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General SportbikesThis area is made for sportbikes in general. Posts that dont really belong anywhere else besides here. Questions can be answered and addressed to fully understand certain aspects. If your question is Manufacturer specific please post it there.
I was waiting for a group of guys I go riding with at the local walmart. A guy who looked like he was in his mid 40's parks next to me with his obese cushion in the back; both wearing brandspankin' new chaps, skull cap helmets w/o eye protection and denim HD vests with t-shirts underneath.
I give the obligatory nod; i'm listening to my music at the time. He motions to me and starts talking "what kind of bike is that guy?". Me "Its a Kawasaki ZZr600". HD dood "what kind of mileage do you get on that thing?". Me "about 45-50 if i'm taking it easy". HD dood in a braggard tone "oh okay... well i get about 55 a gallon around town and i have a 1200cc SPORTSTER engine". WTF? OMG Okay? Are we sizing mpg penises here? It all felt kinda weird; so i said " yah but my bike can go over 80mph" and i put my earphones back on. Kind of rude i know but this guy was a putz. He gave me a funny look and walked into walmart with his woman wearing never taking off their helmets.
My buddies arrived and as i was telling them the story the couple come out still wearing their helmet; and we all started laughing hysterically. He gives all of us a funny look, mounts and starts his bike. As he turns right he kind of loses balance, panic stops and they almost take a spill onto some bushes! Anyway regains composure and revs his engine down the street at the stoplight. YAH YOU GUESSED IT WE WERE ROLLIN!!!!
Yah nothing against HD's, only the stuckup yuppies riding them.
So a newb wants to chat about bikes and you act like a douche. Right on!
+1
I would have given the guy the benefit of the doubt and said something like, "Yeah, big v-twins get pretty good mileage for their displacement. The torque is nice too." Ask him what his puts out for power. Then say, "This may be only a 600, but it puts out nearly 100 horsepower, so you sacrifice a little bit of economy for all that power."
I've found that many newbie Harley RUBs are totally ignorant when it comes to I4 sportbikes... they are fixated on displacement, and really have no clue that displacement means something entirely different in a modern liquid-cooled I4. You can take opportunities like this to educate them a bit, in a nonconfrontational manner. I've done it, and often they seem truly interested and even shocked.
We had a friend of the family over the house once who knew only Harleys. We were in the garage talking about bikes: my wife's FJR1300 and my ZZR1200. I could tell they guy was thinking, "ok, 1300 and 1200, that's no big deal, about the same as an average Harley". But then I told him, in a casual manner, how they make around 145 and 150 hp respectively, and his jaw hit the floor.
Now it's possible that the guy you ran into is a hopeless brand snob and wouldn't hear anything you say, but you don't know that until you try. Handling it the way you did just widens the divide between riders, and he rode away thinking sportbike riders are all nothing but obnoxious punks.
So a newb wants to chat about bikes and you act like a douche. Right on!
How do you know the guy was a newb? Pretty big assumtion there.
Sounded like the typical prick if you ask me that no matter if he was told 65mpg he would of come back with 70mpg...he is the typical one-upper it sounded like to me.
Plus "FLIPEXED" was doing his own thing, I hate when someone tries and talks to me when I am doing my own thing *shrug* I probably would of just noded and kept listening to the music.
I would have given the guy the benefit of the doubt and said something like, "Yeah, big v-twins get pretty good mileage for their displacement. The torque is nice too." Ask him what his puts out for power. Then say, "This may be only a 600, but it puts out nearly 100 horsepower, so you sacrifice a little bit of economy for all that power."
I've found that many newbie Harley RUBs are totally ignorant when it comes to I4 sportbikes... they are fixated on displacement, and really have no clue that displacement means something entirely different in a modern liquid-cooled I4. You can take opportunities like this to educate them a bit, in a nonconfrontational manner. I've done it, and often they seem truly interested and even shocked.
We had a friend of the family over the house once who knew only Harleys. We were in the garage talking about bikes: my wife's FJR1300 and my ZZR1200. I could tell they guy was thinking, "ok, 1300 and 1200, that's no big deal, about the same as an average Harley". But then I told him, in a casual manner, how they make around 145 and 150 hp respectively, and his jaw hit the floor.
Now it's possible that the guy you ran into is a hopeless brand snob and wouldn't hear anything you say, but you don't know that until you try. Handling it the way you did just widens the divide between riders, and he rode away thinking sportbike riders are all nothing but obnoxious punks.
+1 I think that handling the problem that way does widen the gap with riders.
