Topic: The Motorcycling Thread

[rrocket]

I'm saddest re R6. I always wanted one of those.

You just can't get insurance on 600's these days, the insurance companies have killed the category. Shame, I would have liked to have tried the new Aprilia RS 660.

I can.

Are you saying you can't get insurance on a 600, but you have no problem doing so on your multiple 1000cc+ bikes??

Pretty much. Hopefully Jeff chimes in here as his missus saw the same, massive hikes on ~600cc bikes, not much on everything else.  Insurance companies basically don't want to deal with 600 supersport bikes, too crashworthy.

While I don't doubt the massive insurance hike bit (they always find an excuse to hike rates), I don't understand how a 600cc with ~120HP is more "crashworthy" than an open classer with ~200hp...all things considered.

Either one is a heap with some idiot at the controls. And the write off cost is 50% more on an open classer to boot.


**EDIT**  Or are they doing what my old insurance company used to do?  Didn't matter how many CC the bike was, the price to insure was always the same for the same class of bike.  Sportbike 600cc or 1000cc was the same price to insure.  Supermoto 400cc was the same to insure as 690cc.

Is that what they're doing? 

[dirtyjeffer]

Got my hopes up that the XMax was coming to Canada.

R6 was no surprise, everyone's getting litre bikes these days. VMax, no market. WR250R is sad but oh well. SMax there's enough used stock around that no one's really buying new of those.

agreed...not a lot of buyers for the muscle cruisers, and the VMax, as good as it is, is pricey ($26k).

would be nice to have more selection in the 300-400cc scooters too...for new options there, i think the Burgman 400 might be the best choice (that's available in Canada).

kind of a chicken and egg thing...Yamaha and Honda say "No one buys scooters", so they only carry the BWS125 and Ruckus (50cc), which even fewer people want.

[Triple Bob]

I'm saddest re R6. I always wanted one of those.

You just can't get insurance on 600's these days, the insurance companies have killed the category. Shame, I would have liked to have tried the new Aprilia RS 660.

I can.

Are you saying you can't get insurance on a 600, but you have no problem doing so on your multiple 1000cc+ bikes??

Pretty much. Hopefully Jeff chimes in here as his missus saw the same, massive hikes on ~600cc bikes, not much on everything else.  Insurance companies basically don't want to deal with 600 supersport bikes, too crashworthy.

While I don't doubt the massive insurance hike bit (they always find an excuse to hike rates), I don't understand how a 600cc with ~120HP is more "crashworthy" than an open classer with ~200hp...all things considered.

Either one is a heap with some idiot at the controls. And the write off cost is 50% more on an open classer to boot.


**EDIT**  Or are they doing what my old insurance company used to do?  Didn't matter how many CC the bike was, the price to insure was always the same for the same class of bike.  Sportbike 600cc or 1000cc was the same price to insure.  Supermoto 400cc was the same to insure as 690cc.

Is that what they're doing?

It's just standard actuarial risk assessment, 600's are cheaper, and probably generally crashed more.

[dkaz]

Got my hopes up that the XMax was coming to Canada.

R6 was no surprise, everyone's getting litre bikes these days. VMax, no market. WR250R is sad but oh well. SMax there's enough used stock around that no one's really buying new of those.

agreed...not a lot of buyers for the muscle cruisers, and the VMax, as good as it is, is pricey ($26k).

would be nice to have more selection in the 300-400cc scooters too...for new options there, i think the Burgman 400 might be the best choice (that's available in Canada).

kind of a chicken and egg thing...Yamaha and Honda say "No one buys scooters", so they only carry the BWS125 and Ruckus (50cc), which even fewer people want.

The only place in Canada conducive to year round riding is in BC's Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island and even then scooters are not wildly popular. Mostly because it rains so much I think. Scooters and small motorcycles are popular in the southern states.

[PJungnitsch]

When I was in Medicine Hat there was tons of 50cc scooters buzzing around, due to 14 to 16 year olds being legally able to drive them with a learners license.

