These Kids, Nowadays...

[Ruh Roh]

Originally Posted by pitchinguy

[b][i][color=darkgreen] Cruisers just don't have the capabilities sport bikes do. If a cruiser would pop a wheelie at 60-70 or had the lightening quickness of a sport bike, you can bet, there would be idiots out there doing the same thing on them. The reason you don't see those kinds of stunts & tragedies on cruisers is because they simply can't do it.

[Saleenguy]

Originally Posted by Ruh Roh

WOW....wish my wing could do that.....lol

[Ruh Roh]

I think its a BMW, Italian Police

[Ruh Roh]

from BMW site:

[chad1043]

Idiots ride all kinda of bikes. good and Bad people die or get hurt on bikes. I think Indian Larry was not on a sportsbike when he got killed. Younger people are drawn to the capabilities of Sport bikes. To this note. In my Cycle Endorsement class, the top three people were the only three crotchrocket riders, including myself. We were not riding our own bikes, but Buell Blasts. Two of the people who rode HDs before the class failed the class, drop their bike and one lost control of her clutch and almost hit me.

I post this only to point out that the person makes the motorcycle, no matter what. I think we have all seen the video of the goldwing grinding it's pegs around corners. Mean Streaks can do wheelies. Most bikes can go a little over a hundred.

The most dangerous bike is the one who is driven by a dangerous person.

[psufreak100]

Originally Posted by chad1043

Idiots ride all kinda of bikes. good and Bad people die or get hurt on bikes. I think Indian Larry was not on a sportsbike when he got killed. Younger people are drawn to the capabilities of Sport bikes. To this note. In my Cycle Endorsement class, the top three people were the only three crotchrocket riders, including myself. We were not riding our own bikes, but Buell Blasts. Two of the people who rode HDs before the class failed the class, drop their bike and one lost control of her clutch and almost hit me.

I post this only to point out that the person makes the motorcycle, no matter what. I think we have all seen the video of the goldwing grinding it's pegs around corners. Mean Streaks can do wheelies. Most bikes can go a little over a hundred.

The most dangerous bike is the one who is driven by a dangerous person.

The problem is most dangerous people buy sportbikes because it enables them to live more dangerously than a cruiser. Most people don't by a sportbike in order to just cruise around on it. They buy to ride like it was meant to be ridden, FAST and HARD.

Unfortunately, the highways and byways are not the place for this kind of riding... but the lack of good judgement and the thrill of the moment is what makes these people into organ donors. The tempation a sportbike provides is too great... I've ridden both and I really do have a whole different mentality when I'm on a cruiser as opposed the sportbike. Cruiser is much more laid back feeling.

[RWJC]

Chad and other riders, I rode a Concours...which is a tour bike but is a sport bike at its heart and very capable of speed,wheelies, and quick moves...(ask me how I found out...ouch)ZG1000

I spend a LOT of free time at the local Kawi/Zuki bke shop..I also sometimes wear a dealer shirt I got when I ought my bikes..have 3 now. I see 30= guys come in looking for a bike, they look st the C50, M109, V2k, 900s, and the like. Now, my late teen, 20 something comes in, and we start talking. His buddy who is 30+ and has ridden 10 years, and this KID who watches the races wants a Gixxer 1000 for his very first bike. This should be outlawed.
I personally saw at this same dealership, kid had his endorsement (got it 2 days before riding in a parking lot on a rebel 250) gets a Gixxer 750. Kid gets a GSX-R jacket, Fulmer Helmet & his jeans & tennies on. In the dealer lot, gives the throttle a few patented revs for the road, and I can assume the bike was at 3K rpm when he lets go of the clutch...Needless to say, what happened next was not pretty.
Now, as a rider for 3 years only, my kids have taken an obvious interest in riding. So what should a responsible dad & rider do...I get them a 50cc(throttle modified scooter. Tops out at 35mph and has big tires. Learn that(course we can use it at the campgrounds later , and then move them up to a zuki 125 or 250. We live in the country, so they can use it to visit friends or such, and it will be modded with top end of about 45-50mph. Once they are 21///they have to make good choices for themselves.
I could not with a clear conscious sell a complete newbie with no riding experience and just got his endorsement and under 25 anything bigger than a 900 cruiser or a 250cc sportbike. And yes, a 250 ninja is quite capable of wheelies and stuff, but is not a Busa or GSX-R. Just my .01

[chad1043]

What if the kid bought a 250 ninja and revved it up to 3000-4000 and popped the clutch or a 900... They all will do things that an inexperienced rider probably would not be able to control.

