Tell me what bike to buy-I wanted something that didnt empower me to be such a dong

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > Tell me what bike to buy-I wanted something that didnt empower me to be such a dong

«‹›783 »

A Proper Uppercut: Sep 30, 2008

Phy posted:

???

I didn't think his humour was unusual, but then, I am also a weird Canadian

Well I guess I should say unusual for those types of videos. Canadians are the funniest people on the planet.

Edit: Thoughts on the Z400? Seems like a good (relatively speaking) slow-bike-fast with some modern stuff like ABS for cheap money. Looks are probably polarizing though.

A Proper Uppercut fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Feb 28, 2021

# ? Feb 28, 2021 14:01

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 21:04

OctaMurk: Jun 21, 2013

I've seen a few Z400s in person, they look like a lot more normal and well proportioned in person that they do in the press photos imo

# ? Feb 28, 2021 17:59

MomJeans420: Mar 19, 2007

right arm posted:

I own / have owned several ebikes (sondors thin, evelo delta, surface604 shred, juicedbikes hyperfat). they are very fun

does your fairly short woman bike regularly or is this like her first actual bike for commuting? I'd really recommend against something with wheels that small and a single gear. it's going to Suck rear end on the typical american city streets. that being said, rad power does import decent bikes, but that one would not be my recommendation. if you're set on buying from rad I'd spend a bit more and buy her this since it has an actual gearset (so she can help the poor hub motor over hills cause lol ain't doing that on a single speed), regular sized wheels (easier to find tubes / tires at a local bike shop), and a built in rack & light set already

is the elevation gain sudden or something that is more of a constant? if it's over a very short distance you run the possibility of burning out a hub motor if your fairly short woman is just hammering the throttle and not / is unable to put in work. unfortunately the solution to burning hub motors out is a mid drive (crankshaft) motor, but those bikes typically start out around $2k and I have not been able to locate a step through one (for short people)

I'm not sure on the biking thing, she definitely isn't doing it regularly right now. It's more of a gradual uphill but definitely something you'll notice, and there are some fairly steep hills in the area depending on where you're going. Probably worth upgrading just for the standard size wheels, I hadn't thought of that.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 07:57

right arm: Oct 30, 2011

MomJeans420 posted:

I'm not sure on the biking thing, she definitely isn't doing it regularly right now. It's more of a gradual uphill but definitely something you'll notice, and there are some fairly steep hills in the area depending on where you're going. Probably worth upgrading just for the standard size wheels, I hadn't thought of that.

yeah I think she'd likely be happier with a more "normal" bike as a single speed isn't that fun to actually pedal around (my sondors thin was a single speed and it wasn't terrible, but coming from riding "real" bikes it is a definite downgrade). I do understand that'll make it a bit more expensive, but I've sold my used e bikes for about 80-90% of what I paid locally just cause people enjoy trying them out and that isn't really possible as not too many e bike shops exist as b&m stores, so even if she ends up not using it much you ought to be able to get out of it for not too much of a loss!

also hearing that about the hills I'm sure she'll be fine on a hub motor as long as she is helping it out on the hills and not just throttling through them. I used my surface604 (500w hub motor w/torque sensor) to jet up to OHSU all the time and that was like a 500ft gain in under a mile lol and I never melted any of the plastic internal gears

mid drive bikes are hilariously fun though, just bonkers, but they're typically far more expensive unfortunately. cool thing about hub drive bikes too is that if you break a chain you can still get home if your bike has a throttle on it

# ? Mar 1, 2021 14:15

Steakandchips: Apr 30, 2009

Man there's a really really nice looking 2009 Ducati 696 in red near me and it's a great price at �3700 and I want it but stupid COVID and therefore the necessary but really annoying lockdown.

I hope it's still there once lockdown is over so I can go for a test ride.

I even checked insurance for it: Annual fully comprehensive is �124. It's a steal.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 22:53

captainOrbital: Jan 23, 2003; Wrathchild!
💢🧒

I can't find a single bike to buy in the Chicago area.

If anyone has a line on some stock-ish examples of a DRZ400SM or a T-dub please drop me a line.

I might consider a Ducati Lifestyle Scrambler or a 2nd-gen V-twin Tuono if they were cheap enough but we'll see.

# ? Mar 1, 2021 23:34

MomJeans420: Mar 19, 2007

right arm posted:

yeah I think she'd likely be happier with a more "normal" bike as a single speed isn't that fun to actually pedal around (my sondors thin was a single speed and it wasn't terrible, but coming from riding "real" bikes it is a definite downgrade). I do understand that'll make it a bit more expensive, but I've sold my used e bikes for about 80-90% of what I paid locally just cause people enjoy trying them out and that isn't really possible as not too many e bike shops exist as b&m stores, so even if she ends up not using it much you ought to be able to get out of it for not too much of a loss!

also hearing that about the hills I'm sure she'll be fine on a hub motor as long as she is helping it out on the hills and not just throttling through them. I used my surface604 (500w hub motor w/torque sensor) to jet up to OHSU all the time and that was like a 500ft gain in under a mile lol and I never melted any of the plastic internal gears

mid drive bikes are hilariously fun though, just bonkers, but they're typically far more expensive unfortunately. cool thing about hub drive bikes too is that if you break a chain you can still get home if your bike has a throttle on it

I hadn't considered burning the motor up, I figured you could just use the throttle and say screw the pedals.

