In a sea of big bikes....how do you swim?

[adouglas]

Yeh.. a DANGEROUS SUCKASS BASS PLAYER!

[spooph]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

With all the pot smokers in CO I find life too slow and mellow there.

Yes, yes, absolutely! Much too slow for you out here, better stay on the coast with all the oxygen. Spread the word too.

Originally Posted by adouglas

Ah, so once again I find myself defying all attempts at categorization. None of those apply to me.

Except that my skills suck (sometimes).

I'm 55, ride a GSXR ATGATT in leather, and do not ride like either a hooligan or a squid. I couldn't care less about Harleys, tourers or ADV bikes.

What does that make me?

A narcissist?

[jgcable]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Probably a bass player!

I was going to guess keyboard player.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by jgcable

I was going to guess keyboard player.

There is a rumor, I'm starting, he plays the one string bass.

[jgcable]

So after some long fantastic rides all weekend I ended up at the local car/motorcycle cruise Sunday night cruise. There was about 50 bikes. 47 Harley's, 2 Victories and 1 Lime Green 250r Ninja. Mine.
So.. I park my bike right into the mix of all the Harley's. I got some weird looks when I first pulled in but they recognized me (I usually am on my HD Wideglide).
We are sitting on the hill and people are walking by and checking out all the bikes. Immediately.. 4 people walk past all the bikes and focus on mine. They are pointing at things, looking under it etc.. Then.. a couple walk by and the guy asks his girlfriend.. what bike she likes the best. She says... "I like the green one". One of my buddies who has 2 Harley's worth over $60,000 comes over to me and says.. jeez... looks like your bike is getting all the action. I told him its just because its different from all the Harley's and even though all the Harley's are cool.. there are so many of them that are VERY similar looking (tons of Streetglides and Fatboys) to the normal person they all look the same. To us.. they are all very different.
Anyway... I got some ribbing but as soon as I got there I said.. yea.. its not a highway cruiser and my wife isn't climbing on the back of it but if you would like to try your luck hanging with me in the backroads.. be my guest. Nuff said.... All was good after that.

[Hero Danny]

Just did my first "group ride" yesterday! Everyone had 600cc + bikes. Bunch of liter bikes, etc. I was way out of my league being there. I was by far the slowest bike there. But As you can see in the video I was able to hang with them pretty well! This is on a 300 though, so it does have a little more punch than the 250..
Disclaimer: We go pretty fast in the video, so if you have a problem with people going 100+ Then please don't watch lol.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[greenaero]

@OP , If you want to join in, do it! Other motoists will check you out but so what? I've been on lots of rides with bigger motos and the people I bond with don't care what you ride. My motos are especially attention getting but I'm comfortable with the attention and am always prepared to answer questions about my motos. Some motorcyclists may be snobs but I must say I've encountered very few. I enjoy checking out other motos and interacting with their owners.

[jgcable]

Originally Posted by greenaero

@OP , If you want to join in, do it! Other motoists will check you out but so what? I've been on lots of rides with bigger motos and the people I bond with don't care what you ride. My motos are especially attention getting but I'm comfortable with the attention and am always prepared to answer questions about my motos. Some motorcyclists may be snobs but I must say I've encountered very few. I enjoy checking out other motos and interacting with their owners.

Lets say... for example... that other bikers don't care about what you ride (which is completely false). There you are on your 250 which maxes out with a good tailwind downhill at about 100mph. To get to 100 you need to be full throttle for a while. Lets say you are riding with a bunch of riders on 600's, 750's, 1000's, some Busa's, a ZX14R etc....
Follow me?
Now... you are all at a light in town. When its red you are all together. When it turns green you are just a memory. Now.. lets shift that to the highway. You all merge on. In a split second they are gone. 0-75 in second gear in a few seconds. It takes you about 15 seconds to get to 75. Where are your friends? Gone. Now... if you have friends who are willing to wait for you at every off ramp or at every light that's cool but IMHO.. that is ruining their ride. They bought fast bikes because they are fast.
Now.. lets focus on the cruiser crowd. If you find a bunch of noobs riding metric bikes you might have a chance because they are more understanding. After all.. they have plastic on their bikes too. BUT... what if its a Harley crowd?
#1. They won't ride with you even if they make statements that they don't care what somebody rides.. as long as they ride. That's crap. They don't even like riding with sportsters never mind anything else. Harley riders only ride with other Harley riders. I know. I own one and have been riding for many years. Its cool and its a fact.
#2. There is no number 2 but lets say for instance you have some REALLY understanding Harley friends and they let you tag along on your 250. Well.. you better hope you aren't hitting any highways because if you are you will be riding alone. Harley's excel in cruising at high speeds on the highway. 6 speeds with overdrive, heavy and very stable. The guys I used to ride with would ride at least 90mph on an average for hours at a time. Try that on your 250. Its not fun. Believe me.. I have tried to keep up. Its impossible and not enjoyable.
I love my 250 but the reality is you need to choose carefully the groups you ride with because the sport bike crowd has their thing and the cruiser crowd has theirs.

