Street legal dirt bikes

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:54 pm

From the time I was about 18 years old until I was about 28, most of my miles traveled was on motorcyles -- rain or shine (even snow!), hot or cold. I don't remember year models, but I owned:

- 50cc Suzuki step-through 2 stroke. My first bike. Got it to mess around with and ended up liking motorcyles.

-100cc Bridgestone on/off road 2 stroke. I used to run the irish setter in the woods with it.

- 250cc Honda Dream 2 cylinder 4 stroke. Looked like a little full dress Harley. Neat little bike. Leaked oil bad.

- 500cc Suzuki GT500 "Titan" 2 cylinder 2 stroke. My first REAL motorcyle. Pretty good bike. Not quite enough torque to face a stiff headwind without down shifting. Regularly holed pistons. But only took about 30 minutes to put another one in.

- 650cc Yamaha twin. The "classic" 2 cylinder bike. Wonderfully practical bike.

- Honda 750cc four cylinder. Late 70s model I think. Great motorcyle. It was easy to see how this bike put Honda in the big league.

- Yamaha "850" triple. Really 826cc. The original full dress "Venture" model -- they later recycled the name. Drive shaft; cast wheels with tubeless tires. Other than changing oil, the thing was just about maintenance free.

-- 1967 Harley Davidson Electra Glide. Came with "mousetrap" clutch. Pitiful cast iron front brake drum was downright dangerously weak. And I kick started it. We don't need no stinkin' electric starter. Vibrated, but not too bad ... until ... above 80 MPH, hold your feet up off the pegs because they wouldn't stay put because of vibration. But huge bicycle style seat was so comfortable and isolated your butt from vibration so well that the bike was like riding an easy chair.

I put the most miles on the Yamaha 850. All you had to do was change oil and ride it.

If I were the last person alive and nobody would ever see the Harley, then given a choice of what to go back and retrieve from the past, I'd take the Yamaha 650 twin. That size motor is big enough to pull your butt, and that of a passenger, up hills and into strong headwinds; but the bike was fairly light and generally fun to ride, and got about 55 MPG.

I do recommend at least a windshield; it makes a world of difference.

The dumbass Harley-look seats that are put on mid-sized bikes these days are to sell to idiots. They lock your *** in a position that puts your weight on your tail bone. The old style, unglamorous, flat seat let you move around and occasionally put your weight on your thighs. Highway pegs that could be positioned out front and low on the frame (which the narrow Yamaha 650 engine allowed you to do) put your legs in a position so that some of your weight was supported by your thighs rather than your weary buttocks.

Your butt can tolerate relatively prominent low frequency vibration from low RPM engines better than it can tolerate even small amounts of high frequency vibration from high RPM engines.

Loud engines might impress folks with minimal intelligence, but will give you a headache on a long ride (as well as make you deaf old man).

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:24 pm

I rode my brother-in-laws brand new Japanese copy of a Harley V-twin.
It was heavy and threw enormous amounts of hot air up at me at any speed. Bad Vulcan! Bad Vulcan!

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:19 am

Oh yeah ... And I had a Kawasaki KZ 400 4-cycle twin. Completely unremarkable and forgettable (which I did), but reasonably practical "commuter" bike. If I recall correctly, the design of the carburetors was such that they were guaranteed to get a blocked jet at some point. Which one of mine did. I didn't have this one for long.

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:05 pm

Some of us are showing our age because that term sees little use these days.

Does anyone do trials riding anymore? Some of those guys could just about climb a flagpole, I think.

Anyone for a Hodaka Wombat or Thunderdog?

Criminy! Look at this!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hodaka-2 ... dZViewItem

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:50 pm

By the way, check this sweetheart out.
'76 Yamaha XS650

This is it. This is THE bike you want. Click BUY IT NOW now.

