What kind of bike do you ride ?

[Tassie_tiger]

Just come across this thread.

Figured I may as well share a pic. of my baby.

 

[Carlos]

Just come across this thread.

Figured I may as well share a pic. of my baby.

Very nice

Did some upgrades on my bike, suspension setup a bit softer

Then removed the cat and installed a new exhaust

Also had it tuned to the new exhaust, it did 178whp on the dyno

 

[JohnBM01]

Beautiful bike, Carlos! I'm sure this motorcycle performs and sounds much better now.


[UPDATE] Misspelled a screen name.

 

[Swagger897]

Kinda forgot that we had one of these sections. Picked up my dream bike last week, 07 R6:

 

[wfooshee]

OMG, Swagger's here! Is there no safe haven?!?!?!

(At least it's on a Yamaha!!)

 

[Swagger897]

This weekend I'll be doing my msf course and getting my license (Great South Harley) and the week after that my classes end for the semester with a 2 week break between it and the summer classes so I'll have a little bit of free-time with it. I've only taken it up and down the neighborhood a few times so far but it seems to be pretty much spot on with a bicycle. The only difference being the amount of power available when just cracking the throttle and the bike coming up while leaning in a turn (15-20 mph).

This being my first motorcycle goes against a lot of what most people recommend to start on and learn. I get the whole deal where you start out low so that you can learn how to really put the bike into its element vs. having to be overly cautious and watching how your riding more so than what is going on around you. Right now though I'm more focused on making myself comfortable on it before I take it out on the road. That's primarily the reason I want to do the msf course, as well as add a few more things to the bike. I've been watching motovlogs now for about the last five years and I've picked up a lot of tips that I'm interested in trying as well as things I've been doing already while in the car to drive defensively. Although two vastly different things when someone sees you vs. having to look for you.

Mods wise, the bike has what I believe to be an M4 street slayer slip-on, with the M4 mid-pipe (looks like the baffle was pulled out). Bazzaz zafm (that I have no idea how to use), flush-mount signals up front and in back, with an integrated brake light/fender elim. I was surprised to see that there weren't any frame sliders/spools on it so I did the Womet Tech kit (had to cut the left fairing a bit) for rear spool, frame and fork sliders, and new bar ends (they added some distance but ultimately are about the same weight as the OEM). The owner before me had replaced the grips, added carbon-fiber patch work across the back end of the tail and the front fairing blades (having worked with the material at my school here I can assure it's real), probably to cover any scratches that it has gotten. The levers are a bit too far out from my short Trump-esque hands so I'm looking at the ASV shorty levers to fix that. I've got a friend who has the MSZ levers on his R6 and I don't like the amount of play it has so I'm against going with the $35 amazon kits. The previous owner also just got new Michelin P5s, new chain and sprocket which was a huge plus to be included in the price. All-in-all previous mods done that I would've done anyways has saved me nearly $2,000, if not more.

The bike isn't without damage though. I picked it up for what I think is a steal, well below what bikes of this year are asking for by about $1,500-2000 (for high mileage). The only thing that puts it off is the broken foot peg on the left side, slight scratches around the bike. Scuffed up slip-on, cracked fairings near the bolt locations (clearly over-torqued... so easily preventable), and two large dents on the gas tank (Story was that the owner before last thought the stand was out and got off the bike. Walked away and it tipped over. About a 1 square inch dent on the left-most edge on the tank is there, but doesn't stand out. Then there's also a dent on the tank where it meets the seat's seam. I'm thinking the gas tank was being removed once and the owner before last pulled it back far enough that it crushed itself against whatever tools he had sitting on top of the battery. It's such an odd spot for the dent that it's the only explanation I can think of it.

The bike is at 23,000 miles and I've seen some people go to 60,000 with them so depending on how long it lasts I see myself keeping it for a long time and potentially changing parts from one to the next (especially since Yamaha keeps integrating old parts to their newest model). It's a shame after doing more reading though that the 06-07 models don't share the same interchangeability with other parts like the 08+ models do. Fairing design seems to have changed and cooling systems too. Anyways... that's a wall of text and I hope that I still remember to keep updating this thread. I can't wait to take it to the park by the lake and take some pictures of it other than with my crappy phone.

