Well, I guess the Garage is about dead Or maybe it’s just summer time .

7/31/2019 6:57:41 PM

Basically dead.

Been so long that I've been thinking about contacting toyotafj40s to see if I can track down who he sold my old Hawk to.

8/1/2019 8:21:03 AM

i stopped street riding years ago. havent seen the track on 2 wheels in a while either. thinking about that new ape for both though

8/1/2019 11:24:09 AM

i still ride my dr650sm even tho i crashed it and missed 4 months of work in 2016

8/1/2019 4:31:33 PM

Man, I've been riding the shit out of my BMW since I got it back together. I'm sure I'll ride even more in a couple of months as it starts to cool off a little (FL heat on a air-cooled boxer with a full fairing can be kind of oppressive. Those air-cooled cylinders are right in front of your legs, and that fairing blocks a LOT of wind).

It's old, and no, it doesn't ride anything like that awesome Street Triple R did (although it's superb for a 36-year old touring bike with a design dating back to the 70s).

Having hard luggage helps--it allows me to use the bike as viable transportation when putting my tank bag on the Triumph wouldn't cut it. It's also more comfortable than the Triumph, obviously (although an STR isn't bad on ergonomics).

I still want another fast bike, though.

[Edited on August 5, 2019 at 12:24 AM. Reason : ]

8/5/2019 12:19:16 AM

Still ride my VFR. Just fixed the brakes, enjoying having something with hard luggage to enjoy. Wouldn't mind a concours 14 or something in a couple years though.

8/6/2019 11:51:27 AM

Hopefully picking up a 2nd-gen SV650S this weekend, with GSX-R fork swap.

10/3/2019 10:56:01 PM

Not a beauty, but it doesn't need to be as a $1500 track toy.


[Edited on October 4, 2019 at 12:38 AM. Reason : ]

10/4/2019 12:37:17 AM

^i really that supermoto behind it too!

10/4/2019 6:02:17 AM

yeah...that SV was considerably more of a beater than it appears in the pictures. Also, it was lowered. I don't have time right now to go through a whole slew of little annoying issues to get it ready to go.

On the bring side, he had essentially a full parts bike minus the engine...so if anyone is in the FL panhandle and wants about 1.75 SV650s, including a GSX-R fork-swapped one, for $1500, and you have time to address all the little bullshit stuff, I can point you in the right direction.

10/4/2019 10:21:26 PM

Just picked up an ‘07 R6.

1/20/2020 2:04:09 PM

looking at a nice 2012 harley fatboy (yellow). 8800 miles... 9900 dollars.

getting stir crazy / probably a bad idea. mmmmm

5/8/2020 8:51:29 AM

You ever ridden a HD? Ever ridden anything else?

5/8/2020 11:57:40 AM

Yeah Harley's look cool but if want to turn or slow down quickly way better choices out there

5/8/2020 12:41:59 PM

i had an old yamaha cruiser and a sportster about a decade ago. i dont really know shit about motorcycles i just know this one im looking at is far superior to both.

5/13/2020 8:53:25 AM

thinking hard about getting a grom to hooligan around on the abandoned roads and campuses near me

5/13/2020 12:14:13 PM

^a wr450 with south Dakota license plate would be my choice for that

5/13/2020 12:40:51 PM

I want something I can ride in the mini moto series at the kart tracks once things open back up

5/13/2020 2:10:28 PM

^^^^^ Hell, if you want to do anything besides look at it, listen to it, and polish it, there are way better choices. Almost anything is a better choice aside from those 3 things.

I used to joke that my old SV650, that I got in good condition for $1500, was far superior to either of the late-model Harley-Davidsons I had ridden--at EVERYTHING. Track day? SV650. Grocery run or commute to work? SV650. Strap luggage to it and ride 2-up to from coast-to-coast? SV650, and I'm not kidding at all. No contest...and if you wanted to compare motorcycles that are comparable to the Harleys price-wise, it would be an even bigger blowout.

Harleys suck. They suck at everything except looking and sounding cool. I don't mean they are mediocre for the price, either--I mean they are shitty. That they are horrendously overpriced just makes the fucking godawful riding experience even worse.

