Support NeoGAF

[richardhawk]

Stopped to get a coffee on my way to work and a beautiful Ducati sport classic parked right next to my bike. I talked with the guy a little and he told me it was his first bike and he got it off ebay for 15k. It's a real shame that's my dream bike. The more I think about it the more I realize it's going to be impossible to own one anytime soon. Guy was a bit of a dick head though, He said "It's funny your bike is totally the little sister version of mine" before he rode off.

My bike isn't a little sister....

 

[Dougald]

Ahh the SportClassic, a bike I never see for sale and would sorely love to own

How do you find the Guzzi V7? I always thought that might be a good bike in lieu of a Bonneville someday.

 

[richardhawk]

Ahh the SportClassic, a bike I never see for sale and would sorely love to own

How do you find the Guzzi V7? I always thought that might be a good bike in lieu of a Bonneville someday.

It's my first "real" bike for lack of a better term. I've ridden a good amount of dirt bikes and a few dual sports but after having the v7 for almost 3 years I still love it. The one down side is I feel like it should have a 6th gear. Other than a few electrical problems due to bad servicing I've had zero problems as well.

 

[maxheadwound]

Stopped to get a coffee on my way to work and a beautiful Ducati sport classic parked right next to my bike. I talked with the guy a little and he told me it was his first bike and he got it off ebay for 15k. It's a real shame that's my dream bike. The more I think about it the more I realize it's going to be impossible to own one anytime soon. Guy was a bit of a dick head though, He said "It's funny your bike is totally the little sister version of mine" before he rode off.



My bike isn't a little sister....

Douch bag... I would not like that if he told me that... especially if its his first bike

 

[JoeMartin]

In many respects it is infact is the little sister. Much of the design talent among the Italian manufacturers is inbred, with most of the people responsible for classically 'Italian' style having worked significantly with Ducati, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, or outright just Piaggio.

Many of the stylistic cues that define a V7 are present on the SportClassic, and vice versa; pretty much the only thing that separates them is the orientation of the V engine - the sport classic, of course, having a larger displacement engine and producing nearly double the power notwithstanding.

I wouldn't take it personally, just for what it is. If someone on a Speed Triple told me my Street Triple was its little sister I wouldn't disagree.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Just a heads up guys, always be be safe and never expect anyone else on the road to do what they should. Lost a fellow GStwins rider a few days ago to a rear end collision while stopped. Always be checking your mirrors when stopped and be prepared to move if needed.

I never thought I'd be hit by a death of someone I never actually met in person, but man, this dude was such a nice, helpful, informative guy and it's still hitting me that he's gone.

Oh man


Yeah that happening has started to scare me quite a bit as well. Like others here, I strobe the brake light if I'm not 'shielded' by a car that has already stopped behind me. Check the mirrors too in case that doesn't help. Scary shit.

Going on a longer trip to the Belgian 'Ardennes' tomorrow (three days). I'm taking the Ducati since the Buells are still both out of order. Figures huh . Two of my friends are joining me on (their) bikes, rest of them are going by car.

I'll try to shoot some pics.

 

[richardhawk]

Might as well ask since I still have this thread open. So I started looking for a new bike. As much as I love my v7 I want a new toy. I'm honestly only into cafe style / 70s styled bikes. The problem this causes is that I don't have very many options as far as buying new. I know I can always go with a triumph or maybe even another moto guzzi but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as far as a cafe-ish bike went. So far it seems I'm probably going towards a thurxton or if I can manage to save some cash for a while I'll take the dive into a Sport Classic.

 

[Fallout-NL]

... how about an S1 Lightning in black? Maybe not quite 70's/cafe racer style. But it's no less pure 'bike'. It'll put an end to the 'little sister' talk as well I imagine. The fact that it's more fun to ride than anything else is just icing on the cake.

Sportclassic is awesome as well, though quite a bit more expensive.

