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Geek Culture / On a Steel Horse I Ride

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 1st Jul 2018 14:33
Wanted dead or a alive?

Yeah, I got Bon Jovi stuck in your head now.

Check out this bad boy. I'll be riding it in three weeks, I've paid for her and the dealership'll happily hold onto her until I pass my full test (hopefully) in three weeks and I'll be able to turn in my 125cc Honda and no longer be a learner rider.



They also knocked off £300, given me free delivery and all of their new Kawasakis are data tagged, which is what I was planning on doing anyway, so that's an expense avoided.

I can't wait. I'll see if I can do a video once she's home.
BatVink
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Posted: 1st Jul 2018 20:52
I don't know anything about bikes, so all I can say is congratulations old chap, hope she's a thoroughbred.

However...
Quote: "Yeah, I got Bon Jovi stuck in your head now."


I already got to a six-string on my back before the thread opened.
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Wolf
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Posted: 2nd Jul 2018 03:55
Congratulations Drive carefully.
Phaelax
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Posted: 2nd Jul 2018 21:52 Edited at: 2nd Jul 2018 23:20
That's funny, I was just listening to that song on my way into work this morning.

Quote: "and all of their new Kawasakis are data tagged"

Must be a European thing, I don't know what this means.

I see it's a Vulcan but can't make out which one. 900?

If you guys have a riders course available, I'd recommend taking it. Over here we have the Basic Riders Course, which is a 2-day class. I was already riding my around the neighborhood on my permit but the class gave me a chance to ride around in an isolated area and practice things like swerving around obstacles and quick-stops. Plus, since it's not on my bike I was more willing to do things I may otherwise have been afraid to try because I didn't want to risk dropping my bike. Theirs I didn't care lol. They were only 250cc bikes at most anyway. And the class also points out things about riding you might not have thought of or considered yet.

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Posted: 3rd Jul 2018 21:06
Nice!
2002 - Present
Bengismo
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Posted: 4th Jul 2018 22:57
Wow...there are some really stunning bikes on this forum.

I love the black stealth look on the Vulcan above...thats a really cool looking bike right there!

I havent had a motor bike in 3 years and am really missing one now. I like the car for winter but miss the bike as well to ride in the summer! I did come off my CBR600 though and broke my wrist so a car was the logical option. Take care out there!

I also had the chance to go to the isle of Mann TT races this year which was EPIC! Anyone who hasnt seen the footage of those on you tube really needs to take a look to see what speed and danger really is!!
Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 5th Jul 2018 07:28
Quote: "Must be a European thing, I don't know what this means."


It's a security marking that's near impossible to locate and remove, which puts your bike on a database the police have access to, meaning if it gets stolen 1) it makes it easier to identify that the bike is stolen and 2) means they can trace it back to its rightful owner and 3) helps as a deterrant because of the additional risk it puts on thieves. It just adds an extra level of security worth having.

Quote: "I see it's a Vulcan but can't make out which one. 900?"


Vulcan S. They did have a used Vulcan 900 in there, but I saw signs of rust, it was also more expensive than a new Vulcan S and i had my heart set on the S. It is basically a more modern Vulcan with a parallel twin taken from the Ninja 650 and Versys 650 but down tuned to suit a cruiser.

Quote: "
If you guys have a riders course available, I'd recommend taking it. Over here we have the Basic Riders Course, which is a 2-day class. I was already riding my around the neighborhood on my permit but the class gave me a chance to ride around in an isolated area and practice things like swerving around obstacles and quick-stops. Plus, since it's not on my bike I was more willing to do things I may otherwise have been afraid to try because I didn't want to risk dropping my bike. Theirs I didn't care lol. They were only 250cc bikes at most anyway. And the class also points out things about riding you might not have thought of or considered yet."


Here in the UK this is a legal requirement. I did my CBT just over a year ago (which is our basic training), which allows me to ride up to 125cc with a learner badge, but for me to ride anything bigger I have to do a full license, which I am starting the training for today and should hopefully pass by the time the bike gets here as my test is booked, but the dealership said they don't mind holding onto it in the event I don't. I wholeheartedly agree it is worth doing and I know it's not mandatory in all countries, but it is easy to develop bad habits and you don't want to develop them so you're not doing your bike harm or early wear and tear and also, you don't wanna get totalled by a car. Apparently since the UK made CBT's mandatory, the number of motorcycle accidents went down drastically, which I think shows why it is worth it.