 

[wfooshee]

I don't really know what's expected of R6s mileage-wise, but I can tell you that there are NUMEROUS FJRs over 100K, more than you can finger-count over 200K, and at least one over 300! Mine is "only" 106K, and has had a couple of issues during its life, but I'm good with a wrench and not afraid of taking things apart. (I've had the engine out and the case split for the badly worn shift fork.)

The only thing I can tell you is: that bike will be a completely different animal at the top end of the tach then it is just tooling around the neighborhood in 3rd gear. All of its power comes from the torque times RPM formula, and it has lots of RPMs! Pay attention in the class, learn to look, and learn how to find "outs" wherever you are. By "learn to look," they'll probably give a 2-4-10 seconds rule. Anything within two seconds of reaching (killing) you is something you must know about and have a plan for. Anything with 4 seconds should be coming to the forefront of your awareness, and anything 10 seconds out should be noted. And that's in any direction, not just where you will be in that time, but anything that can meet you in that time, from the side, from behind, as well as oncoming.

Also, if the bike needs to be stopped, all you need is both levers. It's amazing the things you see on Youtube where people video first rides, and nobody told the person to practice both levers before they turned them loose. Grab the clutch, squeeze the brake, and amazingly, you don't run into the wall/car/person/barrier/cliff.

Oh! GEAR UP!!! Everything. No exposed skin, no exposed regular clothing. Jeans offer no protection whatsoever. Street shoes offer no protection whatsoever. I've been down three times, I've been bruised, I've sprained ankles, but I've never lost any skin or blood, and rode away from all three oopsies.

 

[Swagger897]

The only thing I can tell you is: that bike will be a completely different animal at the top end of the tach then it is just tooling around the neighborhood in 3rd gear. All of its power comes from the torque times RPM formula, and it has lots of RPMs!

I've already adjusted the shift light to 10k but I really don't plan to get that high up until I'm comfortable with it on the Interstate. Pretty much anything past 9 o'clock on the tach for me is going to be sufficient starting out.

Pay attention in the class, learn to look, and learn how to find "outs" wherever you are. By "learn to look," they'll probably give a 2-4-10 seconds rule. Anything within two seconds of reaching (killing) you is something you must know about and have a plan for. Anything with 4 seconds should be coming to the forefront of your awareness, and anything 10 seconds out should be noted. And that's in any direction, not just where you will be in that time, but anything that can meet you in that time, from the side, from behind, as well as oncoming.

Haven't actually heard about this at all over the last few years, or at least if it's a technique they teach while in the class but thanks for the heads up.

Also, if the bike needs to be stopped, all you need is both levers. It's amazing the things you see on Youtube where people video first rides, and nobody told the person to practice both levers before they turned them loose. Grab the clutch, squeeze the brake, and amazingly, you don't run into the wall/car/person/barrier/cliff.

I've been close to dropping mine already. The road in the neighborhood is quite narrow so I thought I could turn fully around but nearly low-sided it. Released the clutch a bit and straightened the bars and kept it up.

Oh! GEAR UP!!! Everything. No exposed skin, no exposed regular clothing. Jeans offer no protection whatsoever. Street shoes offer no protection whatsoever. I've been down three times, I've been bruised, I've sprained ankles, but I've never lost any skin or blood, and rode away from all three oopsies.

Aside from the pants I've got that down. Picked up a Scorpion R710 helmet, with a scorpion optima jacket for a steal on amazon. Alpinestar celer V2 gloves (fit quite nice), and alpinestar sektor shoes. I was at first debating whether or not to just return the shoes after the class but I quite like them and they're a good fit. Just high enough to go over the ankles but not to be considered boots. Pants wise I skimped out on that for now. For the class I'll try some of my Delta uniform pants which are quite heavy duty but not too baggy. It's not a thin material either where it could potentially melt which I'm happy about after seeing what happened to someone in my class earlier. Ultimately I'd like to go to some of the moto-dealers and see what pants they offer as they're not exactly cheap to begin with and I want to get a good set that doesn't look like it'll blow up with air while riding.

