Van, SS. How 'bout some bike advice?

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:02 am

I'm getting ready to buy my buddy's 84 fj1100. It's in about as good a shape as a bike old enough to drink can be in. He has owned it since about '86 and has put the large majority of the 58K on the clock, himself. It has a few aftermarket things such as exhaust, not sure which make, jetted carbs (said it took forever to get them right after the exhaust upgrade), progressive monoshock, SS braided lines and corbin seat. Otherwise, it's pretty stock.

The mileage concerns me a bit, but, I have been hanging out with this dude since junior high school. He is the most anal, careful, pussy motherfukker to ever walk the planet when it comes to his toys. I am fairly certain that this thing sees the high side of 8 grand about as often as jess sees female reproductive gear. Actually he's seen 155 mph indicated and that mighta got him past 8 grand, so, I guess the jess analogy isn't 100% accurate.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, this thing has been extremely well taken care of for 20 years and it shows. He even gets the damn thing detailed just about every year.

He wants 2 grand for it. I doubt anyone else would give that much, but, then again, they don't know how well this thing's been cared for.

What do you think? Can you expect much more life out of a aircooled jap motor. Even one that's been on a steady diet of golden spectrol synthetic for a good part of it's life?

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:35 am

This is what you probably should be looking at:

Jimmy Medalions · Post by **Jimmy Medalions** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:37 am

I'm DMV-certified to instruct drivers on these...

-- PiS

Van · Post by **Van** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 5:15 am

Kelley Blue Book Motorcycle Retail Report

June 23, 2006

1984 Yamaha FJ1100
4-Cylinder
4-Stroke
1100cc

Suggested Retail Value $1880

The Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Value is representative of dealers' asking prices and is the starting point for negotiation between a consumer and a dealer. This Suggested Retail Value assumes that the unit has been fully reconditioned and is in excellent condition. Mileage/condition and additional equipment may have a substantial impact on the value shown above. This value also takes into account the dealers' profit, costs for advertising, sales commissions and other costs of doing business. The final sale price will likely be less depending on the unit's actual condition, popularity, type of warranty offered and local market conditions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, if I took that thing in trade and it passed our QCR (Q.uality C.ontrol R.eport, which means our mechanics went through the entire bike and noted the condition of everything) without any immediately necessary expenses before I could re-sell it (which could be anything from cupped tires to toasted hoses to broken turn signals, etc) I'd slap a retail price on it of, yep, right around $2K.

If it was dead nuts beautiful and it had stupidly low miles I might ask for as much as $2995, with the idea that I'll let the guy negotiate it down to $2500.

Now, that's a retail situation. You're talking a private party purchase here, which usually means a lower selling price. If the bike is as clean, well cared for and solid as it appears you suspect it to be then no, I don't think $2K is too much to pay to a trusted seller like your buddy.

When you're buying used, especially OLD used, you're not buying the bike, you're buying the seller. Assuming you're not a well qualified mechanic yourself you're really just buying his story, and his word.

$2K is not an exhorbitant private party sale price for that bike, not if it's super clean and solid.

The engine life expectancy of a mid 80's air cooled big bore Yamaha I-4 that's been piped and jetted?

In a best case scenario figure on getting about another 40K miles before that motor is well and truly tired and quite down on compression. In a worst case scenario it's already down on compression and getting noticeably loose and tired. Overall though a well maintained and non abused FJ1100 motor should be able to turn over the clock at least once...

(I had its successor, the FJ1200, a '92 model, which I bought new. Unfortunately though it only lived about 1000 miles before it met its untimely demise after cartwheeling down Hwy 58 outside of Tehachapi after its rear tire literally blew up at 140 mph.

THAT'S an interesting series of emotions for a twenty something kid to experience, tumbling along the ground following a 140mph blow out and seeing in your flip flopping peripheral vision your brand new baby also somersaulting down the freeway, knowing full well that your trip will now become the stuff of mocking legend among your friends and family for the rest of your natural born days...

...Oh, and then there's the effusive beauty that is the hospital staff at Kern County Medical Center, and the utter joy that is getting gravel individually tweezed out of your narfed up elbow by a "female" Dr. Josef Mengele...)

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:28 am

I'll bet that as your bike started wobbling, you musta been thinking, "ohhh, fukkk. I'm gonna put'er down, better get this lid off quick so I don't end up paralyzed".

I know that feeling and I didn't even put the bike down.

