| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
Does anyone else get The Enthusiast? If so, read the article on page 28 and tell me if you think it should be renamed "The Optimist". Court | ||
| Liquorwhere |
no love for the sporty rockin' the dragon eh Court? I have a tendency to agree with you, although I have seen guys that can ride that bike well....I think your assessment is on target there... | ||
| Chainsaw |
Author was on an 883R "After I made it through the 11 mile stretch, I caught up to my group just as we came upon the Blue Ridge Parkway, a road ideally built for a Sportster. Cut into the backside of a mountain with long sweeping turns and foothills, the Parkway's contours perfectly matched the Sportster's torquey engine. Since I had been behind the numerous sportbikes in our group until now, I decided this was the road to show them what my bike and i could do. I picked my lane and rode my Sportster to our comfortable limits. To our surprise, I passed everyone in my group, and when I came upon other riders, I passed them too. This went on for about 10 miles until I pulled off to the side of the road for a scenic overlook. When the group finally caught up, they were amazed. One of them, a veteran sport bike rider, shouted, "You were rockin' that Sporty!" I read that piece of fiction too. I get along pretty good in the twisties on my Sporty, but if I ever beat a sport bike on it, I'll assume the guy was preoccupied with a bee in his helmet or something.  | ||
| Slaughter |
You never knew the late Jody Hendley. He'd beat Ducatis, RC-51s, Aprilias - every time he raced. 6 days before he died of cancer, he STILL put the 883 on the podium at Willow Springs. I know, I was flagging that race.  Takes a good rider. (Message edited by slaughter on March 10, 2007) | ||
| Rocketman |
a veteran sport bike rider Journo speak for 'old fart'. Rocket | ||
| Bake |
I don't knpw what frame they are useing but Penny's stock Sportster scrapes bad, real bad! | ||
| Slaughter |
Found one of Jody on the Sporty:  | ||
| Bcordb3 |
Hey Rocket, you talkin about me? Old fart my arse!   | ||
| Iamike |
That first picture of the 883 'Sportster' is about as much of a Sporty as my S3 is an XBRR, maybe even less so. I don't see why people compare race bikes with street bikes. I've always wanted to go back and ride a Sporty to see what the difference in handling is since I have moved on to real sport bikes. I used to run it pretty hard in the corners. | ||
| Rocketman |
Actually no. I got it wrong. I meant to say 'old fart on Japanese motorcycle'. Rocket | ||
| Etennuly |
The only trick to passing bikes on the Blue Ridge is being willing to surpass the heavily guarded 45 mph speed limit. Bet he didn't think of that!  | ||
| Slaughter |
Mike - actually that first pic was a poor choice - S1 frame, Sportster motor. The Sportster when ridden WELL can never come up to a standard sportbike ALSO ridden well. A race prepped Sportster when raced WELL has been proven to beat nearly the entire field of Twins-classes. Kinda apples and oranges, agreed. | ||
| Bomber |
the line between enthusiasm and optimism is blurred and ill-defined -- sounds like the rider was having fun! I'd be tempted to race him for pinks, though ;-} | ||
| Rainman |
I used to flog my old Sporty in the turns and I'm sure the new ones are better handling and all of that, but I'm sure I could beat myself if I was riding against me on GSXR 600. I'm not all that sure I couldn't beat my old Sporty with my Blast, if I really flog it. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I own both, and I guarantee you my times through the twisties are faster and more aggressive on the XB than the XL. Its 150 lbs heavier and 25 less hp! Its the math, cant argue with stats and lap times. the other thing that I got a kick out of is that 27 yo stylist that "created" the nightster. They missed the boat by not making the XL50 more of a retro styled bike ala 1957  | ||
| Xbullet |
i had a 99 883H that i outfitted with rear sets, metzelers, and clip ons under the top triple. it was an aggressive riding position on the stock frame, and let me tell you, there's no way i could have kept up with myself on my xb9, even if i put an 883 motor in my xb. the 883 was a wheelie monster set up like that, but the handling and lean angle are just not enough to keep up. i outhandled all the cruisers and all the stock sporty's, but never a toaster or tube frame buell. Optimism, it is. |
