Liter bikes and public roads

Got my first non fairing standard bike last year. Was .... over 120kmph with my cheap ass Thai lid. Brought my Arai home from Canada and now no issues to 200+...

Hollywood said:

A fairing is nice if you do a lot of high way riding, but most people riding sport bikes are not riding full tucked. if you are looking for a nice all around touring bike, check out a multistrada, comfortable, really good in the corners and on the brakes, plenty of engine options, and they can be had used at very cheap prices.

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Keshav said:

Always preferred having a fairing - but got to say... removal of the fairing on the current bikes (if my R6 was any indicator) are ridiculously time consuming. Maybe it's the geezer in me - but I remember when I could remove the fairing sections on an FZ 600 in under ten minutes. On the R6 it'd be like an hour.

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I live in San Diego where I have to get on freeway to go anywhere. So I kinda want the fairing or at least wind shield for freeway. I rode my CB300F without a windshield for a while but gahhh my neck was strained from the wind! (so I put on Puig.)
The problem is I average around 450~600miles a week and have to change oil almost every month. For that reason I'm glad that I got a naked bike for now.
In any case, I still haven't decided what to get for my next bike, so I really appreciate your input especially about bigger bikes.

Motokitty said:

I live in San Diego where I have to get on freeway to go anywhere. So I kinda want the fairing or at least wind shield for freeway. I rode my CB300F without a windshield for a while but gahhh my neck was strained from the wind! (so I put on Puig.)
The problem is I average around 450~600miles a week and have to change oil almost every month. For that reason I'm glad that I got a naked bike for now.
In any case, I still haven't decided what to get for my next bike, so I really appreciate your input especially about bigger bikes.

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what price range are you looking at? do you need something with a touring pack for carrying stuff?

Hollywood said:

what price range are you looking at? do you need something with a touring pack for carrying stuff?

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I got a Kreiga backpack so no. Price range is up to 10K-ish. Newer well maintained used bike will be nice of course. I was looking at brand new FZ07 FZ-09, K900, or used R6 etc. I'm not in hurry since I'm saving $$$ for Motegi this year. BUT if you find something super nice, I'll come down and ride back.

Motokitty said:

I live in San Diego where I have to get on freeway to go anywhere. So I kinda want the fairing or at least wind shield for freeway. I rode my CB300F without a windshield for a while but gahhh my neck was strained from the wind! (so I put on Puig.)
The problem is I average around 450~600miles a week and have to change oil almost every month. For that reason I'm glad that I got a naked bike for now.
In any case, I still haven't decided what to get for my next bike, so I really appreciate your input especially about bigger bikes.

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Yeah... if I were clocking those kind of miles every week, I'd get rid of the sport bike and go for a BMW dual purpose or a V Strom, to have a tall windscreen and a seat that wouldn't beat my ass black and blue.

Keshav said:

Yeah... if I were clocking those kind of miles every week, I'd get rid of the sport bike and go for a BMW dual purpose or a V Strom, to have a tall windscreen and a seat that wouldn't beat my ass black and blue.

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Out of curiosity, I rode the 2017 Harley Davidson Street Glide Special recently. I used to laugh at them, but riding that was pretty fun. It was like sitting on your couch and just going without all the wind in your face. I see how people can ride distances with those sort of fairing bikes. I hesitate on naked sport bikes because I already have a naked bike and kind of want full fairing without going the old man route yet.

MT-07 tracer looks pretty sweet too

Motokitty said:

I got a Kreiga backpack so no. Price range is up to 10K-ish. Newer well maintained used bike will be nice of course. I was looking at brand new FZ07 FZ-09, K900, or used R6 etc. I'm not in hurry since I'm saving $$$ for Motegi this year. BUT if you find something super nice, I'll come down and ride back.

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With the miles/kms you do I would be very reticent to use a back pack all the time. Getting any weight off your body and onto the bike will reduce fatigue and increase mobility on the bike.

I use a hump bag for day to day. Magnetic tank bag for larger items.

aaronl said:

MT-07 tracer looks pretty sweet too

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Nice! But not available in US!:stomp:

Mick D said:

With the miles/kms you do I would be very reticent to use a back pack all the time. Getting any weight off your body and onto the bike will reduce fatigue and increase mobility on the bike.

I use a hump bag for day to day. Magnetic tank bag for larger items.

