The Official Motorcycle Thread!

[DonTom]

Such a nice day. I rode my Triumph Trophy here from Reno.

Here are my last two bikes, for a total of nine.

My 2016 Moto Guzzi Stelvio (stock 8.5 gallon gas tank for around a 400 mile range):

And:

My 2017 Zero SR electric bike with Power Tank (can do 200 miles on a charge at slower speeds, or 100 miles at 70 MPH on a level freeway):

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[glennc]

I see it didn't take you long to figure out CubeUpload. Bike looks great!

I couldn't care less about my cars. I am a lot more into bikes. I only care if the cars run, the rest doesn't matter to me.

Perhaps because I started with motorcycles long before I owned a car. I was motorcycle only for many years, even in the rain.

-Don- Reno

Thanx for the compliment, you have a nice collection of bikes I see.
BTW, here's a pic of my present cage.
'03 Corvette 50th Anniversary Edition w/6mt.

 

[Sledge]

What year is it?

-Don- Auburn, CA

2016

 

[DonTom]

:scared:

And probably last.

I said the same thing just after I purchased my new 1984 Venture in 1985.

What happened is I went to Golden Gate Cycles in San Francisco to buy a $5.00 helmet face-shield for my helmet that I used with my 1971 BMW.

When I walked in, I discovered they had the Yamaha Ventures on sale $2,000 off, because they were moving and wanted to get rid of their larger bikes. I cannot even remember if I remembered to buy the face shield.

So I walked in to buy a five dollar face shield and came out with a $6,000 bike for $4,000.00 (in 1985 money).

So that Yamaha Venture was my last bike. That is, until I purchased the seven more cycles since then!

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Sledge]

:scared: I said the same thing just after I purchased my new 1984 Venture in 1985.

What happened is I went to Golden Gate Cycles in San Francisco to buy a $5.00 helmet face-shield for my helmet that I used with my 1971 BMW.

When I walked in, I discovered they had the Yamaha Ventures on sale $2,000 off, because they were moving and wanted to get rid of their larger bikes. I cannot even remember if I remembered to buy the face shield.

So I walked in to buy a five dollar face shield and came out with a $6,000 bike for $4,000.00 (in 1985 money).

So that Yamaha Venture was my last bike. That is, until I purchased the seven more cycles since then!

-Don- Auburn, CA

I stay out of the bike shops. Because a similar thing happened when i walked into a Harley shop and saw this nice grey sportster 48 that was sitting there calling my name. It talked to me. Telling me about the low financing promotion going on that month

 

[DonTom]

I stay out of the bike shops. Because a similar thing happened when i walked into a Harley shop and saw this nice grey sportster 48 that was sitting there calling my name. It talked to me. Telling me about the low financing promotion going on that month

And where is it now? In your garage?

I would rather have motorcycles in the garage than cash in the bank.

Cash is worthless until it is spent.


“Any man who has $10,000 left when he dies is a failure.”
- Errol Flynn

I will adjust that quote to the times--and for inflation . . .


"If we don't owe at least $50K when we die we are failures!"

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Sledge]

And where is it now? In your garage?

I would rather have motorcycles in the garage than cash in the bank.

Cash is worthless until it is spent.


“Any man who has $10,000 left when he dies is a failure.”
- Errol Flynn

I will adjust that quote to the times--and for inflation . . .


"If we don't owe at least $50K when we die we are failures!"

-Don- Auburn, CA

Those are good quotes.

No the Harley had to go by bye. The bike looked sweet but the ride was dreadful. Traded it in for a Triumph Street Triple.

 

[DonTom]

Those are good quotes.

No the Harley had to go by bye. The bike looked sweet but the ride was dreadful. Traded it in for a Triumph Street Triple.

I used to be a Harley hater. But now they have the most comfy bike ever made, IMO, starting with their new frame and suspension starting in 2017.

I have ridden many Harleys that I could not stand for more than a few minutes. Such as a 2016 Harley Dyna SwitchBack.

I was surprised what a nice ride the new Harley Road Glide is with their new larger frame.

I have no brand loyalty at all. It's whoever has a model I like. The real problem is a like too many of them and ended up with nine bikes.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[DonTom]

Those are good quotes.

No the Harley had to go by bye. The bike looked sweet but the ride was dreadful. Traded it in for a Triumph Street Triple.

I never buy bikes based on looks. I buy them to ride, not to look at. Looks are at the very bottom of my list.

Three things I must have are:

1. Large gas tank, bigger the better (The venture is only a 5.3 gallon, but I could not pass up that deal).

2. Frame mounted fairing.

3. Comfort for at least 300 mile per day rides (The large Harley (2017+) is the best of them all, IMO.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Cirdan]

Such a nice day. I rode my Triumph Trophy here from Reno.

Here are my last two bikes, for a total of nine.

