More Cruisers Ahoy

I have a confession to make...

Today I went to the Harley dealership and sat on several fine shiny
tractors, to test the ride position etc. I had to try on a pair of Harley
boots as well, coz I went straight from school, and didn't have my bike
boots with me. Hard to get a feel for sitting on a bike in my school-marm
shoes, really.

Anyway - the boots were bloody horrible. The Sportster 883 Superlow,
however, was fabularse (OMG, did I just say that?)

I really want to be in love with the Suzuki M50, but it's so chunky that I
find it a bit scary. The Sportster was neat and compact by comparison, and
while it weighed as much as the Suzi it actually felt much smaller (but not
as small and vulnerable as the 250 cruisers I've sat on in the last couple
of weeks). The seating position was great - on my bum, not a big stretch to
the bars, and I really REALLY liked the position of the pegs - forward
enough for me to be sitting in the cruiser position that the doc recommends,
but not extreme.

17 litre tank.....better than most of the piddly little cruiser tanks...
Hmmmmm.

Next - a Triumph Speedmaster... (but I really liked the Harley - eeeek!)
Still haven't found a Guzzi Nevada locally to sit on.

Booking another xray for sometime next week... fingers crossed!

betty

 

Hope you find something you really like.

Fingers crossed.

=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

Try a Street Bob Betty
seat height is 680mm

 

Actually, I think I sat on one of those, George - but even though it was
really low, the width of all the other stuff - engine bits, shiny bits, blah
blah - meant I couldn't put my feet down where they would've been
comfortable or stable. The shiny bits were holding my knees too far apart
for me to get my feet on the ground at the right angle. It's hard to
explain... If I were taller it would've been my calves touching those shiny
bits, rather than my knees, and it would've been perfectly comfortable. Or
something...

betty

 

You're allowed to like sportsters, you're a girl (sexism is a part of
talking about Harleys... impossible to escape!).

But I have a sad confession, I'm a guy and I like sportsters more than
the big HD's!

I'd get a 1200 though, the 883 is a bit sluggish.


G-S

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:14:16 +1000

I rode a Sportster a while back and it was not a bad bike.

I am not much into cruisers, but I couldn't find much wrong with it as
a ride, ridden within its parameters.

Still haven't found you a Nevada either alas. THere's a couple of
older ones for private sale in Sydney but they aren't people I know.

I'll ask Brett Rosenthal, he will know if any club members have one
you can try if you can make it up here.

Zebee

 

Many thanks Zebee

This intrigued me: "I am not much into cruisers, but I couldn't find
much wrong with it as

What parameters are they? Do you mean "as long as you don't try to
ride it like a sportsbike"??? <grin>
G-S reckons the 883's a bit sluggish - but I don't think I'd even
attempt the 1200 - too big for me.

betty

 

In aus.motorcycles on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:04:19 -0700 (PDT)

Pretty much

A Guzzi Nevada has good brakes and handling, if you want to push it a
bit you can and it won't complain.

The Sportster's brakes were pretty damn average, it wasn't at all
nippy and it didn't much like corners.

But if you just wanted to ride easy, not trying hard, and seeing the
world go by it was good for that. A very relaxing laid back bike.

HD don't apparently publish specs... but the Nevada published ones are
182kg, 34kW at 6800rpm, 54Nm torque at 3600rpm

(yes, like all Guzzis it will pootle about at low revs quite happily
but if you want to get motoring, then rev it hard. For Guzzi
values of "hard" of course)

only Sportster specs I can find are for a 2005 883, which says 250kg
and 69Nm of torque at 4200RPM

According to Guy - who rode the Nevada as part of Road Rider's cruiser
shootout - the Nevada is nippy and fun and goes quite well. I'll see
if I can find a copy of that test.

Zebee

 

I don't know what the 883 is like but if it's anything like the 1200
expect to have your fillings shaken out of your head at the light. the
1200 Buell shook so much at the lights my vision would start to blur
after a while if I left it idling, although once it got into it's sweet
spot, 4000RPMish, it was as smooth as any 4cyl jap bike.

Nev..

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:26:31 +1000

I didn't notice. But then I am used to a Ducati single, so not
surprising.