I would like to play with one of the high end bikes, I have a couple of friends with e-mountain bikes and they're pretty ridiculous.

# ? Mar 2, 2021 21:07

right arm: Oct 30, 2011

MomJeans420 posted:

I hadn't considered burning the motor up, I figured you could just use the throttle and say screw the pedals.

I would like to play with one of the high end bikes, I have a couple of friends with e-mountain bikes and they're pretty ridiculous.

yeah pretty much all the bafang and bafang based hub motors use a lot a plastic gears inside them that when put under a heavy load (doing over 28mph / constant hills where is it hammering the gears) you run the risk of breaking / melting them lol (ask me how I know)

and yeah lol riding a buddy's turbo levo with dropper post on my old "motocross" track and surrounding forest at my dad's was probably some of the most fun I have ever had on two wheels. gonna be a sad day if they get banned from the national / state parks cause they are incredible and have brought a lot of folks I work with back into biking after godawful knee injuries from what I saw when I worked back home in portland

# ? Mar 2, 2021 21:30

mulligan: Jul 4, 2008; I typed random avatar and this happened.

Steakandchips posted:

Man there's a really really nice looking 2009 Ducati 696 in red near me and it's a great price at �3700 and I want it but stupid COVID and therefore the necessary but really annoying lockdown.

I hope it's still there once lockdown is over so I can go for a test ride.

I even checked insurance for it: Annual fully comprehensive is �124. It's a steal.

Specially look at the page number, it's a sign!

# ? Mar 12, 2021 16:22

Steakandchips: Apr 30, 2009

fuuuuuuck

I just checked, it's still available... SOMEONE BUY MY HONDA!

# ? Mar 12, 2021 17:28

Snapshot: Oct 22, 2004; damnit Matt get in the boat

I�m looking at replacing my CB500X. I already have a huge tourer, a ST1300 for distance, 2-up, highway commuting and hauling everything. I�m looking at either a Yamaha r3, or a CRF300L Rally. Is there anything subjectively bad about these bikes, or anything else that I should be looking at? I�m primarily looking at new bikes, as I don�t want to deal with maintenance debt right off the hop.

My thoughts:
R3 - it�s cheap to insure in Ontario, electric teal is an awesome colour, it�s probably fun around town, and possibly could become a track bike down the road.

CRF300L Rally - dual sport with a bigger tank, windshield for occasional highway use, plenty of trails near me, good riding position for commuting from time to time, and I enjoyed trail riding on a dual sport the couple of times I�ve been to trailtours. Possible sumo conversion later on? Probably will get more use than the r3, as I�ll have to transit at least an hour to find interesting roads. Also cheap to insure.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 01:33

cursedshitbox: May 20, 2012; Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.; Fun Shoe

Snapshot posted:

CRF300L Rally - dual sport with a bigger tank, windshield for occasional highway use, plenty of trails near me, good riding position for commuting from time to time, and I enjoyed trail riding on a dual sport the couple of times I�ve been to trailtours. Possible sumo conversion later on? Probably will get more use than the r3, as I�ll have to transit at least an hour to find interesting roads. Also cheap to insure.

The suspension on those are basically filled with vegetable oil. First thing you'd wanna do is get that sorted, especially if you're human sized.
Secondly, if you ever get bored of the 300 the cb500 engine can be swapped in for an extra 20-30lb and a bit more power.
The plastics are R3 fragile and not at all drop-friendly. They're not as cheap as they should be.
Supermoto conversion would be fun.

I really want to like those but yea the suspension and sportbike plastics kill it for me.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 01:50

Slavvy: Dec 11, 2012

Wait the 500 swaps in? How does that work.

# ? Mar 16, 2021 02:09

FBS: Apr 27, 2015; The real fun of living wisely is that you get to be smug about it.

I can't speak to those bikes specifically but if you already have a pavement bike, and given what the roads in the GTA are like, getting a dual-sport over another road bike is a no brainer

# ? Mar 16, 2021 02:24

Snapshot: Oct 22, 2004; damnit Matt get in the boat

cursedshitbox posted:

The suspension on those are basically filled with vegetable oil. First thing you'd wanna do is get that sorted, especially if you're human sized.
Secondly, if you ever get bored of the 300 the cb500 engine can be swapped in for an extra 20-30lb and a bit more power.
The plastics are R3 fragile and not at all drop-friendly. They're not as cheap as they should be.
Supermoto conversion would be fun.

I really want to like those but yea the suspension and sportbike plastics kill it for me.

Thanks. Where are you seeing the plastics issue? I�m not googling the right things, I think.
I�m 150lbs weight and I didn�t find a 250l too bouncy at 170lb. Think I should budget in some work on the shocks?

# ? Mar 16, 2021 02:26

cursedshitbox: May 20, 2012; Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.; Fun Shoe

Slavvy posted:

Wait the 500 swaps in? How does that work.

welding/cutting involved. there are 8 or 9 on advrider under whatever loving forum for mechanical kludges. ptwin basicaly fits, has enough room for the ptwin head. lower thumper cradle goes away and two mounts get welded in.
E:
https://advrider.com/f/threads/2017-crf500l-rally-build.1236985/
https://advrider.com/f/threads/crf500l-build-thread-4.1236229/
https://advrider.com/f/threads/crf500l-build-3-the-brit-remix.1212738/
https://advrider.com/f/threads/crf500l-build-6.1275827/