Just reading thru the July 2006 Motor Cyclist issue again at work and came acroos the quote below. I believe it follows how many members of this forum feel exactly!

"Riding any of the Hyper-liter-bikes on the street results in one of 5 things: If you ride them as they're meant to be ridden, you end up dead, Hurt or arrested. If you can ride as above but dont, your frustrated. If you cant ride as above, your a poser. Dead, hurt, arrested or a poser--take your pick. Me I ride a" 250!

I ended the quote before the 250 because the original author Larry Kahn rides naked bikes but did not specify what CC his bikes were (2006).

I have stated many times, as others on here have also, that the bigger bike cannot be (safely) used to or near their potential on the street and not many posess the skill to use them fully on the track either! Smaller displacment bikes are way more fun every day on the street. Just try to bump a 600cc bike off the rev limiter in front of a cop anywhere! But I can do 3 gears to redline on the 250 and still be below 50 mph! Fun Fun Fun

Just thought I would share this on yet another 20 degree day in New England!
Ride safe when you get to ride:dancecool:

well, I know a lot of people who can't keep the whip and spurs put away...

I ride a hyper sport most of the time. The CBR can do 100 in first gear (I was told this by the previous owner).

the TL will lift the front at will.

Yet I'm able to ride with traffic and commute to work in rush hour.

that round thing on right clip on has more then two positions (idle and WOT)

Certainly I don't MotoGP the thing, but it is nice to know it has the engineering that can perform like a GP bike in a pinch. Knee drag every corner, no, but if the need arises...

Plus there are a few industrial parks where there are no kids, no cops, no prying eyes...

just say'n

No comment!

Well, maybe just one (or so).

No one needs a V8 (not the drink), or even a 6 cylinder because a 4 cylinder will get you where you need to go. Actually, the bus can get you anywhere.

No one needs more than a one room house. There are many people in the world where the entire family live in one room.

No one needs anything above the bare necessity level of existence.

But isn't it nice to have what you want, what you dream about, whatever you can afford (or in most cases, what you can finance)? What is right for you might not be right for the next person but that doesn't make it wrong.

I had, and loved, an 08 Ninjette.

I now have, and love, a GSX-R750.

Can I "ride as it's meant to be ridden" on the street? If what that phrase really means is "can I ride it as fast is it can go" on the street, then the answer is no.

But the same is true of the Ninjette. I got the little beastie up over 100 mph a number of times, and there's no way anyone will ever convince me that's the way you should ride on the street all the time.

Is a 250 "more" fun than a SS on the street? Well, it's fun, sure. It's a blast to really work the bike, banging up- and downshifts, wringing its little Japanese neck for all it's worth.

But the gixxer is fun too, in a different way. The gixxer has far better suspension and brakes. It can make passes on the highway that I could not on my Ninja. It is pleasing to ride, every time I ride it. It's smoother. It shifts like butter. It's sharp as a razor.

I like 'em both. Maybe I just love riding motorcycles.

I MEAN to ride my bike -- any bike -- in a manner that is within my ability and the reasonable limits of safety. I don't find cruising at the pace of traffic on my supersport frustrating. I don't find it frustrating that I cant blast around at 125 mph all the time.

Am I riding my bike "wrong?" Am I not riding my bike "as it's meant to be ridden?"

I don't think so.

Do you think the drivers of 4WD vehicles are frustrated all the time because they can't spend every minute digging holes in the mud? I kind of doubt it.

Am I exploring the limits of the gixxer? Not even remotely. Frankly, I don't care one tiny little bit. It's fun to ride. That's what matters, right?

I'm a typical American male. That means that when I was 16 or 17, I snuck out at 3am, "borrowed" the family car, and went out to learn just how fast it would go. Believe it or not, a 1974 Volvo sedan with a roof rack will just about hit 120. The front end gets a bit light at that speed.

That's an adolescent kind of trick. Having done that, I didn't really need to do it again.

The whole "I have to ride a supersport fast to have fun" mindset is, IMHO, like that. Something that kids do.

sounds like the author is one of those guys that lacks skill and needs to justify his inability to operate a super bike.

What is right for you might not be right for the next person but that doesn't make it wrong.

Woah there! someone notify the admins CC cowboy's account got hacked, something's up...
:p

adouglas, my Dad often shares the same logic with you.. I told him I wanted a Ninja, and he said "ride it carefully". I told him I want a KLR 650, and if I got it, he said to "ride it carefully". Then I told him I wanted a 636 for fun, and he said "ride it carefully".

