The rider, not what's ridden

Lonerider59

Lonerider59

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I've been riding on the street for a bit over 48 years now and bought and sold many and all kinds of motorcycles. Since day one and bike one, the motorcycle companes have taunted me with more power and "better" handling. In many ways they were telling the truth, the motorcycles kept making more power and were able to handle the road surface better, even sometimes to a fault. Since my first motorcycle back in 1965, it has become easier and easier to go faster and faster on any road of any kind of surface, whether dirt or pavement, straight or curvey, flat or undulating. Back then we had no way to imagine how well built motorcycles would become right out of the factory. My stock FZ1 from 2008 would have been so completely competent a motorcycle for a racetrack back in 1964 that it would have seemed impossible. Today people on this forum yawn at it's abilities, although it's abilities are far beyond what is legal as far as what it can do and what is legal. And what is my point? The manufacturers will continue to better themselves year after year (or at least they will tantilize us with products they tell us we need) even though we can no longer use the abilities we have at our disposal. We will continue to spend more and more, buying stuff beyond our ability to use, until we realize it is the rider and the pure pleasure of the ride, not the sparkle of the machine, that is what motorcycling is really about and what stirs the inner soul. When I look at my newly acquired "82" CM450 and it's God awful 45 or so H.P. and ride it to it's limits, it still brings a huge smile and a sense of fullfilment and pride that I was able to take a severly beaten old servant and bring her back to service. I'm not trying to diminish the accomplishments of Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Harley-Davidsn, Ducati, etc. but the sport is more than that, far more. It's also what the rider puts into it.
 
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Agreed, I hear people brand bashing all the time. Those people are not the real riders. Give me 2 wheels and an engine and I'm happy


My first bike-1976 kawasaki km90.
 
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I would love to get my hands on an older "classic" bike.

One of the reasons I sold my bike and got out of riding recently is that every time I threw a leg over the bike, I wanted to go ride stupid, and doing so on a 1000cc 4cyl on a regular basis was just a recipe for disaster.

I'd love to get my hands on a single / twin 350-550cc bike that I could just ride the Parkway on, tool around on local roads... etc.
 
va_rider said:
I would love to get my hands on an older "classic" bike.
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I had a 1981 Suzuki GS650E. Great bike with an awesome engine note. I was never inclined to go for a speed run on it, nor did I rip it through corners. The chassis felt like wet noodles but it was a lot of fun to cruise and enjoy the sensation of the ride. The engine had an amazing mechanical noise and exhaust note you just don't get from modern bikes :)
 
My friend was kind enough to point out "Every bike can provide more than you can handle." to me after I crashed a second bike in less than 2 months.

I have to agree you guys are spot on that the rider makes the biggest difference and most bikes made now days are rather impressive performers.

Maybe I should take up the scooter.
 
To each is own . . . Although I certainly enjoy the increased power (throughout the rev range) that mods have given my GenII, it is the dramatic improvement in the QUALITY of the power delivery that makes them most worth while. Delivery is smooth and linear and worlds better than what Yamaha came up with as stock for my 06. I don't need to be breaking the law to have increased enjoyment from the lack of throttle snatch and dramatically improved midrange power. I also had a great time putting the parts together and tweaking the results. . .
 
that was my issue... I pretty much had to be breaking the law to have a good time...

when I was involved with the local MSF, one of the other instructors said something to me that stuck : It's more fun to ride fast on a slow bike, than to try to hang on to a fast bike....


thinking back, I've had an absolute blast on some slow bikes... scooters even... I've drug knee off of the side of a 250 scooter, and it was frickin exhilarating at 40mph. To do the same thing on the FZ, I was tooling along at 90mph+ on the street... I'm not very smart sometimes, but I knew how I was going to ride given the opportunity. The best way for me to knock it off was to remove myself from that opportunity.
 