[Bigballsofpaint]

Originally Posted by jgcable

Lets say... for example... that other bikers don't care about what you ride (which is completely false). There you are on your 250 which maxes out with a good tailwind downhill at about 100mph. To get to 100 you need to be full throttle for a while. Lets say you are riding with a bunch of riders on 600's, 750's, 1000's, some Busa's, a ZX14R etc....
Follow me?
Now... you are all at a light in town. When its red you are all together. When it turns green you are just a memory. Now.. lets shift that to the highway. You all merge on. In a split second they are gone. 0-75 in second gear in a few seconds. It takes you about 15 seconds to get to 75. Where are your friends? Gone. Now... if you have friends who are willing to wait for you at every off ramp or at every light that's cool but IMHO.. that is ruining their ride. They bought fast bikes because they are fast.
Now.. lets focus on the cruiser crowd. If you find a bunch of noobs riding metric bikes you might have a chance because they are more understanding. After all.. they have plastic on their bikes too. BUT... what if its a Harley crowd?
#1. They won't ride with you even if they make statements that they don't care what somebody rides.. as long as they ride. That's crap. They don't even like riding with sportsters never mind anything else. Harley riders only ride with other Harley riders. I know. I own one and have been riding for many years. Its cool and its a fact.
#2. There is no number 2 but lets say for instance you have some REALLY understanding Harley friends and they let you tag along on your 250. Well.. you better hope you aren't hitting any highways because if you are you will be riding alone. Harley's excel in cruising at high speeds on the highway. 6 speeds with overdrive, heavy and very stable. The guys I used to ride with would ride at least 90mph on an average for hours at a time. Try that on your 250. Its not fun. Believe me.. I have tried to keep up. Its impossible and not enjoyable.
I love my 250 but the reality is you need to choose carefully the groups you ride with because the sport bike crowd has their thing and the cruiser crowd has theirs.

You just need to find a good group. Were on all sizes of bikes but we dont hit 100+.......often. We will cruise at 75-80 on the highway and 15 to 20 over on the main roads. We also avoid the highway if we can anyway, so most of the ride is between 40 and 60mph...

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by jgcable

Lets say... for example... that other bikers don't care about what you ride (which is completely false).

This is not always true, I have lead my fair share of 600+cc groups on my 250, at more than legal speeds.... ijs.


And the video, not a corner in sight... Some members of that group "might" be cool to ride with, others.... not so much. Attend one where there are some actual curves, ride your ride and reevaluate your attendance with them again.

+1 to the effort to make new friends.

[csmith12]

And there is no more fitting saying that belongs in this thread than the following;

Don't work hard to fit in, instead work hard to stand out. Just make sure you stand out for the right reasons.

[FBR_BDavis]

The group of guys and gals I ride with was formed via Facebook.. Just a bunch of people brought together by word of mouth and friends of friends of friends.. Of the 100+ people I've had the chance to meet so far this early in the season, I've only had ONE person say something remotely derogatory about my 250R, and that same person is nothing more than a straight-line punk who wrecked his liter-bike at 20mph on a simple curve.. Don't talk about someone's bike when you can't handle your own..

I've been on several group rides, with quite a bit of it being on highways.. Sure, when the bigger bikes jump on it and blast off at 120mph+, I can't keep up, and I'm cool with that.. I'll get caught up eventually, and I've already made it known that my bike tops out at a tick over 100mph and I'm not exactly keen on pushing that at every opportunity.. The great thing is that I've never had to worry about it, because I'm not the only one that's not pushing 100mph+ at every chance, and the people I ride with have common courtesy and decency and won't leave anyone behind..

The people you choose to ride with will dictate how much fun you have.. If you ride with people that respect the fact that you're on two wheels, you'll never have an issue.. If you have people in your group that are glory hounds and don't care about the finer points of being on two wheels, find another group..

As for meets where people from different groups come together, screw it.. It's your bike.. If they don't like it, tell them to move along or buy you a bigger bike so you can fit in and conform like they do.. LOL!!

[greenaero]

Originally Posted by jgcable

Lets say... for example... that other bikers don't care about what you ride (which is completely false). There you are on your 250 which maxes out with a good tailwind downhill at about 100mph. To get to 100 you need to be full throttle for a while. Lets say you are riding with a bunch of riders on 600's, 750's, 1000's, some Busa's, a ZX14R etc....
Follow me?
Now... you are all at a light in town. When its red you are all together. When it turns green you are just a memory. Now.. lets shift that to the highway. You all merge on. In a split second they are gone. 0-75 in second gear in a few seconds. It takes you about 15 seconds to get to 75. Where are your friends? Gone. Now... if you have friends who are willing to wait for you at every off ramp or at every light that's cool but IMHO.. that is ruining their ride. They bought fast bikes because they are fast.
Now.. lets focus on the cruiser crowd. If you find a bunch of noobs riding metric bikes you might have a chance because they are more understanding. After all.. they have plastic on their bikes too. BUT... what if its a Harley crowd?
#1. They won't ride with you even if they make statements that they don't care what somebody rides.. as long as they ride. That's crap. They don't even like riding with sportsters never mind anything else. Harley riders only ride with other Harley riders. I know. I own one and have been riding for many years. Its cool and its a fact.
#2. There is no number 2 but lets say for instance you have some REALLY understanding Harley friends and they let you tag along on your 250. Well.. you better hope you aren't hitting any highways because if you are you will be riding alone. Harley's excel in cruising at high speeds on the highway. 6 speeds with overdrive, heavy and very stable. The guys I used to ride with would ride at least 90mph on an average for hours at a time. Try that on your 250. Its not fun. Believe me.. I have tried to keep up. Its impossible and not enjoyable.
I love my 250 but the reality is you need to choose carefully the groups you ride with because the sport bike crowd has their thing and the cruiser crowd has theirs.

I agree you need to choose your riding group carefully and that the Ninjette is not as quick and fast as many larger bikes. But for safe and sane street riding it is more than adequate. Riding far above normal traffic speeds on public roads is asking for trouble IMO; either from getting ticketed or crashing. My speed criminal days are far in my past.