I’m a large person. Ok I’m a very large person. I look like I might weigh about 250-260 but I’m 298 lbs. and probably 320 or so with full gear. Yes, that’s quite a load. When I look at pictures of people on bikes, mentally I think that’s how big I am. I’m always shocked when even a massive bike like a Road glide looks smallish with me on it! It even makes a powerful rocket like a Busa seem tame. My bike doesn’t wheelie unless I bounce or pull it up, even under full throttle. Yeah it will float the front in a power wheelie, but that’s it. I don’t always get it when people say, “you don’t need all that horsepower”. I do, really.
To me a 500-lb. bike is not “heavy”. I’ve picked my Busa up in a dead lift several times. So, I was a bit surprised to realize in my search for a new bike that I’m afraid of heavy bikes. I have been riding a long time now, but handling a big, heavy bike is an art in and of itself.
I tried a couple of the HD’s and the Star touring bikes and I was afraid of them. 175 mph, not a problem. 5 mph on a 900-pound bike is difficult. Get it a few degrees off vertical and the weight starts to take control fast. You must plan everything. Where to step. How to backup, how to turn, will the road support the kick stand. It’s all so complicated.
My name is Fallenarch after all, so this low speed maneuvering thing is always on the back of my mind. I used to have dreams where I was the guy who knocked his bike over and it took the line of bikes out. Consequently, the first mod to my new bike is crash protection. I’m having it put on before I touch the bike.
Even a bike like the K1600 is so big it has a reverse! I wonder if you can get a little beeper so it beeps like a truck? Apparently, these things end up on their side a lot. People say get the engine protection that won’t let the bike go completely over. The bike can only lean about 70 degrees, this makes it easier to lift back up. You mean I can’t turn at 70 degrees of lean on this thing?!
Funny though. The first thing I wanted to learn how to do on the Busa was get a knee down. On the new bike it will be learning how to back it into the garage!
To me a 500-lb. bike is not “heavy”. I’ve picked my Busa up in a dead lift several times. So, I was a bit surprised to realize in my search for a new bike that I’m afraid of heavy bikes. I have been riding a long time now, but handling a big, heavy bike is an art in and of itself.
I tried a couple of the HD’s and the Star touring bikes and I was afraid of them. 175 mph, not a problem. 5 mph on a 900-pound bike is difficult. Get it a few degrees off vertical and the weight starts to take control fast. You must plan everything. Where to step. How to backup, how to turn, will the road support the kick stand. It’s all so complicated.
My name is Fallenarch after all, so this low speed maneuvering thing is always on the back of my mind. I used to have dreams where I was the guy who knocked his bike over and it took the line of bikes out. Consequently, the first mod to my new bike is crash protection. I’m having it put on before I touch the bike.
Even a bike like the K1600 is so big it has a reverse! I wonder if you can get a little beeper so it beeps like a truck? Apparently, these things end up on their side a lot. People say get the engine protection that won’t let the bike go completely over. The bike can only lean about 70 degrees, this makes it easier to lift back up. You mean I can’t turn at 70 degrees of lean on this thing?!
Funny though. The first thing I wanted to learn how to do on the Busa was get a knee down. On the new bike it will be learning how to back it into the garage!