 

[Nander]

Spring has finally come to Sweden, and I finally had time for a proper first trip this year!

Also, could you give me your opinion on a small thing? I love how my SRX looks, but I've been thinking about modifying the seat a bit. I made this little GIF of what I have in mind. What do you think? Better with a slimmer seat? (Obviously not my bike, but that picture was easier to Photoshop.)

My bike isn't a little sister....

If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you that your bike is my dream bike. Man, that V7 is gorgeous!

 

[Nander]

Might as well ask since I still have this thread open. So I started looking for a new bike. As much as I love my v7 I want a new toy. I'm honestly only into cafe style / 70s styled bikes. The problem this causes is that I don't have very many options as far as buying new. I know I can always go with a triumph or maybe even another moto guzzi but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as far as a cafe-ish bike went. So far it seems I'm probably going towards a thurxton or if I can manage to save some cash for a while I'll take the dive into a Sport Classic.

I think we have kinda the same taste. My next bike will most likely be either a Guzzi V7 or a Honda CB1100. Have you considered the Honda? I think it looks spectacular, almost (but not quite) as good as the V7. Bigger engine and heavier than the V7 and, unlike the V7, it has ABS.

 

[Dougald]

The CB1100 is a great looking bike, pity about the bizarre tank size. To be fair, the Bonneville suffers from that too, I get 100 miles before hitting reserve.

In terms of performance it's probably only really a CB1100 that's going to be much better than a V7, until you start getting more into cruisers. The Bonneville derivatives are excellent (apart from the brakes...). There's also the Kawasaki W800

Honestly I'd just keep the V7, or go for something completely different

 

[Nander]

The CB1100 is a great looking bike, pity about the bizarre tank size. To be fair, the Bonneville suffers from that too, I get 100 miles before hitting reserve.

I thought they kinda fixed that with the 2014 model. The tank is now 17.5 liters (4.6 gallons), compared to 14.6 liters for the 2013 model. But then again, the 2014 model is a bit heavier so fuel economy is going to take a hit.

 

[Dougald]

Ah I didn't know they'd increased it, that's good

Honestly pretty much every bike need a fuel tank size increase these days...

 

[Drinky Crow]

get a griso! those are naughty, naughty, naughty.

yeah, the z gets 120ish to a tank on a GOOD day. :-( i hate planning gas station stops.

 

[Dougald]

Funny you should mention the Griso, I was looking at Street Triples online earlier and ended up staring at it for a good while. It's tempting for sure



For Retro bikes, you could always get on the waiting list at Norton and pay the huge amount they're asking for a new Commando 961:

[

 

[Fixed1979]

Just a heads up guys, always be be safe and never expect anyone else on the road to do what they should. Lost a fellow GStwins rider a few days ago to a rear end collision while stopped. Always be checking your mirrors when stopped and be prepared to move if needed.

I never thought I'd be hit by a death of someone I never actually met in person, but man, this dude was such a nice, helpful, informative guy and it's still hitting me that he's gone.

Sorry to hear dude. Shit like this is why I think filtering should be examined more closely by countries and states that ban it, I'm not totally sure one way or another but it's at least worth looking into. I've been going for rides with a bud who just bought his first bike and I catch him on occasion at a stop without any brakes on, I remind him that you're not braking from stopping the bike from moving but to become more visible by using the brake light. I'll make sure I mention how quickly shit can happen...the mirror check is also super important and was stressed heavily in the course I took, which is the same course my friend will be taking in a couple weeks.

Funny you should mention the Griso, I was looking at Street Triples online earlier and ended up staring at it for a good while. It's tempting for sure

Do iiit!

Got a new camera yesterday so I'll hopefully be able to post some pics of what I did to my Triple over the winter. Don't know how well the mic on it works, but I'll see if I can get a quick video with the exhaust notes, though it sounds completely different just being reved. Changing from 1st to 2nd at a mid/high RPM is glorious.