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I need to use Kreiga when I carry my laptop and some extra clothes. But I usually carry very little: maybe a sammich and a coffee mag. So I've been looking at some small magnetic tank bags for that.

I didn't mean to derail/highjack JPS's "liter bike" thread but Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

I never understood given the size of the USA and sales numbers per capita, that we in Australia more or less end up with such a large range of motorcycles to choose from.

I get the USA is built on hogs and crotch rockets, but there wpuld have to be the numbers to support niche segmemts of the market.

JPSLotus said:

Out of curiosity, I rode the 2017 Harley Davidson Street Glide Special recently. I used to laugh at them, but riding that was pretty fun. It was like sitting on your couch and just going without all the wind in your face. I see how people can ride distances with those sort of fairing bikes. I hesitate on naked sport bikes because I already have a naked bike and kind of want full fairing without going the old man route yet.

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Lots of folks love their Harleys. Honestly, I'm pretty ignorant about the reliability and other factors concerning modern HDs. I used to automatically look down at HD people because I viewed them all as Hells Angels posers etc etc. But I've mellowed on that score and there are a few HDs I wouldn't mind owning. See photo:


Personally - I shy away from the idea of a HD because they're known for being so insanely heavy; not so much an issue while riding, but for sure a factor when you have to park and unpark them, move 'em around the garage etc. for doing maintenance. Nothing more cringeworthy than owning a bike you've never crashed, in showroom condition, only to have your foot slip in the gravel and have it fall over on you in the driveway while getting it up on the workstand or curbside at a restaurant in a distracted or awkward moment.

The biggest issue for me personally when riding a Harley is getting used to the low revs... takes like a half day to not keep trying to blow though the red line and just enjoy the torque. Super comfy (Glides and Dynas) but just too, too many years with bikes with a long, tall power band.

Next beef would be max lean angle... then weight...

JPS: My question is, isn't it sort of overkill for public roads? Probably but... I'm not understanding for public road riding what a liter bike is going to give you in terms of speed that you can't get from a 600 given that obvious safety implications involved should you start exceeding the speed limits. A much fatter torque curve allowing ungodly fast roll-ons for passing or having brief blasts of fun without the constant shifting required on a 600 to stay or get into the meat of the power. It can make a ride feel much more relaxed on a 1000 vs a screaming 600 at the same pace

JPSLotus said:

Out of curiosity, I rode the 2017 Harley Davidson Street Glide Special recently. I used to laugh at them, but riding that was pretty fun. It was like sitting on your couch and just going without all the wind in your face. I see how people can ride distances with those sort of fairing bikes. I hesitate on naked sport bikes because I already have a naked bike and kind of want full fairing without going the old man route yet.

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I ride my Harley more then any of my bikes, its simple, comfortable, and has plenty of torque to move around the cages in traffic.

Motokitty said:

I got a Kreiga backpack so no. Price range is up to 10K-ish. Newer well maintained used bike will be nice of course. I was looking at brand new FZ07 FZ-09, K900, or used R6 etc. I'm not in hurry since I'm saving $$$ for Motegi this year. BUT if you find something super nice, I'll come down and ride back.

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with the miles you ride, you might want to look at the adventure touring class bikes, (Ducati Multistrada, BMW R1200). plenty of power if you want to go fast, standard riding position, front fairing for wind protection, almost all of them have options for saddle bags incase you need to cary more stuff.... also you may want to check out Harley Davidson, Sportster 1200 or dyna class bikes.

Keshav said:

Lots of folks love their Harleys. Honestly, I'm pretty ignorant about the reliability and other factors concerning modern HDs. I used to automatically look down at HD people because I viewed them all as Hells Angels posers etc etc. But I've mellowed on that score and there are a few HDs I wouldn't mind owning. See photo:


Personally - I shy away from the idea of a HD because they're known for being so insanely heavy; not so much an issue while riding, but for sure a factor when you have to park and unpark them, move 'em around the garage etc. for doing maintenance. Nothing more cringeworthy than owning a bike you've never crashed, in showroom condition, only to have your foot slip in the gravel and have it fall over on you in the driveway while getting it up on the workstand or curbside at a restaurant in a distracted or awkward moment.

