Bikes

[Abo Bob]

Most people say Harley's are unreliable and expensive (in bike terms) to maintain and modify.

The Harley I rode broke down twice the day we were riding.

Anyway, I ended up with my TDM850 and am very happy with it.

[adoraa]

I have only ever fallen of my motorbike twice.. well not really fallen off... Once I did what you sister did only on the road and didn't put my foot down at the lights and fell over had to get some guy to help me lift my bike up! and the second I just got off my bike and forgot to put the stand down and it fell on me Thank god it didn't have any fairings! haha

[Merudo]

Just had a look at the pic of your VFR on your myspace, very trick looking bike! Love the single-sided swingarm look, a mates' NSR150SP has a single-sided swingarm and they certainly do look the goods

[adoraa]

Thanks! Yeha I love the single sided swing arm and white wheels. Im a sucker for a pretty looking bike! When i first bought it I was concerned for a while about how the rear wheel was staying on.. over it now but it still freaked me out.

[kralster]

New Ducati 1098 has a single sided swingarm too, mmmm sexy.

[legend01]

talk about not putting your feet down. I got of my old honda 900 once and walked away only to hear it crash to the ground ,when i went back to pick it up I'd forgotten to put the sidestand down I new it was my fault only because it fell the oppisit way to the side stand. back then glad of crash bars no damage execpt to my pride

[Sydneykid]

Son of SK here....

I work at Fraser Motorcycles, and going through the same thing myself...

I am looking at the best Leaner legal thing available - a Ducati 620 Monster. However, they stopped making them last year, and there's about 2 left... They are a 620cc Vtwin, with a throttle restrictor - rmove restrictor, and its an open 620cc little weapon... as a 100kg guy, a 250cc thing ain;t gonna cut for me after long, so this makes more sense...

Other than that, I think the best is a Honda VTR250 - brand new around $8K, hella reliable, and used ones are good value. 250cc vtwin, pretty quick, handle great...

However, I work in Harley Spares - they have a pretty average reputation, but realistically, they are surprisingly reliable - have a number of customers with 97 Electra Glides (the big ass tourers) who have basically done nothing but minor services the whole of the bike's life, and have over 100,000kms on them... The newer bikes, the Twin cams, are even better. But like any car, its hit and miss, and the people who look after the bike are often more responslbe for the issues they have, rather than Harley themselves - only a harley technition should touch a harley...

Anyways, end hijack there, but if anyone wants a deal, come on up to Frasers...

Son of SK

[the stink]

I read the following post on the perthstreetbikes site a few years ago when i started riding and found it very useful for making sure my head was in the right place when i got on my bike. keep safe peeps.

Perthstreetbikes

The text for those that can't be bothered signing up

-----------------------------------------

Motorbikes are dangerous. Everything that old lady says to you under her breath at the traffic lights is true. Everything your mother said to you when you first got your bike is true.

Do we do it because it’s an inexpensive method of transport? Hell no. Dont kid yourself. Take depreciation, insurance, maintenance cost, protective clothing costs, modifications, all those ….. ‘bits’ that you buy just because its your baby…. my bike would cost me way more each year than the Jaguar in the garage.

Is it because its convenient? If you call not being able to store or carry anything and have to walk around carrying a helmet, jacket, gloves, whilst wearing boots that aren’t made for walking convenient.

I own a Vespa. I can store two helmets in it, it has a shopping bag hook, costs nothing to insure, run, maintain and doesn’t depreciate. It has small brakes, tiny wheels, crappy rubber, no power and yet I consider it safer than my Gixer. The only reason for this is because I cant speed on it and I cant do 115kph around the Mill Point Road off ramp on it, and I cant wheelie it (yet) and the chances are if I come off, I am not going to be going that quick.

I don’t own a GSX-R1000 arguably one of the fastest out of the box bikes on this planet for fuel economy, for parking convenience, to get through peak-hour traffic, to be good to the environment. The thing will go 25kph faster than the highest Western Australian posted speed limit.... in 1st gear..... and get there faster than you can say “two all beef patties”. Is that really necessary?.