That Norton looks amazing, how much are they asking? Looks to be rocking some pretty expensive components.

 

[Nander]

get a griso! those are naughty, naughty, naughty.

I drove a Griso a few times when I took some driving classes before my driving test, three years ago. I don't really like the design of the Griso that much, but it was a surprisingly pleasant ride.

That Norton though... hnghhh! Maybe not something I'd buy, but still a beautiful bike.

Talking about retro bikes, let's not forget the Royal Enfield Continental GT:

 

[richardhawk]

Beautiful bike. The 15k Euro price tag on most of the Nortons are so heart breaking though. I might as well just save up for a sport classic.

 

[maxheadwound]

Beautiful bike. The 15k Euro price tag on most of the Nortons are so heart breaking though. I might as well just save up for a sport classic.

yes that is a good looking bike...

 

[maxheadwound]

Oh man


Yeah that happening has started to scare me quite a bit as well. Like others here, I strobe the brake light if I'm not 'shielded' by a car that has already stopped behind me. Check the mirrors too in case that doesn't help. Scary shit.

Going on a longer trip to the Belgian 'Ardennes' tomorrow (three days). I'm taking the Ducati since the Buells are still both out of order. Figures huh . Two of my friends are joining me on (their) bikes, rest of them are going by car.

I'll try to shoot some pics.

Looking forward to some trip photos... enjoy the ride

 

[opticalmace]

I really wanna sit on the Yamaha FZ-07/MT-07, should be here in Canada next month sometime. MSRP of $7299 CAD.

Headlight is kind of ugly though (and droopy). :lol

 

[Dougald]

So many otherwise great bikes are let down by their headlights, seems like designers just don't care much

 

[RapidCancel]

Looking to get a supermoto/motard, I might need it to be streetable. So far I'm thinking about the drz400. Anyone got any opinions?

 

[Drinky Crow]

Yeah, I'm in Bellevue. I'm up for a ride sometime. Though right now I haven't even popped my highway cherry lol.

Actually it's so nice out this week I'm taking a ride up to snoqualmie falls tomorrow morning with my friend.

i saw a ninja 300 and a cbr500r riding together on 145th between aurora and lake shitty way today around 11:45-noonish? was that y'all? i waved. (i was on the beamer.)

edit: ah, probably wasn't. the 300 was kawi green.

 

[Jackson]

i saw a ninja 300 and a cbr500r riding together on 145th between aurora and lake shitty way today around 11:45-noonish? was that y'all? i waved. (i was on the beamer.)

edit: ah, probably wasn't. the 300 was kawi green.

Yeah, I own a black one. Funny that other friends are doing the same first bike combos lol.

We gonna swap bikes for a day to see how they feel sometime soon.

What BMW you got?

 

[Damaged]

Looking to get a supermoto/motard, I might need it to be streetable. So far I'm thinking about the drz400. Anyone got any opinions?

Great bike, had one for a year before I went to a KTM 640 and always regretted selling it. The main reason I sold it was it wasn't brilliant on motorways and I needed to cover longer distance for work (turned out that the KTM wasn't much better haha).

They have a great engine that's been around a long time, decent handling. It's not going to rip your arms off but you will have allot of fun on it in the twisty stuff which for me is what moto is all about

 

[StuKen]

Took the ferry to the UK yesterday for a trip around the lake district. Did 14 hours on the saddle. 862km by the end of the day. Absolutely shattered today. Honnister pass is incredible. Only did it downhill but still it's a hell of a road. Hard to navigate without a GPS. Anyone got an opinion on the Garmin 350?

 

[Fixed1979]

Alright some new pics of my '14 ST3 after a winter of mods. Bought it bare in the fall and added a bunch of stuff.

bike2 by fixed1979, on Flickr

bike by fixed1979, on Flickr

exhaust by fixed1979, on Flickr

and video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLdlaEKu-ds&feature=youtu.be

So much louder standing next to it.

