I’ll meet all you racers at the finish line…just give me a week or so, LOL.
[quote]Need4Speed wrote:
grey wrote:
That’s the point isn’t it.
A japanese bike is for zooming around and then putting it back in the garage.
A Harley or other classic is a way of life. I rode my Harley across most of Europe. I have slept beside it, on it.
Rode through pouring rain soaked and frozen to the bones. Through Monte Carlo and over the Dolomites. I cruised the French and Italian Riviera’s and hung out with a lot of cool bro’s from Germany, Holland and Italy who rode…Harley Davidsons and where some of the biggest and toughest kick ass guys i have met in my life.
On the other hand almost everyone I have ever seen riding a jap bike was always a weeny pencilneck skinny ass bitch.
Now that may be just a coincidence and maybe it isn’t but thats’ just the way i have seen the chips fall.
Oh I did have a friend from Canada who rode a katana…a great guy…big bodybuilder with his whole life in front of him…he (on his jap bike) enjoyed speed so much that he ended up a cripple and being the guy he was ate a shotgun blast. Hmmm. Go figure.
I say it again. I don’t go fast but they hear me coming and that’s just fine with me.
Grey, there’s this category called “Sport-Touring” (see my ZZR above) where you combine a bike that can shred the curves with a comfortable riding position. It goes around corners and goes long miles! Touring doesn’t require a straight-line cruiser, but a straight-line cruiser can’t really do anything else.
Anyway, stop being so defensive about it. There are lots of different bikes for lots of different riding styles. Expand your horizons and then go out and ride.[/quote]
I agree with you guys. I was only having some fun in my usual way.
The feeling of riding down a country road with noone around is one of the best feelings in the world. Whether it be a HD or a Sportbike or a combination of both. It’s a feel good thing.
You feel like your on top of the world.
Like i said i used to ride sport bikes when i was younger. But then i was a lot skinnier then. Hahaha.
…so no opinions on the '76 XS11 eh?
[quote]grey wrote:
That’s the point isn’t it.
A japanese bike is for zooming around and then putting it back in the garage.
A Harley or other classic is a way of life. I rode my Harley across most of Europe. I have slept beside it, on it.
Rode through pouring rain soaked and frozen to the bones. Through Monte Carlo and over the Dolomites. I cruised the French and Italian Riviera’s and hung out with a lot of cool bro’s from Germany, Holland and Italy who rode…Harley Davidsons and where some of the biggest and toughest kick ass guys i have met in my life.
On the other hand almost everyone I have ever seen riding a jap bike was always a weeny pencilneck skinny ass bitch.
Now that may be just a coincidence and maybe it isn’t but thats’ just the way i have seen the chips fall.
Oh I did have a friend from Canada who rode a katana…a great guy…big bodybuilder with his whole life in front of him…he (on his jap bike) enjoyed speed so much that he ended up a cripple and being the guy he was ate a shotgun blast. Hmmm. Go figure.
I say it again. I don’t go fast but they hear me coming and that’s just fine with me.
[/quote]
Bit of a generalisation. I rode from North Wales to East Anglia, about 250 miles each way the other day in the middle of the night, granted I kept stopping to eat, piss and stretch and they aren’t that comfy. I don’t wear thos power ranger leathers either, I wear leather jacket with a camo jacket over it.
Most Harley riders I meet are middle aged businessmen who are having a mid life crisis or a few hardcore bikers who you wouldn’t want to fuck with, although some now have families and ride shaft drive BMW’s for reliability.
Most race rep riders are small, I’ve cornered a few for riding like tits in places like the Peak District and they are little puny midgets of 5’3 average, granted. But I ain’t a pencilkneck skinny bitch and nothing I could get versus another sports bike would replace being able to give it full beans and get the same excitement.
I understand the Harley thing is not about speed, but its just not everyone’s thing.
knewsom:
hope you pick up a bike soon and enjoy it, but a '76 may be pushing it, especially if you’re getting rid of your car (like i did) and are relying on it as your chief source of transportation. and i think all of your concerns regarding seals, reliability and ease of finding parts are completely valid.
i know cost is a concern, but consider at least something from this millenium. you should be able to get a nice, reliable sports-tourer for 2- 5k and save yourself some potential grief while getting the benefit of advances in suspension and the like.
and while i know you’ve ridden in the past, the best advice i can give you is to start small and work your way up. better to be an underpowered newbie than an overpowered squid.
finally, whatever you decide to buy and ride, plan on setting aside up to 1k for gear - buy it and always wear it, no matter what. i may even have an extra helmet i can contribute to the cause.
good luck and ride safe.
