Bikers Korner...........

I've been thinking about getting one of those Honda 250 Nighthawks. Is a 250 sturdy enough to do a LA to SF road trip? I don't mean theoretically, I mean realistically--riding with some degree of comfort and not having my brain vibrated into pudding.
 
I've been thinking about getting one of those Honda 250 Nighthawks. Is a 250 sturdy enough to do a LA to SF road trip? I don't mean theoretically, I mean realistically--riding with some degree of comfort and not having my brain vibrated into pudding.
hell i use to go down the 1 from Monterey to San Diego on my 380 Suzi back in the 80s
 
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BFMC Dulzura run june 2008

Wow, two of my favorite things: a beautiful girl and a Quanson hut. What's the story on that thing? Someone living in it?

You can practically hear "Get off of my cloud" playing in this pic: http://groups.msn.com/BrothersoftheNam/jerrysphotos.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3810
 
it was the outside of a bar in Dulzura san diego...as for the song i'd prefer "let's spend the nite together"
 
I've been thinking about getting one of those Honda 250 Nighthawks. Is a 250 sturdy enough to do a LA to SF road trip? I don't mean theoretically, I mean realistically--riding with some degree of comfort and not having my brain vibrated into pudding.

Well, it sure wouldn't be my choice.
 
Why? do they suck?

For what it is, no, a decent typical 250cc bike does not suck.

On the other hand, if your aim is to ride 350 miles in something resembling comfort without the pudding-brain effect, a 250cc model is not likely to live up to your expectations.
 
For what it is, no, a decent typical 250cc bike does not suck.

On the other hand, if your aim is to ride 350 miles in something resembling comfort without the pudding-brain effect, a 250cc model is not likely to live up to your expectations.

So how big do you go?
 
So how big do you go?

resists easy smartass remark

My first bike was a 450 which was adequate for riding around Los Angeles and on freeways; the longest daily commute I did on the Suzuki was about 25 miles or so.

Second, third and fourth bikes were/are a 1000 (R100GS), an 1100 (R1100S) and a 1150 (R1150GS, my present mount). The R100 was the first bike I used for long-distance riding; being designed for the purpose it was always a good experience. The R1100 certainly had the oomph, but being a sport bike would have gotten very uncomfortable after the first 100 miles, or so. And the R1150 is once again an enduro bike; last trip I took was a 450-mile loop out to Slab City, and back.

The main trouble with using smaller bikes for long-range travel, is their handling at speed, their suspension travel and their seating position, which (at least for someone my size) add up to discomfort and really nasty fatigue (which is very hazardous) on any trip longer than about 100 miles.

I expect that someone much smaller/lighter/differently built, from me, might be fine taking a smaller bike on a long-distance ride. But if I were choosing a new bike, I wouldn't look at sport bikes for the purpose, and probably not at anything much lighter than a 450 or 600cc bike, while I was at it.
 
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Update:

Regarding the motorcycle accident I was in a few weeks ago...

I got a letter in the mail today from my insurance agency (Progressive) and, according to the accident investigation, it was determined that the fault of the accident was 100% the other vehicle.

What a relief, since the deductible on the policy is $1000. :)
 
Update:

Regarding the motorcycle accident I was in a few weeks ago...

I got a letter in the mail today from my insurance agency (Progressive) and, according to the accident investigation, it was determined that the fault of the accident was 100% the other vehicle.

What a relief, since the deductible on the policy is $1000. :)

Good for you. I wish you a speedy recovery!
 
Progressive cut me a check for 2500 bucks for damages. They're fixing everything on the left side, since that's where it landed, but the right side will still have a scuff mark or 2. No big deal though. I'll probably change out the minor stuff on the right side that wasn't accident related. It fell over on the right side once due to me parking it on an incline.

I still have a bruised rib from the ordeal and that's going to take a while to get better...
 
My wife rides a Moto Guzzi 750 Nevada which we took in for service a couple of days ago. On the way back I activated my SpotTracker, and you can see the result here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?&glId=02hOskILGaYXegKG2jc0F000Z5hk0M8yG

It will probably stay up for a few days longer.

I ride a BMW R1200RT that I'm slowly adding farkles to. Headlight HID conversion is next on the agenda. But I don't get to ride as much as I want; time is always short. My longest ride was from home to Duluth, but the first segment of that was my first official Iron Butt ride: Ocala - Daytona Beach - Cameron, WI in less than 35 hours. And I loved every minute :)

We picked up the Moto Guzzi today and took a nice little loop around a couple of counties on the way home. Unfortunately I didn't think of activating the tracker. (Stupid of me since it doesn't cost anything extra to turn it on.)

I'll try to dig out some pictures one of these days...
 
Networker only lives a few miles from my parents. Him and his wife are very good friends with my parents, actually. I didn't tell him about this place and had no idea he was interested in filmmaking. Small world... :)
 
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