Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

I didn’t take too many pictures, but I definitely had a better day than the gentleman riding this $25k demo bike. It happened in my group (C Group) which was supposed to be limited to 660’s and below for demo bikes. Track went cold for almost 2hrs to roll the ambylamb to the hospital and back. Luckily, we later heard he was conscious and responsive which was an improvement over the state he was in when I rode by him.

 

There's enough translated to get the job done, a bit confusing with 2 sets of instructions for how the clutch plates go in without explanation why one would be used vs the other. Luckily it's fairly easy to work on and measure

 

most definitely, however it seems to have become more prominent since the track day which is where my confusion comes from lol.

well that's a bit reassuring at least lol. Never noticed anything like it before on previous Power 5's.

Oof. glad he's alive at least. That's gonna be one expensive bill...do they do any form of insurance at that event? I'd love to try one out if I do that October Aprilia Days but could be more stressful than fun if you're entirely on the hook for the bike you ride.

 

I rode by after everything had already settled and dude was face down in the dirt in a really strange spot. Pretty helpless feeling as your first instinct is to want to stop and help. Super glad dude is relatively okay though.

That was one of two demo bikes wadded up on the day. The other was an acid green RS660. You're not held liable for damages unless you're being a negligent asshole.

 

Yeah it's tough ignoring that gut reaction to help.

That's good to know though...really getting tempted to add that day on lol

 

it’s definitely a good time! Apex Assassins are the ones who operate it and they definitely have it together. Lots of instructors who are happy to do lead/follow with you. They had a catered taco bar for lunch and provided drinks all day. There are two photogs including CaliPhotography and it’s all covered with your entry. Lots of track time—especially if you sign up for demos. And, depending on what group you’re in, you never know who you might blow your fairings off haha. Joe Robert’s and Max Biaggi were out there yesterday cutting it up with the A group. .

 

Should have been working, but instead installed my new clutch. Bling bling

 

Went to a bike night at this neat coffee place but the bike night kinda well sucked.. only 6 Harley's all of the same style so wasn't much of a bike night sadly... Hopefully it gets popular one day and will truly be a bike night. The ice cream we got was good thou lol

Rode for.about 2 hours ish something like that mainly highways.

 

Man, that is so scary, glad he's relatively OK at least. I know it's part of the game of track days to take the occasional spill but I really hope when I do crash it will be relatively minor. All the fast people have scarred up bikes and leathers. I just hope it's a low side and not a nasty high side.

Someone crashed during the first session of the day when I went on Sunday and had to be taken in the ambulance. I think two others laid it down but were fine otherwise (but they couldn't get their bikes till after the sessions were all over for the day). The day before two people hit each other somehow and one had to be helicoptered out.

Needless to say, I signed up for helicopter insurance.

 

I can hear it from here.. clatter clatter clatter

 

I did probably close to 50 trackdays through the years, never crashed on the track. I pushed my limits slowly up and up, was about mid pack average fast group on a good day. One of my last days, the one that really had me say I think that's been enough, I got hit by another rider, he crashed and I didn't, but I realized its not just up to you. You don't necessarily have one coming, ride smart and know your goals. If you wanna get fast enough to race you will definitely crash a lot though. I couldn't afford to get hurt so I called it

 

I'm not a fan, that's why I've got a full cover, to keep the racket down somewhat.

 

So a friend of mine owns the Aprilia dealer here in Seattle. He sent that bike down to replace another demo that had been crashed. He'll get to buy that one back at a huge discount and rebuild it. As he also owns a trackday company, it'll probably become an instructor bike, or something similar. That's a similar situation to the Tuono I have. It's good to know people

 

It's funny you say that because I was wondering what happened to them. Is it even worth it for Aprilia to insure them, or do you just write it off, sell it at a discount and let the dealer buy the parts to fix it. Too early to ask about a part out? I want that swingarm lol

This was a weird situation because the demo bikes were supposed to be out in their own dedicated run groups and no one in C Group was supposed to be demo-ing the 1100's in the first place. Although it's possible that the guy who crashed was one of the ones we were warned about who was too fast to be in C Group but signed up for it because that's what was available.

 

I'll ask. There's no part out. Technically a dealer owns that bike, my friend does in this instance. Piaggio is weird. They have very ass backwards ways of doing things. I'm convinced it's part of the Mafia, the real Mafia, or maybe connected to the Catholic Church as a way of funneling money. The company should not be profitable, but they are

 

Ok, so dude that crashed is definitely paying for it somehow. Whether it's his insurance covering it, or on a cc, he's on the hook for the cost of parts. Dealer eats the labor, but piaggio lets them have the demo bikes for cheap at the end of that cycle to recoup labor costs

If the bike is totaled, they'll still buy it back and use it for parts to fix other crashed dealer bikes. The demo bikes have never been registered, so there's no rebuilt title to deal with, it's technically a new bike replaced with new dealer parts, same as off the factory floor. Those bikes get sold at a discount

 

As somebody that works for an Italian company, I assure you...that's just how Italian companies operate. It's infuriating for the rest of us.

 

Alright, crowd participation requested..


I've been warming my wife up to the idea of selling the F800GS and starting to transform the stable: a great tourer/commuter, a mini bike or two, and eventually a dirtbike. F800GS doesn't fit into those plans anymore. So sell that, and purchase a sport tourer, ideally. I do a 6 hour ride each way to the west side on mostly 70 (cough 85) mph highway and the F800GS just kinda gasses out, gets vibey, and I just know there's a better option for that. Plus I'm getting old and the idea of an ADV offroad is less appealing to me. I'm getting to the point where I'd rather do a BDR or play in the national forest on a CRF300 or similar instead.

Currently toying around with 3 bikes:

#1 New Suzuki GSX-S1000GX, probably about $20K out the door at 3.9% promo financing, payments once I put down payment and stuff probably about $300/mo for 3 years.

Pros- 150hp, most technology, looks phenomenal IMHO.
Cons- heated grips are an add-on option, most expensive

#2 New Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ probably about $18K OTD, 5.9% promo financing, again probably around that $300/mo after downpayments
Pros - 105hp, surprising amount of tech, also looks great
Cons- missing 45hp, only 15hp more than my F800GS, still expensive

Either of those would be about $400/year more to insure

#3 That 2016 BMW S1000XR over in Montana (or similar, I've seen a few for under 8000). Would buy outright.
Pros - 160hp, only about 10K miles on the clock, still basically 100% stock and adult owned, great price
Cons- used bike, older bike, BMW consumable/repair costs

BMW would only be about $100/year more for insurance.

All of them come with sidebags, all can tour, all can give shit eating grins.

Also open to other sport touring suggestions, I've been toying with the idea of a used KTM 1290 super adventure S. The massive size of a GS 1200/1250/1300 are putting me off of those. Haven't looked at used multistradas, but that might be an option..dealer network in this area could be an issue though.

Also not super interested in staying at the 600/700/800 class. I know the Tracer is just barely out of it, but it has other things going for it, too.

So... if it were you, you wanted a sport tourer under 20K, ideally even less, what would you be doing? (Not a super ten..)

 

Multistrada V4. No question. Not even close. Ducati support is second to none. That bike can carve canyons and eat highway miles happily. Tons of aftermarket support.

 

I don’t know I could swing a v4, maybe an older 1200. New OTD would be above what i want to spend, and newer used would mean non-promo financing at rates above what Id want to do, too. I’ll have to do some cycle trader and fb marketplace digging tomorrow..

Edit: 50k miler 1200 for $5k is MIGHTY attractive haha