Motorcycle Challenge to grampi

[cfromc]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
I have a friend who bought a Sportster and was very pleased with it until he went through the HD indoctrination down at the donut shop. The "real Harley" guys/girls were calling it a skirtster and humiliated him to the point where he had to trade up to fit in. That was after only one year of ownership and putting $3000.00 worth of goodies having it re-painted, forward controls installed and a few other unnecessary decorations. He bought a bigger HD now all is square with the world.

Nothing like peer pressure to make one do dumb things.... Herd mentality at it's finest.


Yeah, the guy I sold my wife's Sportster to really loved it and rode it all the time until someone called it a girl's bike several months later. There was nothing girly about it - it was silver with forward controls and 2" drag pipes. The next day he bought a Road King. I lost a lot of respect for him and actually thought he was less of a man for letting others influence him so much. I've had a Sportster for 14 years now and have only heard comments like that a couple of times. Each time I offered to allow the person making the comment to show me how much of a man they were with the contest of their choice, 1/4 mile, 0-60, top speed, curves, whatever. All I ever heard after that were excuses. Its true the Sportster is shorter, lighter, and narrower but it is called a 'Sport'ster after all.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: cfromc
Originally Posted By: boraticus
I have a friend who bought a Sportster and was very pleased with it until he went through the HD indoctrination down at the donut shop. The "real Harley" guys/girls were calling it a skirtster and humiliated him to the point where he had to trade up to fit in. That was after only one year of ownership and putting $3000.00 worth of goodies having it re-painted, forward controls installed and a few other unnecessary decorations. He bought a bigger HD now all is square with the world.

Nothing like peer pressure to make one do dumb things.... Herd mentality at it's finest.


Yeah, the guy I sold my wife's Sportster to really loved it and rode it all the time until someone called it a girl's bike several months later. There was nothing girly about it - it was silver with forward controls and 2" drag pipes. The next day he bought a Road King. I lost a lot of respect for him and actually thought he was less of a man for letting others influence him so much. I've had a Sportster for 14 years now and have only heard comments like that a couple of times. Each time I offered to allow the person making the comment to show me how much of a man they were with the contest of their choice, 1/4 mile, 0-60, top speed, curves, whatever. All I ever heard after that were excuses. Its true the Sportster is shorter, lighter, and narrower but it is called a 'Sport'ster after all.


If I were to ever buy a Harley, the Sportster is the only one I'd own. It's certainly the best performing air cooled bike they have and by far better looking than the rolling junkyards that the bigger bikes end up being.

 

[Robenstein]

Yeah that is like calling a Corvette a girl car since its small, light, fast, and nimble. But it only has two seats, and a real mans car has to be some sort or large lumbering coupe or sedan.

If I were a bit shorter I would buy a Sportster 883 for the mileage alone. But I need something a bit larger for comfort so I have to get a mid sized cruiser. Im tired of little bikes all the time from riding my Yamaha Virago 250 which is only a little shorter (2 inches OAL) than a Sportster when I parked next to it.

 

[Zedhed]

Funny how real "men" have to buy a motorcycle that is acceptable to their friends. I prefer to choose a motorcycle that appeals to me.

If a Sportster is equivalent to a Corvette, What would a Hayabusa be equivalent to?

An F-16?

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Funny how real "men" have to buy a motorcycle that is acceptable to their friends. I prefer to choose a motorcycle that appeals to me.

If a Sportster is equivalent to a Corvette, What would a Hayabusa be equivalent to?

An F-16?


Death Machine is what they can be. My cousin had one and had the chain snap on it at 130mph locking the rear tire. Luckily he knows how to ride and had full leathers and a helmet on. He managed to slide it down and sold what was left of it the next day and bought a cruiser.

I didnt say the Sportster was like a new vette, more like the 82 my brother in law has with a 305. It puts out an AMAZING 220hp. LOL

 

[cfromc]

A chain snapping can happen on any bike with a chain but proper maintenance can go a long way. I have no idea of the cause of failure to your cousin's chain so I'm not implying anything at all. I'm just saying that a chain requires much more maintenance that a shaft drive or a belt and if the chain is too tight or too loose, problems are sure to crop up. Even so, a part defect can certainly cause a sudden failure. But that's true with any machine, cruiser or otherwise.