RWJC, I understand what you are saying and I agree that people should not be able to just jump on a SuperSport, but that same person could have bought a 125 dirt bike or a snowmobile and still go out and kill himself or somelse. My only point of entering this conversation is to bring up the point of the generalization of sportbike riders. I have seen it too many times on here in my short time here. I would like it to be about the rider and not the bike. If the OP is so concerned about this issue, why not post it in the sportbike section and start a conversation about how we can solve the issue.

Chad

[psufreak100]

Originally Posted by chad1043

What if the kid bought a 250 ninja and revved it up to 3000-4000 and popped the clutch or a 900... They all will do things that an inexperienced rider probably would not be able to control.

RWJC, I understand what you are saying and I agree that people should not be able to just jump on a SuperSport, but that same person could have bought a 125 dirt bike or a snowmobile and still go out and kill himself or somelse. My only point of entering this conversation is to bring up the point of the generalization of sportbike riders. I have seen it too many times on here in my short time here. I would like it to be about the rider and not the bike. If the OP is so concerned about this issue, why not post it in the sportbike section and start a conversation about how we can solve the issue.

Chad

Honestly, I don't care if the kid kills himself (it would be a shame for sure)... but the problem is he might actually hurt others in the process. but like you said, dangerous people will do dangerous things. It's not the bike that's the problem. It's probably better he is ONLY on a bike and not behind a the wheel of a suped up sports car instead; this would only increase his chance of harming others.

There probably is no real solution to the problem...

[eric.hare]

Sportbike.....??

NO,.... here they're called donorcycles!!!!

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by chad1043

Just like guns, it is the DRIVER, not the motorcycle that makes the dumb mistake....

Duly noted. But, also duly noted, most of the stupid acts I see on motorcycles involve sportsbikes...not cruisers, not dirtbikes, not anything else. And, yes, it is the driver...of a sportsbike.

Unfortunately, cruisers crash and burn, too, along with every other category of bike. But, when something horrific makes the news, it is most often the sportsbike rider doing something stupid. No shirt = severe, permanent road rash. No helmet = possible TBI or death. Tennis shoes = (fill in your own answer). Passing on the left when the road is turning hard to the right = smashup. Combine all four and you have one very stupid, very lucky (in my opinion) rider.

I grew up on a sportsbike, back when they were all 2-cycle engines. The Yamaha 350 had TONS of torque. And, I did my fair share of jumping ditches and home-made ramps and any other crap that we thought would be cool to jump. Wheelies were second nature to us. But riding a bike without a helmet and without a shirt was and still is just plain stupid...even to me. Something I wouldn't have done then or now.

Sorry about the comment, though.

[sherwin991]

I own a 900 Custom and a Honda VFR 800. I ride both bikes the same way in terms of operating the vehicle safely. I submit that it is the rider's responsibility to ride safely. I think a lot of the unsafe riding we sometimes witness reflects some inexperience on the rider's part. Nothing underscores your own mortality more effectively than a near-death experience on a motorcycle. The guys who have been riding longer just know that better than the newbies. Every one of us has a responsibility to approach the new riders, and the younger ones, and share our experiences, and give advice on things to watch out for when riding. We're all brothers on the road.....

[FL Vulcan Rider]

It isn't all of us "kids" either. I am 21 years old and I make sure that I am safe on the road. I believe that safety is important. This is why I got a VN900 Custom... I don't need speed to look cool.. I have a 900 custom.. hehe Plus I like to lean back and relax... might save my back in the long run. But no, not all of us "kids" are stupid. Some are smarter than others.

[V2K_CCTX]

I have best of both worlds zx-14 and V2K. Each with its own style of riding...

Rule #1) No cure for stupid
Rule #2) There is no fixing rule #1
Rule #3) Go that way very very fast, if something gets in your way, TURN!


Bottom line. Until there are MORE controls on the sale and licensing of Motorcycles, we will be stuck with the problem. However, the CATCH-22, we do NOT want the gov't, fed, state, or local, to have any MORE control!

Therein lies the rub!

[Skeet]

Originally Posted by OldDog

...young whippersnappers!

I am driving home in my truck, coming up to a left hand, hard curve (posted limit 30 mph). I know this road like the back of my hand. No problem. I am not speeding. Just entering the curve, I can see another vehicle coming from the other direction, me turning left, him turning right. No problem. Suddenly, a motorcycle darts out to pass him. Problem. The kid pulls back into his lane and (I suppose) passed the truck after the curve.

Louisiana congress just passed a no-helmet law which the governor has not signed, so we still require helmets. This kid (maybe 20 at the most) is wearing blue jeans, tennis shoes, no shirt, no helmet, and trying to pass on the left in a right-hand curve.

Yeah, before you ask, it was a sportbike.

Idiots!

Most people couldn't tell you a sportbike from a dirtbike, so they just lump all of us into the "motorcycle" heading. Guys like him give the rest of us a bad rap.

