2 wheel GAF UNITE!

Fallout-NL said:
Sport Classic looks even better than the GT:

93214d1310289516-sporkbsxm.jpg


Why these didn't sell better than they did will forever remain one of life's great mysteries :P. If I had owned one of these instead of the Monster, I don't think I could have sold it. Would have made sense even, not to sell it.
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One of the sexiest bikes I've ever seen. I still remember the only one I've seen in person and I would love to own one someday.
 
I actually prefer the regular GT, but I wouldn't say no to either. Ducati were just a few years too early to market with that bike, if they released it again it would probably sell gangbusters

Going rate for the GT here is about £6500. The sport? Starting at about £9000 (and that one has 10k on the clock)
 
Regular GT does look much better in real life. Snapped a photo of one when I was at the Ventoux in France this spring. Did look very, very good.
 
Dougald said:
The classic is nice in person too, here's a pic I snagged at the London Motorcycle show earlier this year



It doesn't have the cool license plate holder though, instead opting for a more traditional tail
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Yeah, it's a gorgeous looking bike.

Dougald said:
For my money I love the 2015 XJR1300, but I can't wait to see the new revamped Bonnevilles on the 28th



I really like the current retro trend of mixing the old and new rather than straight up nostalgia. I'll never get the true retro Ducati I want though, the sport classic.. it was ahead of its time, and the pricing on used is mental now. It's legitimately cheaper/the same price to get a brand new Scrambler.
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That is a gorgeous Yamaha.
 
I'm curious about motorcycle safety... is there a disparity in terms of regions (urban vs rural) or geographically (North America vs Europe vs Asia) when it comes to motorcycle accidents, injuries, and deaths?
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I'm curious about motorcycle safety... is there a disparity in terms of regions (urban vs rural) or geographically (North America vs Europe vs Asia) when it comes to motorcycle accidents, injuries, and deaths?
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Definitely.. I don't remember the statistics though. I've read a few studies about that sort of thing. I guess to the google is your best bet.
 
The more I think about it, the more I realize that Ducati are a pack of geniuses for coming up with the Scrambler. Online, people deride their marketing as 'hipster', but they are very smart. Don't bother making something that is the fastest, or most powerful, or the most premium, but a solid, good product, packaging it in the most appealing fashion for a young crowd that's grown up wary of bikes (either because the current audience for bikes turns them off or accident potential does), and then sell it at a great, affordable price.

I like Ducati's marketing a lot actually. It's quite clever. I'm surprised no other bike company seems to be doing it.

opticalmace said:
Definitely.. I don't remember the statistics though. I've read a few studies about that sort of thing. I guess to the google is your best bet.
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Guess I'll need to do some research!
 
the scrambler has wonky fueling and throttle response and a naff suspension. better than the fz-09 (mt-09 to you yoorupeanz), but still not particularly great for hooliganism.
 
Drinky Crow said:
the scrambler has wonky fueling and throttle response and a naff suspension. better than the fz-09 (mt-09 to you yoorupeanz), but still not particularly great for hooliganism.
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I think you are being too critical. it has very low gearing so the throttle in 1st makes it jump if you aren't delicate, but the fuelling is fine. The solution to the low gearing is a sprocket change by one tooth at the front, which also makes it better on the highway if you need to do that.

the suspension is decent for the price of the bike, not "naff". Like most production bikes.

Any bike not with Ohlins seems to have a small percentage immediately talking about how wonderful their new $3k gold suspension is. Luckily the scrambler is so popular there are all kinds of solutions appearing for all kinds of upgrading or alteration.
 
I had to close the vents on my visor yesterday, and it was almost dark on my way home at 6pm and felt much less visible as a result (I didn't bring my high vis). I declare the riding season officially over
only snow will stop me riding though


NotTheGuyYouKill said:
What would you guys recommend for a beginner bike setting aside my initial choice of the Scrambler? Keeping in mind my style preferences.
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Everyone in the US seems to get a Ninja 250/300, CBR250, or similar. Riding style isn't my cup of tea though and I suspect that it's not yours either, but I guess that's more popular over there due to the prevailing attitude of "you have a car license so just jump on and ride"

You could always look at a smaller cruiser-y bike, like the Harley 883, Yamaha Star Bolt, etc. Or my first bike, the Triumph Bonneville!