 

[Nander]

Took the ferry to the UK yesterday for a trip around the lake district. Did 14 hours on the saddle. 862km by the end of the day.

Holy hell! I don't even think I've done that distance in a car in a day!

 

[Drinky Crow]

Yeah, I own a black one. Funny that other friends are doing the same first bike combos lol.

We gonna swap bikes for a day to see how they feel sometime soon.

What BMW you got?

2012 f800st. it's a sweetheart around town or on the haul. when i need to get rowdy, i ride the zed ... or the vespa gts300. :-D

if y'all want to do a lightweight ride out to monroe or north bend or something -- or wanna try a run out to port townsend and pose on the edmonds ferry, buzz me of a weekend. (they're all good n00b rides.) i'll ride whatever pace you want. at the very least, you need to ride to edmonds first thursday of the month for triumph of lynnwood's bike night at the churchkey pub, as they have demos of triumph and zero bikes and when you're done testin' out the goods you can find yourself blowing hobos in renton for an immediate down payment on a street triple. (not sayin' i've been there. nope)

man, i can't wait for summer. i'mma ride the FUKK out of WA/OR, especially the coastline.

 

[RapidCancel]

Great bike, had one for a year before I went to a KTM 640 and always regretted selling it. The main reason I sold it was it wasn't brilliant on motorways and I needed to cover longer distance for work (turned out that the KTM wasn't much better haha).

They have a great engine that's been around a long time, decent handling. It's not going to rip your arms off but you will have allot of fun on it in the twisty stuff which for me is what moto is all about

How's maintenance on it? I'd really prefer something that I can just do some oil changes on every however many miles and keep on going with it. Which version did you have? Are there any major differences?

 

[maxheadwound]

Holy hell! I don't even think I've done that distance in a car in a day!

My bike fitness is also crap as I was feeling it after a 2 hour bike ride yesterday. That is a long ride and must have been fun.

 

[Dougald]

The most I've done is 550 miles in a day, with only a break for lunch and the channel tunnel - about 10 hours saddle time. Afterwards I could barely get off the bike and kind of just died on the sofa.

 

[maxheadwound]

The most I've done is 550 miles in a day, with only a break for lunch and the channel tunnel - about 10 hours saddle time. Afterwards I could barely get off the bike and kind of just died on the sofa.

Dougald, did you see Fixed1979 nice Triple? mmmmm does this not make your wallet itch?

 

[Dougald]

Trying not to look as I've had no interest on the Yamaha yet, unless you count an obvious scam...


Red and white is clearly the best colour though, it looks awesome

 

[Fallout-NL]

Looking forward to some trip photos... enjoy the ride

Yeah thanks! It was great:

I did about 450 km (give or take) on the Monster yesterday after spending the weekend down in Belgium with my friends. Before heading back, we did some spirited riding in the morning through Belgium and Luxemburg. And then (quite) some highway miles back to the Netherlands (all the way up to Leiden, near Amsterdam). In the saddle from 11 in the morning till about 7 in the evening. You could say it's grueling, but a lot of fun as well. A bit cold, though so many hours in the wind will chill you to the bone no matter how many layers of clothing you choose to wear.

Think I had on a thermal shirt, a regular longsleeve shirt, a (cycling) wind breaker, my armor, my leather jacket, another windbreaker/raincoat thing over that, and a high-vis jacket. Still felt the chill, hehe. But no rain at least!

The highway was tricky because I was the only one with navigation and it took some doing to keep the three of us together and not so fast that the Honda CB1 couldn't keep up. I imagine those miles must have been hard work for him. The Monster just trucks along @ 4.000 rpm doing around 130 km/h while the CB1 is doing almost 10.000 at that point...

Lot of other bikes on the road as well, it was a beautiful weekend.

We shot some video on a road near Wiltz, Luxemburg (great, great twisty road with the smoothest of tarmac). Once my friend sends me the video I'll show it here, as well as some other pics.



