Do you ride a motorcycle?

[cbez]

Swapping out tires

 

[Peter Mackin]

Swapping out tires
View attachment 779085

Great taste

 

[Bawheid]

Humid day ride for us today.
Thunderstorms tonight into tomorrow.
90 K's return loop ride today. No repeat roads.
Old Moto Guzzi and CJ7 Jeep joined us at the beer stop.

 

[Bawheid]

Morning coffee run. 70K's loop.
"Cool" start, 21C tops late arvo (afternoon)

 

[jfive67]

Getting in my last few rides on my “mistress” (wife’s words, not mine) before the misses makes me part ways with her

Can you still wear cafe racers if you don’t have a bike anymore?

View attachment IMG_7004.jpeg

 

[jfive67]

HD Road King TC 103 2015; BMW R100R Mystic 1994, first and only owner, Yamaha XT 250 1981 barn find 2023, restored in 2024

Holy **** that R100R build is next level! Did you do that work yourself?

 

[Bawheid]

from last Saturday's ride south.
Can only just.upload photos today.
In the shade of a street flame tree

 

[Vaggg1]

I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I’m so tempted to get one I’m between a Harley sportster or a triump either t100 or bobber, btw it will be the first time ridding a motorcycle do you think it’s a good idea to start with one of the above options?

 

[theeprimitivesound]

I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I’m so tempted to get one I’m between a Harley sportster or a triump either t100 or bobber, btw it will be the first time ridding a motorcycle do you think it’s a good idea to start with one of the above options?

Cant go wrong with a Triumph.

 

[jfive67]

Triumph t100 is great. I’ve had both t120 and street triples from triumph. If your ego can handle it though, I’d say better off starting on a lighter beater before you get on something like that. You’re almost guaranteed to drop your first bike as you learn to manuver in low speed situations. Better to do that on a cheaper lightweight bike before doing it to a machine you care about

 

[barnabus]

I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I’m so tempted to get one I’m between a Harley sportster or a triump either t100 or bobber, btw it will be the first time ridding a motorcycle do you think it’s a good idea to start with one of the above options?

It entirely depends what you want the bike for.

But @jfive67 is absolutely right too, you'll very likely drop your first bike.

My first big bike was a Honda CB650 and I dropped that once. It was mortifying.

Many years later and now I've got a Triumph T100 Bonneville and a KTM RC390 (you can see them both in the very first post of this thread).

I adore the Triumph - I've put lots of time and money and effort into making it what it is today. But it's the KTM I ride every time now.

Which fits back to "what do you want the bike for?" My Triumph is easy to ride, relaxing, comfortable and cool. It gets lots of comments and people like to see it.

My RC is an absolute joy machine. It's super light and nimble and handles like nothing I've ever experienced. It's only a 400, so it isn't especially quick, but you can absolutely wring its neck almost all the time without being at risk of killing yourself. You know that scene in Return Of The Jedi where the speeder bikes chase through the forest? That's how it feels.

It's genuinely the best vfm fun I can imagine.

 

[Vaggg1]

So even the t100 that is somewhat lighter is a no go as a first bike?

 

[barnabus]

So even the t100 that is somewhat lighter is a no go as a first bike?

The perfect first bike is whatever bike you get first that will keep you excited about riding.

But a T100 isn't really a lightweight. New ones are about 230kg wet.

My KTM is just 170kg wet weight.

Sports bikes will always be lighter than a cruiser or a retro. It goes back to what you want the bike for. Lightweight flickable handling, or planted, stable cruising.

 

[oleh]

S1000RR and roaring Rallye

 

[jfive67]

The perfect first bike is whatever bike you get first that will keep you excited about riding.

But a T100 isn't really a lightweight. New ones are about 230kg wet.

My KTM is just 170kg wet weight.

Sports bikes will always be lighter than a cruiser or a retro. It goes back to what you want the bike for. Lightweight flickable handling, or planted, stable cruising.

Agree - the most important thing when you are learning is just time on the bike so the best bike is the one you will ride the most. That being said, a drop can shed 30% percent of the bikes value. So if you are willing to stomach that go for it. Its not impossible to learn on a bike like that. I learned on a ducati scrambler 750 that felt much easier to flick around (and light enough to catch if it started tipping) vs the triumph. If you are stateside, would highly recommend taking a MSF course. You will get a much better sense of low speed maneuvering and how heavy of a bike you are comfortable learning on.

 

[Vaggg1]

Agree - the most important thing when you are learning is just time on the bike so the best bike is the one you will ride the most. That being said, a drop can shed 30% percent of the bikes value. So if you are willing to stomach that go for it. Its not impossible to learn on a bike like that. I learned on a ducati scrambler 750 that felt much easier to flick around (and light enough to catch if it started tipping) vs the triumph. If you are stateside, would highly recommend taking a MSF course. You will get a much better sense of low speed maneuvering and how heavy of a bike you are comfortable learning on.

I’m from Greece eu, but we have similar riding courses that I was thinking to get, well I don’t really care about speed or fast and technical riding I mainly want a motorcycle that I like and after some time to be able to do a few road trips I like, if I drop it I’m willing to fix it and I don’t really care if I’ll lose 30% because I doubt I’ll resell it soon I want something that I’ll like, obviously the correct way is to learn on something lighter and more forgiving and then move up to a better one but I don’t think it will inspire me to ride it

 

[Bfd70]

It entirely depends what you want the bike for.

But @jfive67 is absolutely right too, you'll very likely drop your first bike.

My first big bike was a Honda CB650 and I dropped that once. It was mortifying.

Many years later and now I've got a Triumph T100 Bonneville and a KTM RC390 (you can see them both in the very first post of this thread).

I adore the Triumph - I've put lots of time and money and effort into making it what it is today. But it's the KTM I ride every time now.

Which fits back to "what do you want the bike for?" My Triumph is easy to ride, relaxing, comfortable and cool. It gets lots of comments and people like to see it.

My RC is an absolute joy machine. It's super light and nimble and handles like nothing I've ever experienced. It's only a 400, so it isn't especially quick, but you can absolutely wring its neck almost all the time without being at risk of killing yourself. You know that scene in Return Of The Jedi where the speeder bikes chase through the forest? That's how it feels.

It's genuinely the best vfm fun I can imagine.

Always more fun riding a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow

 

[Trouser Bark]

I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I’m so tempted to get one I’m between a Harley sportster or a triump either t100 or bobber, btw it will be the first time ridding a motorcycle do you think it’s a good idea to start with one of the above options?

I've never ridden a T100 but the Sportster has a very uncomfortable pegs/seat/bars ratio such that if you're anywhere close to 6' tall or more that would be a very uncomfortable bike to sit on for any length of time.

...and no, if the option's available to you pick up a cheap dirt bike and expect to lay it down a time or two. Learn on that and not on the street if you can swing it.

 

[Bawheid]

Rode to a classic motorcycle street meet 8am Sunday.
Just 3 of the bikes we saw of several hundreds in attendance.

 

[Robson]

Moto Guzzi in the sun