I don't want to be a hater, either...I had a soft spot for them, and wanted to like them. Hell, I won't even say I'll never own one--I might buy one someday as an 8th motorcycle or something, one day when I have the space to keep that many. Just understand, it wouldn't be because they're worth a damn at anything other than I just think they're kinda cool and I wouldn't mind having one as part of a collection, since it wouldn't matter how often the goddamn thing broke, and I'd never ride it other than just to enjoy it for what it is. It's like my 1966 pickup. It is outclassed by HUGE margins at EVERYTHING by EVERY truck built in the last 40+ years. It's not even a little bit good at anything, other than it's cool. It's outright or borderline unacceptable at some things, haha.

I'd never have one as my only motorcycle, or even a 2nd motorcycle. Maybe they'd be a good 3rd motorcycle for some people, if they didn't have a wide variety of motorcycling interests. For me, it would have to be about a 7th or 10th or something.

Quote :

"i had an old yamaha cruiser and a sportster about a decade ago. i dont really know shit about motorcycles i just know this one im looking at is far superior to both."

I've not ridden a Sportster. They have a certain cool factor, but I'm not surprised if they're even shittier than another Harley. Only Harley could make something shittier than a Harley.

Was your Yamaha fucked up or something? Even old bikes are usually way better than new (or old) Harleys.

Go ride something else before you buy a HD. Hell, ride pretty much fuckin' anything.. I bet I've ridden 50 motorcycles, with meaningful seat time on dozens of them. Harleys are in a class of their own, and not the good kind.


^, ^^^

I rode a Grom around the parking lot at NOLA at the last motorcycle track day I did. I wasn't impressed...didn't really get the appeal. Of course, this one had a bunch of mods that might have been a step backwards (really wide bars, weird shit like double brake levers on the same handlebar to operate either front or rear brakes by hand, etc).

Are there classes where an RC390/Duke 390 or R3, etc would be suitable?

[Edited on May 15, 2020 at 8:28 PM. Reason : ]

5/15/2020 8:26:48 PM

Quote :

"Of course, this one had a bunch of mods that might have been a step backwards (really wide bars, weird shit like double brake levers on the same handlebar to operate either front or rear brakes by hand, etc)."

you need that rear hand brake when youre standing on the seat doing slow wheelies

i think he's talking about racing on go kart tracks so not an R3 type of deal which again i'll go back to the wr450, put some 17" racin slicks on that bitch. kart track slayer! would be lapping groms hah





[Edited on May 16, 2020 at 6:40 AM. Reason : p]

5/16/2020 6:33:56 AM

I think an R3 would be fun on kart tracks:

https://youtu.be/6H2gLyU71gA

5/16/2020 1:20:25 PM

how about an old cb750? late 70s. probably end up working on it more than riding it but thats fun too.

5/16/2020 6:48:52 PM

i'd way rather have that than the HD.

Man what about an SV650? Get a decent one for a couple grand or so.

How much are you planning on spending?

5/18/2020 12:07:45 AM

An r3 looks fun, but I'd be in the open class for the kart groups I run with. There's a grom/z125 "spec" class, a crf100/xr100/ttr110 "spec" class, 50cc, and then open. Spec is in quotes because everyone cheats, but they at least give the illusion of spec racing. in open guys come out in husky/ktm 550s and such. I wouldn't mind another xr100 so I could do flat track too, but I'm kinda heavy for that frame. It would get sketchy at the VIR kart track. I'll probably settle for whatever I find a deal on. I don't care so much about winning races, just looking for something to do right now.

5/18/2020 10:39:13 AM

Worth looking into getting a bike so that gas prices don’t bite so hard?

6/2/2022 8:13:09 PM

i don't think so. it would take forever to offset the cost of an additional vehicle. Better to just get a PHEV or EV, which would take the place of a current car and be much more efficient than a motorcycle.

_____

I just got back from a week of touring Nepal by motorcycle.

6/3/2022 7:25:50 PM

about to book a tour of Morocco by motorcycle (80/20 on-road/off-road) with the same dude who ran the Nepal tour.

12/25/2022 12:30:55 AM

Bought a WR250R dual sport

(still have my old BMW R100RT)


Next up, a track bike. Maybe a full-race build SV650 with GSX-R front end. Maybe an RC390 or Duke 690, or another Street Triple R if I can find a good enough deal on one.

3/9/2024 9:43:50 PM

^cool, i plan on selling my dr650 soon. i bought a slingshot last fall and that thing is almost as fun as motorcycle and feels safe on the interstate unlike my bike

3/11/2024 6:54:14 PM