Zebee

 

Expect about 40 horses from an 883 and about 50 from a 1200, add 10 to
those figures with a pipe and some jetting.


G-S

 

The XL Evolution 883 engine is rated at 53 peak horsepower at 6000 rpm
and 51 ft. lbs. of torque at 4300 rpm. The XL Evolution 1200 engine is
rated at 70 peak horsepower at 6000 rpm and 79 ft. lbs. of torque at
3500 rpm, an increase of more than 15 percent over the previous XL
Evolution 1200 engine.

Your SV650S made about 70 peak horsepower and the Sporties are about
75kg heavier (just putting things in context Sue


G-S

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:00:09 +1000

Are those horses or kW? 34kW is apparently about 46 horses.

Which is about as much as my 850T had, and that weighed in at about
220kg. Top speed was only about 160 thrashed, but it had enough go
to haul a loaded trailer at 140. So the Nevada ought to be a
reasonable ride.

Zebee

 

Fark.... all this talk of horses.... *chortle*

Before I tried to learn to ride a motorcycle, I attempted horse-riding. I'm
sorry to say that even ONE horse, with its whacky horse-behaviour, was
beyond me!

What I would like to be able to do right now is get on a motorcycle and go
for a ride somewhere. Anywhere - even to school and back (preferably without
an actual stop at school in the middle - I'm kind of over being at school at
the moment!)

Xray tomorrow.... fingers crossed.... let slip the horses of war. Ooops,
sorry Shakespeare...

betty

 

Yes Yes but what about comparing Torque, I doubt the SV had anything like
the Torque of the 883 let alone the 1200
HP is for race bikes Torque is for the road, that's why low HP Harleys are
such fun to ride.

I got two of em a 1200 rigid mount evo XL1200S and a rubbermount Bagger
FLHT, along with a few "other marques" to keep things honest

The sportie vibrates a bit but I like the way she shakes, later models with
the rubber mounting are very smooth once off idle. A little bland perhaps
but the masses prefer the later smoother bikes by a long shot.

Harley's been reinventing the Sportie of late, as they do with the whole
range from time to time. 3 motors, 4 front ends, 5 frames and 172 different
models, or so it seems.

There's std Sporties, Custom Sporties, Irons, Nightsters, Forty Eights, Low
Sporties, Sportie Sporties.

Don't worry about the size of the 1200 vs. the 883 they're practically
identical in weight and if cost is not a determining factor go bigger.

Sportiest are often termed the "Girls Harley" but they're great motorcycles
in there own Wright. Cheap to run, as in very very cheap, servicing -
cheap, tyres- cheap, Km / lit -heaps and they come std with soul, class and
personality plus. With a decent pair of shocks and some fancy springs and
thicker oil in the forks they handle OK too, even without they're
acceptable.
Not Ducati but quite OK.

They're basic motorcycles for the real world. No multi ridding modes, no
electronic gear indicators, no rapid dual clutch shifting ect ect just a
couple of wheels, a tank and a motor which all come together to equal a heap
of fun.

Go for it, just think of all the Tee shirts and other fashion accessories
avaiable.

Capt. A. L.

ps Neverda's are oh so Ugly (not cool)

 

I was about to do the Dead Poets Society thing, and stand on the desk, until
you said this:

I don't care about ugly - we had this discussion in the staffroom today. My
younger colleagues reminisce scathingly about fashion disaster teachers from
their youth. I laugh because I am the 2011 embodiment of their worst
nightmare! I don't give a shit about clothes. I have to be comfortable, not
fashionable, in order to teach effectively. Gawd, my classes will remember
me, 20 years from now (if they remember me at all) as 'the short ranga with
the boy-haircut and the daggy clothes - and shit, she wore the same shoes
every day!'

The 'A' students will remember that the daggy ol girl always arrived in bike
boots, and had to swap into the 'classroom' shoes that she kept stashed in
the staffroom.

betty

 

They are horses not kilo whatsits and relate to the earlier versions of
the 883 and 1200.

G-S

 

I should add that the figures I mentioned in the other post are at the
rear wheel (real figures) these are at the crank and you won't actually
see all of these horses...


G-S