Are you saying you dont need to do 100mph+ in first gear........




I tend to agree with you!

I had a cbr1000rr street bike before the Wee. The 1000 was useless on the street. It became a track only bike when I got the Wee. What a revelation for street riding the Wee was.......

__________________
Current Bikes
2012 Triumph Street Triple R
RC51 Superbike - Track Bike
'05 Dl 650 Vstrom - Daily Bike

Previous Bikes
89' Katana 600 / 91 Zx-6 / 92' F2 / 89 Cb-1 / 00' VFR....

MSF instructor
CRA Racer - RC51 Superbike
Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly staff writer

www.motorbyte.com
http://mnmotorcycle.com/

I'm pretty excited to see the 500s, particularly the naked/plain one. Looks like it would be a fun little commuter - my first bike was a suzuki GS500 that was comfortable enough for shorter day rides and was minimally adequate for a little bit of highway work, but was pretty sluggish. And was a PITA to get it to start in less than 70 degree weather. I would image a modern water cooled, fuel injected 500 twin would be everything I wanted to the GS500 to be.


If I had just bought one of the CBR250s man would I be pissed right now...


But then again, my prediction is that MOST people who might be interested in the 500s will end up going for a 600, pawning it off as a girls bike or something stupid and squidly, crashing it almost immediately, and being afraid of motorcycles, missing out on the fun for the rest of their lives. Sirry Americans..

I really like the 500cc adventure model, but it looks like it will be a significantly smaller bike than the 'strom. Comparing the specs to the 2012 V-Strom, the seat is 1" lower, and the wheelbase is 5.5" shorter. At 6'-2", I'm not sure I will fit. I was surprised to see that cycle-ergo.com already has the bike in the system: Motorcycle Ergonomics .....looks pretty small to me.

Pretty obvious what target market Honda is after with this bike.

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2012 DL1000 Adventure (Tinkerbell)
PC-V, TRE, CR8EIX plugs, Madstad bracket, Madstad 22" shield, Fork brace, 17/43 gearing, Airhawks, Chinese mirrors, mirror extenders, RDL.

I like the sound of everything I'm hearing about these bikes but this sentence (in all the descriptions of the new bikes in Canada) concerns me:

So are they building flex into the chassis now intentionally? Is that a good thing?

..Tom

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Road Toads Charter Member - 2006 V-Strom DL650: 202,000 km 125,500 miles, 2012 DL650 New March 2012 50,000 km


Why Cars don't see bikes (SMIDSY)
SMIDSY detailed report

What a bunch of hooey! It doesn't look anything like a Sportster. That's the only girl's bike I ever heard about.

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-Tom (DL650AL2) (KA1TOX) (E-I-E-I-O)

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LOL! Forgot about that!

__________________
2012 DL1000 Adventure (Tinkerbell)
PC-V, TRE, CR8EIX plugs, Madstad bracket, Madstad 22" shield, Fork brace, 17/43 gearing, Airhawks, Chinese mirrors, mirror extenders, RDL.

They (manufacturers) have been doing this for years. Especially in the sport bike realm.

Started with Kenny Roberts and his Marlboro Motogp race team (Rainey and Cadalora) when they went so ultra stiff with their chassis during pre-season testing. The bikes were handled horribly. They actually started backing off on it and building in chassis flex where they wanted it and knew it could help.

It helps suspension feel and compliance in cornering if engineered correctly.

__________________
Current Bikes
2012 Triumph Street Triple R
RC51 Superbike - Track Bike
'05 Dl 650 Vstrom - Daily Bike

Previous Bikes
89' Katana 600 / 91 Zx-6 / 92' F2 / 89 Cb-1 / 00' VFR....

MSF instructor
CRA Racer - RC51 Superbike
Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly staff writer

www.motorbyte.com
http://mnmotorcycle.com/

I find that pretty interesting.. in the automobile world chassis rigidity (this is different from suspension rigidity) is the basis for good handling. With a rigid chassis the suspension can be engeneered to do the neccesary compliance and keep the tires on the ground without un-needed harshness of the ride. You would think the same would be true of bikes. I wonder why that is different?

..Tom

__________________
Road Toads Charter Member - 2006 V-Strom DL650: 202,000 km 125,500 miles, 2012 DL650 New March 2012 50,000 km


Why Cars don't see bikes (SMIDSY)
SMIDSY detailed report

What? You never heard of a Gladius, it was made by a company called Suzuki.

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Silver Strom Club Member #11
'09 Aprilia Mana 850 (current)
'09 Wee Strom ABS (current)
'06 SV650 (sold)
'87 Harley Low Rider Sport (current)
'84 Yamaha Virago 1000 (sold)