Britain rides the wrong bikes...but we're learning

[Stu]

Britain rides the wrong bikes...but we're learning!

means?

Hello!!

My good man Tiger 55 just pointed me towards this thread.

Originally Posted by Stu

means?

It's not hard to guess what it means really, but do you want me to get completely flamed and become very unpopular? Oh, well, that may happen on visordown, but it doesn't really apply to the majority of folk on this forum, so here goes...

Well you may know I have a good friend in Mexico and I spent a holiday out there with him riding bikes with him and one of his mates. And my wife is French so I have family out there too.

So a few folk from both France and Mexico have asked me in the last year, "I want a new bike, what shall I get?" In each case sportsbikes have not even been near the shopping list, despite me suggesting a few, most foreigners are not remotely interested, unless it's a second bike. The stock answer to sports bikes is "don't be daft, they are designed for racing, I want a bike I can ride" (though in France they are talking about 600's 'cos with a 100BHP limit litre sportsbikes are a rare sight). In France the mid sized all rounder is king.

The minority of those in Mexico who do have sports bikes have 1 1/2 inch chicken strips, they don't know how to ride them because they don't have the opportunity. Normal everyday road surfaces are not in good enough condition to get those lean angles. Don't get me wrong they have some fantastic twisties, but from the centres of population you have to ride hours to get to them. In Mexico the adventure bike is king.

The 600 sports bikes are designed to make peak power at high revs on the track, you don't use those revs on the road. The litre sportsbikes are too powerful to get anywhere near their potential on the road. They all give you a sore ar$e, wrists and a bad back, yet Britain as a nation is still obsessed with sports bikes! Including me, I'm not into Jap IL4's myself I like something a bit different from the rest of the crowd, but I drool over RSVR's and exotica like Ducati 1098's in autotrader regularly. Completely nuts 'cos riding up the M6 to the Glencoe Massacre would be torture and it would never get near full throttle, but I just look at it and I want to own it. It's no co-incidence that manufacturers now launch new sports bikes at a race track first, then maybe you get to ride them on the road. It's not just fear of liability, it's because thats where the bikes perform the best.

And this is whats why Britain rides the wrong bikes. Why do we look at sports bikes and lust after them like no other country in the world? Even though they are a completely daft choice for the majority of riding that we do. They are "race replicas", designed specifically for the race track, there are much more suitable bikes for the majority of riding that we do, and when you ride those bikes you realise how damn good they are and how much sense they make.

And Britain is learning because we are seeing trends change, Adventure bikes topping sales charts, some all rounders selling like hot cakes, the new Triumph Tiger, Kawasaki designing things like the Versys (horrible, crap maybe, but the design concept is my point). Maybe it's just changing 'cos the biking population is getting older. Maybe I'm just getting old!

I changed the signature after riding a GSXR600 in Mexico (on the good roads!), then coming home and riding a DRX400SM, and realising I had more fun on the DRZ.

Sit back and await the onslaught from those who think their R6 is perfect for commuting into London and they've never had a sore ****, back or wrists in thier life.....

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Hello!!

My good man Tiger 55 just pointed me towards this thread.



It's not hard to guess what it means really, but do you want me to get completely flamed and become very unpopular? Oh, well, that may happen on visordown, but it doesn't really apply to the majority of folk on this forum, so here goes...

Well you may know I have a good friend in Mexico and I spent a holiday out there with him riding bikes with him and one of his mates. And my wife is French so I have family out there too.

So a few folk from both France and Mexico have asked me in the last year, "I want a new bike, what shall I get?" In each case sportsbikes have not even been near the shopping list, despite me suggesting a few, most foreigners are not remotely interested, unless it's a second bike. The stock answer to sports bikes is "don't be daft, they are designed for racing, I want a bike I can ride" (though in France they are talking about 600's 'cos with a 100BHP limit litre sportsbikes are a rare sight). In France the mid sized all rounder is king.

The minority of those in Mexico who do have sports bikes have 1 1/2 inch chicken strips, they don't know how to ride them because they don't have the opportunity. Normal everyday road surfaces are not in good enough condition to get those lean angles. Don't get me wrong they have some fantastic twisties, but from the centres of population you have to ride hours to get to them. In Mexico the adventure bike is king.