@Fixed: The Street Triple looks gorgeous and sounds even better. Awesome

 

[maxheadwound]

Yeah thanks! It was great:

I did about 450 km (give or take) on the Monster yesterday after spending the weekend down in Belgium with my friends. Before heading back, we did some spirited riding in the morning through Belgium and Luxemburg. And then (quite) some highway miles back to the Netherlands (all the way up to Leiden, near Amsterdam). In the saddle from 11 in the morning till about 7 in the evening. You could say it's grueling, but a lot of fun as well. A bit cold, though so many hours in the wind will chill you to the bone no matter how many layers of clothing you choose to wear.

Think I had on a thermal shirt, a regular longsleeve shirt, a (cycling) wind breaker, my armor, my leather jacket, another windbreaker/raincoat thing over that, and a high-vis jacket. Still felt the chill, hehe. But no rain at least!

The highway was tricky because I was the only one with navigation and it took some doing to keep the three of us together and not so fast that the Honda CB1 couldn't keep up. I imagine those miles must have been hard work for him. The Monster just trucks along @ 4.000 rpm doing around 130 km/h while the CB1 is doing almost 10.000 at that point...

Lot of other bikes on the road as well, it was a beautiful weekend.

We shot some video on a road near Wiltz, Luxemburg (great, great twisty road with the smoothest of tarmac). Once my friend sends me the video I'll show it here, as well as some other pics.



@Fixed: The Street Triple looks gorgeous and sounds even better. Awesome

Wow, nice ride for the weekend and its great that it all went well. Looking forward to the vid.

 

[Damaged]

How's maintenance on it? I'd really prefer something that I can just do some oil changes on every however many miles and keep on going with it. Which version did you have? Are there any major differences?

I had the enduro spec one (metal fuel tank, not the early plastic one ) but its pretty similar across the range. the supermotospec has the upsidedown front forks and lower seat height, and the early plastic tank endurospec i think had fcr slide carbs. The only job i ever did on it myselfwas to swap over the left side engine casing i cracked on it off roading but i remember it being a pretty simple bike to work on, not sure about valve clearance schedule etc... i only had it for about four thousand miles so cant comment too much but its been around a long time and has an excellent reputation

 

[RapidCancel]

I had the enduro spec one (metal fuel tank, not the early plastic one ) but its pretty similar across the range. the supermotospec has the upsidedown front forks and lower seat height, and the early plastic tank endurospec i think had fcr slide carbs. The only job i ever did on it myselfwas to swap over the left side engine casing i cracked on it off roading but i remember it being a pretty simple bike to work on, not sure about valve clearance schedule etc... i only had it for about four thousand miles so cant comment too much but its been around a long time and has an excellent reputation

Thanks for the info. From all I've been reading it sounds like a solid bike and great for a newbie rider getting into supermotos. I just realized you were the same person from the Photography and Japan thread as well as my flickr.

Soapster, are you still tracking your R1? I haven't gone in about 2 years but I'm finally about to go again later this month.

 

[Jackson]

2012 f800st. it's a sweetheart around town or on the haul. when i need to get rowdy, i ride the zed ... or the vespa gts300. :-D

if y'all want to do a lightweight ride out to monroe or north bend or something -- or wanna try a run out to port townsend and pose on the edmonds ferry, buzz me of a weekend. (they're all good n00b rides.) i'll ride whatever pace you want. at the very least, you need to ride to edmonds first thursday of the month for triumph of lynnwood's bike night at the churchkey pub, as they have demos of triumph and zero bikes and when you're done testin' out the goods you can find yourself blowing hobos in renton for an immediate down payment on a street triple. (not sayin' i've been there. nope)

man, i can't wait for summer. i'mma ride the FUKK out of WA/OR, especially the coastline.

Lol Vespa 300 eh? Sleeper scooter?

