Who rides motorcycles?

[deserteagle71]

I just ordered a 1 tooth smaller front sprocket to lower the gearing (moderately) and help slow down with rough terrain and the hills. Seemed like some riders were complaining about it being stuck between gears on challenging parts of the trails. I'll report back on that.

Stock countershaft sprocket on my XT225s was 15T. I always carried a 14T and 16T in my backpack and would change sprockets depending on the terrain. Only takes about 15 minutes on these bikes - very easy to do. If in gnarly terrain the 14 got installed; if I had a long stretch of pavement or very good graded road where I could run 50 mph I installed the 16T.

 

[deserteagle71]

I wonder what would be the odds of a battery to die as such without warning but lets say that's the case....

Happened to me once. I was on my Yamaha Kodiak riding the extremely remote country about where the Colorado River becomes Lake Mead so the nearest town was probably Mesquite, Nevada, about 90 miles, when I noticed the dash lights acting oddly. But the bike ran fine. A few miles later I stopped to take a picture, shutting the Kodiak off. When I tried to start it again there was nothing. Zilch. No power to anything. But - my Kodiak is one of the few ATVs that came with a pull starter in addition to the electric start. It takes one hell of a pull - you have to use your legs, pulling with an arm doesn't do anything against the compression of the engine. Crouch down, grab the pull starter handle with both hands, and stand up. Luckily the Kodiak was always an easy starter and that one pull got it running again. Needless to say, I didn't turn it off again until I got back to camp (after dark!). The next morning I found that one of the battery terminals must have broken off inside the battery. If I pushed on it just right, the dash lights would come on. To jump start it to get it loaded up I had to connect to the battery cables, not the battery itself.

As to running a machine off a jump pack - a couple days ago I was out on a side by side ride with a friend of mine and he was telling me that some years past the battery completely failed on his Yamaha Rhino. But he had a small jump pack with him and when he connected it he was able to start and run the Rhino and made it back to camp. Disconnecting the jump pack, even with the Rhino running, caused the engine to shut off.

Picture of the desert I was riding that day:

 

[3930dave]

Stock countershaft sprocket on my XT225s was 15T. I always carried a 14T and 16T in my backpack and would change sprockets depending on the terrain. Only takes about 15 minutes on these bikes - very easy to do. If in gnarly terrain the 14 got installed; if I had a long stretch of pavement or very good graded road where I could run 50 mph I installed the 16T.

A GearVendor, for a fun compact bike. Luv It !

Rgds, D.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Happened to me once. I was on my Yamaha Kodiak riding the extremely remote country about where the Colorado River becomes Lake Mead so the nearest town was probably Mesquite, Nevada, about 90 miles, when I noticed the dash lights acting oddly. But the bike ran fine. A few miles later I stopped to take a picture, shutting the Kodiak off. When I tried to start it again there was nothing. Zilch. No power to anything. But - my Kodiak is one of the few ATVs that came with a pull starter in addition to the electric start. It takes one hell of a pull - you have to use your legs, pulling with an arm doesn't do anything against the compression of the engine. Crouch down, grab the pull starter handle with both hands, and stand up. Luckily the Kodiak was always an easy starter and that one pull got it running again. Needless to say, I didn't turn it off again until I got back to camp (after dark!). The next morning I found that one of the battery terminals must have broken off inside the battery. If I pushed on it just right, the dash lights would come on. To jump start it to get it loaded up I had to connect to the battery cables, not the battery itself.

As to running a machine off a jump pack - a couple days ago I was out on a side by side ride with a friend of mine this past Saturday and he was telling me that some years past the battery completely failed on his Yamaha Rhino. But he had a small jump pack with him and when he connected it he was able to start and run the Rhino and made it back to camp. Disconnecting the jump pack, even with the Rhino running, caused the engine to shut off.

Picture of the desert I was riding that day:
View attachment 4007779

I have seen it on a quad a few times as well, a ground issue and the fan kills the battery... and yes these pull start are very hard to pull, one would think the cord wouldn't hold, I think 450cc is pretty much the most CC's they make with a pull start.