Also that's a nice looking bike you've got there. Yamaha Bolt if I am not mistaken?

Quote: "I havent had a motor bike in 3 years and am really missing one now. I like the car for winter but miss the bike as well to ride in the summer! I did come off my CBR600 though and broke my wrist so a car was the logical option. Take care out there!"


Cheers, I don't drive a car, so I had my bike for the winter and I can see why people go for cars in the winter, I am half tempted to get a cheap second hand bike for the winter, last winter was not a friendly one and my 125 did see some wounds from the road salt, which I wanna avoid on my Vulcan.

Quote: "
I also had the chance to go to the isle of Mann TT races this year which was EPIC! Anyone who hasnt seen the footage of those on you tube really needs to take a look to see what speed and danger really is!!"


I'd love to go one year, just because of how nuts it is. Me and my brother were talking of riding up to Guy Martin's pub once I am off of my 125.

But I can link a bike cam video for Guy Martin at the TT:



Quote: " I did come off my CBR600 though and broke my wrist so a car was the logical option. "


Sorry to hear man, but am glad it was nothing worse. It'll be its sister the CBF600 I'll be doing my test on and what I'll be riding this morning.

Quote: "I already got to a six-string on my back before the thread opened."


It's amazing how they just appear out of nowhere the moment Jovi comes on.

And I guess for any Slipknot and Supernatural fans.

Phaelax
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Posted: 6th Jul 2018 14:18
Quote: "Also that's a nice looking bike you've got there. Yamaha Bolt if I am not mistaken?"

Yup, with a few alterations. The handlebars, obviously, vance exhaust, different air intake, and dynojet autotune. I didn't install the dynojet, the last owner did. I'm not exactly sure what it does really.

The other day I scraped my foot peg on a corner and it scared me for a second lol. I think my bike can lean pretty good for the style it is, but I wasn't expecting it happen, caught me off-guard.

Have you guys seen this cam footage from a biker almost squashed? Dude had amazing reflexes and I'm pretty sure most other bikers would've been toast. Car flips in front of him and he jumps onto the bottom of it and surfs across the road lol. Oh and the quality of his gopro cam is amazing.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 7th Jul 2018 15:05 Edited at: 7th Jul 2018 15:06
I am now all prepped for my mod 1 on Monday, after those 2 training sessions, riding my 125 feels really odd after riding a Hornet for a few hours and in fact, I don't wanna ride my 125 now, because the Hornet feels way nicer to ride, different like night and day and actually feels safer.

The weather has been gorgeous for it, though, kitted up in gear, has been rather...hot.

Quote: "Yup, with a few alterations. The handlebars, obviously, vance exhaust, different air intake, and dynojet autotune. I didn't install the dynojet, the last owner did. I'm not exactly sure what it does really.
"


Ah nice. The ape hangers are tasteful, I actually never thought I'd be a fan of them, but at a bike show a couple of months ago I sat on a Triumph Bobber with ape hangers installed and I was surprised by how comfortable they are. Though some ape hangers are ludicrous. One of the good things with the Vulcan S is their ergofit, the dealer will fits the bars and seat suited to your body and position and positing the pegs accordingly too, though no ape hanger options included. But stock actually worked out a good fit for me.

The exhaust, I am looking at Delkovic once I settle in on my Vulcan, because the stock is too quiet. Vance and Hines don't do anything for the Vulcan S and the Delkovic slash cuts look right and sound right.



I'd have the temptation to replace the mirrors and the headlight, with the headlight, I'll see if it grows on me first, but looks like you can swap it out for the one from the Vulcan 900.

Quote: "The other day I scraped my foot peg on a corner and it scared me for a second lol. I think my bike can lean pretty good for the style it is, but I wasn't expecting it happen, caught me off-guard."


Yeah I can imagine it would. The downside to cruisers seems to be their lack of lean versus other bikes, but hey, at least there's pegs there to warn you if you're leaning too much without it being any harm.