I'm down with a lightweight ride some time soon. gotta do a ferry ride too! I'm really looking forward to that. I was at cycle barn this weekend actually and sat on a D675. Might be next year's upgrade! Would be fun to demo for sure...

Are there other worthwhile bike centric meet ups? I would go to Redmond town center exotics meet up from time to time. Sir Mix-a-Lot took a pic with my baby there lol. He has a black MP4-12C.

 

[Damaged]

Thanks for the info. From all I've been reading it sounds like a solid bike and great for a newbie rider getting into supermotos. I just realized you were the same person from the Photography and Japan thread as well as my flickr.

Soapster, are you still tracking your R1? I haven't gone in about 2 years but I'm finally about to go again later this month.

Haha, yeah that's me alright

 

[thesoapster]

Soapster, are you still tracking your R1? I haven't gone in about 2 years but I'm finally about to go again later this month.

I haven't since 2012. Last year I did California Superbike School again (on the S1000RR). Thinking I will get the R1 on track this summer at least once. Mine as well while the plastics are still fucked up

 

[gunther]

Yeah, I own a black one. Funny that other friends are doing the same first bike combos lol.

We gonna swap bikes for a day to see how they feel sometime soon.

What BMW you got?

Please tell me how diferent or harder is the cbr500 vs the ninja 300. The cbr500 is tempting me but maybe is too much.

 

[Watevaman]

The only real difference with 500s between 250s is a bit more top speed and maybe some down low grunt. As someone who learned on a GS500, it's completely manageable and is just as effective as a 250 in teaching.

 

[Dougald]

500 would be fine as long as you're getting some lessons on it or an equivalent bike. You don't specify where you are so you could be doing an MSF course, a ridiculous European License, or just jumping on the bike and riding


When I learnt I had 6 hours on a 125cc and then 12 hours on a 500. I actually found the 500 much better to control, but of course I was under instruction, if I'd just jumped on it I'd have smashed it into the first roundabout. At the end of the day they give less room for error than a smaller bike.

 

[RapidCancel]

I haven't since 2012. Last year I did California Superbike School again (on the S1000RR). Thinking I will get the R1 on track this summer at least once. Mine as well while the plastics are still fucked up

Looks like we're on the same boat! Looking forward to your progress. If you're looking for some cheap track fairings, check out Formula 1 Composites from ebay. I got a set for mine and it was pretty spot on.

I finally got an older gopro too, so hopefully I can post up some videos.

Please tell me how diferent or harder is the cbr500 vs the ninja 300. The cbr500 is tempting me but maybe is too much.

More power, but you should be ok. It's not as big as the jump from say a 250/500 to a 600 ss.

 

[opticalmace]

Hmm, I think I'm going to test ride a CB500X this weekend....

 

[Dougald]

Finally seen some interest in the Fazer, ironically I paid for it to be advertised in this weeks MCN, and the guy calls me because he's seen it on Gumtree, which didn't cost a penny..

Hopefully I can sell it in the next couple of weeks, plan is to go test ride some stuff at Triumph the week after next.

 

[maxheadwound]

Most of the time a larger engine give you more cruising speed without murdering the engine with high revs. For instance a Yamaha R6 (600cc) is almost just as quick R1 (1000cc) on the track but guys that just want a nice ride usually go for the larger engine as it just give more ease of sitting in a high gear and rolling on and off the power. I am generally speaking.

I did a trip on a BMW 650 Dakar and on the motorway its a pain with a pillion and luggage but on the slow gravel its super, where the BMW 1200 is a bigger beast that will eat up miles with a pillion and luggage but on the slower gravel is heavy.

So smaller engine is as good as the bigger ones but it just depends on what you want to get out of it. Test drive loads of bikes to see what you like and what you want to use the bike for.

Hope this helps and now diss on the R1 as I was super close to getting one

 

[Watevaman]

Oh, speaking of my GS500, I'm coming up on my first 10k miles put on it. It's been a super fun time and I'm looking forward to thousands more.