Motorcycle Thread

[Kotowboy]

Lets just say the Tabloids plaster the temp in farenheit when its hot ( 100 Farenheit would be a freakishly HOT summer - around 40 C )

And they always use Celsius when it's freakishly cold. Record is around -10 I think ??

But a NICE decent UK Summer is around 30 Celsius.


---

One of the positives from last March's first l*ckd*wn in the UK was that the weather was AMAZING for three solid months. Hot and dry every day. Amazing. I just went for long walks every day.

That weather began around March 25 so we shall see !

[Phoenix87x]

Great day of riding. Did 100 miles and Its just what I needed. Went and got BBQ and Beers with my friend and had a blast.

But it started out shitty:

The bike wouldn't start today... I knew it was only a matter of time, but it still made me mad. In the past 8 months I may have ridden only like 4 times so the battery was kaputz. Oh well

But I Learned some valuable lessons though:

A) push starting a Harley is not something I can do or want to do 
B) Apparently you can jump start a bike with a car (but the car has to remain off)

So yeah, we used my friends car to jump start it. Didn't even know you could do that, lol. Ran fine the rest of the day.

[Herrick]

I've been using a battery tender. It came in handy when I didn't ride from January 19 to about February 25. That's the longest I've gone without riding since I started in 2018.

[Phoenix87x]

I want to use the tender sooooooo bad, but the bike has to still stay at my friend's house for the time being. I bought a tender and he said he would charge it from time to time, but apparently never has, as was made obvious today.

Can't complain too much since he lets me keep it there for free, so yeah. Can't wait to get a house with a garage...

[Herrick]

I want to use the tender sooooooo bad, but the bike has to still stay at my friend's house for the time being. I bought a tender and he said he would charge it from time to time, but apparently never has, as was made obvious today.

Can't complain too much since he lets me keep it there for free, so yeah. Can't wait to get a house with a garage...

Yeah that sucks. I think I remember you mentioned in an older post that you were keeping the bike somewhere else. I don't have a garage either, but luckily there is a spot by my front door with an outlet where I can keep the bike charged all the time.

In other news, I'm still thinking about trading in my Low Rider for a V-Strom 650. I love the Low Rider but I do not like the chrome at all.

[Phoenix87x]

The V-strom would be cool. A totally different experience. I dig the chrome for the most part, but I think the all black models are where its at:

[Herrick]

The V-strom would be cool. A totally different experience. I dig the chrome for the most part, but I think the all black models are where its at:

That is nice. I like the looks of those pre-2018 Fat Boys more than the newer ones.

If I had the money, I'd get the Low Rider all blacked out. I'm not sure how much easier it would be to keep clean though.

[Phoenix87x]

Oh I totally agree. Sure the 2018+ fat boys are fun to ride and everything but the look just is not the same 

I wanted to love the all black low rider s so bad, but I couldn't wait to get off of it 

Which is bizarre since the regular low rider is bike I bought and the bike I love

[Herrick]

Oh I totally agree. Sure the 2018+ fat boys are fun to ride and everything but the look just is not the same 

I wanted to love the low rider s so bad, but I couldn't wait to get off of it 

Which is bizarre since the regular low rider is bike I bought and the bike I love

What didn't you like about the Low Rider S?

[Phoenix87x]

Very uncomfortable. Felt awkward to ride. Very rigid. Wasn't digging it

And that very well could have been because it was a M8 softail low rider s and I ride a dyna low rider. Never got to ride the pre-2018 low rider s though

[Herrick]

Very uncomfortable. Felt awkward to ride. Very rigid. Wasn't digging it

And that very well could have been that it was a M8 softail low rider s and I ride a dyna low rider. Never got to ride the pre-2018 low rider s though

I'll have to check it out one day if I ever get to go to a demo day. I don't think I'd buy one though even if I had the money. I love how it looks but it's too bad-ass looking for me and I whatever "performance" aspects it has would be lost on Herrick.

Now that they have discontinued the regular Low Rider, if I had to buy another new HD, I'd get a Slim I think.

[Phoenix87x]

Despite it having the big bad 114, the performance felt kinda meh...  My friend rode it as well and he wasn't really feeling it either. We both really liked the Fat boy though.

The slim would be very cool. I don't think there's any other HD out there that I would want, lol

My bike feels perfect. I just need to do a Stage II on mine and then we'll be in business 

[Herrick]

Despite it having the big bad 114, the performance felt kinda meh...  My friend rode it as well and he wasn't really feeling it either. We both really liked the Fat boy though.

The slim would be very cool. I don't think there's any other HD out there that I would want, lol

My bike feels perfect. I just need to do a Stage II on mine and then we'll be in business 

The 114 seems a bit overrated. Isn't like only 10% more power or something? I don't really know about performance stuff. I'm fine with the stock performance of the M8 107.

[Phoenix87x]

yeah, it definitely felt exaggerated.

Especially when you are used to being able to get up to 72mph in first gear with a sport bike, lol

[Kotowboy]

My bike went through a phase of not starting once a year - and the problem was always something different.

Quite annoying.