There does seem to be the better than thou attitude with Harley owners. I guess it goes with the territory for the most part.
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Sportbikes. Squid tested, mother disapproved!
Sportbiking IS the sport of kings!!
A Knight in shining armor is just a poser.
I hate the HD owners that have to wear the HD clothing EVERYWHERE. I dont give a fuck what you ride and i dont wanna see you putting that shit right in my face.
Almost every HD owner that i met in US thinks he's hollier than thou and hes better than you cause he's riding an american beast of a machine
I have seen numerous threads about HD riders and I guess I have been lucky, but I have never had anyone be shitty towards me...the worst thing an HD rider has ever said was "when ya gonna get a real bike" totally joking, I have found that all the riders in our community are pretty nice
I was riding behind an HD yesterday that had an exhaust that sounded like a flat tire, sort of made me giggle
I come from a family of harley owners. I am the only black sheep in the family who owns a japanese bike, let alone a sport rider. I have not rode with a group of the family yet but it will happen. I get the usual jabs from the family but all in all they are cool about it. Most people on two wheels just care that you are on two wheels. I know for a fact that any of my family would stop and help out any biker broke down on the road. Yes you would probably have to take some ribbing. But to an extent sportbike riders bring some of this on ourselves. How many videos do you see of people stunting riding outrageously fast and other things of the likes on city streets?
I would probably have handled it in a different manner, but to each their own. I think their is just a different frame of mind with cruisers and harley guys. I know several guys at work who own harleys that are 3 or 4 years old and dont have 2000 miles on them yet. A lot of these guys own bikes because it is cool to own a bike. Sport bike riders as a general rule are more about actually riding your bike. Getting performance out of them and actually riding.
I think we should all be polite to other bikers. Some of them make this tough.
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This above all: to thine own self be true
We are not hillbillies, we are appalachian americans!!!
I hate the HD owners that have to wear the HD clothing EVERYWHERE. I dont give a fuck what you ride and i dont wanna see you putting that shit right in my face.
I wear my icon, a*, and other assorted mc related shirts all the time, it isn't that bad, I think it is a good idea to wear what you are into, sometimes I will get people that ride approaching me to ride together just based at looking at my shirt and saying hey that person rides....okay flame away I know I am gonna get it lol
I have seen numerous threads about HD riders and I guess I have been lucky, but I have never had anyone be shitty towards me...the worst thing an HD rider has ever said was "when ya gonna get a real bike" totally joking, I have found that all the riders in our community are pretty nice
I was riding behind an HD yesterday that had an exhaust that sounded like a flat tire, sort of made me giggle
Riderchick1982 no offense but you are a woman would make most men I know more cordial simply for that fact.
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This above all: to thine own self be true
We are not hillbillies, we are appalachian americans!!!
Now no need to get all discriminatory just because of the man's choice of ride, most of the guys I ride with have harleys and most of the guys are great, and they tend to be WAAAAAAY less squidish than your average sportbike rider. So the guy asked a dumb question about motorcycles to try to get a conversation started so what? You gave him a snotty remark and had them laughed at with your buddies. The guy will remember that and don't be shocked if ever you are rejected and ridiculed like that.
Riderchick1982 no offense but you are a woman would make most men I know more cordial simply for that fact.
no offense taken, and you are probably right
although...I do make an effort to hang out with all different types of riders, I go on poker runs where I am the only sportbike rider and different abate events, I love talking to the older riders, many have way more riding experience than most sportbike riders....I bet you that about half of the HD riders have had a sportbike at one time, or at least many of them did, I have had a lot of HD riders approach me and start talking about the 87 whatever sportbike they had and how much fun it was to ride!
My fathers first new motorcycle was a honda 750 four K. Not necessarily a sport bike but for the time it was hot bike. I have tried to get my dad to ride my sport bike. He admits that he does not want to ride it because he knows he would like the speed aspect. He has a 1968 FLH that is near mint. I would love to have this in my stable right beside the CBR.
I plan to purchase a cruiser next spring to go with the sportbike.
I goto a weekly bike night at a local place here in town when I dont have to work. I am generally also the only sport bike rider. I am treated very well. A lot of the guys want to know how fast it really is, what kind of HP and such. I think the uptight folks who feel that only harleys are the way to go are actually few and far between. I simply smile and go on about my business.
Next time you get the "when you gonna buy a real bike?" come back with this"By real do you mean real overpriced, real underpowered, real unreliable?". Works well with my family
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This above all: to thine own self be true
We are not hillbillies, we are appalachian americans!!!
Walmart Harley guy :)
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