Motorcycle discussion

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Have any of you ridden a Ducati Scrambler? I've had interest in them since they came out. And then I saw the new Cafe Racer model that's coming out (silver and blue below) and I fell in love.

I think the Scrambler would be a fun play bike that's a blank canvas for customization. I'd be worried it wouldn't have enough power for me and then I'd quickly get bored with it. I also really can't justify the $10K price tag either. But there are some lightly used 2016 Scrambler Icons locally for under $7K.

The stupid license plate mount would be the first thing to go for me.

$15k in India. Honestly an overly priced bimbo. Seat height at 790mm is too low. Wannabe offroader.

I would rather go with Yamaha Tenere T7.

[hpiguy]

Three different bikes, all for different needs. Personally, I hate offroad on anything that is trying to pass itself off as a dirtbike unless it's a supermoto. Reason being, all those wannabe offroad bikes are about 200lbs too heavy for any real offroad stuff other than gravel roads. For off road, give me a KTM 300EXC two stroke, and you can plate that in the US, and has electric start.

For a weekend toy, cafe bikes are cool looking. But unless you're hauling ass through the twisties, the riding position will suck in about 30 minutes.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

$15k in India. Honestly an overly priced bimbo. Seat height at 790mm is too low. Wannabe offroader.

I would rather go with Yamaha Tenere T7.

Ducati doesn't claim the Scrambler is an off-road bike.

Originally Posted by hpiguy

Three different bikes, all for different needs. Personally, I hate offroad on anything that is trying to pass itself off as a dirtbike unless it's a supermoto. Reason being, all those wannabe offroad bikes are about 200lbs too heavy for any real offroad stuff other than gravel roads. For off road, give me a KTM 300EXC two stroke, and you can plate that in the US, and has electric start.

For a weekend toy, cafe bikes are cool looking. But unless you're hauling ass through the twisties, the riding position will suck in about 30 minutes.

If I wasn't a short **** I'd be all over a dual sport or supermoto! And 2 strokes for life! So glad they are making a comeback at least in pop culture. The Red Bull Straight Rhythm that just ran this weekend was 2 strokes only (except the one electric POS).

But I spend 99% of the time on-road with my bikes. The Scrambler is would be no different.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Ducati doesn't claim the Scrambler is an off-road bike.

The way their indirect advertising campaign is designed, it shouts loudly as an offroad come street bike. They show it powersliding through the woods with knoby tires.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

The way their indirect advertising campaign is designed, it shouts loudly as an offroad come street bike. They show it powersliding through the woods with knoby tires.

Fair enough, but any motorcycle I've ever ridden can do dirt roads - even sport bikes with street tires. It's not like they're navigating rocks and jumping doubles in the Ducati promo pics that I've seen.

I will say the Desert Sled has more suspension travel and an off-road mode to disable the ABS. But I'd agree that they are too heavy for real off-roading.

[hpiguy]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

The way their indirect advertising campaign is designed, it shouts loudly as an offroad come street bike. They show it powersliding through the woods with knoby tires.

If you believe everything you see in advertising campaigns, I have some bad news for you.

[JatoTheRipper]

I went to checkout this beauty last night. I found it online and figured I'd go check it out. It just so happened that my girlfriend wanted to look for shoes last night so I suggested we head over to where this shop exists.

The bike is owned by a wealthy retired guy that apparently buys a lot of bikes, has them customized to his liking. This bike has what looks like every Rizoma option in their catalog - handlebars, gauge relocation bracket, turn signals, bar end mirrors (not a fan), airbox cover ($500 alone), oil cooler covers and a custom SC-Project exhaust. He liked the full, low-mount exhaust, but didn't like the slip-on that came with it so he bought another one and had it modified to fit the pipes and still mount up where it was supposed to. It looks well done. Pristine bike. Sounds great. It also fits me pretty well and it's so light compared to my Buell. It's about $1,000 over KBB, but it easily has over $3,000 of mods that I like.

My girlfriend and I would probably get a "divorce" if I buy the bike since she's been asking for a ring for years, but it's probably worth it.

Time to think about it.

[wings_of_fire]

Red and Black combo always looks superb.

[wings_of_fire]

Dakar bikes

[JatoTheRipper]

I went motorcycle shopping this weekend. I looked at more Scramblers, but I fell back in love with the Grom!

Anyway, Ducati announced the new Panigale V4 R. It doesn't look nearly as sexy, in my opinion, as some of the other Ducs, but it has 221 horsepower at 15,250 rpm, and 82 ft/lbs of torque at 11,500 rpm out of the box!!! Put on the Ducati Performance exhaust (made by Akrapovic) and you'll get 234 horsepower at 15,500 rpm!!! Oh and it has a claimed dry weight of 379 pounds dry. This thing should be scary fast. Judging by the V4 S I saw at a local dealership this weekend for around $26,000, get our your checkbooks because the V4 R will surely cost more than $30,000.

