• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Does small-bore bore you?

How far and how long do you ride your small-bore bikes? I suspect they're mostly for shorter rides.

My "small-bore" is the 690SM. The noise/vibration makes it very engaging and fun for the first 2-3 hrs, but on longer rides it's more fatiguing compared to larger displacement and calmer bikes.
 
Gary856 said:
My "small-bore" is the 690SM.
Click to expand...

693cc... I don't think small-bore means what you think it means. :laughing

My wife rode her Grom (125cc) to Santa Barbara and back on a long weekend. Was fine, but no arguing that it would be easier on a Goldwing.
 
Gary856 said:
How far and how long do you ride your small-bore bikes? I suspect they're mostly for shorter rides.

My "small-bore" is the 690SM. The noise/vibration makes it very engaging and fun for the first 2-3 hrs, but on longer rides it's more fatiguing compared to larger displacement and calmer bikes.
Click to expand...

100 plus miles on my grom in a day
 
Gary856 said:
How far and how long do you ride your small-bore bikes? I suspect they're mostly for shorter rides.

My "small-bore" is the 690SM. The noise/vibration makes it very engaging and fun for the first 2-3 hrs, but on longer rides it's more fatiguing compared to larger displacement and calmer bikes.
Click to expand...

Short 5 mile errand trips to fun group rides on 180 mile adventures. All day fun with the right group and route is :thumbup. We like to play in the Santa Cruz mountains. Eclectic group ranging from my 70cc Passport, 125 Grom, CRF250, DRZ400SM, MT09, and even some BMW GSs. Here is a 159 miler we di on Memorial day https://www.relive.cc/view/v1OwMApJVEq
 
When my ride handles freeway speeds comfortably I don't see the point in more displacement. Less weight is better than more torque.
 
gixxerjeff said:
In the late 90's.
Right around the time the R6 was considered an "entry level" motorcycle.
Click to expand...

... and ever so popular CBR600F2 and F3 used bikes were getting affordable to those who were just starting to ride ...

Besides "ego" thing, (don't want to be seen as beginner) I found that internet has strange effect on the mind of people who are trying to decide their first bike.

Back in the late 90s, one guy (a friend, no very close friend) was looking for his first bike.
He asked around the people, was told to pick up something light weight and (relatively) small, something simple (easy to work on), etc, etc.

I personally told him to consider smaller dual sport., or something like FT500.

A few weeks later, he showed up on his FIRST motorcycle.

radar-1.jpg


Suzuki GS1100ES ...
... with 4 into 1 exhaust just like the photo above, had air intake leak,
handle bar was flipped upside-down, ...

Naturally, I asked him what the &^%$ he was thinking, to pick up this dinosaur.

It turned out, he did a lot of online search.

In his mind, it went like this.

"I'm a quick learner."

" I've been driving manual transmission car for years."

"I'm good at sports."

"If I get something like 250, I will outgrow in a month or so..."

"... then, I will want to upgrade something like 600 supersport..."

"(at this point, he considers himself as intermediate lever rider, despite the fact that he still has ZERO experience on a motorcycle.) ... then, I will want something even bigger, faster ..."

"... I want F2 or F3 , 'cause I've read a lot of good things about them on the net..., but they are out of my price range..."




So, he picked up his first motorcycle, based on the idea of him already being (upper range of) intermediate rider, without any real experience.
Somehow, in his mind, all these hours he has spend on the net searching info became his "experience".

I've seen a few more examples just like this.
 
rodr said:
When my ride handles freeway speeds comfortably I don't see the point in more displacement. Less weight is better than more torque.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your perspective and would agree. However, the key word here is "comfortably" and the definition can be vastly different among riders. Just sayin'...
 
I did not like the fatigue from vibration and shifting of small bore, but I did like the easily correctable lines and turn-in, so I like the Zero S platform and it's 55.5" wheelbase on 414 lbs that feels like 350 lbs and is always in the powerband.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top