I've grabbed a handful of front brake on the highway before, and after it slowed to about 45-ish, the back wheel came off the ground. Sportbikes have incredible brakes.
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Yup, huge difference between them and a cruiser/bagger style such as a Harley. I don't recall if Phil said what type of bike.
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Sport bike, “crotch rocket” are the words I think he used.
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I wonder what skill level his buddy had. I'm not implying he was a novice at all, but I've seen new riders (especially those new to sport bikes) target fixate and run into everything from curbs, wash-out crap outside a white line, and even a wall (glancing type blow) when railing through some clover leafs. It's amazing what being spooked can do to your reflexes/mind. Instinct is simply to hold on and grab brake; sort of 'locking up' your body / not knowing what to do. I've been guilty of it too. That last time I was spooked was when I went into a curve too hot and started to target fixate where I 'thought' I would end up, rather than where I wanted to go. I remembered, for whatever reason, to just leans that sumbitch over and power through. I scraped the outter sole of my boot and when I got home, the knee of my right mesh pant, was chewed up. after that incident, I've gone in a tad too hot again, and just remembered me previous experience. Now....going in too hot is on the rider, so it was my fault in the first place. Best to avoid doing so lol.

if one has the clearance, bikes maintain an amazing amount of grip - short of asking the tires to do too much, like braking AND turning, or turning AND hard accelerating.

Whatever the reason, it sucks he lost a dude. No one will probabl ever know the scenario.
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Thought you guys might like a quick peek of the view I have on my ride into work.
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:-)
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Jerk... Jutting kidding, beautiful.
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That's beautiful. Need a pic of the road course.
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I went to Worth over the weekend. wow. what a great place. tons of bikes; did't give you any shit for sitting on bike. all the bikes were keyed up and could be fired up at any point. no on gave you any shit.

I think I'm in love with the Sportster 72. I have been scouting the Nightster forever and didn't realize they no longer make them. which might explain the sort of inflated prices on the used markets.

The 72 is basically everything I wanted to do to a nightster any way. and, I LOVE the SoCal 60's styling. Shit loads of metallic flake in the paint. they had tons of new 2013s left that they were trying to get rid of and the guy said one could be had for under $10k.

Hmmmmm. Now I'm wondering if I should pick up on now in the fall, or in the spring lol.
They felt really comfortable, though I would push the apes a little forward. Killer looking bike for someone looking at an HD that won't break the bank; someone who doesn't plan on huge long rides. Something to buzz around town, and maybe go on some quick hour or two rides just outside of town.
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I'm not a big fan of the flat black, but that first bike is pretty sweet. Love the pipes, too.
I also dig the metallic flake paint on the red and green ones.
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http://ksdotblog.blogspot.com/2013/0...24223699590737

Be defensive at all times


By Mike Bright
I would like to talk about motorcycle safety. I carry no particular credentials in this area other than 44 years of riding. For as long as I have been riding, the motorist who “didn’t see him” seems to be the most dangerous hazard to a motorcyclist. I personally have had a number of near miss incidents involving this situation. For me – it is a part of riding that I accepted many years ago.
What frightened me the most was on a dark rainy night in Kansas City. My wife, who rides her own bike, was following me in traffic. It was dark but her bike has a unique headlight than I can pick out in the mirror amongst the other lights on the road. As I did my customary scan of my gauges, traffic ahead, side-to-side glances and a check of my mirrors she was suddenly gone. I began to slow and working to determine what had happened to her. I began to work my way to the shoulder of the road to get pulled over. I finally got to a safe location to pull off and began to scan the traffic.
Did we just get separated or did she go down? Finally, after what seemed like an eternity she emerged from the traffic and we spotted each other. Once we got back together she related to me, an SUV changed lanes. The problem was, the SUV was moving into the space she was occupying. Literally moving over on top of her position!
Because she is a good defensive driving she was able to take evasive action and kept from being run down. She was okay. For me, for a few frantic moments I thought I had lost my wife to an errant motorist who simply “didn’t see the motorcycle.” They would have felt bad and certainly didn’t intend to harm anyone but it would not have changed the simple fact that my wife could have been seriously injured or worse.
As a result of that event we plan our trips through most metro areas during off-peak traffic periods and if at all possible we avoid the metro area completely. The other thing we have done is adopt a more conspicuous approach to riding. Much of today’s riding apparel has reflective stripping built into it. We wear the gear! We have added some additional lighting to the bikes. In this situation she was doing everything right but could have still been hurt. It is incumbent on the rider to secure their own safety. A lot of times it feels like the other motorists really don’t care about us!
A motorcyclist today MUST be on the defensive at all times. Wear the protective gear that enhances conspicuity. Take a rider safety training class. Be physically and mentally fit to ride. What might be a simple fender bender for a car will be a trip to the hospital for us – at the least, a trip to the morgue at the worst!

Mike Bright is the District Four Office Coordinator for the Kansas Department of Transportation
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same here. If my budget were a little more, I'd totally get one. they're about $11k. Though, Worth had probably 15 or so 2013's and the guy, without even asking said "we've got to get rid of these. We're letting them go for under $10k". which is good since the base is like $10.5k + about $500 for the flake job.

I've got my eye on an 09 nightster. Called about it and the guy had a buyer who was getting financing together. He didn't leave any earnest money, and he said he's had 3 other guys fall through.
Submitted my loan pre-approval stuff yesterday.

We'll see.
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Just got back from the North Shore in Northern Minnesota on Lake Superior.
Man the Adventure Trails there are spectacular!
The Gravel Roads are so perfect for the Triumph Tiger. Hard and Fast. You are on perfect roads that narrow down, get rough, and full canopy of Maple, then all of a sudden you are at a road side tavern.
Anybody that does off pavement adventure touring I highly recomend the North Shore.


Picture of the Tressel Inn. A small roadside tavern in the middle of the Sawtooth Mountains. Looks like its 100 years old, but made out of an old rail tressel in 1985.

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$6800 - damn good deal.
Hope this other buyer falls through.


Stage 1 Kit Dyno tuned, V&H short pipes, 4 inch Z bars, Mustang Seat, Forced Air Intake, Saddle Bag, Raised Tank, Re-located Speedometer. all work and maintinance done by HD certified mechanic. Also comes with original seat / mirrors / helmet and bike cover.
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