Quote: "Have you guys seen this cam footage from a biker almost squashed? Dude had amazing reflexes and I'm pretty sure most other bikers would've been toast. Car flips in front of him and he jumps onto the bottom of it and surfs across the road lol. Oh and the quality of his gopro cam is amazing."


Holy diver, Batman. Well fairplay to the rider for his reactions and with the driver, I guess he ran a red light? Nuts. Glad the guy came out all right and was able to just run off like that.
Phaelax
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Posted: 9th Jul 2018 15:59
Quote: "with ape hangers installed and I was surprised by how comfortable they are. "

Same here. I always saw them and thought it'd be uncomfortable but they're really not. And mine aren't obnoxiously high either. Here, there's a law against handlebars being higher than your shoulders. Usually you'll only see those on choppers but I'm not aware of anyone ever actually getting ticketed for it.

Another law I just discovered last night is you need glasses. I took my bike to the gas station to fill up last night so I could ride to work this morning. It's only a few blocks through the neighborhood so I hopped on and rode down. Now, I'd never suggest riding without glasses and honestly I don't even like riding without mine. But I jumped on so quick, after a block I was like ah crap I forgot my glasses. A cop stopped me and actually cussed me out. Told me I could have my bike impounded if I'm not wearing eye-protection. I don't always wear my helmet, but I do to work cause I'll be in rush hour on the highway when I go home.

Oh, and I had to install my own taillights. Previous owner took them off and just tied the connectors up under the fender. Well, they sagged too much and the rear tire ate them so I had to splice new wires and go some aftermarket lights.
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 17th Jul 2018 16:06
In good news, I passed my mod 2 today, so I'll be ready to ride my new bike when it comes this weekend. Sadly the other guy with me did not pass, because he stalled at a vulnerable point on the road, which is considered a severe, which is a shame because we trained together, so it'd have been cool for both of us to rock it, but in fairness, one of his habits was stopping at junctions in the wrong gear.


Quote: "Another law I just discovered last night is you need glasses. I took my bike to the gas station to fill up last night so I could ride to work this morning. It's only a few blocks through the neighborhood so I hopped on and rode down. Now, I'd never suggest riding without glasses and honestly I don't even like riding without mine. But I jumped on so quick, after a block I was like ah crap I forgot my glasses. A cop stopped me and actually cussed me out. Told me I could have my bike impounded if I'm not wearing eye-protection. I don't always wear my helmet, but I do to work cause I'll be in rush hour on the highway when I go home."


I can understand the logic behind the law at least - get something in your eye and that can mess up your vision and perception and run down some pedestrians. Though here, the law is that you have to wear a helmet, so less of a pain in that you're wearing it all the time anyway, so you have a visor. If I want the wind to keep me cool, I just ride with half a visor open, especially given the current weather here, we've had a heatwave for a couple of weeks or so, which is weird for the UK. Talking of cops, the other guy training was a cop, so it might have been funny if I ended up speeding when training, he stop the instructor and come to me with a notepad and pen, "what speed were you going sir?"

Phaelax
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Posted: 18th Jul 2018 14:22
Just flip the cop off and drive away. Soon as you pass through an intersection he'll be unable to follow!

The eye protection is for more than just keeping your vision clear. Ever had a car in front of you kick up a rock or something? Now imagine that hitting your eye instead of a windshield.

On a side note, I squealed tires for the first time braking so hard the other day. There were two lanes and I was in the curb lane. The truck in front of me decided to switch lanes suddenly without warning. Ok, that part doesn't affect me as he was leaving my lane to go into the other. The problem was, until he moved over I couldn't see what's in front of him. He waited until the last second to move over because there was a parked car! I couldn't swerve over because of traffic and slammed on those brakes. Good thing I just replaced my brakes and rotors a month ago. It's situations like that which make me glad I never go cheap on brake parts. I use EBC red stuff on all my vehicles with performance rotors. Sure it costs me way more money, but I can stop better than the average person. Fortunately, nobody was close enough behind me to run me over.
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2018 02:37
She came today, I did one small ride out this afternoon to break her in a little, she's a nice riding bike, so relaxed, which is exactly what I wanted. Though I may get the pegs moved back 1 notch as they are at their furthest position (the ones in the shop were mid position and they seemed perfect to me), but I'll see how I feel once used to the position.