Its funny how we think about having the latest and greatest bike.
Ive owned a 05 R1, 06 Gixxer thou and even a slightly mod Hayabusa.
And yes FZ1, Speed triple now Super duke come to think of it I have owned over 20 bikes LOL!!
I think my favourite bike was the RG 500 from 1985 wish I still had it DOH!
But these days I have just as much fun ridding my Honda 100 scooter.:sport12:
 
BENDER brings up a very good point. However, my Tuono is the funnest bike I've ever ridden. Almost a year later I'm still in love with it.

That said, I really, really liked my RZ350...


:sport12:
 
this is my latest scoot a 1971 CB350. Is it a fun bike to ride? sure what isn't? Is it as fun to ride down a twisty mountain road as the FZ1 was? Nope, and it never will be.
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stretch said:
this is my latest scoot a 1971 CB350. Is it a fun bike to ride? sure what isn't? Is it as fun to ride down a twisty mountain road as the FZ1 was? Nope, and it never will be.
newwheel_zpsf967f3b7.jpg
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That 350 brings back memories:tup:
I used to love the look of 1968 model in the light blue.
 
I was surprised at the responses to my thread. I figured the average FZ1 rider would think that anything less than a litre bike with 100+ H.P. would just be boring as all get out. Anyway, over the years I've had bikes I really, really liked and bikes that just didn't fit my style. They all brought me a better understanding and appreciation of the sport though. About four years ago I decided to move into fixing up older bikes and making them as close to original as possible. They have all been in the early 80's, probably because that was the time in my life when I was trying to go faster and quicker with each machine I bought, but now I realize that was chasing a utopia. I still enjoy riding anything I can get my hands on, it just doesn't have to be beyond legal fast. It's amazing what can be purchased pretty darned cheap these days that can be fixed up very nice for little money. My old 80 XS1100 was in great shape and it was only $1000. All it required was about 90 hours of maintenance it hadn't had over the last twenty years of it's life.
 
I think for me it's great having heaps of power and going fast but riding a motorcycle on the street for me is more about just living the dream and injoying the ride and the scenery instead of it being a blur lol!
I had a ride about 2 months ago on a Guzzi V7 Racer now this bike is no racer but it was great fun.:stunta]:
 
I had a CM400T as my first bike when i was 18. It really was awesome and if i hadn't ruined it, it would have been a keeper as a 2nd bike. sometimes its more fun to wind out a smaller machine than hardly use half throttle to break the law.
 
I think we've finally reached a state where most of us agree todays bikes are capable well beyond our abilities. I know cost is a factor but why has it taken so long for ABS to be built in to majority of mid to large street bikes??.....I'd like to see single lever ABS for front and rear with the option of secting independent.....It's the next major safety improvement on bikes.....As far as power goes we have more than we need and in fact manufactures are going to start replacing 4 cylinders with 3 including automotive.
 
after getting my fz1 i understand the saying "it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow." i can't legally or safely come close to pushing the limits of my fz1 on normal roads. i was riding close to red line at all times on my old 82 gs650e and it was a blast. wish i could have kept my gs and gotten the fz1 but i needed the money and room so it had to go. ill find her and buy her back someday
 
There is a huge satisfaction in being able to use all the power a motorcycle offers. Doing so on the FZ1 requires plenty of space even in 1st gear.
 
Here's my other motorcycle. With a group of 7 other motos, I rode the old bike from Texas to California, up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, Napa Valley, and back to Texas. Had a wonderful trip. 4,400 miles in 9 days.

Now since getting the FZ1, the old KZ is an antique, by comparison. The power, handling, braking, frame flexing, etc. are light years behind. But I still use it as a daily rider, keeping the FZ1 for spirited rides on the weekend. It is a mindset. I've been caught in heavy Houston, TX traffic a number of times on the KZ. When this happens, I relate to riding through Los Angeles, CA, before we arrived at Malibu that evening. Riding up PCH 1 and 101 was like a dream. Extremely enjoyable on any motorcycle.
 
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