inspired by another recent thread, I thought to post this little tid-bit I wrote on a local forum here in cincinnati. I did a little "experiment" because one should really experience something before one draws a conclusion about it. Sorry for any grammar errors, and yes it is just my humble opinion.
1800 Miles and 4 Days of Riding, that was the final tally. To some it’s 2 months worth of riding, and to the iron butt clan it is a mere warm up session. To me, on a Yamaha Roadstar Silverado 1600 it is an eternity. I was taught a painful lesson during those 4 days in early April, something that I knew but had to experience for myself before I really could believe it. Quite simply, the bike DOES matter. I can truly say that I went into this experiment with an open mind and full of hope, looking forward to a great ride and some serious seat time. I had some preconceived notions about the limitations of a cruiser, and was willing to deal with them for the sake of just getting out on two wheels. I planned to bump my usual pace down quite a few notches, and just “enjoy the ride.” Friends, I’m here to tell you that unless you are tooling down to the local Sonic to grab a burger with your buds there is no amount of time worth wasting on anything with 2 cylinders, saddlebags, and over 800lbs of mass. My time spent with friends was a great success, but every moment spent in the saddle was a disaster. I would have never, ever fathomed that I would come to dread a 30mph “twisty road ahead” sign. I did.
The plan was, in a nutshell, Cincinnati to St Louis and then south through the back roads to Mt Home Arkansas. That would be our base camp and we would branch out and ride the curvy roads and just enjoy the scenery. (I came back with the feeling that there is more scenery in Aisle 8 at Wal-Mart than there is in Arkansas. That place is pretty plain.) Anyways, so all total there was about 1000 miles of Interstate riding and 800 miles of twisties, which made for a nice mix of roads. Let me say once again that I’m a pretty hard-core sport biker, but I had the idea that being on 2 wheels is all that mattered so I went into this with a really open mind. I was prepared to accept the shortcomings of the cruiser. Little did I know how much I would have to accept.
Quite simply, the thing is a gigantic pig. It does almost ABSOLUTELY nothing well. Hmm, ok I take that back. On the highway the fact that I got to sit straight up and down behind a large windscreen was ok as far as comfort goes. I mean, you’d think that is where it would shine. Not the case. Above 70mph the thing has to build up steam just to pass somebodys mom in their mini-van. Not to mention the mind numbing vibration that is continuous. There was some cross winds coming back from St Louis, and Eric on his St 1100 was getting tossed around pretty good. I might as well have been nailed to the road; the low stance and excessive weight of the cruiser foiled the wind. So, I guess it does a couple things well. Chalk those up as kudos for the big pig.
Now let’s talk twisties. Everything from long lazy sweepers to tight 10mph switchbacks. Again, I was content to putt along at a steady pace and soak up the road. I did want a little excitement though, so naturally I thought just barley stepping it up would be acceptable. I’ve been behind guys on cruisers at Deals Gap and other places and wondered why they were so slow. Where they towing a boat anchor or was one of their brakes locked up? I now know why, they HAVE to go slow. Anything beyond a slow drone on these bikes could induce violent shaking, floorboard scraping, running wide results. People, I’m talking about having cars in front of me on the twisties and just barely being able to keep their pace. I’m talking about no brakes, no suspension, and a serious workout from tossing that thing on its side over and over again. I WAS not trying to push this thing, as a matter of fact Eric and I had an understanding that I would link up with him every 10 miles or so. That’s how slow I had to go just to make it manageable to ride the thing. I’m not about ending up in a ditch or guardrail, so I finally accepted that there would be no “fun” on this trip and just rode the thing. I had to go so slow that almost every turn became straight. That’s riding about the speed limit. If the turn says 30mph, I’d probably do 30 to 40mph. Hideous…a travesty……a crime.
Now lets take a look at the other aspect. How about the time when I wasn’t on the bike? Well, I was quite simply an outcast. I wasn’t old enough to fit in with the “distinguished” cruiser crowd. I obviously didn’t fit in with the sport bike crowd nor did I get any love from the dualsport/sport touring crowd. Eric and I pulled in to our hotel in AR and there was a group of 3 guys. 2 had BMW’s and one was on an FJR I believe. They spoke to Eric, but in an off handed way asked me to park the cruiser on the other side of the lot, so as not to embarrass their bikes. Sure, they were joking but the sentiment was there. When I told them it was my dad’s bike and about my experiment, one of them replied, “so, have you learned your lesson?” Yes I had. Don’t get this twisted, I could really care less who or what crowd I fit into. Probably 80% of the time I’m either riding alone or with just one friend anyways. But…..to see the reactions that I got while on the pig was an eye opening experience. “It’s not what you ride, but that you ride” couldn’t be more false.