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I feel HD's are generally as reliable as the Japanese bikes are these days. You have the posers who think they are out there reenacting the Sons of Anarchy or think they should pretend to be some 1% club member. I ignore all of them as they are idiots, and most people trying to project that image have no real clue about the 1 percenter clubs. Knowing as much as I do about them, I usually advise people to get as far away from anyone flying colors because they aren't what some retarded show like Sons of Anarchy made them out to be. Altamont 1969 is a better representation of what those clubs are about.

I've never had any issue with the weight. It will throw people off who are used to lighweight sport bikes, but moving them around is relatively simple. You do have to be a little more cognizant of what you're doing because of the weight, but overall it's a minor concern to me anyhow.

Mick D said:

The biggest issue for me personally when riding a Harley is getting used to the low revs... takes like a half day to not keep trying to blow though the red line and just enjoy the torque. Super comfy (Glides and Dynas) but just too, too many years with bikes with a long, tall power band.

Next beef would be max lean angle... then weight...

JPS: My question is, isn't it sort of overkill for public roads? Probably but... I'm not understanding for public road riding what a liter bike is going to give you in terms of speed that you can't get from a 600 given that obvious safety implications involved should you start exceeding the speed limits. A much fatter torque curve allowing ungodly fast roll-ons for passing or having brief blasts of fun without the constant shifting required on a 600 to stay or get into the meat of the power. It can make a ride feel much more relaxed on a 1000 vs a screaming 600 at the same pace

Click to expand...

Max lean angle is my biggest gripe about Harley's but of course they aren't about major lean angles. My Wide Glide is just a hair under 32 degrees on the left side, and the right is around 28.5 degrees. It takes no effort to scrape the pegs, and that's probably the most challenging part of riding it; getting as much lean without pegging out. The low-end power as you mention is addicting as hell though so it more than makes up for the lean angle. Has been extremely helpful in dicier situations.

Thanks for the thoughts on the 600 vs 1000. The extra power makes sense for those situations.

Hollywood said:

with the miles you ride, you might want to look at the adventure touring class bikes, (Ducati Multistrada, BMW R1200). plenty of power if you want to go fast, standard riding position, front fairing for wind protection, almost all of them have options for saddle bags incase you need to cary more stuff.... also you may want to check out Harley Davidson, Sportster 1200 or dyna class bikes.

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Sounds like a vote for Africa Twin.

I looked at a xr1200. Really was after one, this one had 1700km on it, 2010 model. I know 2 guys that have had them, both said it was too cramped and too heavy for it's output. Still I didn't care, I'd mod it to fit and use it for a nice road ride cruise bike.

It just wound up too expensive. 7 year old bike, straight away I'd get shocks, exhaust bellypan and a few other things. having HD in your search for parts must add at least 25-50% to the overall price.

I am the only person in my family, brother in law, cousins, nephews and even my sons godfather that does not have a harley, or multiple harleys. So ridden a few and don't mind them.

I like the xr as it was different, road race/flat track style fun machine. Watched some ama harley racing and one comment that made me laugh was "from the bus stop all the way into t1 the whole thing just shakes and wobbles"

Seems like Australia is the number one seller for v-rods also. My bro in law has a nice one (night rod special I think) with full akropovic system. Paid $25K for it in 2009 and it is still worth the same today. Only thing is the lack of lean as you guys have said, stand hits the deck way too easy.

In Australia we have a compulsory third party insurance and some bikes over 750cc pay about $900 a year for it, on top of rego. Plus full coverage insurance is high. My 650 is $300 odd for the 3rd party insurance. So with 4 bikes, I went for the cheaper, newer option. I find it fun riding a basic bike. Love an exotic fancy machine but then having 4 different bikes and they are all pretty decent is more fun

new Africa Twin looks very nice. It's great to sit up high and see over the traffic.

Double

Motokitty said:

Sounds like a vote for Africa Twin.

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My bro puts a lot of time on adventure bikes. I don't remember his gripe but he dislikes the Africa twin but loves the Tenere. I think he said it was a dog. Isn't it only an 800?

I think you guys are limiting your options focusing on one bike. As an enthusiast shouldn't we all be striving to own a stable of bikes.
For me, the perfect setup would be liter, adventure and supermoto. A busa or a Povolwing would be nice too. At my age, prob a better choice than a backbreaking liter
.... 600's. Perfect track bike, but a constant struggle to maintain the powerban on the street