Thanks for the pointers thought. We'll see how this weekend goes.

 

[wfooshee]

Being Floridian, I ride with mesh gear so the wind passes through. I wear what they call overpants, in my case, Tour master venture Aire. They go on over my street clothes. they're not inexpensive, but having the bike since 2007, I'm only on my third pair, and that includes a pair I tossed after my first crash. I still wear the jacket I bought in 2007 (although I've had another, slightly lighter-weight jacket in the meantime.) I've been through more helmets and gloves than anything else. Anyway, I show up to work, the jacket and pants go in the tail case, helmet and gloves go in a side case, and I change boots for shoes, done. I don't voluntarily ride to work in the rain, but if I'm somewhere and I get caught in the weather, I have waterproof gloves and a Tour Master 2-piece rain suit that are always in a side case. My daily boots are waterproof. I can arrive somewhere dryer than people that walked in from their car.

As for worry about melting, on that bike you're not gonna get stuck under exhaust pipes like a guy on a cruiser could be. I've never been burned and I have pipes on both sides. My issue is I can't get my foot out from under the bike! It's not something you have time to consciously think about on the way down! Which ever foot is the down side goes for a short grind under the 650-pound motorcycle, usually with mildly distressing results. never broke anything, but left ankle sprained twice, right foot kinda squished side-to-side, which made it turn all purple and stuff.

As for shoes/boots, you do want ankle protection! Not just the stiffness to keep your ankle aligned when something tries to remove your foot... I've returned boots that I ordered on good recommendation when I found no ankle armor. bank your ankle bone against a door frame with a soccer-kick motion and see how it feels. You want something over that when the bike comes down!

BTW, my bike's in post #8 of this thread, if you haven't seen it. Same bike, same equipment, although I'm needing some seat repair, as the stitching is pulling out.

 

[Swagger897]

Passed the MSF course and waiting till Tuesday to get my license.

Can't really narrow down a difficult manuever but I wasn't as fast on the swerve as they would've liked to have seen, or at least I wasn't . Out of 12, 2 dropped during the skills test.

I would definitely recommend doing the Harley course vs whatever the state may offer. The teachers may vary but the two I had were great. Also learning on their 500 was a big boost over learning on a 125/250.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

Also learning on their 500 was a big boost over learning on a 125/250.

You learn more/faster on a small bike. Most, if not all the top riders started on 125's or smaller.

 

[FPV MIC]

Jeans offer no protection whatsoever.

Draggin Jeans says hello . They're pricey but they do the job very well.

https://dragginjeans.net/collections/men/products/holeshot-full-ce2

Edit: I totally agree with everything else you said about clothing, I was cleaned up just going to the local service station for fuel when I hadn't geared up.... once. I never made that mistake again. It was a painful lesson.

 

[wfooshee]

Draggin jeans are not the jeans people ride with and think will save them. "Aw, I gots my Wranglers on, they's tough!!"

 

[FPV MIC]

Draggin jeans are not the jeans people ride with and think will save them. "Aw, I gots my Wranglers on, they's tough!!"

That wasn't my point. Jeans doesn't just mean Wrangler or Levis. Not all jeans were created equal and some jeans do offer a lot of protection, so to say ''Jeans offer no protection whatsoever'' is misleading. Hence the winking emoji.

Also, speaking from personal experience, nothing can save you from injury 100% of the time.

 

[Swagger897]

I was reading a r/motorcycles post about the jeans one guy had bought. $320 shocked me to see that it wasn't even the most protective option they made (kevlar equipped).

You learn more/faster on a small bike. Most, if not all the top riders started on 125's or smaller.

While I can see where this may be true, I got a much needed confidence boost out of the course on the larger bike, and with the fact that I didn't drop or had the thought that I was near dropping the bike helped immensely. Some people it just comes naturally to them, others have to learn and progress on with it. I've always had to learn how to do something, especially when I was a kid learning how to water-ski/wakeboard/kneeboard... I just didn't want my first experience to be on my bike though resulting in potentially numerous drops.

