frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted August 19, 2002 07:34 PM
did a little cheatin this weekend
on my bike that is. i'v ridden VERY few bikes in my time. but this weekend i got 2 ride 3 different bikes. all surprised me quite a bit.
2 of the were very kindly entrusted to me by our very own zx23rr who had a harley trailer w 3 demo bikes set up at sportbikewest. honestly the sportster & other cruiser didnt interest me too much, but i was a little intrigued w the buell (cyclone m2 i think?). frankly i'm amazed he let me take it w my bike in the condition it is  suffice it to say it was different! when the thing idles, u'd swear it's gonna fly apart any second. but once u get moving, it really smooths out to a pleasant rumble. u feel a good amount of vibration commin thru the bars but the pegs feel like solid ground. much less vibration than on my 12. steering is super quick esp at low speeds, and lock to lock is pretyt damn short, which leads to interesting laurel and hardy type antics till u get used to it. but once again, once under way the steering is pretty stable and felt good. certainly not as stable in the corners as the 12 (well duh), but better than i expected. the thing had a surprising kick to it too! zx23rr spoke of about 80hp, and that was prolly only 70 w the altitude & air, but it still had way more pep than i anticipated. really linear, yet revved better than i thought it would. really comfy, altho i guess thats not surprising. i could ride the thing all day. sound: damn it sounded sweet! had a v&h pipe on dere and it just had a beautiful sound. the biggest surprise tho was the weight. ~430lbs dry, but it felt way lighter. apparently that whole buell philosophy about centering the weight down low really pays off. damn near felt like a bicycle. oh yeah, i was amazed at the amount of wind protection off that tiny fairing thingie too.
second ride was also from zx23rr, he let me ride his baby: zx11c. this thing rocked. perfect carburation trully made for electric power. absolutely none of the abruptness of the 12. had about the same power too. revved better and more contentedly than the 12 i thought. tracked better in the corners than the 12 and seemed more willing to fall into a turn. cant decide if i got a bum 12 or this is just one kick ass 11!
finally, got to ride an 01 rc51 fer a little bit on the way to the rally. unfortunately it was on a fairly straight stretch so i didnt really get to appreciate it's cornering prowess much, but what little of it's abilities i did glimpse was incredible! as soon as i got on the thing, i felt like i was unicycling the front wheel. i coulda swore my face was infront leading the front wheel. that thing just falls into turns and stays there, beggin u to go faster & lean more. power was pretty damn ncie & pretty linear as expected, but certainly not as abundant as the 12. but it was very useable. didnt threaten to kick out the back wheel all the time like the 12, it just puts more power down & gets u goin faster. thing feels (and is) tiny, and i'm amazed it's not lighter than it's 430lbs dry. felt like gettin on a bicycle. wind protection was better than i expected. thing is surprisingly fast in the straights. i didnt try to max it out at all, but i was ridin w 3 rc's half of the trip and we were fairly evenly matched in the straights. i would catch up, but it was always too late to pass so i had to back off. certainly not a match fer the 12, but far closer than the numbers told me. i wouldnt mind havin one a those things.
one thing all these demos really taught me is that every bike has it's point. as i said to zx23rr, people who poo-poo this bike or that (seriously, not jokingly) really dont have a clue. yeah this or that bike may not do so and so well, but it also has something other bikes just dont have. often it just ends up being style or visceral appeal, but that is after all a valid characteristic and if that's what u look for, more power to u. i tell ya, if i could have 1 of each *cough*c.dolan*cough*, i definitely would.
oh yeah, thx zx23rr! that was very cool of u.
   
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eddynasty
Novice Class
Posts: 89
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posted August 19, 2002 07:41 PM
Hey FrEEK..I'd like to have the opportunity to ride the RC51. I have rode the Buell & it doesn't excite me but agree the sound is nice. In any event a guy that lets you ride his machines has to be GOOD PEOPLE.
The ZX12R 02 is the only bike that I have ever owned that I won't let my best friend ride. I love this 12 with a passion  !.
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted August 19, 2002 07:47 PM
hehe, i let just about everyone ride my 12. i'm jsut hopin someone will crash it so's i can get a new one  i let one of the people i rode up with (female, tall enough but VERY slim) ride it thru deep dirt (akin to sand) with a pillion. we (myself & the bf's of the 2 on my bike) were all standin there tellin each other how they were gonna dump it before they got to their destination about 200ft away. but she showed us all, cause she didnt bail. gotta love a woman who can comfortably ride a non-lowered 12! MAN those r some long legs
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Zx23rr
Expert Class
Mahogany Bomber Pilot
Posts: 242
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posted August 19, 2002 10:12 PM
you are welcome frEEK. I still think this is the best weekend of the year. With lots of stories and incidents. It's the weekend when lots of riders ride the sticky part of the envelope flap. I just make sure mine is still sticky. LOL.
As for the handling, have you set yours up? How old or square are your tires? Anytime you are in town, visit me at the Delta store. As of November we'll be in a new store in Langley.
Later.................................................../
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted August 19, 2002 10:38 PM
my bike is partly setup, but not using values that are necessarily tailored to me. i adjusted to the suspecsion specs fish has posted many times and had verified by the experts at suspecion dynamics (i think). turns out their settings were almost exactly 1 click harder on everything that i had. cept my preload on the rear is still way low. but i think i prefer everything (particularly preload) backed off just a touch cause it's too damn unfomy on the road otherwise. tires r ok, i never get that serious V thing happening cause i seem to wear them fairly even, but fortunately i havent been wearing this pair down all in the middle like my previous sets i'm runnin 010's right now & so far i'm likin em pretty good. they definitely seem to b wearin better than the 207's even tho i'v run this pair much harder.
i'll definitely try to stop by the store. did ya get out on a good ride on sat? & how was the ride back on sun? man, i was hopin to catch u sun mornin, even got up early to make sure, but i hjust missed ya while foldin my tent. i wanted to get u to sign the banner. well, i'll have ta get u to do that next time it's in vancouver.
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Zx23rr
Expert Class
Mahogany Bomber Pilot
Posts: 242
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posted August 20, 2002 03:17 PM
I have just put the Sport-tec M1's on the Zx-12r. SWEET donuts. Find the feed back very nice. Can go into corners alot hotter, change lines and brake etc. etc. with alot more confidence to boot.
The Zx-11(r) you rode had brand new D207's that I won at SBW 1998 hp shoot-out. They felt like the M-1's on the Zx-12r as far as feed back etc.
Go Figure.
I am sure the M-1's if installed on the 11 would be awesome.
I have always had good luck with Metzeler's. To bad you didn't pull the trigger on the 11!
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted August 20, 2002 04:51 PM
hehe, i wouldnt dare. if i managed to wad ur baby...well, ur bigger than me
i wanted to go the M1 route, but they'r more $$, backordered, and sounds like they dont wear fantastic. basically i wanted to go as cheap as possible without going to sport-touring tires. & i'v been fairly happy w the 010s, so i cant complain. i'd wanna do more setup work on the bike before i'd throw on stickier tires anyhow, cause right now my bodywork keeps bumpin uglies w the pavement. if i push the bike any harder, i'm afraid i'll unweight the rubber & lowside. guess i gotta tighten the preload on the rear some to help it stay higher. bah, i dont really wanna run that hard on the street anyhow.
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Zx23rr
Expert Class
Mahogany Bomber Pilot
Posts: 242
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posted August 20, 2002 05:12 PM
frEEK, try lowering the tubes 7mm. It helps a lot!!!
Frank
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