Jay, and I were proceeding up a long two lane onramp which I am sure was designed for the sole purpose of racing. He was on his just about new F4i. I was aboard the trusty FJ. We were just about neck and neck as we approached the merging point when I noticed that there was some traffic ahead, so I did something really really really dumb. I sat up and grabbed a handful of front brake along with what I thought to be a smidge of rear somewhere in the vicinity of 100 mph. In hindsight, I prolly shoulda passed on the rear completely.

It's been about 2 years and I think my sphincter is still a little tense from the sickening feeling of sliding about 800 pounds of scooter/fatass rider across 2 lanes of highway. I was prolly off the brake about midway across the highway, but I wasn't fully back in control until I was on the left shoulder.

That couple of seconds was long enough for me to ponder not seeing my wife and kids again along with the thought of jay kicking my mangled carcass because I just wrecked his freshly detailed bike.

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:51 pm

Mv, I'm genuinely surprised that a dude like you would be anti motorcycling, even for mature people who aren't about to go out and do all the stupidly reckless shit that gets people hurt...

I've got well over 200,000 miles on bikes and now that I'm past the point of feeling any further need to explore the top end potential of any given bike I feel quite a bit safer riding a motorcycle then I would, say, skiing, mountain climbing, river rafting or any number of other generally accepted hobbies.

I'd say that for a mature adult smoking and/or a steady diet of American fast food are much more likely methods of killing one's self than motorcycling.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:59 pm

mvscal wrote:Advice? Don't buy one. There are easier ways to kill yourself.

Hey, shut up. This could mark the end of “American Idol” posts on T1B.

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:53 pm

Mv, it's not like you as the motorcyclist don't have quite a bit of say so over whether or not all those gibbering dumbfucks ever get the opportunity to harm you.

It's all part of being a skilled motorcyclist. You learn to assume their gibbering blind dumbfuckedness and you ride accordingly.

There's only two possible events that still genuinely concern me, since I can't prevent 'em and there's usually very little time to do anything about 'em:

-Asswipe cager runs a red light while I'm going through the intersection. That's one where any motorcyclist can really get clobbered. Knock on wood, I've never experienced it myself and I've only heard of it happening a very few times to people I know.

-Asswipe cager is blinded by the sun and doesn't see you sitting there at a red light and he just plows into you from behind. This one usually doesn't injure the motorcyclist too severely. Usually it's some whiplash at worst and a whole buncha pissed off motorcyclist standing over his newly munched bike while yelling at the shocked and bewildered cage driver.

Other than those two possibilities, nope, there's very little that even gibbering dumbfuck cagers can do to an alert and skilled motorcyclist. It's on us as motorcyclists to make sure we don't allow ourselves to be in put into positions where we've given ourselves no means of escape.

Again, as always though, knock on wood.

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:00 am

Any time a cage is making a turn on to your road (left or right) they're a threat.

But thanks for the tip on being stopped at lights while facing the sun. I'll keep that in mind from now on.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:34 am

Unfortunately, the sun isn't the only thing that causes this. Plain old fashioned dumbfuckedness, as van so eloquently puts it probably takes out more bikers than sun blinding does. The sun thing is a good point though, and I will remember it.

During my on again off again career as a cage dodger over the last 20+ years, I have found there is one environment in particular that is deadly to bikers. It is the undivided 4 lane (or better) suburban "main drag". These roads are heavily packed with semi commatose assholes who are distracted by the non stop shopping plazas that tend to line such death traps. These poorly designed roads usually don't have turning lanes which means if you want to turn left, you better fukkin do it yesterday. This precludes many drivers from bothering to actually determine if there is nothing in their way. I avoid roads like this like the plague.

Stick to 2 lane black tops, don't drive blind (fast enough that your stopping distance is more than your vision distance), don't be a squid and wear a good full face lid and you might just live to be as old as SS. Ohh, one other thing, pray to god and God that a big fukking deer doesn't step in front of you. Deer suck ass at road crossing. A buddy of mine that I used to work with was on his full dresser electraglide a few years back. He was just bopping along at a reasonable speed, prolly somewhere around 40-50 mph when bambi's mom stepped in front of him. He had just about zero warning. He t-boned her, killing her and sending him flying. Being harley dude, he was ofcourse, helmetless. He got a ton of road rash and cracked his gourd well enough that he will never again enjoy his sense of smell and about 90% of his sense of taste. The bike was a fixxer and he still rides, helmetless. Go figure. And if you live up north in bullwinkle country, you might as well park it at night or atleast drive real slow. Moose are as invisible as a B-2 bomber at night. They have long nearly black legs that you don't see until a few milliseconds before you hit them.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:11 am

I'll tell you the one frequent riding/road condition circumstance that always scares me the most...