I had my belt break after 10-years on my Sportster and I think it was because I had it just a little too tight. Nothing exciting happened except the belt flew about 50-60 feet behind me when I slammed 2nd gear off a light. The new belts are much tougher and can withstand a lot. The one on my Buell has a tensioner so no more worries about that. Once every couple of years I will put a special coating on the edges, and it needs to be cleaned once in a while, otherwise there is no maintenance.

 

[Zedhed]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Funny how real "men" have to buy a motorcycle that is acceptable to their friends. I prefer to choose a motorcycle that appeals to me.

If a Sportster is equivalent to a Corvette, What would a Hayabusa be equivalent to?

An F-16?


Death Machine is what they can be. My cousin had one and had the chain snap on it at 130mph locking the rear tire. Luckily he knows how to ride and had full leathers and a helmet on. He managed to slide it down and sold what was left of it the next day and bought a cruiser.

I didnt say the Sportster was like a new vette, more like the 82 my brother in law has with a 305. It puts out an AMAZING 220hp. LOL


Modern, high-quality, well-maintained chains have almost zero chance of failing. Remember, modern race-bikes use the same types of chains and they almost never fail. If chains can handle 200+ HP and heavy abuse, they can handle anything the average street rider can dish out.

Chains fail when they are poorly maintained, cheap poor-quality "knock-offs" and used far beyond their lifespan or with worn sprockets.

Most "wise" sport-bike riders replace the OEM chain to an higher-quality aftermarket chain as soon as possible.

Sport-bikes DON'T KILL anyone -- poor riders with bad habits on powerful bikes KILL THEMSELVES. Just like guns don't kill anyone, only dangerous people with guns kill people

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Funny how real "men" have to buy a motorcycle that is acceptable to their friends. I prefer to choose a motorcycle that appeals to me.

If a Sportster is equivalent to a Corvette, What would a Hayabusa be equivalent to?

An F-16?


Death Machine is what they can be. My cousin had one and had the chain snap on it at 130mph locking the rear tire. Luckily he knows how to ride and had full leathers and a helmet on. He managed to slide it down and sold what was left of it the next day and bought a cruiser.

I didnt say the Sportster was like a new vette, more like the 82 my brother in law has with a 305. It puts out an AMAZING 220hp. LOL


Modern, high-quality, well-maintained chains have almost zero chance of failing. Remember, modern race-bikes use the same types of chains and they almost never fail. If chains can handle 200+ HP and heavy abuse, they can handle anything the average street rider can dish out.

Chains fail when they are poorly maintained, cheap poor-quality "knock-offs" and used far beyond their lifespan or with worn sprockets.

Most "wise" sport-bike riders replace the OEM chain to an higher-quality aftermarket chain as soon as possible.

Sport-bikes DON'T KILL anyone -- poor riders with bad habits on powerful bikes KILL THEMSELVES. Just like guns don't kill anyone, only dangerous people with guns kill people



He wasnt an average bike rider. He had his Busa heavily modded for the strip and he had raced bikes for several of them. The chain did snap and not from improper maintenance. Sometimes a part fails, and for a chain it only takes one link to go bad.

As a gunsmith guns can kill people....when they break. Its called a Kaboom, and its from overloaded ammo. I have seen several people seriously injured when their pistol or rifle turned into a frag grenade. Parts break, thats the truth of it.

 

[boraticus]

Being the owner of seven chain driven bikes, I'm familiar with the necessity for proper chain maintenance. The worst thing you can do to a chain is to adjust it too tightly. Particularly on bikes with long wheel travel. Having the chain too tight will not allow the swing arm to freely travel through it's arc without putting undue stress on the chain. This will quickly stretch a chain and weaken links. A chain that's a little loose is much better than a chain that too tight.

 

[grampi]

Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.

 

[cven]

My 2 cents on the chain issue.... IMO.... The stock chain on modern sportbikes is a very high quality piece. The manufactures DO NOT want problems in this area as you could imagine. When you replace the stock chain only use the same or higher grade, there are different grades in the same size. Use a rivet masterlink that is installed correctly.