The 600 sports bikes are designed to rmake peak power at high revs on the track, you don't use those revs on the road. The litre sportsbikes are too powerful to get anywhere near their potential on the road. They all give you a sore ar$e, wrists and a bad back, yet Britain as a nation is still obsessed with sports bikes! Including me, I'm not into Jap IL4's myself I like something a bit different from the rest of the crowd, but I drool over RSVR's and exotica like Ducati 1098's in autotrader regularly. Completely nuts 'cos riding up the M6 to the Glencoe Massacre would be torture and it would never get near full throttle, but I just look at it and I want to own it.

And this is whats why Britain rides the wrong bikes. Why do we look at sports bikes and lust after them like no other country in the world? Even though they are a completely daft choice for the majority of riding that we do. They are "race replicas", designed specifically for the race track, there are much more suitable bikes for the majority of riding that we do, and when you ride those bikes you realise how damn good they are and how much sense they make.

And Britain is learning because we are seeing trends change, Adventure bikes topping sales charts, some all rounders selling like hot cakes, the new Triumph Tiger, Kawasaki designing things like the Versys (horrible, crap maybe, but the design concept is my point). Maybe it's just changing 'cos the biking population is getting older. Maybe I'm just getting old!

Set back and await the onslaught from those who think their R6 is perfect for commuting into London and they've never had a sore ****, back or wrists in thier life.....

if people took a logical approach to purchasing a bike they'd all end up on 125-250cc japanese scooters

Very eloquently put that man------just a minute ,in order to save my own skin I'll go and get the wood and nails


BRIT-IRON -ROOLS

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

if people took a logical approach to purchasing a bike they'd all end up on 125-250cc japanese scooters

I was still editing whilst you replied

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I changed the signature after riding a GSXR600 in Mexico, then coming home and riding a DRZ400SM, and realising I had more fun on the DRZ.

It's nothing to do with logic, or fuel economy, or cost. A DRZ SM is not logical. It's just that as more and more people in Britain try something different, they realise that on these "less popular" bikes, they are actually having more fun, or getting more out of their riding. Which is why most of us do it.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

It's nothing to do with logic, or fuel economy, or cost. A DRZ SM is not logical. It's just that as more and more people in Britain try something different, they realise that on these "less popular" bikes, they are actually having more fun, or getting more out of their riding. Which is why most of us do it.

But I can have equal amounts of fun on the SV, on the soon to be Daytona and on my KTM, on different roads, none of them work in all conditions, but that doesn't mean any of them are the "wrong" bike

[fizzwheel]

Meh.. I rode from the Massacre all the way back to Yeovil in one go. I wasnt tired or sore when I got home. Liz's 749S should be the most uncomfortable bike to ride, but its not, despite the thin seat and low clipons. Its really comfortable on long journeys. You do get a bit hot around town due to the underseat exhaust though.

To me I want a bike that makes me feel alive, I want something that scares me a little, I want a bike that I have to really think about riding, for me thats a sportsbike. I've ridden plenty of middleweight bikes, Bandits, Hornets that kind of thing they dont light my fire...

Nick Sanders went round the world on a R1 after all

It probably is an unsuitable bike, I'd probably be better off on a different bike, part of it is doing something fun on a bike that most people would say is unsuitable for what you're using it for IMHO,

When was biking something that any of us make logical decisions about !!

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

But I can have equal amounts of fun on the SV, on the soon to be Daytona and on my KTM, on different roads, none of them work in all conditions, but that doesn't mean any of them are the "wrong" bike

But if my signature read

"Britain rides kinda not really'ish perfect bikes for the conditions but we're doing all right you know"

it wouldn't have grabbed anyones attention and this thread wouldn't exist. Bold sweeping statements I love them almost as much a good argument

But I'm supposed to be working!

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

To me I want a bike that makes me feel alive, I want something that scares me a little, I want a bike that I have to really think about riding, for me thats a sportsbike.

+1

that about sums it up for me too

if i were commuting 365 i'd probably buy another bike, but i'm happy with what i have now

[Stu]

OK fair enough, but I think you've contradicted yourself by saying a sports bike is no use in Mexico because of the roads so Britain rides the wrong bikes.
I was comparing my ZX6R at the weekend to a CBR400. I could ride the 6 faster than the 4 because it is a faster bike. I would maybe conceed that occasionally I could ride a 1000 faster but most of the time the 6 would be fast enough
My commute of 35 miles each way has 15 miles at about a ton, so without having tried one, I imagine a DRZ would not be the most suitable/fun for me.
I don't have any aches from my ZX6R, but then again it is an old one.