No. I own it because of the feeling I get when I twist my wrist on the freeway onramp to merge with traffic and within a fraction of a second I am doing the same speed as the cages. I do it because of the rush when you really nail your favourite corner and are on the gas half hanging off your bike and you leave a big blacky to look at next time. I do it because of the pure unadulterated selfishness of just you and your thoughts. I do it because I am uncontactable and dont have to answer my mobile phone for a little while. I do it because I am sitting on a machine whose mechanical ability is far greater than my talents.. but kriky I am going to have a try. I do it because I am happy to sit at 80kph on the freeway and look at cars (and bikes) that go past and think to myself. … “yeah I can beat him”. I do it because of the feeling you get when you nail a nice wheelie, and I do it because of the comradeship of riding and hanging with my buddies…who cares where.

Do I do it because it’s dangerous? No. Not intentionally. Is it dangerous? Absolutely, undeniably, you bet it is.

Would I go for a ride on my bike tonight if I knew that tomorrow my wife would be widowed or just like our good friend Aza there was a real chance that I could suffer a life changing injury? Hell no I would not. None of us would. But this risk is present EVERY TIME we put our leg over it.

And this is the quandary as a semi intelligent individual that I constantly consider. Every time I get off my bike when I get home and go through the actions of locking it to its wall plate, and throwing the bike cover over it I consciously think to myself “a good ride, Im still intact”.

Just like you guys, I am not going to go through life not doing these things just because there is a high probability of you getting hurt. Some of you may think that when your numbers up, its up. You could go to work one day in a building in New York a few years ago, sit down at your PC and start drinking your morning coffee and someone decides to intentionally fly a 737 into the side of it. The fact of the matter is, the chances of probability of this happening to any of us is low, but if you ride a bike, these chances change… dramatically. The statistics show it. Its undeniable and plain as day. Every time your odometer clicks over one more klm, the sooner one of our numbers is going to come up - small drop or life threatening fall.

Unfortunately, the statistics are also now becoming obvious to us all as PSB forum users. Back when we had 20 registered users, we never knew anyone that had an accident. You would just read about it in the paper, but now there are 400 users and growing daily, the statistics begin to show. We all now either know someone personally or know of someone indirectly that has had an accident. The reality is, as the forum continues to grow, statistics say this will get worse not better.

If we want to continue to do what it is we all enjoy we have to be smarter than regular road users and try to bend the statistics to be a little more in our favour:

Don’t speed on busy roads with lots of cross streets. Look left and right at the lights before you ride through them. Limit the use of your bike if possible for just enjoyment so that you don’t ride in ‘auto pilot’ mode whilst riding too and from work, take your cage instead. Choose your locations for fun carefully. Consider every car you approach as a threat. Consider every car that stops at a stop sign and looks in your direction as not being able to see you. Think yourself invisible. Look for an escape route in every situation and have that locked in ready to use. Always over indicate your intentions. Lane split stationary cars at lights so that your not the meat in the sandwich for that car behind you that isn’t going to stop in time (sorry Jellyback). Keep your distance from people you don’t normally ride with. Wear as much protective gear as the circumstances and climate will allow in order - head, hands, feet, torso, pants. Position yourself on the road where everyone can see you and where you have as much time to react as possible. Most importantly, understand you and your bike’s limits, ride to within them and not someone else’s. If you feel uncomfortable or feel that you are being dragged beyond your skills – Back the Hell Off ! Listen to that voice in your head. The human body has an amazing ability to tell you when you are on the edge. Everyone will wait for you up the road or the next meeting point.

We can’t stop the unpredictable and the real danger we put ourselves in every time we press 'start', but we can sure help make the odds better in our favour.

Be safe people. Choose your time.

Deej

[Revhead]

Best. Post. Ever.

[lastlineofdefence]

What are some good aus. forums around?

[Abo Bob]

http://www.netrider.net.au/forums/

[Raikkonen]

I just put a deposit on my first bike yesterday,

It's a 2003 kawazaki zxr250

I'm very excitied, but I need to wait until next weekend to pick it up.

I just read the post by 'the stink' and it's very true, the amount of times we nearly got cleaned up when I ride on the back of my mates bike is a joke.

[Craved]

i've got a ZX2R and can confirm that they are awesome fun to ride, but a dangerous form of fun.