So what’s the ruling? Well, I asked for it. Cruisers have their place on the road, but just not under me. I hold nothing against those that ride them nor will I ever. I can say that I have truly gotten to see just how limited these bikes are, and for anyone remotely interested in any version of a “spirited” ride I encourage you to shy away from these bikes. They were built to “cruise” and for that purpose I’m sure they are well suited.
I’m sure some of you will still have to impression that I tried to mount this thing and immediately drag knees and that’s why I’m pissed. Trust me, that was not the case. I was looking for just a little more from this beast, just enough to make it interesting. Alas, it had nothing to give. Am I disappointed? Sure I am, but I now know. And like they used to say at the end of every GI Joe episode: “Knowing is half the battle.”
PS:
For those of you that would still stick to “it’s the rider not the bike” I say this to you: You could put Valentino Rossi himself on that roadstar and any decent rider on a Ninja 250 could leave him in the dust. It is the rider and not the bike, if we are talking apples and apples. (i.e.: expert on SV650 vs N00b on G1k) However, it’s not an all encompassing theory.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phil77 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The plan was, in a nutshell, Cincinnati to St Louis and then south through the back roads to Mt Home Arkansas. That would be our base camp and we would branch out and ride the curvy roads and just enjoy the scenery. (I came back with the feeling that there is more scenery in Aisle 8 at Wal-Mart than there is in Arkansas. That place is pretty plain.) </TD></TR></TABLE>
How in God's name did you get to Mountain Home, ride anywhere from there, and end up thinking that Arkansas roads are anything other than the best motorcycling roads in the world? Arkansas state route 341 is spitting distance from Mountain Home. So is scenic byway 8, the pig trail, and more other fantastic roads than I can even remember. You could ride them all in a day starting and ending in Mountain Home.
I weep for your misfortune... so close to God's own motorcycle playground, and you didn't even know it.
Or maybe that cruiser sucked so much you were unable to appreciate what Arkansas has to offer for real motorcycles.
I rode everything that you speak of. I'm not sure how long its been since you've been there, but 341 was tore up half way. I rode the pig trail, 123, and some more stuff. I used to live in Oklahoma and had ridden those roads before when I used to own an R1. However, you were correct in your assumption. "the cruiser sucked SO MUCH you were unable..."
Still yet, those roads arent any better than what Ky has to offer, and both of those places pale in comparison to what TN/NC and northern Georgia have to offer...
Makes me all the more happy I bought my FJR. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a cruiser or a touring bike (at least 'til I'm about 60). You can cover some serious ground on it, cruise through town on it, or flog the shit out of it on twisty roads. All that, and you can honk some hellacious wheelies on it, too!
Servicing ALL of those cruiser bikes is a nightmare, too. All of the chrome plastic pieces and shiny metal decorative crap you have to remove just to get to the REAL working parts of the engine. Then there is the inevitable hassle of removing a rear wheel. Pulling exhaust components to access the axle nut and getting a heavy, pig of a bike high enough in the air to get the rear tire out from under the fender, for example. I'd really like to cut a 73 Buick LeSabre in half lengthwise and sell it as a custom cruiser for big $$. Sportbikes are gravy to work on, once the bodywork is removed.
I feel your pain. I live in Fort Worth Texas and each year I take a weekend trip or two up to Arkansas to enjoy the incredible roads. Having made the trip on sportbikes I made the mistake of opting for the comfort of a Road King. I too was lured by the "hey, I'll just cruise" approach. I quickly learned why all those Harley riders I had seen on previous trips were holding up traffic on the mountain roads. First mountain road I approached I made a conscious effort to cut my speed to way way below sport bike speeds but before I knew it sparks were flying and the rear end was jacked off the ground as the floor boards tore up chunks of pavement. Those speed limit signs which on a sport bike meant x2 or +20 meant -10. Each and every road sign with a squigly line tormented and mocked me. At least I was never at risk of getting a ticket.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AZ Scott »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... honk some hellacious wheelies...</TD></TR></TABLE>
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