Two lane country roads, with no road shoulder, just a quick drop off into a deep trough.

I can't remember all the times I've been riding down some deserted country road, especially at night, and here comes some guy in a car heading the opposite direction. How many times have we seen monkeys in cars suddenly swerve for no apparent reason?

Coulda been the chick bit down on him, or maybe he sneezed, or maybe he just dropped his mocha assfrappe. Maybe he had a seizure, or maybe he was rooting for Miami and Shaq just attempted a free throw...

Then there's the blown tire possibility. Regardless, we've all seen cars suddenly veer wildly out of control. Usually it's on the freeway, where I'm relatively safe. On that two lane country road though, fuck, every time that oncoming car approaches me I slightly tense my grip on the bars and I'm automatically going into What The Fuck Do I Need To Do If This Moron Screws Up Right Now mode...

You just have to look over to the side of the shoulder and hope there's no solid fencing or barbed wire fences or whatever. Worst case scenario time, is what you're measuring....

A road like that, nope, you really don't have fuckall for (good) options. That one scares me.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:22 am

Well, yeah, deer, moose and other animals are just a given. I've t-boned a deer and went flying over the handlebars before I even knew what'd happened. I never even got a chance to touch the brakes. In the middle of a slow-ish corner I saw a quick flash of brown and the next thing I knew I was flying over the bars...

My fault though, to a degree. I was young and ig'nant and it was about midnight and I didn't even realize that deer were all over the place even in the Santa Monica mountains, even right down by the junction of Mulholland Dr and PCH. I'd lived in that area my whole life and never once saw a deer. I was an idiot. I had no clue.

Ever since then I've made it a point to avoid riding in mountains and canyons at dusk and dawn (two worst times of day for a motorcyclist, especially where animals are concerned) and as much as possible I avoid riding through those areas at night. If I do find myself having to ride through those areas at night I'm hyper vigilant and I definitely slow down to the point that even if something did suddenly jump out in front of me I'd be going slow enough that I could either swerve, get it stopped in time or at least the collision wouldn't be that bad.

That encounter with the deer in the Santa Monica mountains was a long time ago. Since then, yeah, while riding up here in northern California I've encountered shitloads of animals and having learned my lesson, so far, so good.

socal · Post by **socal** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:26 pm

Deer, moose...gas station transient.

Call me a cager but I'm with mvscal.

Gibbering Dumbfuckstats, Two and Four

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:00 pm

Socal, remove drunk/stoned riders, idiot showoff kids and people riding without helmets from that list and then let's see how those motorcyclist fatality numbers look.

Again, you as the rider have a lot to do with what happens out there.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:07 pm

socal wrote:Deer, moose...gas station transient.

Call me a cager but I'm with mvscal.

Gibbering Dumbfuckstats, Two and Four

2004 deaths:

Motorcyclists: 3661
Pedestrians: 4749

Mister Bushice · Post by **Mister Bushice** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:28 pm

One other aspect that keeps me away from motorcycles while living in so cal are the overly aggressive female drivers in their tanks. They tail gate at 80 mph, they weave unintentionally because of the cellphone/nails/kids, and if you don't get out of their way right away they pull the brush back manuver as they go by you, cutting close in front to make some point ( I guess) that they are not to be fucked with on the highway. Once a woman passed a car right in front of me on the center median because they couldn't get out of her way fast enough (That car was going about 75, she wanted to go 85) Didn't matter the middle lane was crowded and there was no safe opportunity to change lanes, she took the center median anyway, even though it was barely wide enough for a car and had a drop off. I was truly hoping she'd roll it.

Seeing the shitty driving behavior on so cal freeways is enough for me to stay away from street bikes.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:59 pm

Ace wrote:
socal wrote:Deer, moose...gas station transient.

Call me a cager but I'm with mvscal.

Gibbering Dumbfuckstats, Two and Four
2004 deaths:

Motorcyclists: 3661
Pedestrians: 4749

Bwaaaa...