[dirtyjeffer]

When I was in Medicine Hat there was tons of 50cc scooters buzzing around, due to 14 to 16 year olds being legally able to drive them with a learners license.

that kind of makes sense...that's not allowed in ON though...although, i think you can drive a 50cc scooter with a regular car license (don't need a motorcycle license for it)...but you'd be staying in town on that as they often have a hard enough time keeping up with traffic in the city as it is (most top out at 60 km/hr).

[dkaz]

I want to go scooter riding with my kid as soon as he turns 14, if he's still in Alberta. Everything's still sort of in the air.

[rrocket]

I'm saddest re R6. I always wanted one of those.

You just can't get insurance on 600's these days, the insurance companies have killed the category. Shame, I would have liked to have tried the new Aprilia RS 660.

I can.

Are you saying you can't get insurance on a 600, but you have no problem doing so on your multiple 1000cc+ bikes??

Pretty much. Hopefully Jeff chimes in here as his missus saw the same, massive hikes on ~600cc bikes, not much on everything else.  Insurance companies basically don't want to deal with 600 supersport bikes, too crashworthy.

While I don't doubt the massive insurance hike bit (they always find an excuse to hike rates), I don't understand how a 600cc with ~120HP is more "crashworthy" than an open classer with ~200hp...all things considered.

Either one is a heap with some idiot at the controls. And the write off cost is 50% more on an open classer to boot.


**EDIT**  Or are they doing what my old insurance company used to do?  Didn't matter how many CC the bike was, the price to insure was always the same for the same class of bike.  Sportbike 600cc or 1000cc was the same price to insure.  Supermoto 400cc was the same to insure as 690cc.

Is that what they're doing?

It's just standard actuarial risk assessment, 600's are cheaper, and probably generally crashed more.

According to my know-it-all (re motos) buddy the other issue is the cost of  meeting the Euro5 emissions standards.

Yes, that's the big one from the manufacturers point of view.

[Triple Bob]

I'm saddest re R6. I always wanted one of those.

You just can't get insurance on 600's these days, the insurance companies have killed the category. Shame, I would have liked to have tried the new Aprilia RS 660.

I can.

Are you saying you can't get insurance on a 600, but you have no problem doing so on your multiple 1000cc+ bikes??

Pretty much. Hopefully Jeff chimes in here as his missus saw the same, massive hikes on ~600cc bikes, not much on everything else.  Insurance companies basically don't want to deal with 600 supersport bikes, too crashworthy.

While I don't doubt the massive insurance hike bit (they always find an excuse to hike rates), I don't understand how a 600cc with ~120HP is more "crashworthy" than an open classer with ~200hp...all things considered.

Either one is a heap with some idiot at the controls. And the write off cost is 50% more on an open classer to boot.


**EDIT**  Or are they doing what my old insurance company used to do?  Didn't matter how many CC the bike was, the price to insure was always the same for the same class of bike.  Sportbike 600cc or 1000cc was the same price to insure.  Supermoto 400cc was the same to insure as 690cc.

Is that what they're doing?

It's just standard actuarial risk assessment, 600's are cheaper, and probably generally crashed more.

According to my know-it-all (re motos) buddy the other issue is the cost of  meeting the Euro5 emissions standards.

Yes, that's the big one from the manufacturers point of view.

The new Aprilia does it just fine.

[dirtyjeffer]

Honda unveils 2021 Rebel 1100:


https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/2021-honda-rebel-1100-806897687.html

some odd choices here...parallel twin, chain drive, optional DCT...my guess is it will be around $12k (for manual trans version).

there will also be accessories to allow you to customize it (Touring with windshield and bags, Roadster with sport fairing, etc)

[Jaeger]

^^^ Not a fan of that steeply sloped tank.  I know it's a thing, but it's not my thing.

[PJungnitsch]

Looks like it's the 270 degree engine from the Africa Twin: https://motorcycle.honda.ca/model/adventure/africatwin/2020

[rrocket]

I'm saddest re R6. I always wanted one of those.