[JatoTheRipper]

And the video of the Ducati Panagale V4 R.

[hpiguy]

The last gen Panigale stickered around $80k if memory serves. If you want the closest thing you can get to a Moto GP bike with a tag holder, there's a price to be paid for that. Luckily for us, most manufacturers have significantly narrowed the gap between uber rare bikes like the Panigale, and the average liter bike. Aprilia in particular comes to mind. I'd do bad things for a new Aprilia Tuono Factory naked bike. Same engine as the RSV4, but with a more upright dirt bike esque seating position for maximum hoonanigans.

I miss it, but I'm just not willing to set aside the budget for a bike anymore. $2-3k in tires alone gets out of hand over the course of one riding season.

[wings_of_fire]

What kind of evil marketing strategy are auto makers using?
This is madness!

[hpiguy]

That's only for the new Tenere 700, the Super Tenere 1200 has been here for a few years.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

That's only for the new Tenere 700, the Super Tenere 1200 has been here for a few years.

Yes it has. Super Tenere 1200 is a pure adventure tourer, while the Tenere T7 is an offroader which can be used as a tourer. T7's Dakar look is a lot appealing for me and it seems like a fun bike to have.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

The last gen Panigale stickered around $80k if memory serves. If you want the closest thing you can get to a Moto GP bike with a tag holder, there's a price to be paid for that. Luckily for us, most manufacturers have significantly narrowed the gap between uber rare bikes like the Panigale, and the average liter bike. Aprilia in particular comes to mind. I'd do bad things for a new Aprilia Tuono Factory naked bike. Same engine as the RSV4, but with a more upright dirt bike esque seating position for maximum hoonanigans.

I miss it, but I'm just not willing to set aside the budget for a bike anymore. $2-3k in tires alone gets out of hand over the course of one riding season.

I'm not sure which Panigale stickered for $80K! Was it a track-only version?
I've never seen one that expensive, but to be fair I also fell off the motorcycle news wagon for a while. This new, street legal V4 R flavor is $39,995. Cycle World had the price last night. Crazy, but I saw a freaking Harley this weekend for $44,700. At least the Ducati has cutting edge technology instead of technology akin to a hammer.

But that's far too much bike for the street. You'd get in trouble in 1st gear. The older I get the more I realized riding slow bikes at a fast past is more fun than fighting a bike that's way too much for my skills!

I have no idea how you burned through $2k to $3k tires in one season! How many miles did you ride?

[hpiguy]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'm not sure which Panigale stickered for $80K! Was it a track-only version?
I've never seen one that expensive, but to be fair I also fell off the motorcycle news wagon for a while. This new, street legal V4 R flavor is $39,995. Cycle World had the price last night. Crazy, but I saw a freaking Harley this weekend for $44,700. At least the Ducati has cutting edge technology instead of technology akin to a hammer.

But that's far too much bike for the street. You'd get in trouble in 1st gear. The older I get the more I realized riding slow bikes at a fast past is more fun than fighting a bike that's way too much for my skills!

I have no idea how you burned through $2k to $3k tires in one season! How many miles did you ride?

Could have been, could have been bidding wars on an uber rare model, or I could just be wrong.

That's exactly why I had the supermoto. It's much more fun riding a slow bike fast than vice versa.

Riding that slow bike fast, that's how. Seriously though, our rough pavement is not kind to tires, especially DOT race tires, but it is grippy though. Every 1,000-1,200 miles was a complete set of tires and an oil change. That was usually three or four weekends worth of riding.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

Could have been, could have been bidding wars on an uber rare model, or I could just be wrong.

That's exactly why I had the supermoto. It's much more fun riding a slow bike fast than vice versa.

Riding that slow bike fast, that's how. Seriously though, our rough pavement is not kind to tires, especially DOT race tires, but it is grippy though. Every 1,000-1,200 miles was a complete set of tires and an oil change. That was usually three or four weekends worth of riding.

Ah race tires. Well if you wanna play on pencil erasers you gotta pay!

[hpiguy]

I wanted all the grip I could get, and without breaking the law and running full slicks, DOT race tires (Bridgestone BT-003RS specifically) was the best I could get. That bike was a toy only for me, it was purely for fun and excitement. I had a lot of fun for quite a few years. Bike had 23,000 miles on it when I sold it, was on the 17th set of tires I think. LOL

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

I wanted all the grip I could get, and without breaking the law and running full slicks, DOT race tires (Bridgestone BT-003RS specifically) was the best I could get. That bike was a toy only for me, it was purely for fun and excitement. I had a lot of fun for quite a few years. Bike had 23,000 miles on it when I sold it, was on the 17th set of tires I think. LOL

That's awesome! I wish I lived closer to NJMP because I'd ride or race their Mini GP!

Ducati also announced an e-mtb. That might be more along your liking since I know you're into mounting biking. Apparently it's a Thok (odd, but cool name) bike. It's a good looking bike, but I'm guessing it'll be around $10K.