Though it weren't without annoyances, I spent a lot of time dealing with my insurance company wanting to get this insured. In my communication with them, I still didn't get a policy with them on my new bike and they managed to justify raising the insurance on my first bike by £30 a month because I passed by full license, a policy I'm gonna be cancelling. I still cannot work out the logic, on said bike I was a learn, it was a 125cc bike, I only have CBT, the most basic of training. Now that I have not only passed a theory test, I have an additional 16 hours of training with my instructor leading up to passing mod 1 and mod 2 tests, which are more thorough than the CBT, I'd have thought doing such a thing would reduce the risk on said 125 and bring my insurance down, not up. I queried it, but the answer was stupid (it goes up because you can ride bigger bikes now - which is great, but the bike insured is a small bike) , the person wasn't that intelligent and was very much following policy and procedure.

A car, I'd understand, learners with cars have to be supervised, so getting a license means they're on the own and thus a bigger risk. You don't get that with a motorbike, once your CBT is don't, you are not supervised and are allowed to ride freely as a learner.

Quote: "
The eye protection is for more than just keeping your vision clear. Ever had a car in front of you kick up a rock or something? Now imagine that hitting your eye instead of a windshield.
"


Yerrrp. Given how we resurface roads in the UK, the likelihood of that happening is fairly high, at least on those roads.

Quote: "On a side note, I squealed tires for the first time braking so hard the other day. There were two lanes and I was in the curb lane. The truck in front of me decided to switch lanes suddenly without warning. Ok, that part doesn't affect me as he was leaving my lane to go into the other. The problem was, until he moved over I couldn't see what's in front of him. He waited until the last second to move over because there was a parked car! I couldn't swerve over because of traffic and slammed on those brakes. Good thing I just replaced my brakes and rotors a month ago. It's situations like that which make me glad I never go cheap on brake parts. I use EBC red stuff on all my vehicles with performance rotors. Sure it costs me way more money, but I can stop better than the average person. Fortunately, nobody was close enough behind me to run me over."


Yeah, 'tis good going. Going cheap on safety equipment on anything is generally a bad idea.

My bike instructor runs SkidBike courses, which I am tempted by when I got money again, it is supposed to be good training for handling your bike should it start to skid. They have a bike on a frame to allow you to skid without coming off.
Phaelax
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Posted: 23rd Jul 2018 19:03
I had to look up skidbike, it's training wheels for a motorcycle! Braking hard in corners you want to get the bike as upright as possible before hitting them. Just yesterday, I was turning left through an intersection (i had an arrow) and this girl on a bicycle suddenly decides to just bolt across the street in front of me. Crosswalk clearly said do not cross! (cause I had the arrow). Fortunately I was only doing about 25mph.

I know how you feel about insurance companies. I just bought a 14yr old pickup truck with over 200k miles on it. I get a quote from my insurance company (which I have my bike and house also with them) and the truck costs more to insure than my bmw. Like what the crap!
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Posted: 27th Jul 2018 01:45 Edited at: 27th Jul 2018 07:26
I dunno, I think you guys are lagging behind a little...check out my sweet ride...


EDIT: Please ignore, seems I left my machine logged in while drunk with a so-called "friend" who thought he would amuse himself :/
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 27th Jul 2018 21:48
Quote: "I had to look up skidbike, it's training wheels for a motorcycle! Braking hard in corners you want to get the bike as upright as possible before hitting them. Just yesterday, I was turning left through an intersection (i had an arrow) and this girl on a bicycle suddenly decides to just bolt across the street in front of me. Crosswalk clearly said do not cross! (cause I had the arrow). Fortunately I was only doing about 25mph."


Yeah, I suppose the skibike would be a bike with training wheels, I cannot see them doing it any other way without harming the bike or rider, as the idea is to get you to skid the bike and you get training and practice in handling the bike in that situation to increase your chances of not dropping the bike or coming off.

As for the cyclist, yeah, I find they're really an unpredictable lot, I tend to treat them as though they're about to do something stupid, so I give them plenty of berth.