You just can't get insurance on 600's these days, the insurance companies have killed the category. Shame, I would have liked to have tried the new Aprilia RS 660.

I can.

Are you saying you can't get insurance on a 600, but you have no problem doing so on your multiple 1000cc+ bikes??

Pretty much. Hopefully Jeff chimes in here as his missus saw the same, massive hikes on ~600cc bikes, not much on everything else.  Insurance companies basically don't want to deal with 600 supersport bikes, too crashworthy.

While I don't doubt the massive insurance hike bit (they always find an excuse to hike rates), I don't understand how a 600cc with ~120HP is more "crashworthy" than an open classer with ~200hp...all things considered.

Either one is a heap with some idiot at the controls. And the write off cost is 50% more on an open classer to boot.


**EDIT**  Or are they doing what my old insurance company used to do?  Didn't matter how many CC the bike was, the price to insure was always the same for the same class of bike.  Sportbike 600cc or 1000cc was the same price to insure.  Supermoto 400cc was the same to insure as 690cc.

Is that what they're doing?

It's just standard actuarial risk assessment, 600's are cheaper, and probably generally crashed more.

According to my know-it-all (re motos) buddy the other issue is the cost of  meeting the Euro5 emissions standards.

Yes, that's the big one from the manufacturers point of view.

The new Aprilia does it just fine.

 Yea, it's readily done. 

But as with car manufacturers meeting MPG standards, they'll meet it kicking and screaming the whole way. 

It's more easily done with an "all new model" apparently rather than trying to make an older model meet compliance.  That's what I've read, anyways. 

[dirtyjeffer]

Looks like it's the 270 degree engine from the Africa Twin: https://motorcycle.honda.ca/model/adventure/africatwin/2020

yes, same engine.

[dirtyjeffer]

^^^ Not a fan of that steeply sloped tank.  I know it's a thing, but it's not my thing.

yea, i'm not sure how i feel about it...typically, i'm not a fan of parallel twins, but it depends on the twin...some of the triumph units have a nice tone/character to them...others sound like the engine was used to fit a price...also for $12k, you can get a HD Iron 1200, that gives you a V-Twin engine and belt drive...it's also a Harley (which may be a plus or a negative depending on how you look at it), so i'm not sure this Honda will position itself in the segment.



personally, i think the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom at $10,400 is kind of the sweet spot in this segment...yes, the engine is a bit smaller, but the bike is still a decent size overall, has a Vtwin engine and is belt drive...it also a good looking bike, with its Black and Orange paint to slap HD in the face with:

[rrocket]

Yea, not really my thing.

If I had to though...I'd look for a couple year old Yamaha SCR950...

Prefer the cool scrambler vibe.....

[Triple Bob]

When someone says, "For $XK you can get a Harley".

My initial thought is, why would I want to trade down to decades old technology and unreliability? HD is just a clothing brand that happens to sell motorcycles IMHO.

[DriverJeff]

When someone says, "For $XK you can get a Harley".

My initial thought is, why would I want to trade down to decades old technology and unreliability? HD is just a clothing brand that happens to sell motorcycles IMHO.

So is Ducati, but you also lust for one of those...

[dirtyjeffer]

When someone says, "For $XK you can get a Harley".

My initial thought is, why would I want to trade down to decades old technology and unreliability? HD is just a clothing brand that happens to sell motorcycles IMHO.

they have their faults, but i don't mind some of their bikes...the newer models aren't too bad for reliability, especially the sportster since it's Evolution engine is decades old design (like Toyota does)...yes, their bikes from the 80s were crap, but their more current stuff is decent enough...i've ridden numerous models from them and they've all been pretty good bikes to ride...the fit/finish was always top notch...sure, there can be that stigma that goes with them, but i pay no attention to it...i judge the bike on its own merits, and i don't have any issues with their Sportster models...they are affordable, fun to ride, well put together and relatively simple...there's also plenty of farkles available if that's your thing.

[blur911]

^I always thought I'd like a Sportster, until I rode one.