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:05 pm

The March issue of Rider magazine did a comparison of three dual-sport 650's, the Honda XR650L, Kawasaki KLR560 and Suzuki DR650S.

the Kaw was best on road
the Honda best off road
and the Suzuki in the middle

New these bikes are in the 5 - 6 K range. they have been making these for many years with minimal changes so used ones should not be too hard to find in the 2K range.

For true dual purpose work with a good dose of road riding, one of these 3 bikes is the best option. I wouldn't go smaller. It sounds like you are a pretty big guy, so you don't want to go too small.

ken k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:07 pm

Bob1062 wrote:Sellin my car and place this summer to buy a tuba and a computer. And maybe..just maybe.. a motorcycle...

Almost completely and only driving through Chicago (though I'd hate to rule out driving back to Indiana, bout a 100 mile one way trip, to see the family occasionally).

I will have a book bag most of the time and occasionally an instrument (bass trombone hard case with strap, small tuba hard case with straps, or maybe a bag if I dare). And after buying the bike, the gas would be hella cheaper than the 6 bucks a day trip on the buses.

Probably 60 miles a week at most, and all the speed limits where I'd be driving are like 40 TOPS. I may be making a trip to Michigan and back (ONCE!) this summer with a horn and a bag of clothes and what not. Maybe I could strap the horn on in a hard case and carry my stuff in a gig bag (swap it around when I get to where I'm going).

Any thoughts?
Man, I can't wait to get a motorcycle! I'll be SO cool!

you could ship your horn to your location separately also then you do not need to carry it on the bike. Putting a lot of luggage up high on your bike really raises the center of gravity and can change the handling characteristics of the bike substantially.

ken k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:11 pm

another idea might be the new modern mega scooters. Honda Silverwing 600 or Reflex 400 or 250.

Suzuki makes a Burgman 400 and 650. You might be able to find a used 250 or 400 for about 2k.

These are not like the old Vespas. They are full sized frames and are made for real street riding. I wouldn't take one off road though.

I strongly considered one of these before I got my BMW.

ken k

ken k · Post by **ken k** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:36 pm

the Pacific Coast 800 is a beauty. I wish they still made them. I checked into them when i was bike hunting two years ago. They can still be found on ebay, and should last forever, being a Honda.

The old Silverwings were nice mini gold wings back in the early 80s. These were sort of predecessors to the PC800. Lateral v-twin with shaft drive (like moto guzzi) with or wth out fairings and came in 500s or 650s. Still see them around.

the new Silverwings, like I said before are new mega schooters and actually might be chick magnets. they may be less intimidating. Lots of storage under the seat usually enought to carry two full face helemts, (one for you and one for the girl...) check them out at:

http://powersports.honda.com/scooters/m ... Id=FSC6007

Also the Suzuki burgman at:

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/AN ... fault.aspx

Here is a link to an articel about the model BMW I have R1150R

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... image&cd=2

ken k

Leland · Post by **Leland** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:31 pm

ken k wrote:Here is a link to an articel about the model BMW I have R1150R

http://tinyurl.com/3d9qmr

ken k

Some of us don't have 36"-wide monitors...

davet · Post by **davet** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:45 pm

Almost completely and only driving through Chicago (though I'd hate to rule out driving back to Indiana, bout a 100 mile one way trip, to see the family occasionally).

I will have a book bag most of the time and occasionally an instrument (bass trombone hard case with strap, small tuba hard case with straps, or maybe a bag if I dare). And after buying the bike, the gas would be hella cheaper than the 6 bucks a day trip on the buses.

Probably 60 miles a week at most, and all the speed limits where I'd be driving are like 40 TOPS. I may be making a trip to Michigan and back (ONCE!) this summer with a horn and a bag of clothes and what not. Maybe I could strap the horn on in a hard case and carry my stuff in a gig bag (swap it around when I get to where I'm going).

Nah: What yer lookin' fer is an HMV Freeway! My '81 is going to hit the road (finally after 6 months of messin' with it) next week!

BTW, mine isn't this shiny!