Quote: "I know how you feel about insurance companies. I just bought a 14yr old pickup truck with over 200k miles on it. I get a quote from my insurance company (which I have my bike and house also with them) and the truck costs more to insure than my bmw. Like what the crap!"


That does sound daft. But insurance is what ended up removing the Indian Scout Sixty from the list of bikes I was looking to buy, because their insurance was twice as expensive as other similar style bikes, with a similar size engine and a similar price. The Scout Sixty was my first choice, the Vulcan S was my second. But the Scout Sixty was already pushing my budget and the insurance just stopped it from being viable.

However, I am very happy after the first week on my Vulcan S. Today I got put her through her first ordeal, not by choice though, after 2 months of draught and no rain we got hit by storm, I didn't leave to go home until after it had passed, though there was still intervals of rain, thunder and lightning. But there was an area on my way home that was hit really bad by the storm, lots of broken trees, debris on the roads, even a tree collapsed into a power line and the main road I normally take to get home was closed off by the police (probably too dangerous for vehicles) so I took the long way through all of the back country roads, which were covered in slippery mud and al debris, even big parts of trees covering the road. Lots of twisties and hills and almost like rally track in the rain most of the way home turning my normal 45 minute journey into over an hour. This is with torrential rain, thunder and lightning all over the place. Admittedly, the thunder and lightning part did appeal to me and felt kinda badass.

But she handled it all beautifully, I was careful and it managed to be quite an enjoyable ride - I was soaked and she'll probably need a good clean, but a good test to put her through at the end of her first week. XD
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Posted: 27th Jul 2018 22:38
I love Indian bikes, couldn't afford one though. I live only about 8 miles from Iron Pony, which is one of the largest bike stores in the country.
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Posted: 27th Jul 2018 23:53
Yeah, they're a tad expensive, though even more so over here, I saw the US prices and was envious.

I got to see their new production bike back in May, based off of their flat track racer, the FTR1200, it's a gorgeous bike and should be out next year.



So if I could afford a second bike and afford an Indian, I'd be tempted by one of these now that I have a cruiser.

But, despite how gorgeous the Indians are, I am loving my Vulcan S to pieces.
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Posted: 30th Jul 2018 04:43
I like it except for the exhaust placement. It's a bit too high up and too close to my umm plums. I'd like a really old Indian, like 30s or 40s.
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Posted: 30th Jul 2018 15:44
Quote: "I like it except for the exhaust placement. It's a bit too high up and too close to my umm plums. I'd like a really old Indian, like 30s or 40s."


Aye, seems to be where many scramblers put them, I figure as it was built as a flat track racer, it helps keeps the dirt and dust from getting in the exhaust.

And old Indian Scout would be sweet, we had a guy deliver use some Timber and we did get onto the topic of motorcycles and the cheeky sod just finished doing his up. But they aren't easy to get a hold of, or cheap. I know Richard Hammond and Jay Leno have their own and Jay Leno's did a video of his, which is quite an interesting watch.
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Posted: 30th Jul 2018 18:28
I didn't know Hammond had one. Surprised he hasn't wrecked that one yet....
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Posted: 31st Jul 2018 01:00
I just looked it up because I couldn't remember where I heard it, but turns out it was a 1946 Indian Chief he's got and not a Scout, but still, an old Indian Chief would be pretty damn sweet too.
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Posted: 31st Jul 2018 12:40
Bet he's not as fast as Burt Munro!
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Posted: 31st Jul 2018 13:05 Edited at: 31st Jul 2018 13:12
Ah yes, Burt Munro, setting speed records at Bonneville, we both know Hammond would have stacked it . Talking of Bonneville the Triumph Bonneville was gonna be my choice after the Kawasaki, which was sitting at the top of my budget and I was tempted by a second hand one at our Triumph dealership, then I could pretend that I'm Steve McQueen. But the Kawasaki had everything I wanted, just the Bonne is a classy bike and was a close choice. If I got the scrambler version, I could have pretended to be Chris Pratt riding with velociraptors, obviously I am a fantasy rider here.

But still, its a gorgeous bike and this is the one I was looking at:



But I love that the visual design of the bike remains mostly unchanged, even if the technology is updated.