Also, found out that it's perfectly fine to show up whenever there's not a class and maneuver around the course alone, or at any other Georgia MSF course, so long as it's state-owned. I thought I had seen a video before where a guy from Ga. gets chased off when there wasn't anyone around but himself on the course just practicing. Looking forwards to bringing mine up there and at least attempting some of the same things from the weekend.

 

[wfooshee]

Regular street jeans offer NO protection whatsoever. Draggin jeans have Kevlar in the fabric, they're not just denim. They have armor protection as well.

I repeat, and I stand by it firmly, street jeans, indeed street clothes of any kind, offer no skin protection whatsoever. I was addressing the fact that nearly everyone thinks regular blue jeans will keep them from getting road rash.

And I never said anything about overall injury protection. In my offs, I've had heavy bruising, sprained ankles, and sprains in my foot. I've been fortunate enough to break no bones, and as stated, I've lost no skin or blood, but nowhere did I say I was uninjured, nor did I say proper gear would prevent injury.

However, I can still speak clearly and chew my own food because I was wearing a full-face lid. My ankles were not broken because I was wearing proper motorcycle boots with both ankle armor and ankle stiffness. I broke no knuckles because I wore gloves with a carbon-fiber knuckle plate. (Indeed, i didn't even know my hand had hit the pavement that hard until I got home and saw the crushed plate on the glove.)

 

[FPV MIC]

Regular street jeans offer NO protection whatsoever. Draggin jeans have Kevlar in the fabric, they're not just denim. They have armor protection as well.

I repeat, and I stand by it firmly, street jeans, indeed street clothes of any kind, offer no skin protection whatsoever. I was addressing the fact that nearly everyone thinks regular blue jeans will keep them from getting road rash.

And I never said anything about overall injury protection. In my offs, I've had heavy bruising, sprained ankles, and sprains in my foot. I've been fortunate enough to break no bones, and as stated, I've lost no skin or blood, but nowhere did I say I was uninjured, nor did I say proper gear would prevent injury.

However, I can still speak clearly and chew my own food because I was wearing a full-face lid. My ankles were not broken because I was wearing proper motorcycle boots with both ankle armor and ankle stiffness. I broke no knuckles because I wore gloves with a carbon-fiber knuckle plate. (Indeed, i didn't even know my hand had hit the pavement that hard until I got home and saw the crushed plate on the glove.)

Firstly, if you're going to reply to my comment at least have the decency to tag me .

Secondly, Nowhere in you're original post did you state ''regular street jeans''. You stated jeans, that's all. That's why I corrected you, in a lighthearted manner I may add.

Thirdly, I know how Draggin jeans are made. Why do you think I brought them up . They're still jeans though.

And finally, the last part was separate. Maybe I could've done a better job distinguishing that, and I apologize if you felt it was directed at you. Anyway, this is the wrong thread to go into what happened and I probably shouldn't have mentioned it here, but it is what it is.

 

[JohnBM01]

That Yamaha YZF-R6 looks sweet, @Swagger897 ! You like it? How does it run?

 

[Swagger897]

That Yamaha YZF-R6 looks sweet, @Swagger897 ! You like it? How does it run?

Of course I like it! The red has really grown onto me now seeing how rare of a color it seems to be, but there are issues with it that I've mentioned in previous posts. Tomorrow once I finish my finals I'm driving back home and to the DMV first to get my license, and then maybe take it out if there's enough daylight to the park. It's supposed to be a decent weekend down here so I'll report back if/when I take it out, and then there's also the fact I'm out of school for two weeks as well after that.

I hope I can convince the parents to allow me to bring it back during the summer/fall semester, at least sometime in mid/late June...

