Topic: The Motorcycling Thread

[BWII]

BIL posted to Facebook yesterday...bought a 2019 ZX10R.    200 hp.  Nice.  Lucky guy lives in Calgary so at least entertaining roads are all over the place.  Wonder if my SIL is gonna upgrade from her 600...

[dirtyjeffer]

BIL posted to Facebook yesterday...bought a 2019 ZX10R.    200 hp.  Nice.

they're nice and all, but really make no sense whatsoever...not only are they hard to insure (many companies refuse to insure sport bikes, especially liter bikes), companies that do insure them charge a small fortune to do so (at least here)...way too easy to go way too fast and kill yourself.

[BWII]

What's the point of anything with more than 138 hp then?     My Sonic is all anyone needs, more even. 

Isn't AB the land of cheap-ass motorcycle insurance?  Them and New Brunswick?  And, he's got money.  I think he's pretty high up the food chain at the building centre he works at, if not at the top, just a notch or two below.  SIL works acct in gov't, so she's probably bringing in a good payday too.  Here, it'd be $2000 for all purpose and $1250 for pleasure, and that's with full 33% discounts which I would get.  Unless you want Comp coverage, then it's $2400+ for all purpose or $14-1700 for "pleasure".  I'd go with pleasure...taking it to work is pleasurable...try to argue against me on that!  MB and MPIC hates motorcyclists. 

[dkaz]

I haven’t seen a bike that can’t be insured in Alberta. I remember Kawasaki years ago had to fire sale their ZX14Rs originally allocated for Quebec elsewhere around the country because they couldn’t be insured there.

ICBC will insure anything, for a price.

[dirtyjeffer]

What's the point of anything with more than 138 hp then?     My Sonic is all anyone needs, more even. 

oh, i get that they are fun, they just make zero sense...and your Sonic with 138 HP is nowhere even close to the same comparison...the ZX10R has 200 hp and weighs 450 lbs...the equivalent for your Sonic would be if it had 1253 HP (based on a weight of 2819 lbs)...these bikes can most likely do 100 km/hr in 1st gear, and pretty much all of them can relatively go over 300 km/hr...too easy to do something fatal, and lots of insurance companies (here) won't even touch them.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Even my old 100hp FZ-6 would hit in the 250km/h range [indicated].



At a certain point, HP numbers are largely academic and suitable only for bench racing. And filling body bags with the imprudent.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

What's the point of anything with more than 138 hp then?     My Sonic is all anyone needs, more even. 

Isn't AB the land of cheap-ass motorcycle insurance?  Them and New Brunswick?  And, he's got money.  I think he's pretty high up the food chain at the building centre he works at, if not at the top, just a notch or two below.  SIL works acct in gov't, so she's probably bringing in a good payday too.  Here, it'd be $2000 for all purpose and $1250 for pleasure, and that's with full 33% discounts which I would get.  Unless you want Comp coverage, then it's $2400+ for all purpose or $14-1700 for "pleasure".  I'd go with pleasure...taking it to work is pleasurable...try to argue against me on that!  MB and MPIC hates motorcyclists.

Unless things have changed, NB rates used to be pretty high.

[BWII]

I only meant by the same token then, that something like Vmans 1LE or my kids 5.0...they're both pointsenseless. Way over-powered.  My Sonic OTOH is a hoot, and you can drive it pretty aggressively and still get into plenty of trouble.  But it's not so fast that it's stupid fast.  It would technically also be overpowered for what is needed...and I do wish it had 200 hp instead of only 138.     Damn that would make my day. (checks Amazon Prime for turbo kits... )

You live in ON so yeah, all private, they can pretty much dictate what is on the roads.  Here it's gov't, they, cannot.  Other than simply raising the premiums to the point of people saying Fack it!  Of course.

It's why if I rode (again), I'd get an old V-Max like I used to have (under $700 for the year) or a Scout or a Harley.  Cruisers aren't catwalkers...least not me anyway. 

[BWII]

Unless things have changed, NB rates used to be pretty high.

My BIL rides a Duc, I thought he said it was under $200.  I'll have to ask.  Maybe they can option out of everything like AB?  Just register it, and not insure it?  What does yours cost here compared to SK?

[ktm525]

I am paying around $400 for comprehensive including depreciation insurance in the first two years (Alberta). Not sure if it is a displacement thing or not.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Unless things have changed, NB rates used to be pretty high.

My BIL rides a Duc, I thought he said it was under $200.  I'll have to ask.  Maybe they can option out of everything like AB?  Just register it, and not insure it?  What does yours cost here compared to SK?

It's higher than in Saskatchewan by about $200.