SoCal, your thoughts? Nothing but taxis for you then, or maybe one of those little motorized old people's scoots?

Can't allow yourself to leave your house and walk under your own power! Shit happens! Whachaaaaah!!

socal · Post by **socal** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:43 pm

Cue the glam rock synthesizer guitar posers Missing Persons

Walking in L.A.
Only a nobody walks in L.A.

.
.
.

Seriously, Van, you jumped on that stat quicker than Diego on Rush's Limp Dick. In my estimation you are not the sort of tool that just looks at raw numbers and would ask yourself What are the odds of being killed as a pedestrian compared to a crotchrocketeer? prior to fingering yourself as you hit the reply button. Right?

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:18 pm

SoCal, of course I jumped on it, it made me laugh.

Any of these stats must come with disclaimers and qualifiers but I notice where you didn't apply any when you posted your stats and came up with your conclusion based on those stats.

Admit it, there's all sorts of reasons why you don't ride but mortality rates have very little to do with it while worries about yeast infections rise right to the top of your list.

:-)

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:23 pm

Van wrote:worries about yeast infections rise right to the top of your list.

Well, duh! It's the yeast that makes 'em rise.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:30 pm

Van wrote: -Asswipe cager runs a red light while I'm going through the intersection. That's one where any motorcyclist can really get clobbered. Knock on wood, I've never experienced it myself and I've only heard of it happening a very few times to people I know.

Not much you can do about this scenario except maybe train yourself to not always grab brake when the shit's coming down. Don't be afraid to accelerate out of a situation. Jumping on the throttle is probably your best option if you get lucky enough to see the caged monkey coming at you.

-Asswipe cager is blinded by the sun and doesn't see you sitting there at a red light and he just plows into you from behind. This one usually doesn't injure the motorcyclist too severely. Usually it's some whiplash at worst and a whole buncha pissed off motorcyclist standing over his newly munched bike while yelling at the shocked and bewildered cage driver.

I've been riding about ten years and I've had this happen twice. Once I was in a four lane suburban road. 40mph speed limit and no turn lane just like smackaholic was saying. I went to turn left while traveling northbound. No sun in anyone's eyes. I noticed a few stoplights back that the people in the Buick Century behind me were old so I kept a sharp eye on them. As I slowed for my turn I downshifted gradually in case I had to get on it. Sure enough when I stopped I saw them coming up hard. Checked to make sure I had first gear and then saw the driver look up from the Roaman's catalog and lock up the tires. I gunned it and left them skidding into my former airspace.
The second time I had to escape this scenario was at a stoplight. Traffic slowed faster than I expected. Assuming that it has slowed faster than the guy behind me expected I geared down gradually, keeping the RPMS in the power band. I got to second gear and saw he wasn't going to stop that Tahoe without wedging me in the grille. I jumped between lanes and stopped on the dotted lines. The Tahoe didn't hit anybody but the space between him and the car in front of me was about two feet shorter than my bike.

You gotta think of yourself like an AWACS radar. Aware of everything going on around you. Traffic flow, who's on their cell phone, who's applying makeup, timing of the lights, construction, loose gravel, and so on. In ten years I've never had even a minor incident (knock on wood). I don't do stupid things. I don't ride at night. I don't ride roads I haven't driven in a car. I'm cautious because my wife and kids are worth it.

edit - cock blocked by Sudden Sam. Nice take, brah.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:31 pm

Sudden Sam wrote:Any time you're stopped at an intersection, keep the bike in gear and glance at your mirrors regularly. That way, if some bonehead comes barreling at you from behind, you can get the hell outta the way. I never put the bike in neutral at a stop.

Excellent advice. I would add to it, don't stop too close behind the cage in front of you, lest you become the meat in a cager/scooter sammich.

Van, you mentioned two-lane country roads, swerving cars, nowhere to go. Ever see a car coming at you get its right front wheel off the road onto the gravel? You know what's next...the hard swerve back to the driver's left into your lane.

Here's the trouble with your neck of the woods, sammy. In general, southern 2 lanes don't have a gravely shoulder. Well, actually, they do, but, it's at the bottom of the canyon that runs besides the road. You cheap fukkers really need to spend some of those neckcar profits on a storm drain system.

I ride back country roads a ton. Very seldom use interstates or 4-lanes if I can avoid 'em. But you have to be aware of lots of potential hazards: driveways, cars skidding up to the main road from a dirt road, deer, dogs, drunks (they're everywhere), log trucks, etc.