My 2017 Zero SR electric bike with Power Tank (can do 200 miles on a charge at slower speeds, or 100 miles at 70 MPH on a level freeway):

-Don- Auburn, CA

Have you tried riding the Zero up to Tahoe? I'm curious what that does to the battery.

 

[DonTom]

Have you tried riding the Zero up to Tahoe? I'm curious what that does to the battery.

The longest ride I have done on it uphill on the freeway was from here in Auburn to Donner Lake, but I had to recharge a bit at the charge station at Cisco Grove to have enough charge to make it back to Auburn. I can also charge at the train station in Colfax.

These bikes are best for around town stuff. The average person only drives about 45 miles per day and that is where these bikes are the most useful. But they also do well on twisty mountain roads at much lower than freeway speeds.

If you want the charge to last, stay off the freeway and then you can ride almost all day on a charge.

Up hill and high speeds are the worse on the charge.

At very slow steady speeds (such as 20 MPH) the thing will probably do 300 miles on level ground. Uphill on the freeway, you're lucky to get fifty. The range these get vary a lot. Even temperature can effect range. And larger batteries are of little help on the road as it's the same range per minute of charge on all of them. Unless you have many hours to wait. Charging options are kinda endless also. And many trade-offs.

If you can recharge where you're going, you can just about double your range.

But for around town stuff and for my RV trips, I enjoy these E-bikes the most of all.

I find the E-bikes take the place of my cages (cars) more than they do the other bikes.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Cirdan]

Thanks for the info.

I live in Carson City (5,000') and commute 25 miles to Stateline (6,200') crossing Spooner Summit (7,200').

 

[DonTom]

Thanks for the info.

I live in Carson City (5,000') and commute 25 miles to Stateline (6,200') crossing Spooner Summit (7,200').

If you can charge at the other end, I think you will have no problem with most of the larger E-bikes. But to get an idea, at first, ride slow as you reasonably can to get a good idea of your range. The E-bikes have a meter that show the percentage of discharge. If you're down close to 50% before getting half way there, you will know to turn around and go back. Spooner summit is very steep going west from CC.

I know a guy who left here (near Exit 70 on 395) fully charged and went home to King's beach and still had about 20% of his charge left when he got home. That was on the 2016 Zero DS 13. There are e-bikes with a better range on a charge than that.

The new 2018 bikes have a 10% better range than the 2017 bikes. See here for the Zero website.

There is also an electric motorcycle forum here where you may ask questions with those who have a lot of experience with more distant rides on E-bikes. I know of one Zero owner in Carson City on-line, but we never met.

There is also a Zero Forum here , but it is rather dead, compared to the electric motorcycle forum that covers mostly Zero anyway.

Also, see if there are places you can recharge on the way. Many webites, such as PlugShare. But you also need the compatible charging stuff.

-Don- Reno

 

[Cirdan]

Thanks

 

[eethomas]

Here is my 2005 Honda Goldwing & 2006 Escapade trailer.

 

[DonTom]

Those are good quotes.

No the Harley had to go by bye. The bike looked sweet but the ride was dreadful. Traded it in for a Triumph Street Triple.

Can you believe with the new 2017 Road Glide with the M-8 engine (the one I have) was so smooth when they designed it that you could not even feel that the engine was running?

Many did NOT like the idea of such a smooth Harley. So here is what they did:

"We started with a 100-percent balancer but that was too smooth. So we backed it down to 75 percent for that feel but not enough to be harsh. It’s enough feel to know you’re on a motorcycle."


See here.

But can a touring bike really be too smooth? But I have to admit, it does have a good feel to it as is. It's still, as is, very far from being the typical Harley nut shaker.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Sledge]

Can you believe with the new 2017 Road Glide with the M-8 engine (the one I have) was so smooth when they designed it that you could not even feel that the engine was running?

Many did NOT like the idea of such a smooth Harley. So here is what they did:

"We started with a 100-percent balancer but that was too smooth. So we backed it down to 75 percent for that feel but not enough to be harsh. It’s enough feel to know you’re on a motorcycle."


See here.

But can a touring bike really be too smooth? But I have to admit, it does have a good feel to it as is. It's still, as is, very far from being the typical Harley nut shaker.

-Don- Reno, NV

Ha! I'm used to smooth running bikes so that Harley took some getting used to.

 

[Azsecuritypro]

08' Dyna Lowrider
16' StreetGlide Special

 

[jmoreno88]

2009 Buell 1125 CR

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Earthquake]

I have a pretty rare Yamaha, its a 1983 RX50 Midnight Special.

http://www.bike-urious.com/1983-yamaha-rx50/
This not my bike

They only brought a few thousand into the US, they were given away to dealers by Yamaha. it has the same 2 stroke motor used in the YSR50 which was a mini crotch rocket. the one I have is a parts bike.

Casey