Harley also just released their new Street 650/500 bikes which are perfect for beginners, though I haven't ridden one yet. They're also much cheaper than your average Harley.

k8RdyJa.jpg
 
Drinky Crow said:
the scrambler has wonky fueling and throttle response and a naff suspension. better than the fz-09 (mt-09 to you yoorupeanz), but still not particularly great for hooliganism.
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NotTheGuyYouKill said:
What would you guys recommend for a beginner bike setting aside my initial choice of the Scrambler? Keeping in mind my style preferences.
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Road

I think for a beginner, the Scrambler might actually be a perfect choice. But like Drinky said, Ducati did skimp on some parts to make it as cheap (well relatively) as they did. Much like Yamaha with the MT-09 and 07. The parts most affected are indeed the suspension. Everything else is fine, apart from the general impression of (an ever so slight) flimsiness you could experience on the Scrambler.

As a beginner though, it's not likely you're going to notice the cheap suspension since you're not going to be pushing it very hard during the first year or two. However, once you start taking those corners with a little more speed. You will notice that the Scrambler lacks the ability to smooth out the tarmac for you and mitigate the effect bumps, cracks and holes have on your ride. There are ways to improve this once you've gotten to that point (progressive springs maybe?).

Off road

However, you also said that you don't plan to do a whole lot street riding. I've never ridden in the dirt, so I can't provide a lot of useful advice in that area. Apart from the fact that, in the dirt especially, lighter is much better. A nimble single cylinder like the Yamaha YZ250F would be the better choice if you're going to be doing a whole lot of off roading, but that sadly doesn't have the style you're looking for.

Ehm yeah, I do think that the Scrambler is marketed (and built) much like most SUV's are in the sense that most of them are not actually all that well suited for off road use. I'd try to find some reviews that actually test that aspect of the Scrambler (cause I could be wrong).

The heavier the bike though, the more experienced the rider needs to be to actually be any good with it. As these guys discover when they're halfway across the world..

Dougald said:
I had to close the vents on my visor yesterday, and it was almost dark on my way home at 6pm and felt much less visible as a result (I didn't bring my high vis). I declare the riding season officially over
only snow will stop me riding though
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Salt is still my mortal enemy.
 
Unfortunately I feel that most classic-style bikes are just going to be incompatible with anything approaching serious off-roading. The Scrambler at least has some half-hearted off-road features in the form of the dual-use tyres, but I view it in the same form as the Multistradas offroad credentials, a token gesture at best

The Scrambler is definitely going to be the best of the bunch for that though. It's just so much lighter than the rest. Triumphs "scrambler" is beautiful, but far too heavy for any actual off-road use beyond unsealed roads
 
Dougald said:
I had to close the vents on my visor yesterday, and it was almost dark on my way home at 6pm and felt much less visible as a result (I didn't bring my high vis). I declare the riding season officially over
only snow will stop me riding though
Click to expand...

Getting the same here in Maine--dark early, and almost, but not quite time to break out the balaclava to keep the neck warm while riding.

Everyone in the US seems to get a Ninja 250/300, CBR250, or similar.
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I had a lot of people recommend a used SV650 to me and I've been pretty happy with that as my first bike. Paid $2500 for a used '03 with 20k miles last year. Only downsides are its naked and 60+ on the highway is a little frightening the first few times you do it until you 'velocitize' and get used to the feeling of it. Maintenance has been pretty easy. Recommendn frame sliders so if you drop it the radiator won't get damaged--OEM replace on that is like $600, although you can get a Delkevic for like $120. Not that I speak from experience...

I was musing to myself the other day that it felt like I'm in stage three of my riding fears. Stage 1--fear of not knowing what to do on the bike at any given time. Stage 2--fear the bike will betray you in some way and not respond to commands. Stage 3--fear that you will begin to become complacent or stretch your riding beyond your actual skills. Usually feel that way when I see I'm doing 75+ on the highway here, and think about what would happen if I got sideswiped, even though I have a fairly full set of armor on (boots, gloves, pants over jeans, jacket including back plate).
 
NTGYK,

You could always go for a dual sport. I learned on a DRZ400SM and it was fun as hell.

suzuki-dr-z400sm-2w.jpg
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Cheap enough that you aren't gonna curse yourself to hell and back if you drop it and lets you be on and off road.

that would be my choice anyways.
 
richardhawk said:
You could always go for a dual sport. I learned on a DRZ400SM and it was fun as hell.
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I have been thinking of picking up a DRZ400SM for tooling around--can easily get, say, an '09 for half retail. However they're so frequently modified with 3x3s, jetted carbs, exhaust mods, etc., that I'm leery of how they've been treated and whether the work done was competent. Pinged a guy on CL the other day about one asking about mods, service record, where he had service done, and his reply was "eh i don't need to sell it".