Also, you seen what Harley Davidson are coming out with? It looks like they've decided to try and tap into new markets, word has been their sales are suffering so cool they've decided to branch out and create American bikes that aren't cruisers, baggers, tourers and the sorts.

This is their naked sports bike:

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Posted: 1st Aug 2018 13:19

Harley making a sports bike?! Say what! I imagine quite a few harley purists will bite their thumb at it. I'm not much for sports bikes, I like my cruiser/bobber style. I wouldn't mind having a harley night rod though.
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Posted: 6th Aug 2018 16:48 Edited at: 6th Aug 2018 16:50
Yeah I figure there will be a number of Harley complaints, but hey, they gotta stay afloat and there is a gap in the market for American sportsbikes. They also are now the first major motorcycle manufacturer to be releasing an electric bike and I thought the Japanese would be the first among the big manufacturers to do it. They've also added an adventure bike to their line up, but I think it looks ugly.

Also, all the talk of old Indian Scouts, I've just come back from Wacken Open Air in Germany, big heavy metal festival over there and spotted this whilst I was there:



Nobody was looking, I could, you know...have just taken it.
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Posted: 7th Aug 2018 14:18
It'd be rough to ride, there's no suspension.
A lot of people think my bike is a harley, maybe it's the handlebars. It doesn't have the typical "yamaha" look.
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Posted: 7th Aug 2018 16:53 Edited at: 7th Aug 2018 16:54
The festival had a wall of death thing, so I expect suspension was not necessary for its purpose.

Quote: "A lot of people think my bike is a harley, maybe it's the handlebars. It doesn't have the typical "yamaha" look."


My brother gets this with his Speedmaster too, even fooling a Harley rider.

I've not yet had it on my Vulcan, but then the only stranger yet to talk to me about my bike was a guy interested in Japanese cruisers.

I've heard the Bolt get referred to as a knock-off Sportster, though I suspect that when people tend to think "cruiser" they think Harley. Though when I think Harley, I think lots of gloss and chrome and getting blinded by the shine (which describes my experience of walking into their dealership). Hence only a handful of them appeal to me, like the Iron 883, which I think looks great.
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Posted: 9th Aug 2018 16:57
There's a lot of folks who think Harley is the only true motorcycle. I've read reviews from a few folks with more open minds and most of them will tell you the bolt is better than a sportster, aside from the death wobble if you let the handle bars go, which mine experiences as well. I think the main consensus was the front tire tread is the culprit.

So a little bad news today. I just got off the highway and was pulling up to my house to park and my shift peg snapped off as I hit a pile of mud left in the road from the rain yesterday along the curb. Me and the bike are fine despite falling over, followed by much cursing as I laid there wondering wtf just happened.
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Posted: 9th Aug 2018 18:22
Quote: "There's a lot of folks who think Harley is the only true motorcycle. I've read reviews from a few folks with more open minds and most of them will tell you the bolt is better than a sportster, aside from the death wobble if you let the handle bars go, which mine experiences as well. I think the main consensus was the front tire tread is the culprit."


I'd believe it, the Japanese make good bikes...no bias here of course . I get the appeal of Harleys and was attracted to the Iron 883 sportster, but to turn it into an actual Harley I'd need the stage 1 kit, Harley don't sell parts cheap and that bike is already more expensive than it's Japanese competition and their competiton is already more powerful, solid with better reliability, give you more for your money, with better MPG, bigger tanks and better fuel mileage (I ride 1.5 hours daily because of work, so that's important to me ), but it seems their appeal is how they look and feel, which I can get if you love the bike's character.

With the tyre tread, it may be worth looking at alternative tyres when you have to replace them, my brother had Metzelers when he got his Speedmaster but found they fish-tailed at times, but had them replaced with Bridgestones and they ended up gripping the road way better. If a known issues among riders, it's possible there's recommendations for better tyres.