It pains me to use the word Darwinism, here.... but I feel your pain here....
Here's an interesting story/picture for you.... I was recently at a city park, here in Hot Springs, spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon with my son and some friends. If you didn't know already.... I'm a white guy.

Not to inject a racial thingy here, but just a contrast I've noticed....

At around 1:00, the park started filling up with black folks...Moms, Dads, kids all over the place, Grandmas, Granpas, etc...al of them, starting up the grills, setting up for an afternoon lunch... "Church is out," I think to myself....


About 2:00 in the afternoon, the bikers came.... musta been 50-75 of them.... Black guys, 20-40-ish in age.... ALL on sportbikes.... Lotsa noise, commotion, coming and going... nothing crazy... just, well... noticable Well, I just HAD to go and check these guys out.... My son was off playing ball with all of them, so I had a "good excuse"

Come to find out there's a loosely-knit bunch around here, all Black, all on sport-bikes: and here's where my long-windedness is leading.... We left later that afternoon, and there was grunches of them on the road.... Not a ONE of them acted like a fool! On my way home, I must have driven through 5 or 6 packs of them, and they were all courteous, signaled, etc.... Arkansas is a non helmet state, but they all had one....

By contrast: recently driving up into Ft Smith, I was doing highway speeds, and a white dude pulled up next to me on a Ninja or equivalent. I'm doing 70 or so... he pops a wheelie next to me and takes off down the highway like Han Solo....

No judgment calls from me on any of this.... just to say that there are jerks everywhere, but there are Good Ones also. I have no qualms about us going back to hang out with those black guys.... They're different, interesting, and appeared family-oriented...and yes... I don't reclon I'd throw anything at them out've my truck....
But I DO know this also.... When I see a youngish white dude on a sportbike?
I don't trust him, and watch him carefully....
This got longer than I had planned, but after thinking about it, I'll go ahead and post it....
Stay safe!

[Big Ed]

There will always be morons who are determined to get themselves killed. The only reason most of them seem to choose sportbikes is because those bikes are capable of the foolish things that they want to do.

[Vulcan900]

There are always good students and bad students whatever the course of study, personally I fall somewhere in the middle. The 20-something year old testosterone filled idiot that is buying their first bike wanting only to feel the exhilaration of speed will choose a sporty over a cruiser every time. It's too bad that this type of rider has given the sport bike community a bad rap, but it is what it is. This whole “sporty” mentality has become self sustaining through the media and the internet with videos on u-tube and the like. The next generation of motorcyclists are watching the flicks and saying “Wow, I want to do that!!!” In the next 2-5 years these students will be on the road, what do you think they will be riding?

[Svetlana]

Originally Posted by Big Ed

There will always be morons who are determined to get themselves killed. The only reason most of them seem to choose sportbikes is because those bikes are capable of the foolish things that they want to do.

... and b/c a nineteen year old squid can't quite pull off the old rough and gruff look that just fits on a cruiser, let alone grow much facial hair to pull it off anyway

Really, if we want to stereotype (they're around for a reason!), kids like speed. Cruisers= power, comfort, dignity. Sportbikes= Speed, agility, flashiness.
If an old guy wants to show off his money, he isn't buying an F150 and hauling dirt around town! He's getting a Porsche 911 so everyone, everywhere, can hear him when he pulls up beside them! There are many reasons for every decision, and kids on sportbikes is no different than a guy w/ a fast car.


Yeah, it's about the rider. Yeah, it also has to do with the bikes they're on. Yeah we all agree it gives us a bad rap, just like Hell's Angels did not that long ago (back before yuppies thought it was cool to buy into the mythic legend of HDs).

Ppl, if you're gonna ride STUPID, you're a SQUID! Now, get your squidliness over with sooner rather than later and let us all go back to enjoying the relative comraderie we share by riding on two wheels!



/end rant bleh

[desade]

Originally Posted by OldDog

I am driving home in my truck

Guys like him give the rest of us a bad rap.

Why do you say us? your in a truck so how does that make you a biker? Some people ride more often then the summer weekend.

Second, it sounds like your trying to make a left in front of oncoming traffic and then blame the biker, slow down and yield to the right of way.

Third, does it really matter if it's a sports bike or a cruiser?

[FL Vulcan Rider]

Originally Posted by Svetlana

... and b/c a nineteen year old squid can't quite pull off the old rough and gruff look that just fits on a cruiser, let alone grow much facial hair to pull it off anyway

Really, if we want to stereotype (they're around for a reason!), kids like speed. Cruisers= power, comfort, dignity. Sportbikes= Speed, agility, flashiness.
If an old guy wants to show off his money, he isn't buying an F150 and hauling