BMW guys on the other hand all seem to fit the stereotype... middle-aged engineer types, so they have complete service records, all the original kit. Might go with the F800GS just on that alone.
 
Was looking at bikes with the missus today and saw an mt-07 in Yamaha, that is a great looking bike.

She is pretty enamoured with the Deauville, so looks like that's what we'll be picking up
 
Back at my parents house, took the ZRX out of "storage" and rode it around a bit. Feels good. They just repaved one of my favorite roads so it was nice to go for a run on that. Smooth as glass and not even any paint down yet. But, by tomorrow night the bike will be back in storage and I will have to say goodbye again.
 
Yesterday, I went to check the Scramblers out in person.

My Gosh, they are lovely. The Classic one and Enduro one are so cool. Sat on a Classic one, it is super comfortable.

Also sat on a Moto Guzzi V7, my balls hated me after that. But my balls sang with the Classic.

I think I might be sold on this one, guys. Or is that just confirmation bias.
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
Yesterday, I went to check the Scramblers out in person.

My Gosh, they are lovely. The Classic one and Enduro one are so cool. Sat on a Classic one, it is super comfortable.

Also sat on a Moto Guzzi V7, my balls hated me after that. But my balls sang with the Classic.

I think I might be sold on this one, guys. Or is that just confirmation bias.
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I don't know if you've settled yet, but many of us here (me included) think it's pretty not-smart to buy a new bike as your first, and afaik Scramblers aren't on the used market much. Are you just going to the dealers to check them out or are you actually gonna purchase one?
 
Watevaman said:
I don't know if you've settled yet, but many of us here (me included) think it's pretty not-smart to buy a new bike as your first, and afaik Scramblers aren't on the used market much. Are you just going to the dealers to check them out or are you actually gonna purchase one?
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Just going to the dealers, lol.

I'm not gonna go for my license till at least next year, possibly year after. I'm not gonna buy anything for a while, definitely not till I get some experience, training, MSF stuff first.
 
Dougald said:
Unfortunately I feel that most classic-style bikes are just going to be incompatible with anything approaching serious off-roading. The Scrambler at least has some half-hearted off-road features in the form of the dual-use tyres, but I view it in the same form as the Multistradas offroad credentials, a token gesture at best

The Scrambler is definitely going to be the best of the bunch for that though. It's just so much lighter than the rest. Triumphs "scrambler" is beautiful, but far too heavy for any actual off-road use beyond unsealed roads
Click to expand...

There is a video online of two blokes taking a Ducati scrambler and a triumph scrambler off road up an increasingly rutted mountain single track. They got pretty far but ran out of time and ability and turned back, mostly intact. A dirt bike rider would consider either no better than a race bike but it's all a matter of perspective I think you can have a lot of fun on gravel roads and light off-roading on either bike - which is more than you can say for any cruiser, sports, sports tourer or most naked bikes.
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
Yesterday, I went to check the Scramblers out in person.

My Gosh, they are lovely. The Classic one and Enduro one are so cool. Sat on a Classic one, it is super comfortable.

Also sat on a Moto Guzzi V7, my balls hated me after that. But my balls sang with the Classic.

I think I might be sold on this one, guys. Or is that just confirmation bias.
Click to expand...

Interesting. The most consistent complaint I've read about the Ducati Scramblers is how uncomfortable those seats get after an hour or so of riding.

Granted, those are about the Icon model. I wonder if the Classic or the Urban Enduro use a totally different seat altogether?
 
Dougald said:
Kawasaki is coming for the Grom

]http://i.imgur.com/ePm1v4C.jpg
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Cute :)

Actually, I have mixed feelings. Concept is the same, but where the Honda looks like it has been put together with parts taken from the recycler bin, the Z125 is sleeker. On the other hand the Kawasaki looks like a minified ER6, where the GROM is truly unique (a bit reminiscent of the older Hornet models).

I like the Grom scramblers prototypes much more. Too bad they are only 50 cc.
 
Like many bikes the scrambler seats are ok then they aren't. the bmw ninet has the same issue. Ok for an hour then you start moving around hoping for a better spot but not finding one.
But Ducati has a comfort seat that people seem to like, Corbin has a seat and Sargeant has one coming soon.
 
The Honda is much cuter and kind of has its own style, the Kawasaki looks like they took a shrink ray to a larger Z model. I reckon the Kawasaki might be a better sorted bike, but I think I still prefer the Grom. The Kawasaki definitely looks more "premium"

Edit: top of page

ePm1v4C.jpg

IZXygNO.jpg
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I think you are right on the forks, Fallout. But one of the things I always loved about the Honda was how over-specced those forks/brakes are.
 
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