 

[Swagger897]

Absolutely love this thing I swear though I'll bring out my DSLR either tomorrow or Tuesday and take it to the park for better pictures. I think I've put around 80 miles on it just by going both ways around the lake and it has really solidified my decision on getting it vs a 250/300 or other 2/3 cylinder bikes. 6th gear at 55mph is about 5k on the tach, and around here most of the roads are straight as an arrow so I can definitely see why some people get liter bikes for commuting going 55-70mph to keep it low on rpm. Any good riding road near me is almost an hour out on highways/Interstates and on a smaller bike I don't think I'd enjoy ringing it out just to get to the fun stuff. I think I can learn plenty fine while being a gear higher than what most would be in just to keep things slow and in control. It is quite amazing though how fast things speed up once you go past 8-9k, but getting there takes plenty of time that you should be able to get ahold of things before it goes downhill. Haven't cracked past 10k though or over 75mph, don't really care to right now either unless I'm on the Interstate (might try that later this week).

Riding wise I've still got to decide what I like best as far as braking goes. Brake by engine and downshifts or hold the clutch in and keep clicking to first. I'm smoother right now on just holding the clutch and rolling to the stop but I'll probably keep practicing engine braking. I'm hesitant on it primarily because my shifting (up) isn't the greatest. I'm rolling on the throttle a touch too early and it's slightly jerky when doing it. It's a habbit that I want to try and stop before it molds into something worse.

Tuesday new pegs come in (left one is broken/short by almost 1in.) and a silver replacement Visor. I have Oakley Flak Jacket 2.0 sunglasses and they've always worked fine, but the helmet pushes against the side of my head a bit much. Hopefully the finish doesn't wear too fast from cleaning (I just use a wet towel and rest it. No chemicals) because the bugs have been glued to my original visor.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

View attachment 818818

Riding wise I've still got to decide what I like best as far as braking goes. Brake by engine and downshifts or hold the clutch in and keep clicking to first.

Been riding my 300 for 3 years and I usually downshift a gear or 2. If I need to slow down more, then I'll just clutch in and click.

 

[wfooshee]

If I'm stopping for a light or a stop sign, I'll drop from 5th to 3rd for some decel, then clutch and kick down to 1st for the light. If it's not for a stop but just to slow down, then that's different. I have no problem skipping a gear before letting the clutch out; I see no need to engage every gear on the way down the box. When starting, lo, those many moons ago (I'm coming up on 62 years old,) I remember some rough downshifts when I couldn't coordinate the throttle blips while using the brake, but that issue is long gone.

The FJR is a 5-speed, or was until the 2016 model. They not only made it a 6-speed, but used helical gears, so the gearbox is much more complex, with thrust bearings, shift rings, and so on. The bike is torquey enough (it had better be at 1300cc!!) that I've never felt a need for closer ratios or more of them. (As an aside for the torque, a top-gear roll-on from 1000 RPM to non-legal velocity is amusing, and impressive. Also, I've no need to actually downshift to execute an overtake on the highway at anything over 45 mph.)

 

[Swagger897]

Finally got the picture that I've been looking forwards to most since buying the bike:


(Definitely it's good side ^)

Since April I've crossed the 24,000 mile mark on it and have put personally 600 miles on it so far, give or take a few. Biggest noob mistake I can think of to date is my shifts between first and second when getting on it hard.... and not completing the shift and going into neutral... I don't have the greatest of flexibility with my ankles so this will just have to be something that will be worked on overtime, and I knew weak shifts would occasionally be an issue.

First "group" ride was last weekend though to Cheaha Mountain in Alabama, where I hadn't been since being in scouts as a kid. The neighbor bought a new V-Strom and had asked if I wanted to go with after I got back from classes and of course I obliged. Wish I took more pictures but this is only a trend to come:

 

[Swagger897]

Just a suspicion right now, but I'm thinking that the red in my bike has lent me to look at other.... red bikes...



I don't ever recall being a fan of Ducati, but after watching the 44Teeth BBB Italia series I have really been hooked with them. So much to say that I contemplated trading my R6 for a 999s (which is actually what the seller wanted in his listing). Unfortunately after looking up what the registration ad velorum would be for that bike, it was a hard no. I don't see how a bike could have a FMV of $16k and yet second hand they only are going for 4-6k at the most. It was a well used one too, only 2k miles less on it than mine currently, which I'v currently rolled over 27k miles the other weekend. It's a shame really too, as I see the 999 climbing in value here in the next few years and would make a rather nice investment..