Last summer while vacationing in the maine north woods, I saw a drunk deer driving a log truck on a dirt road. He had his fukking dog sitting in his lap hanging out the window. He tossed an empty labatt's can right in front of me. I hate maine deer log truck drivers, particularly the french canuck ones.

Then again, the other day in Birmingham, I was on an interstate thru the city just briefly, and saw a huge welded triangular piece of metal in the lane to my right. Woulda been a killer at night or if hit and kicked up by a car.

prolly fell off cooter's still that he was towing on his bass boat trailer over to his step grand cousin in law wife's daddy's house.

Fact is that riding fully attentive and alert and sober is dangerous. You just have to protect yourself as well as you can and be aware of everything around you. Or you can sit in your room and type on a message board all day. Of course, then you're at risk for carpal tunnel...

if you're jess, it's give you blisters, too.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:33 pm

Mister Bushice wrote:One other aspect that keeps me away from motorcycles while living in so cal are the overly aggressive female drivers in their tanks.

I have a solution for that but it either involves genocide or your moving out of socal. Which would you like?

socal · Post by **socal** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:48 pm

Van wrote:SoCal, of course I jumped on it, it made me laugh.

Any of these stats must come with disclaimers and qualifiers but I notice where you didn't apply any when you posted your stats and came up with your conclusion based on those stats.

Admit it, there's all sorts of reasons why you don't ride but mortality rates have very little to do with it while worries about yeast infections rise right to the top of your list.

Disclaimers and qualifiers? What about your inherent bias as a merchant of death? BTW Mengele, stop rolling back odometers long enough to bring some subject/verb agreement to your pussy smack.

Sincerely,

socal, pussy cager and grammar nemesis

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:09 pm

Busted.

Nonetheless, that bread thing :'sup, dice: is really what's holding you back, innit?

socal · Post by **socal** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:30 pm

As a wee lad my pops told me in no uncertain terms that I was never to ride a motorcycle as long as I lived under his roof. He had just visited his brother, my uncle, in ICU. Good ol' Uncle Tim took a tumble over the handlebars and lived to tell about it. A broken leg. Might have been a compound fracture.

"No bikes, or else."

Shit, not more than a year later, I was hanging out with one of the neighborhood kids, a high schooler, who was doing some sort of maintenance on his bike. I couldn't tell you the make or model. A Yamaha I think. He has to take a piss (edit for what the fuck was I thinking as I finished this sentence.), and tells me to hold the motorcycle up for him for a minute. Uh, okay. My attempt to balance it was successful for all of 30 seconds when gravity took over. I managed to soften the fall with my thumb.

"What'd I tell you about bikes."

"Uh, I wasn't riding it!"

He couldn't do anything to me. Even if he wanted to swat me he was too weak recovering from brain surgery. (Tumor removed. Non malignant.) But he could sure as hell lay the guilt on me.

Never rode a bike. Then about four years later, I take a ride on the back of one. Friend's dad who's across town.

A block from home I say,"Uh, you can drop me off here."

Dude ignores me and drops me directly in front of my house. Guess who's working in the garage? Yeah, Pops is fully recovered.

"What I tell you about bikes?"

Me-------->

Pops------>

Sure I've been out on my own for two decades. Could I have gone out and got on a bike. I suppose. Do I often wonder what it would be like living outside the cage? Yes, but I also think about the down side. And since then I haven't been on a bike. (The mod motor scooter I rode in Cancun doesn't count.) I've been married 18 plus and have two kids. Bikes ain't for everyone. Blah, blah, blah. The very last thing I need is a bike.

Van's socal-the-very-thing-you-need-is-a-bike post in 3...2...1...

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:03 pm

Socal, no, not at all. I enjoyed that post. Great post. Nice to actually read something real from somebody for once.

You're still a pussy, but as it turns out your pussyhood comes honestly...

:twisted:

(J/k., as I'm sure you know.)

Question: What caused you to drop your buddy's bike while he was pissing? I mean, gravity? You were there holding the bike up so it's not like it was fighting you to fall down. Please tell me this wasn't the result of some "Irie" gazin' which caused you to get distracted!! :-)

Also, man, what if pops had told you women are poison and cars are the debbil? Would you forever be whistling the theme from "Kung Fu" as you walk barefoot into the never ending sunset?

socal · Post by **socal** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:09 am

Van,

How does gravity win? When you're seven years old and you're eyeball-to-handlebar wit it, that's how.