[rrocket]

Buy an uncorked KTM 500exc or the Husky equivalent.

For the street?

A 690 Duke will run away and hide from either....

Will it? Depends how long the straights are  I suppose. With motard wheels it would close.

The 500 weighs about 245 and uncorked is around 63 HP. A 180lb rider gives 425 lbs/63 HP= 6.75 lb/HP.
The 690 weighs about 322 and makes 74 HP (stock). Same 180lb rider gives 502 lbs/74 HP = 6.78 lb/HP.


Straightline 690 for sure especially once air resistance comes into play. The lighter weight of the 500 would make it more nimble in the curvey stuff.

You buying a 690?

The 500 will take thousands in wheel, rubber, suspension and engine mods (to uncork),  Do I get to spend the same on the 690?  Because they're similarly priced used.

And on all but the absolute tightest of tracks (say a go kart track) there won't be much an advantage for the 500....they're both already extremely light..and roads are rarely THAT tight. Especially not where I live.

In a recent comparo, the significantly lighter 701 SM held no advantage over the Duke...and was down 10HP.

I've built my fair share of SM bikes.....I'd like to build a street legal CR500A if I was doing another one!!

[dirtyjeffer]

I only meant by the same token then, that something like Vmans 1LE or my kids 5.0...they're both pointsenseless. Way over-powered.  My Sonic OTOH is a hoot, and you can drive it pretty aggressively and still get into plenty of trouble.  But it's not so fast that it's stupid fast.  It would technically also be overpowered for what is needed...and I do wish it had 200 hp instead of only 138.     Damn that would make my day. (checks Amazon Prime for turbo kits... )

nah, supersport bikes are on a whole other level of speed.

what goes 0-60 in about 2.5 seconds, does the 1/4 mile in about 9.5 seconds at 150 mph and costs about $20k...a Kawasaki ZX10R...i saw a video online...it does 165 km/hr in 1st gear.

[ktm525]

Buy an uncorked KTM 500exc or the Husky equivalent.

For the street?

A 690 Duke will run away and hide from either....

Will it? Depends how long the straights are  I suppose. With motard wheels it would close.

The 500 weighs about 245 and uncorked is around 63 HP. A 180lb rider gives 425 lbs/63 HP= 6.75 lb/HP.
The 690 weighs about 322 and makes 74 HP (stock). Same 180lb rider gives 502 lbs/74 HP = 6.78 lb/HP.


Straightline 690 for sure especially once air resistance comes into play. The lighter weight of the 500 would make it more nimble in the curvey stuff.

You buying a 690?

The 500 will take thousands in wheel, rubber, suspension and engine mods (to uncork),  Do I get to spend the same on the 690?  Because they're similarly priced used.

And on all but the absolute tightest of tracks (say a go kart track) there won't be much an advantage for the 500....they're both already extremely light..and roads are rarely THAT tight. Especially not where I live.

In a recent comparo, the significantly lighter 701 SM held no advantage over the Duke...and was down 10HP.

I've built my fair share of SM bikes.....I'd like to build a street legal CR500A if I was doing another one!!

You only need wheels and rubber oh and a timbersled kit. Then you could play in the dirt, road or snow!. Engine mods are nothing more than removing a bunch of crap (further reducing lbs for free!  and 1 hour of a dealers time to reflash to something more rich.

[Guy]

  OMG, just saw a 1973 Yamaha TX750 on Hwy 20. It looked brand spanking new! Not the best bike from Yamaha by any stretch of the imagination but always nice to see a perfectly restored, 46 years old bike! 

BTW in those days I was riding a 1973 RD200, maybe you can see the connection.. 

[mlin32]

Got the photos I bought during a trackday over Pentecost weekend. Rolled at Circuit de Chambley in the Meurthe-et-Moselle (54).

For the Saturday, I hired my friend to be my coach. Did further work on positioning, optimising the trajectoire, decomposing the steps properly when attacking a high speed corner, etc.... he recorded some of my riding, gave (a lot) of critical feedback, etc.....

I used Monday as a free practice day to work on what he'd taught. The rain held off most of the day, and even after some light showers I went out and had the track to myself since I was on street tires and not slicks. 

I need to sell the R3 and get a supersport though. The classements are based on lap times and despite having halfway decent riding skills, the horsepower deficit is a problem. But we'll get there.

A few of the pictures:

[Bubba]

Looks like a great time and a wonderful learning experience.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

That's very cool! 

[Jaeger]

That's an extra helping of awesomesauce right there. 

[ktm525]

Wow  blue screens and photo editing has made huge advances.. Looks great. Photos look great, you had to buy them.