Coming from the guy that rode a KZ1000 for nearly 15 years commuting from Lakeland TN to downtown Memphis (about 40 minutes one way). Jono can attest to the ferocity that is this commute..

Just solidifies the point that the bike will only go as fast as you turn the throttle, and all bikes are fun when you understand that.

I MEAN to ride my bike -- any bike -- in a manner that is within my ability and the reasonable limits of safety. I don't find cruising at the pace of traffic on my supersport frustrating. I don't find it frustrating that I cant blast around at 125 mph all the time.

Am I riding my bike "wrong?" Am I not riding my bike "as it's meant to be ridden?"

I don't think so.

Am I exploring the limits of the gixxer? Not even remotely. Frankly, I don't care one tiny little bit. It's fun to ride. That's what matters, right?

The whole "I have to ride a supersport fast to have fun" mindset is, IMHO, like that. Something that kids do.

I'm similar though I do feel the need to add a bit of pace in for fun when not commuting which typically exceeds the posted limit. I don't need to go fast for fun but I do enjoy a bit of a flowing pace which requires some speed. This being nowhere near the limits of myself or the bike, which is reserved for the track. My rule of thumb is that if I feel the need to hang off at all I'm going way too fast (with the exception of when I hang off just to practice knee to knee but I know it's not necessary when I do that)

straight line speed is highly overrated, corner speed is highly underrated. Many people don't understand this until they experience it for themselves.

Riding the bike at all is riding it as it's meant to be ridden. You may be riding a bike entirely different from how the engineers expected it to be ridden (i.e. a race ready machine cruising to bike night at 5mph) but they did design the bike to be capable for more than just going fast around a track, otherwise they wouldn't have put lights on it or made it look all fancy.

Oh, I didn't say I always ride at the pace of traffic. Oh, no no no, young padawan. I only said that it doesn't leave me frustrated when I do. Which was what that original quote stated.

And yeah... everybody knows posted limits are a joke.

Totally with you on straight line vs corner speed. On my first track weekend I didn't bother going all that fast on the straights, because all it would have done was stuff me up the back of the pile-up at turn one.

The one thing that I really would like to do more of is practice body position, but that's independent of which bike you're riding.

I mean, I do strike the pose every chance I get just to get it burned into muscle memory, but it's kind of silly to be hanging off with your head down near the mirror when you're trundling around a corner at 10 mph, stuck behind some soccer mom.

BTW, are you thinking of doing a track day anywhere up this way? I'd like to meet and ride with you. Millville and NYST are possibilities, but most of my budget is going to Tony this year.

Coming from the guy that rode a KZ1000 for nearly 15 years commuting from Lakeland TN to downtown Memphis (about 40 minutes one way). Jono can attest to the ferocity that is this commute..



That's an awful commute, especially more recently.


I actually disagree with that quote. It probably holds true for the majority of the population. But smart/experienced riders can handle riding liter bikes without killing themselves or being frustrated. I've seen this in real life. One of my neighbors commutes on liter bikes. He just now recently got a R6 to ride. That's his small CC bike.

I haven't ever ridden a liter bike but just having a SV650 which can get into triple digit speeds very quickly, doesn't mean it's not fun or useful for commuting. In fact, I actually prefer it over a smaller CC while commuting. Not for the speed, but for the torque. You can go places and do things not possible on smaller CC bikes. I'd imagine a Literbike would be an improvement on that. With a little more torque, less weight, and better brakes.

With that said, it's fun to have a 250-300cc bike because you can go WOT legally. There should be a small bike in every riders garage. Along with a 600+CC bike. :D

Just reading thru the July 2006 Motor Cyclist issue again at work

:p

:p

Got to do something to get thru the day! 8 hours is a long time to stay awake:D

sounds like the author is one of those guys that lacks skill and needs to justify his inability to operate a super bike.

I didn't infer that at all.
You cannot deny litre bikes lead the numbers in sport bike crashes.

I do believe in the old saying "its more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow".




..... its also more fun to "ride a fast bike fast", just not prudent to do so as often.

I didn't infer that at all.
You cannot deny litre bikes lead the numbers in sport bike crashes.

generate that fact.

You cannot deny litre bikes lead the numbers in sport bike crashes.

I deny that!

Your turn to prove it.