Women? See your Christianity is the devil thread. Cars? Them's fightin' words. Dad is a mechanic through-and-through.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:59 am

Socal, maybe we do need to revisit something here after all...

You're seven years old. You're hanging out with some high school boy who actually asked you to hold up his motorcycle for him so that he could stop and take a piss and leave you standing there.

He didn't just put the bike back on its stand, or lean it against something. However he'd been holding the bike up before, nope, not gonna do it. Not gonna just lean the bike against something and then go into the house to take a piss. Instead, I'm gonna make this seven year old kid balance my bike for me while I go and take a leak.

Now, can we at least assume he didn't force you to go Irie by taking his leak in front of you...or on you?

This explains a lot, dude. It's all starting to make sense now, in a Christopher Walken watch-up-your-ass kinda way. This isn't just about your irrational terror reaction to motorcycling.

The genesis of so much of what later became the Socal we all know and hurriedly turn away from today is explained in that singularly horrific little Arthur Fonzarelli Meets Quentin Tarantino episode.

At last, finally, the haze surrounding you is starting to give way to regrettably crystal clear lucidity. Socal's Psyche, laid bare, frayed nerve endings and macabre fetishes and all, even including this, the most previously unexplanable and downright weirdest of all your various nefarious adult predilictions...

...

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:38 pm

Van, did you see the 2007 Yamaha 1300cc cruisers? They look pretty sweet and have FI and are liquid cooled. Itll be interesting to see how Honda counters

socal · Post by **socal** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:56 pm

Fucker.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:08 pm

Sudden Sam wrote:From what I've read, the VTX will stay basically unchanged (as it has for quite some time). New colors, I'm sure.

Thats a shame. I'd never thought I'd say this, but it looks as if Honda is losing ground in the cruiser dept. Kawasaki with its 1500, 1600, and now 900 cruisers all have FI and gas gauges. Now, Yamaha has developed a bike with FI and made a liquid cooled engine (long over due) with some nice bells and whistles. You gotta believe that Honda will step up at least for the '08 models

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:16 pm

The Honda cruisers (all of 'em) will have to add E.F.I. before too long here because even the Suzuki cruisers are killing 'em now on the sales floor.

We're nearing the end of the Carbureted Era.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:17 pm

socal wrote:Yep. It's official. Owned.

:twisted:

socal · Post by **socal** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:07 pm

Van Sauron wrote:
socal wrote:Yep. It's official. Owned.
:twisted:

.
.
.
Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waitin' for the eastern glow

The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath
The drums will shake the castle wall
The Ringwraiths ride in black, ride on
Oh, sing as you raise your bow/Ride on
Shoot straighter than before
No comfort has the fire at night that lights the face so cold
Dance in the dark of night, sing 'till the mornin' light
The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back
Bring it back
.
.
.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:30 pm

Fucker, now I'm feelin' all verklempt over here...

Also, my first wife could read and write in Elvish (Elvin?...Elvoid?) and she inscribed our wedding rings in that tongue (different message though... :-) ) and they looked exactly like that pic of yours...

socal · Post by **socal** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:45 pm

Van wrote:(different message though... :-) )

.
.
.
Thinking how it used to be
Does she still remember times like these?
To think of us again?
And I do.
.
.
.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:10 pm

You're just fuggen weird.

:-)

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:15 am

Ace wrote:
Sudden Sam wrote:From what I've read, the VTX will stay basically unchanged (as it has for quite some time). New colors, I'm sure.
Thats a shame. I'd never thought I'd say this, but it looks as if Honda is losing ground in the cruiser dept. Kawasaki with its 1500, 1600, and now 900 cruisers all have FI and gas gauges. Now, Yamaha has developed a bike with FI and made a liquid cooled engine (long over due) with some nice bells and whistles. You gotta believe that Honda will step up at least for the '08 models

actually, no, it's not a shame. the 1800 cc fuel injected monster in the vtx has pwn3d this segment for quite some time. I am not a druiser bike dude, but, I would love to take one of those fukkin things for a ride. They have low end grunt that makes a big hog look like a vespa.

Van · Post by **Van** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:31 am

...but now the VTX1800 gets thoroughly stomped by the much lighter and much more powerful (and way less expensive) Suzuki 1800, the M109R....