The big motards put slicks on half the time too.
I don’t see the merit in that but
whadda I know?
I think “motard” was a term coined by either BMW or KTM to describe the (then) new breed of “adventure motorcycles” that were becoming all the rage. I looked at them and even did a 1000cc V-Strom for awhile but they turned me right off. They’re pigs on the road and worse in the dirt! In the dirt you want to be light and nimble. On the road you want to be low and stable. The new motards looked awesome… but they were a hybrid that took the worst attributes of the street bikes, the worst of the trail bikes…and combined them into one big POS. I hated them…but their owners loved them. To each their own… but for my money, that kind of riding was best done on the old school midweight enduros. The classic 650 XL, DR, and KLRs come to mind.
But I suppose if you are out to impress the young bubblegummers… being a motard is better than being a retard.
Sorry, I'm confused, why are you talking about motorcycles? Was there a motorcycle somewhere in the picture, cause I didn't see one?
ReplyDeleteMy big push was as you stated in the old school enduros . Outrun the city cops and then go out to the country roads to smoke the country bois . I had a 500 Honda the cops put a reward out on . They hated that bike and the unknown beer drinking fool that rode it with a 6 pack strapped on the back seat . Ahhhhh! The good old days !
ReplyDeleteAgree. Had a Yamaha 660, off road gearing. looked cool but so many gears to get up a bit of speed. The only good bit was going round long corners where even slight lean felt like a superbike on a corner.
ReplyDeleteDat assssssss!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePretty good, but an ass that big needs a saddle on it.
DeleteJust go ahead and admit it, Glen. You just wanna be reincarnated as the seat on that gal's bike. I don't fault ya for it.
ReplyDeleteA bud has a Real Tree mini-bike that brings all the chicks to the yard.
ReplyDeleteMy HS bud had a bigh white Husqvarna 2 ccycle dirt bike. I remember it being a HOSS! We rode the Canadian river in north Texas. Just idling along, it would push little piles of dirt up. Every time the engine hit, it would spin the back tire. And when he hit it, it was right there. NO lag.
ReplyDeleteI think I was on a 500 or 650 Honda XL, borrowed from another friend. It about killed me. The compression release was broken, and it kicked me harder than I kicked it. My leg was purple from my knee to my ankle after that trip. My last big foray into dirt bike riding. I was whipped after that trip.
Wot? What’s this, then? How is it that every time I present a scholarly lecture, the comments fill up with dirty old horn-toads and pervs? Move along, you lot!!! This isn’t du Toit’s place!!!
ReplyDelete😡
For shame, you filthy pervs!!!
I remember back in the early 2000s the Kawasaki KLR 650 Dual Sport was gaining a lot of attention. Road or offroad, a lot of long distance vacationers raved about them.
ReplyDeleteThe KLR was gaining fans long before that! (It came out in the 80’s, didn’t it?) It has an absolutely bulletproof engine, is super reliable and comfortable and it’s all the bike some folks ever need. It’s one of the most successful of the Kawasaki motorcycles.
DeleteYou are probably right, I'm not much into motorcycle history. I just remember that particular model getting a lot of smiles and nods for touring locations where both road / off road possibilities were.
DeleteWhenever two different things are combined, you never get a great new thing, you get two mediocre things. In this case, a crappy dirt bike and a crappy street bike. Just like the Amphi-Car of the early 1960's. It was either a crappy boat you could drive on the road, or a crappy car that you could use as a boat.
ReplyDeleteIn this case I might disagree. In the smaller middleweight bikes…unless you are a top end competitor…you get a passable dirt bike and a passable street bike. In the bigger bikes…you get absolute pigs in both environments…
DeleteHey, go easy on the V-Strom! I had the 650 V-Strom for about ten years. You're right about the dirt, never even tried it. Everyone who did said it was a real pig. But as a street bike? I put street tires on it, lowered it about 1.5 inches, and put over 50k miles on it (that's something like 150k kilolitres or whatever you commie bastards use in metric). It might look and seem top-heavy, but once you get used to it you can really push it in the curves. Never had any issues with it. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, never had a passenger that had, well, a padded backside like that.
The V Strom 650 is a way different bike than the 1000cc. It’s literally apples to oranges. Would your bike be better in that role than a KLR or a DR…?
DeleteWouldn't know any of that but she looks like the hired help so she could work for me.
ReplyDeleteBear Claw