[quote]knewsom wrote:
…so no opinions on the '76 XS11 eh?[/quote]
The main issue is of course it age, but it looks cheap. My first bike was a CB250N peeca shit and it was 50 quid. But it was no 1100 cruiser !
I can’t find any info on it, just check it out well or take someone who knows about old Yammies with you, also get a Haynes manual. Good luck.
[quote]stig wales. wrote:
knewsom wrote:
…so no opinions on the '76 XS11 eh?
The main issue is of course it age, but it looks cheap. My first bike was a CB250N peeca shit and it was 50 quid. But it was no 1100 cruiser !
I can’t find any info on it, just check it out well or take someone who knows about old Yammies with you, also get a Haynes manual. Good luck.
[/quote]
Yup, it’s a tinkerer’s bike. You’re going to need to do regular maintenance on a bike that old. That isn’t to say that it won’t continue to do its job for years to come, but it will require a bit of TLC.
As far as the claim of it taking most Yamaha parts up to 2001: Yamaha makes a lot of bikes, and many of them from the same year don’t even share parts, so I find that claim dubious at best. I would recommend searching some internet motorcycle parts stores for parts, and/or consulting a local reputable bike shop to see what they see for parts availability.
[quote]Tomfu wrote:
finally, whatever you decide to buy and ride, plan on setting aside up to 1k for gear - buy it and always wear it, no matter what. i may even have an extra helmet i can contribute to the cause.
good luck and ride safe.[/quote]
Absolutely. I cannot over-state the importance of quality gear. You want a good jacket, overpants, real boots, gloves, and of course a helmet.
Boots that can be worn both while riding and while wearing normal clothes, which I quite like, are the Icon Superduty boots.
thankee, tomfu and sig! I’m currently trying to assess the availability of parts for an old bike like that, and thus far, I’ve been told that about 30% of them are available from Yamaha. As for the rest, I think its going to be aftermarket and second hand.
I used to drive a VW, so I’m pretty good with my hands, I know how to work on vehicles, and it seems like working on a bike would not only be fun, but quite interesting as well. Granted, I don’t want to be stuck working on this thing every weekend, and I don’t want to have to hoof it to work every day either, but a little time and money to get it up and running where it needs to be is ok, as long as it can be reasonably well maintained.
hopefully it’ll turn out that there are LOTS of parts available, since from what I’ve found online, there’s a very large group of people who own and maintain XS11’s. Then again, I may have to keep looking.
Thanks again for all the advice, I’m definitely going to be getting and wearing leathers and a helmet, at ALL TIMES.
Tomfu, I truly appreciate the goodwill, but I think I can get the guy to toss a helmet into the deal along with an extra set of tires.
Cheers again,
-Kris
[quote]Nate Green wrote:
rrjc5488 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Can it beat this?
Blinded by the light
Revved up like a Deuce
Another runner in the night
You know, I’ve ALWAYS wondered what the hell the lyrics from that song were…
-Nate[/quote]
For years I also wondered what the hell those lyrics said. Now I know…wow, T-Nation has taught me alot…now, who the heck was that band?
By the way, I’m in the process of looking to buy an Indian motorbike, old school Indians are.
MB
[quote]Need4Speed wrote:
Absolutely. I cannot over-state the importance of quality gear. You want a good jacket, overpants, real boots, gloves, and of course a helmet.
Boots that can be worn both while riding and while wearing normal clothes, which I quite like, are the Icon Superduty boots.[/quote]
I have these boots and thoroughly enjoy them. I personally would not skimp on the helmet price, the head is one of the few parts of your body that you only have one of…
I already can’t wait for the weekend! Time tooooo riiiidddde
This goes into production in '07. Looks to be quite the ride.
My bike, a Ducati Monster 900 on its ride home from Ohio to its new owner’s house (that would be my house.)
*Note incredibly fancy dirtbike trailer.
THIS IS OUT NOW:
Ducati PaulSmart 1000LE
If you like classics, nothing gets much better than a brand new 1000cc on Ohlins suspension with this look.
From this… 80 Cubic Inches
to this… 124Cubic inches! This bike will dump out about 145-150HP when Im done.
WOW you guys have some nice bikes!
Confederate Cycles.
Seriously cool bikes:
83 Honda Interceptor. It is a great bike but I am looking for something newer.
I just test rode a Triumph Speed Triple last week. Awesome bike.
[quote]deanec wrote:
The latest in a long struggle with an addiction to two wheels…[/quote]
That looks a lot like my Dad’s '68 Norton Commando. Too bad I never fixed that thing up. It was just sitting in a barn with less than 11,00o miles on it.