xl1200r |
I wanna see the look on xl1200r's face when a grayhair blows by him on a pearl white Road King. I don't ever recall claiming that I could outride anyone on any machine. My only point was that a good rider would be faster on a sportbike than anything other than a sportbike. (Message edited by xl1200r on March 05, 2008) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Mr. "I ride a Road King" Haughton and I would later share a similar experience on a winding road near Scott's Valley, CA . . . that ride was a real eye-opener for me, glad we all got to witness that. i bet Erik could hustle a Road King down a twisty road... | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go prove to my buddy that a 1955 Jeep CJ-3B can hang with a Corvette ZR1 on pinewood derby course ;) | ||
| Spike |
When it comes to getting down a technical road, I completely agree.
I think we're right back to the definition of lazy again. At no point did I ever state that the bike would not be capable of running an impressive or surprising pace. However, we're in the land of 160rwhp sport bikes and 85rwhp cruisers, where my wheelie-prone ~90hp adventure bike is considered underpowered. I don't think I'm too out of line for considering a 60hp twin to be lazy, regardless of the pace it can push down a twisty road. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Spike, cool. FB | ||
| Court |
>>>i also believe it will be a very good motorcycle at everything it's designed to do. I have a couple good friends at the Honda R&D center in Torrance, CA and can assure you that's very likely an accurate statement. | ||
| Ryker77 |
Honda makes scooters from 1800.00 to 8500.00 and people buy them. They are not ment for knee dragging bikers who want to go 140mph. They fill up the marktet demand. http://powersports.honda.com/scooters/ If you want a faster bike then Honda has them. If you want a couch on wheels Honda also has them. | ||
| Danger_dave |
I can keep up with my mates when I'm on a Road King and we are travelling at normal speed. Howevere you guys take that Road King and I'll pick the new Hyabusa I just gave back and I'll race you anywhere, any amount. | ||
| Spike |
Ditto. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Howevere you guys take that Road King and I'll pick the new Hyabusa I just gave back and I'll race you anywhere, any amount. ya think?  | ||
| Glitch |
About five years ago, I bought a spanking new XB9S. There was this fella that wanted to go riding with me up to Suches. Since I knew the area rather well, I said hell yeah, that'll be a nice place to see what my new bike will do in the twisties. We met at a place called Twosies (RIP) and I was looking for another sport type bike, then I found this fella I had met earlier... On a Road King! I was like WTF, I thought we were going for a real ride up in the twisties! You can imagine my great surprise when that fella passed me and backed that big ol' bike into a turn leaving me gawking. Moral of the story? 1-It ain't the arrow and 2-Scott Z-man Zampach can r-i-d-e !!! If y'all don't know who the Z-Man is, you need to brush up on your Buell history... Scott used to be a salesman at SMHD&B and sold me my Buell, that's how I met him. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Wow! You could hang with him? You must race or sumthin ;) The guy on the X1, the XB9SX (me), and the FJR1300 couldn't even keep the Victory in sight, much the Perl White Road King. We could hang with the S2, but he was keeping a bigger safety margin then I was. | ||
| Jb2 |
>>> The guy on the X1, the XB9SX (me), and the FJR1300 couldn't even keep the Victory in sight, much the Perl White Road King. Hell I'm barely a decent rider. Me thinks you were holding back a little but it was a great day of riding was it not? JB2 | ||
| Blake |
"if i couldn't hang with the likes of y'all on a technical road because the bike's performance just wouldn't allow it, that to me would be a "lazy" motorcycle." Then every bike ever made would be a "lazy" motorcycle. Slow boy. | ||
| Spiderman |
here is Hondas new tree huger series!  | ||
| Reepicheep |
It was wet, and job one was "don't do anything stupid". A fine day indeed! This year, the Gentlemen Jim can ride my 9sx, and I'll be on the KLR-250. I'll still be just as far behind, but now I'll have a plausible excuse ;) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
It was wet, and job one was "don't do anything stupid". It was wet, and job one was "don't there, fixed it for you. |