Quote: "
So a little bad news today. I just got off the highway and was pulling up to my house to park and my shift peg snapped off as I hit a pile of mud left in the road from the rain yesterday along the curb. Me and the bike are fine despite falling over, followed by much cursing as I laid there wondering wtf just happened. "


As far as incidents go, glad it was nothing too bad, but yeah, that does suck.
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Posted: 12th Aug 2018 02:54
So that little metal bracket I need for my bike was $75! I went ahead and ordered it, I'll get it some time this following week. In the meantime, I might try some jb weld or liquid metal. I'd just weld it back myself but I don't have access to the equipment anymore.

Also in the news, the mopar nationals were this weekend about 30min outside of town. Mmmm, nothing but mopars!
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Posted: 18th Aug 2018 15:57
Quote: "A lot of people think my bike is a harley, maybe it's the handlebars. It doesn't have the typical "yamaha" look."


This happened to me today. A kid walked up to my bike to compliment and ask questions about it and then said "it looks like a Harley Davidson". Now I'm normally a pacifist...
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Posted: 20th Aug 2018 13:03
lol, I don't see how it could be mistaken for a harley. Then again, I saw top gear drive a Ford GT through Detroit and locals were like "nice ferrari"....
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Posted: 1st Sep 2018 12:01
Yeah, I suppose people don’t really pay much attention to detail.

Also, I picked up my Vulcan from her 600 mile service and she is now almost fully broken in, which means I can now open up her throttle, so I took the long way home along the country route and she’s a hooligan once I get that throttle open. Loads of fun, awesome.
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Posted: 1st Sep 2018 16:13
Thats great...broken in now so no restrictions on how hard you can be on the engine. I always used to wait until the bike was up to temp then hammer it down the empty roads near me. I once went the long long long way home (65 miles extra) just because it was a summer day and i was enjoying the riding.

My mum never noticed the difference between my 125 and a 600cc!! So...yeah. To some people a bike is a bike.

I think the vulcan looks stunning. I love the matt black. Some people want a shiny chrome look, or want a bike with at least 6 different sponsor names on it : Yuck!! No thanks.

Your bike is my idea of a really cool looking stealth bike. Lean, clean n mean.
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Posted: 1st Sep 2018 17:04 Edited at: 1st Sep 2018 17:07
Quote: "My mum never noticed the difference between my 125 and a 600cc!! So...yeah. To some people a bike is a bike."


Yeah, I hear ya. Though the difference is like night and day. One you have to goad and the other goads you.

My mum on the other hand went to the other extreme. That cc's are the be all and end all. She kicked off because she thought a Triumph Speedmaster was too big of a jump for my brother when he passed his test because it's about 900cc, yet the 600 Hornet he passed his test on was sportier and a lot more responsive on the throttle. Yet she did not blink an eye when he got a Street Triple, as it was "only" 675cc.


Quote: " I once went the long long long way home (65 miles extra) just because it was a summer day and i was enjoying the riding."


My commute is about 40 mins, so the distance actually opens up so good variety in the roads I can take, a lot of country roads as we're in farmer territory.


Quote: "I think the vulcan looks stunning. I love the matt black. Some people want a shiny chrome look, or want a bike with at least 6 different sponsor names on it : Yuck!! No thanks."


Cheers. I am well with you, I walked into a Harley dealership when I was still making up my mind on what to get, I was blinded by all of the glamour, but beyond "ah my eyes" my main thought was "that's gonna be a lot of rust". Though kudos to them, they do some good looking blacked out models like the Iron 883 - their matt black and denim red versions pull it off nicely.



Quote: "Your bike is my idea of a really cool looking stealth bike. Lean, clean n mean."


Cheers, I may occassionally pretend I'm Batman. I am very satisfied with her. And finally getting to open that throttle on empty roads, I may have giggled.
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Posted: 1st Sep 2018 17:38
I like the harley night rod, has that batman stealth feel to it. But it's also like $20k!
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Posted: 1st Sep 2018 20:54
The V-Rod and its variations are Harleys I do like.

But I guess an alternative Batman bike is the Honda NM4 Vultus. Either Batman or Akira.



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Posted: 2nd Sep 2018 16:32
I mean, Tron was a good movie, but not gonna lie, I think that looks ugly.

A shame, Lotus were my favourite cars as a kid, I mean look at the Elise, looks gorgeous. I'd hope their idea of a bike would also be tasty. Still, it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

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