3 weeks into riding i had a pedentrian walk out on the road behind the truck i was following at 60km/h .. needless to say that 3-4 car lengths of time at 60 isnt enough to do anything.

ended up on the wrong side of the road with a broken and dislocated ankle.

still ride, still go up the old road, but am very wary of everything ad still get cut off by cars changing lanes EVERY time i take the bike out.

she's getting a respray now, but still wanna go riding all the time.

the biggest thing i've noticed, is that if you sit in traffic and just go with the flow, you are in more danger than if you are the one determining what you do and not others (similar to the lane splitting idea in a previous long post )

[cowie165]

the biggest thing i've noticed, is that if you sit in traffic and just go with the flow, you are in more danger than if you are the one determining what you do and not others (similar to the lane splitting idea in a previous long post )

I agree 100%. Maybe it is because a midly aggressive driving style keeps you more attentive and resists the thumb-in-bum, mind-in-neutral vortex of boredom that leads to slow response times. Statistically (wish I had the details on the study but it came from an ambo) drivers that speed 1 to 10kmh over the posted limit have fewer crashes than any other demographic. Food for thought?

The same applies, albeit to a lesser extent, to driving a car *ahem* a cage.

PS I hate those road safety ads that whine about "if you were doing 60kmh, you'd have hit the truck, lucky you were only doing 50". I mean, what a joke, how situational is that!? Why not make the national speed limit 40kmh? Or maybe 30kmh? I do a lot of risk assessment and risk management at work and at some point there is a balance between practicality and acceptable risk. Trying to control speed limits in a vain attempt to achieve zero road fatalities is a completely pointless exercise that seems driven by political pressure to 'take action' to prevent further occurrences.

Whoops,. that was so not meant to be a rant. End transmission.

[Abo Bob]

If everyone would just pay attention we would be shitloads safer, but they don't.

[Revhead]

I agree 100%. Maybe it is because a midly aggressive driving style keeps you more attentive and resists the thumb-in-bum, mind-in-neutral vortex of boredom that leads to slow response times. Statistically (wish I had the details on the study but it came from an ambo) drivers that speed 1 to 10kmh over the posted limit have fewer crashes than any other demographic. Food for thought?

The same applies, albeit to a lesser extent, to driving a car *ahem* a cage.

PS I hate those road safety ads that whine about "if you were doing 60kmh, you'd have hit the truck, lucky you were only doing 50". I mean, what a joke, how situational is that!? Why not make the national speed limit 40kmh? Or maybe 30kmh? I do a lot of risk assessment and risk management at work and at some point there is a balance between practicality and acceptable risk. Trying to control speed limits in a vain attempt to achieve zero road fatalities is a completely pointless exercise that seems driven by political pressure to 'take action' to prevent further occurrences.

I could not agree more. Unfortunately there are too many people who just accept what they're told without thought, too many people who are happy to see action without consideration for its effectiveness or relevance, and too many unrealistic people who expect a zero road toll despite common sense disagreeing. Any death is tragic of course, but it's inevitable that they will happen.

The irony is that the sooner people forget the politically correct crap and accept reality as being just that, the sooner things will actually change.

If everyone would just pay attention we would be shitloads safer, but they don't.

Ride like everyone is out to kill you and you'll be a safer rider. When you're coming up on someone, think to yourself "what is the most dangerous thing that person can do?", and be prepared for it. After a while it becomes automatic. If you don't currently have an escape route, plan one. If you can't find one, move to another piece of road.

[Abo Bob]

That's exactly how I ride. It's working so far.

[kralster]

I beleive most accidents where a rider is knocked off by a car in traffic could be avoided if the rider was more aware of their surroundings.

Sure it may be the cars fault it hit you but given experiance in riding you'll know when somethings going to happen.

Even when apporaching an intersection where i have the green light i will look left and right before going through. When a car comes out of a side street i will stare the driver in the eye and be prepared to swerve.

Things like that you pick up over time, and touch wood you'll never have an accident that isn't caused by you.

[tridentt150v]

The TDM is a solid bike, I like its sister the TRX, very good practical motorcycle. I see and have ridden with heaps of people that own huge power bikes and can't ride for sh1t. They go like stink in a straight line and then panic brake arms and legs flapping, then they look like they are using a steering wheel on a forklift going around the corner.

The sensible thing to do is work your way up to a big bike, and in all honesty you may never get that far, or get there and then go back to a cruisier general purpose type of bike. I've ridden and/or owned many bikes and I'm back with a general purpose type of bike, a Triumph Thunderbird Sport 900 and am happy with it. Not saying I'll stay there, but it does me for now. So I reckon your TDM 850 is an ideal bike, can be leant over, good brakes, good fuel range, will easily take a pillion and/or load [swag, tent, panniers/saddlebags], its not a boy racer, but its not a wobbly old cruiser either. You did well.