[Kotowboy]

So Dad got me a pair of LED side lights with 8 bulbs in each - and we finally wired them up yesterday to come on with Full Beam.

I went out after dark for a test drive last night and    OMG the difference is ridiculous.

I can actually see at night now !

[ReaperKK]

Those make a huge difference, when I got my R6 years ago I did a headlight swap and it was one the best modifications I've done to my bike.

[Kotowboy]

The headlight bulb itself is an LED but it's still really weak on dipped. Now it's like I have car headlights on full beam .



I think what I should also do is get foglights as it can get ridiculously foggy going to and from work and it's already a 30 min ride.

When I have to go 40mph the whole way with my visor open - it's not very pleasant.

[Kotowboy]

So the weather yesterday was stunning so I finally talked myself into riding the 1 hour to one of my fave seaside towns.

Motorcycles always congregate on the Promenade and one of them was " 160 Cubic Inches "

I did the sums and found out that's about 2,500 CC - which is just ridiculous.

I ride a 125 CC and I can do 80 mph and overtake slow drivers. It's FINE.

Why do you need TWENTY times the power ?

Granted i've never ridden for more than 90 mins in one go but my bike is pretty comfy.

Since my road-worthi-ness test last October - I had some new bushings in my swing arm and the front fork adjusted. I took it up to 80

going down this ultra long hill near me and it felt VERY stable. Not like my old Yamaha SR 125 which at that speed left like I was in 

a shopping trolley

[Phoenix87x]

My Harley is roughly 1700cc but its a heavy bike and its power allows for a confident riding experience. Anything over 100mph on the highway it struggles significantly which I am cool with.

In contrast my Racebike was 600cc and could go 70mph in first gear and do around 155mph top speed which was WAY more then what I needed (in hindsight)

So I guess it comes to down to the type of bike and what the rider is comfortable with, but I don't think I would need anything like 2500cc.

[Herrick]

It isn't just about the power for me but the weight too. My bike is 661 pounds and I was still getting blown around a bit on the way home from work a few nights ago. I wouldn't want to ride a much lighter bike in those conditions.

Edit: From what I understand, the heavier bikes like Harleys need bigger engines because they're not fully liquid cooled. Liquid cooling is more efficient and can make more power in a smaller package.

[Herrick]

I got a Gerbing heated jacket liner. The thing is very thin and fits easily over a sweatshirt and fits nicely in my light riding jacket which also has a removable liner. I haven't tried the heated liner yet but I heard it gets very warm. I'm wondering if it will be enough to ride in the temperatures I ride in. Lowest I ride in is 20 degrees F/-6 Celsius.

I have a much heavier cold weather jacket and it holds up well against the cold with a hoody, sweatshirt, & t-shirt underneath. Butt it would be nice and more comfortable if I could ride with a lighter jacket on.

The nice thing about the heated jacker liner is that it has plugs for my heated gloves. So I won't have to run wires up my sleeves anymore. Sexcellent.

[Kotowboy]

I see plenty of bikers with no Top Box or anything - so when they have a day out at the beach - they have to carry their big padded jacket and crash helmet everywhere.

And walk around in the summer heat in biker boots.

No thanks. I'll have a top box and at worst a change of footwear in a rucksack.

[Herrick]

I see plenty of bikers with no Top Box or anything - so when they have a day out at the beach - they have to carry their big padded jacket and crash helmet everywhere.

And walk around in the summer heat in biker boots.

No thanks. I'll have a top box and at worst a change of footwear in a rucksack.

It does suck carrying a helmet around. But I don't really go anywhere other than work so it's not a big problem for me.

[XJDenton]

What are your opinions on airbags?

[Herrick]

What are your opinions on airbags?

I don't know much about them.

[Herrick]

I rode to work with the heated liner today. It was 33 but felt like 25 or something like that. I wore it over a t-shirt & hoody & under my light riding jacket which also has a liner. I felt pretty comfortable. It did not feel like I had a bunch of layers on. I had the heat set to 7 out of 10 and I was comfortable for the whole ride, which was about 10 miles never exceeding 70mph. Impressive. Most Impressive.

[Phoenix87x]

Took the bike out for like an hour and a half today. Miserable week and the ride washed all those shitty feelings away.

[Herrick]

Sorry to hear about the bad week, mang.

[Phoenix87x]

Thanks.

I rhode the ever living shit out of that bike today. Another good reason I should stick to cruisers over sport bikes. Had fun without things getting too out of hand, lol

[Herrick]

Thanks.

I rhode the ever living shit out of that bike today. Another good reason I should stick to cruisers over sport bikes. Had fun without things getting too out of hand, lol

Are you still going to do the Stage 2 thing?

[Phoenix87x]

Most likely.

Don't really have a spare $1200 at the moment, but its the final upgrade I want to do and hope to do so at some point this year.

[hunnus2000]

Most likely.

Don't really have a spare $1200 at the moment, but its the final upgrade I want to do and hope to do so at some point this year.

Are you going to do it or will you have the dealership do it?

[Phoenix87x]

Dealer

[Herrick]

Yeah those upgrades are expensive. I'm satisfied with the stock power.