 

[JasperFrank]

Both. The K H1 was a very crazy bike. It had two modes of riding. You had to decide which one you wanted to use. Stay in loaf mode, under revs, and it was a pig, but controllable. Or you could just run it in high revs all the time. Also controllable, but loud, bad MPG, and a lot of clutch play. Picking one or the other of these modes, was okay. But it was like riding a jekel/hyde machine that had a switch. 24 Hp was one switch, and 60 Hp was the other. There is no 30, 40, or 50 Hp. The word linear power, is never spoken of in these. And the frame was a flex-o-matic and would unload on you out of a corner. Spaghetti on two wheels.
The RD 350 was a smoother transition, yet still a tiny power band compared to a four stoke. RD 350/400s had much better frame stiffness, 40 Hp, and lighter all around. So you felt like the bike was going to stay on your line. Unlike the K H1.
Rake angle on both were about 28 degrees. Yet the RDs felt much more solid, and predictable. This might be due to the rather heavy wheels the RDs had.

Who here recalls their first ride on a Yamaha RD350? Or the Kawi H1

 

[JasperFrank]

a very good explanation.

 

[not2old]

I have seen it on a quad a few times as well, a ground issue and the fan kills the battery... and yes these pull start are very hard to pull, one would think the cord wouldn't hold, I think 450cc is pretty much the most CC's they make with a pull start.

My 2013 Skidoo 800cc was pull start only. It started so easily that I would have had no problem getting another, but buying used, my 2017 850 came with electric start and I like it.

 

[CalG]

a very good explanation.

I find that example not true for my VFR800.
When rolling on the throttle, the rear tire may "creep" a bit and add to the turning.

At any rate, rolling on tightens the turn, rolling off runs wide.

 

[Rockbadchild]

My 2013 Skidoo 800cc was pull start only. It started so easily that I would have had no problem getting another, but buying used, my 2017 850 came with electric start and I like it.

I was talking about quads, 2 strokes are significantly easier to pull start. You won't see a high displacement 4 stroke sled with a pull start.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Do you ride motorcycles?

 

[Cycledude]

Stay off motorcycles is pretty good advice that I have never paid much attention to.
Been riding all kinds of motorcycles since I was about 15 years old and now have over one million miles on motorcycles. I’m a pretty well known year round rider living in the center of Wisconsin.
If anyone tries to tell you riding a motorcycle is cheap transportation that will save money they don’t know what they’re talking about.

 

[CalG]

Stay off motorcycles is pretty good advice that I have never paid much attention to.
Been riding all kinds of motorcycles since I was about 15 years old and now have over one million miles on motorcycles. I’m a pretty well known year round rider living in the center of Wisconsin.
If anyone tries to tell you riding a motorcycle is cheap transportation that will save money they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Just the tire costs keep the expenses high.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I could be interesting to see a detail cost analysis, lots of folks spend lots of money in accessories but that's a choice, then there is the initial cost for the gear (which is not there for a vehicle) and the high insurance cost but these two decrease over the years, but it also has a low operating cost (fuel economy, and low maintenance cost) the initial purchase cost is cheaper for a motorcycle plus the depreciation is less compare to a car. Honestly I think its cheaper to run a motorcycle then a car... way less practical but cheaper if you compare the two.

 

[scootr]

I don't know if insurance costs are higher. I was just quoted less than 1 months car insurance for a year of the motorcycle.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I don't know if insurance costs are higher. I was just quoted less than 1 months car insurance for a year of the motorcycle.

lots of factor at play, age, CC's and experience (amount of time insured).... Motorcycle insurance where higher for me but its going down.

 

[scootr]

I was just quoted $90 a year for the dual sport riding about 6k miles a year. I suppose it could be more if you tell them you are a new rider with a string of tickets planning a transcontinental excursion

 

[TractorTYMe]

That's a SECHSY little beast.