Any 2 wheeled enthusiast here?

fatallightning wrote: i ride a 94 yamaha street fighter contraption.

and it started life as a? I keep looking at all the sportbikes on craigslist that are missing plastic....

just over 30 days till I'm back home and riding again

Huge bike guy, although I just sold my R6.

25k miles and a couple track days...............and a nasty concussion from a wreck at the track I'll never forget!

The goal is to get some bills paid down and try to put a little money in savings, then hopefully I'll be in a position to get an 848 towards the end of next year.

z31maniac wrote: Huge bike guy, although I just sold my R6. 25k miles and a couple track days...............and a nasty concussion from a wreck at the track I'll never forget! The goal is to get some bills paid down and try to put a little money in savings, then hopefully I'll be in a position to get an 848 towards the end of next year.

I rebuilt an 848 recently, nice bike but it belongs on a track, not the street.

I built a streetfighter myself a few years ago. this started out as a Ducati Multistrada. bought it wrecked from flea bay and had it fininshed and displayed a year before the Hypermotard came out.

what makes a bike a streetfighter?

A bandana and a knife

GlennS wrote: what makes a bike a streetfighter?

Typically, a sport bike that's had the plastics removed (either because the bike was smashed, or the owner is making a fashion statement). Frequently, forks, wheels, brakes, etc have been swapped around. Basically, the next evolutionary step from the cafes of a few decades ago (Tritons, Tribsa, etc).

Now the OEMs are getting in on it - check out the Triumph Speed Triple.

GlennS wrote: what makes a bike a streetfighter?

taking a bike thats mostly track oriented and making it more street friendly. Higher bars, different sprocket and chain combination, no bodywork, and simplicity is key. Next time you're in a magazine store browse through a magazine from GB called Streetfighters. You'll see lots of very well done machines that are not trailer queens.

Don't get nakeds confused with streetfighters, Monkey.

I've always said that nakeds come without fairings from the factory, and the key ingredient in a streetfighter is some or all fairings removed from a fairing'ed bike.

So the Triumph Speed Triple (and the new Daytona-based one) would technically be street-fighter inspired nakeds.

Wheee, semantics!

Yeah...asking a bunch of bike guys what "streetfighter" means and it could go on as long as asking us what "grassroots" means. Buell calls their bikes "streetfighters" right out of the factory, other people would choke you if you called your bike a streetfighter just for removing plastics and tell you there's a lot more to it, the Europeans take streetfighters way more seriously.

Bryce

+1 when you paint a street fighter primer black

I'm curious...out of the 20 or so people who have posted in this thread, how many have been in accidents on their motorcycles?

No street crashes (but several close calls), I have dumped/flipped/highsided/endoed/dropped/etc dirt bikes innumerable times.

Hmmm, that explains a lot.

I hadn't posted because I don't currently have a motorcycle, but I have been in an accident on one. It was more of an unintentional off-road excursion, but I did bounce my noggin off the pavement. Appropriate gear FTW!

PHeller wrote: I'm curious...out of the 20 or so people who have posted in this thread, how many have been in accidents on their motorcycles?

1 on the street, 1 on the track.

The one on the street though was nasty, but it was all our faults for how close we were riding (we had a bad habit of tearing through twisty roads nose to tail because we were all familiar with each other).

Guy in front, who was also a great racer in the CMRA, lost it out of a turn, slid across the double yellows, was hit by a truck and killed. The resulting flying bike parts, oil, gas, coolant etc, got the next three of us. I didn't get too banged up in that one, well physically anway.

z31maniac wrote:

PHeller wrote: I'm curious...out of the 20 or so people who have posted in this thread, how many have been in accidents on their motorcycles?

Guy in front, who was also a great racer in the CMRA, lost it out of a turn, slid across the double yellows, was hit by a truck and killed. The resulting flying bike parts, oil, gas, coolant etc, got the next three of us. I didn't get too banged up in that one, well physically anway.

Eek. And my friends wonder why I want the 250R instead of a 600, and why I want a Motard over at a Streetbike. It's bad enough I want a bike, and I'd like to live as long as possible on one. The more that can slow me down the better, although I'm not sure how much will keep from enjoying the twisties.

Do you still ride after that accident?

I've wrecked more times then I like to remember, mostly dirt, a couple on street. Not something most motorcycle guys sit around and talk about.

I've had several wipe outs off road, nothing but close calls on the road. knocking on wood right now

Here's the daily driver. It looks a bit different now, but it's the newest pic I have. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/310/

Current bike has been dropped twice, once at 10-15 MPH, the other at less than 1MPH. I've dropped other bikes in the dirt/mud/sand more than I can remember. Never seriously hurt though.

Currently two Triumphs (Hinckley), both customized by me: 2002 Speed 4 & 2007 Speedmaster

I haven't messed with my project for a few months, a '75 RD350. Here's how it looks at the moment.

To the OP: What are your four other Ducs? The Monster is one of the most comfortable bikes I have sat on. I saw the video to Leno's Desmosedici, and oh man...

MitchellC wrote: I haven't messed with my project for a few months, a '75 RD350. Here's how it looks at the moment. To the OP: What are your four other Ducs? The Monster is one of the most comfortable bikes I have sat on. I saw the video to Leno's Desmosedici, and oh man...

I have a '99 900 Supersport thats a track only bike, a 2000 996 that is going to be a track bike only, I'm getting the new body work painted our team colors then it's going to be a track whore, A 2001 Monster S4 Senna, thats my baby and first Ducati. I put more money in that thing then I care to add up. Full Ohlins, slipper clutch, etc etc. My Multistrada converted motard you see a few posts above, thats my daily commuter, And my wife's 2003 620 Monster, some tasteful mods, fun bike to ride, extremely light.

PHeller wrote: Do you still ride after that accident?

Yeah that happened back in Oct of '05. I actually rode home from the accident. Only my right shoulder and leg got banged up, and it was my right hip again I whacked at the track when I wrecked last year.

Still though, seeing a fellow rider get whacked by a truck is not something that would sit well with me.

I hate the feeling on a motorcycle that your on borrowed time, because it always seems like life long riders end up dying on their bikes.

PHeller, it's not so different than racing cars, IMO. Yes, the odds are statistically against you more than if you stay at home and watch TV, but riding a bike isn't about statistics. Ride safely, be smart, and enjoy yourself. You'll kill yourself of a heart attack if you spend your whole life worrying about stuff. You could get run over by a bus crossing the street or get nard cancer today, enjoy it while it lasts. That's the way I look at it, if I die in 20 years because a truck ran over me on my motorcycle, that will be 20 years longer I was enjoying myself.

Bryce

PHeller wrote: Still though, seeing a fellow rider get whacked by a truck is not something that would sit well with me. I hate the feeling on a motorcycle that your on borrowed time, because it always seems like life long riders end up dying on their bikes.

And smokers die of lung cancer, beer enthusaists die of liver failure, meat enthusiasts die of heart disease, and people who are afraid to do anything that looks like fun die of boredom.

Everything has risks. And there are plenty of ways to mitigate that risk. I'd bet the 35 year old guy with 10 years riding experience on a sportbike wearing ATGATT has a smaller statistical chance of biting it than any of you guys did in your first car at 16 :).