This thread is for motorcycle enthusiasts, as well as bicycle ones.
12 Incredible Roads Every Motorcyclist Should Ride In Their Lifetime
12 Incredible Roads Every Motorcyclist Should Ride In Their Lifetime
Bikers
- Thread starter blunthead
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Neil Peart has probably been on them all.
My bike is like this, a 1993 Yamaha Virago XV750. Mine's silver-gray in color...
Wellllll.... first of all, you have to be able to get your bike to these places. And most "bikers" aren't long-haul over-the-road bikers. They cruise around town, they dash around campus, they go for little outings, and they might go to towns an hour or two away, but they're not going to bike for days. And that's fine, because they're using their own scooters in a way that makes them happy.
I have to say, I have ridden a few of those roads that they have, but for my money, nothing beats the stretch of road from Laporte, Colorado, up Highway 34 and the Poudre Canyon, up into North Park, turning on US 40 to go past Rabbit Ears Pass, and down into Steamboat Springs. There's multiple tight turns, there's long stretches of empty open roads, and the scenery is wonderful.
My favorite ride, and we did the Steamboat thing.
I have to say, I have ridden a few of those roads that they have, but for my money, nothing beats the stretch of road from Laporte, Colorado, up Highway 34 and the Poudre Canyon, up into North Park, turning on US 40 to go past Rabbit Ears Pass, and down into Steamboat Springs. There's multiple tight turns, there's long stretches of empty open roads, and the scenery is wonderful.
My favorite ride, and we did the Steamboat thing.
In my colorful group of family and friends, there are quite a few bikers of the motor variety. All say Harleys are fine for showing off around town, but break down too often for long distance--lol. They stick with Yamaha or Kawasaki for the long hauls. 
I gave up motor bikes for non-motor variety when I had kids. Those rides look incredible!
I gave up motor bikes for non-motor variety when I had kids. Those rides look incredible!
OIC. Never been a Rush man, myself. Peart-ignorant.
I could've looked him up.
I had a Virago 535 just like this one for a long time. I finally sold it after it'd sat for too long unridden. Ultimately, it was too small for me anyway - I needed a bigger bike 'cause my legs are kinda long...
In my colorful group of family and friends, there are quite a few bikers of the motor variety. All say Harleys are fine for showing off around town, but break down too often for long distance--lol. They stick with Yamaha or Kawasaki for the long hauls.
My line is: You ride Japanese and German bikes for what they do; you ride Harleys for how they make you feel.
With due respect to Yamaha and Kawasaki and Suzuki, the best long-haul bikes are by BMW, with their quiet and powerful sport tourers, and Honda, with the definitive touring bike, the Gold Wing, at the top of the line. (Notice: I've been a Honda guy. The bike I have pictured was my ST1300 sport tourer. I don't know what its top speed was, because I gave up at 120, and there was plenty to spare. Don't tell Grandma.)
I first got interested in motorcycles when I was in high school where I noticed a couple guys riding Hondas like these...
...only I think they were 650s. I think I've never gotten over that infatuation, which I think influences to this day my preference in terms of design; the sweeping tailpipes, mostly. So, I dig the Viragos, which are the most beautifully designed bikes ever. If a bike looks right to me, as long as it runs half good, I'm happy to own it and ride it.
...only I think they were 650s. I think I've never gotten over that infatuation, which I think influences to this day my preference in terms of design; the sweeping tailpipes, mostly. So, I dig the Viragos, which are the most beautifully designed bikes ever. If a bike looks right to me, as long as it runs half good, I'm happy to own it and ride it.
Thank you--I couldn't remember who made the Gold Wing
That's what I meant (thought it was Kawasaki--can you tell I'm not much of a motorcycle guy? lol).I first got interested in motorcycles when I was in high school where I noticed a couple guys riding Hondas like these...
...only I think they were 650s. I think I've never gotten over that infatuation, which I think influences to this day my preference in terms of design; the sweeping tailpipes, mostly. So, I dig the Viragos, which are the most beautifully designed bikes ever. If a bike looks right to me, as long as it runs half good, I'm happy to own it and ride it.
Okay, I'm gonna geek out on you here a little.
That indeed was the Honda 450, a revolutionary bike for its time with double overhead cams. The reason you may be thinking it's a 650 is because the 450 was placed in direct competition against the Triumph Bonneville 650 and the BSA 650. I believe that later on, Yamaha's first four-stroke engine was a 650, again to be in this class of competition.
And those were the "big performance bikes" of the time, along with the Harley Sportster, until the release of the Honda 750 shocked the motorcycling world and set a whole new standard.
The 450 you have pictured here was a marketing scheme that Honda had with its street bikes from 100 cc up to 450 cc - take their street bike baseline, put a different tank on it, raise the pipes, maybe a different-sized sprocket, and call it a "scrambler" with a facade of dual purpose. But it was really a street bike with a dirt bike cap.
/geek
I don't know much about Motorcycles but my man has a Harley and he takes me for a ride on it sometimes which i love doing.
Thanx for the geek. I remember distinctly when the 550s came out...
...then the 750...
...a style which I couldn't appreciate, certainly due to a bias for what I already loved. I didn't own a bike at all til I finally bought a 350 ages later.
Oh, gosh, I don't want to make this a brouhaha over bike geekdom. But the Honda CB750 Four came out in 1969, and the Honda CB550 Four came out in 1974, and was an evolution from the Honda CB500 Four which came out in 1971, I think, as a result of the astounding success of the pioneering 750.
Another iteration was the Honda CB400 four-cylinder "cafe racer," of which I was a proud owner back in 1976.
And then much later, I bought a 750 after all. But it was the 750 Nighthawk, a couple generations away from the CB750 Four, but sharing the same pedigree.
ETA: By the way, the 550 Four was a wonderful bike. I preferred it to the 750 Four. It was one of the best handlers for its time.
Oh, I have been misremembering then. Logic can do that; 550 should have come before 750.
Indeed.
Here's how it went. Honda had its "big" bike, the 450 double overhead cam. At that point, the other four-stroke builders were still doing pushrods. Honda had overhead cam engines, and now here was a double overhead.
And while the 450 was competitive with the 650s, Honda was in the competition to dominate. They decided to come out with a four-cylinder, double-overhead cam, disc-brake bike, which technologically was a different planet than everyone else. Honda had multicylinder experience from its Grand Prix days. Rather than step up the competition by starting small and work up, they plunged the 750 Four into the motorcycling world to take the field.
And indeed, the 750 Four was a game-changer. Almost every Japanese road bike you see now that's 700 cc's and up has the 750 Four's DNA in it. Heck, after a while, even Harley had to start putting disc brakes on their bikes.
Fascinating. I had a Suzuki 550, maybe it was a 1980, probably looked like this...
It was fast. I had to sell it when I moved from Louisiana in 1983.