All that said it has really had me hooked on getting into a bike with something other than the seemingly standard I4. I can already see though as to why some people feel like the 600cc category is lacking, but I think these are the same people as myself who live where there is relatively few roads where they can call them "twisty." From where I live, that picture above in my previous post was nearly two hours away, and Pine Mountain is another hour and half away nearly. To my west and northeast are the closest tracks, and those are both the exact same, 2 hour + long drive away. So I definitely get the appeal of wanting something with a bit more torque low down. By next summer I intend to have graduated from my A&P school and hopefully landed a job with Delta, and be able to afford a few more things than I currently do. While I'd love to add a more up-right bike to the future garage, it has been a toilsome task to pick what route to go down. I've even contemplated a few HDs, but man, the new Streetfighter V4 looks like it's going to be a stupendous bike.

I intend to bring the R6 back from the dorms this weekend and begin the disassembly and cleaning of it, potentially having to redo much of the electrical wiring as well due to previous owners using a mix of copper and aluminum wiring together. I'll even consider shaving down the paint on the fairings (which I believe are aftermarket having survived this long and the apparent many drops it has faced before) and completely respraying them all, in red of course, but this will all be for later in the winter most likely. Valve shims still need to be checked, but I suspect all is well still.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I can already see though as to why some people feel like the 600cc category is lacking

That depends so much on the bike (as you know), there are some 600cc bikes that are utter rocketships. And some 950s that are dog slow.

Ducati... it's the Alfa Romeo of bikes, chic, sporty, very expensive if you need OEM parts. I'd still have one though

 

[Swagger897]

That depends so much on the bike (as you know), there are some 600cc bikes that are utter rocketships. And some 950s that are dog slow.

Ducati... it's the Alfa Romeo of bikes, chic, sporty, very expensive if you need OEM parts. I'd still have one though

Most of all the current 2005+ i4 600CCs are still going to be rocket ships.

And yes, after trading the R6 for the 999, I'm coming to the realization that this is going to be an expensive bike to own... Which has only been pushing me more and more for what I want later down the road...

 

[Populuxe]

This is my bike, a 1979 Yamaha XS Eleven F. However it needs a full engine rebuild, so it's been in storage.

I'm thinking instead of rebuilding it (because that will take me years of saving), I should just go and get a new bike (which I can finance.) I'm seriously looking at the Royal Enfield INT650.

 

[WOODSJeep]

2016 H.D. had it a month now...

it's a torque monster. Couple more of the ol' boy...

 

[Swagger897]

This is my bike, a 1979 Yamaha XS Eleven F. However it needs a full engine rebuild, so it's been in storage.

I actually considered the 1100 to be my first bike while looking for R6 deals! I had been watching it on craigslist for over three months and saw the price was super low. It looked clean and was at a dealer so it had to be running. I could've saved nearly $2000 over what I payed for my R6 and used it to turn it into a great cafe rider. Cut that rear seat support off and find something slim. That's a great paint job too, and nice drag bars. Some of the new R.E.'s also look great too for not much, although I'd probably go along the Triumph line of things.

2016 H.D. had it a month now...View attachment 908448 View attachment 908442 View attachment 908446 it's a torque monster. Couple more of the ol' boy... View attachment 908462 View attachment 908463 View attachment 908464 View attachment 908465

Clean looking Fat Boy! I'd have to swap out those chrome gas caps and swap them with the blacked out LED ones that show the fuel level too. Swap out the rear fender and go down to a single seat and it looks mean with that front wheel.

 

[WOODSJeep]

Yea... I'm a beginner. I couldn't ask for a better bike... Everything on there is electronic... Easy start, cruise control, low seat height, it's perfect, for now. 500 miles on in less than a month, not bad for winter time, in upstate N.Y. baby steps.