Chain adjustment is better a bit loose than tight as pointed out above. A chain that is too tight will not only wear faster but places alot of stress on the output shaft bearing and will shortening its service life.

Aluminum sprockets are for racing, I would not run one on a large street bike. The busa is a heavy, powerful bike and would eat up an Al sprocket quickly, wearing the chain in the process.

Rob, glad your cousin came out ok from his ordeal.

As we all know anything man made can fail at anytime.

 

[cfromc]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein

As a gunsmith guns can kill people....when they break. Its called a Kaboom, and its from overloaded ammo. I have seen several people seriously injured when their pistol or rifle turned into a frag grenade. Parts break, thats the truth of it.


It seems like human error if the gun went Kaboom due to overloaded ammo.

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: cfromc
Originally Posted By: Robenstein

As a gunsmith guns can kill people....when they break. Its called a Kaboom, and its from overloaded ammo. I have seen several people seriously injured when their pistol or rifle turned into a frag grenade. Parts break, thats the truth of it.


It seems like human error if the gun went Kaboom due to overloaded ammo.


Factory ammo, and the gun was not designed to handle the gas from a ruptured case. Glocks have a partially unsupported chamber and can blow with high pressure ammo. Several went BOOM with the 45GAP round.

Just because its modern times does not mean that products always hold up. I replaced my Glock 10mm barrel with an aftermarket one with a fully supported chamber.

 

[Zedhed]

Youtube has a video of a Harley rider in DFW that had his leather chaps get in the belt-drive and down he went.

Does that mean that all HD belt drives are dangerous? Certainly not !

Modern motorcycle chains (and belt-drives) are very reliable and you probably have a greater chance of getting killed by a bolt of lightning than a sportbike chain (belt) that is well-maintained and within spec.

 

[o2man98]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.


You are kidding right? Belts are as easy as it gets and they do not look like a bulky slug hanging off the side.

 

[Zedhed]

Originally Posted By: o2man98
Originally Posted By: grampi
Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.


You are kidding right? Belts are as easy as it gets and they do not look like a bulky slug hanging off the side.


Well, they don't look as slim as chains -- belts look kinda bulky too. Ala Buell

 

[cfromc]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Originally Posted By: o2man98
Originally Posted By: grampi
Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.


You are kidding right? Belts are as easy as it gets and they do not look like a bulky slug hanging off the side.


Well, they don't look as slim as chains -- belts look kinda bulky too. Ala Buell


They may look a little more bulky as a chain-drive but I bet they weigh less. I weighed both pulleys and the belt itself and I think it was about 8lbs total. I'll have to check to be sure but I think it was <4lb for rear pulley <3lbs for front and <1lb for belt.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: o2man98
Originally Posted By: grampi
Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.


You are kidding right? Belts are as easy as it gets and they do not look like a bulky slug hanging off the side.


No, I'm not kidding, and I wasn't talking about looks. While belts don't require lube, they still need to be tightened every so often, and they're exposed to the elements making them suseptable to damage from dirt, rocks, etc. Shafts are totally enclosed so they're not exposed to the elements and they require no adjustments.

 

[Zedhed]

Originally Posted By: cfromc
Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Originally Posted By: o2man98
Originally Posted By: grampi
Chains suck. Belts don't suck as much. Drive shafts are the least PITA.


You are kidding right? Belts are as easy as it gets and they do not look like a bulky slug hanging off the side.


Well, they don't look as slim as chains -- belts look kinda bulky too. Ala Buell


They may look a little more bulky as a chain-drive but I bet they weigh less. I weighed both pulleys and the belt itself and I think it was about 8lbs total. I'll have to check to be sure but I think it was div>


Yeah, I'm sure you're right about the weight. I think that belt-drives are the lightest, quietest, most trouble-free drive systems on motorcycles.

The only short-comings are the slight lack of strength compared to shafts and chains and the somewhat bulky looking belt guards required to keep foreign objects out.

I just prefer shaft-drive because of past experience. I've never owned a belt-drive bike.

 

[grampi]

Zedhed

I agree belts are the lightest, and probably the quietest, but they aren't the most trouble-free. That would be shaft drive. Other than draining and refilling the differential once in a while, there's nothing you have to do with a shaft.