rode a cruiser for the first time

[Fishwiz4]

Last night I went out for a ride with a friend from work. He rides a 2003 Honda shadow 1300 with a few mods like custom seat, windsheild, handgaurds, loud exhaust, ect.

My FZ6 is my first bike and the only bike that I have really ridden on the street. I cannot believe how different it was to ride that shadow, everything was different. although it was very comfortable it seemed like I had to push so hard on the bars to get it to turn, I was scared how weak the brakes were on the first stop, and I could never find the footpegs without looking when starting from stops.

It felt very powerful, but did not feel fast.

besides the super comfy seat, the only thing I liked about it was downshifting... the exhaust was deep and backfired and poped when decelerating (sounded really mean). but... even with a helmet and earplugs, the exhaust would annoy me after more than a couple hours im sure.

anyways.... I cannot ever see myself having a crusier instead of a sportbike, but, I will enjoy riding his bike every now and then.

also, after riding my bike.... he said "now I know why you love the curvy roads and hate riding these straight highways" and had a huge grin on his face.

I am wondering what everyone else thinks that has had a chance to ride a bike like the shadow.

fishwiz4

 

[chomorro]

I have ridden a honda rebel 250. It was harder to turn for me, very slow, pretty comfortable but now with my custom seat the fz is much more comfortable, braking felt the same but the rebel is much lighter, hard to find the pegs but that just takes practice.

Overall i enjoyed it but to me its like driving an automatic car. I just didnt get excited lol. All my sports cars have always been manual.

Maybe a bigger cruiser would be more fun!!!! I always liked the look of a Yamaha road warrior with the giant upgraded tire and fender in the back :rockon:

 

[08fz6]

I grew up on both bikes, I understand exactly what you are saying. for me Riding a cruiser or a sport bike is second nature, no problems. Yes a cruiser is slower turning and takes more effort, however you should be turning by leaning not turning the handlebars. I prefer a cruiser when riding somewhere where there will be numerous people and slow going or a pretty straight road. However my cruiser of choice is the Yamaha Warrior. It is classified as a sport cruiser. It is decently quick as well. FZ6 is great for the twistier back roads where I live. I would currently own a warrior as well, however I want an '06 because it is also cobalt blue and matches my FZ6. If it popped and backfired it is not jetted correctly or if fuel injected there is no fuel processor. This is not good for the bike...

 

[08fz6]

I have ridden a honda rebel 250. It was harder to turn for me, very slow, pretty comfortable but now with my custom seat the fz is much more comfortable, braking felt the same but the rebel is much lighter, hard to find the pegs but that just takes practice.

Overall i enjoyed it but to me its like driving an automatic car. I just didnt get excited lol. All my sports cars have always been manual.

Maybe a bigger cruiser would be more fun!!!! I always liked the look of a Yamaha road warrior with the giant upgraded tire and fender in the back :rockon:

I didn't completely read your post, thats funny that your choice would be the warrior as well. I was very close to buying a 06 cobalt blue brand new left over in 09 I think it was. It was at a dealer that they allowed every employee to pick something they would do to their own bike. It had the 240 rear wheel kit with chrome wheels, Tbar handlebars, Air cleaner kit, Chrome fork covers, and a few other things. Well over $20,000 invested and they were asking $12,000 I think it was. I was too late and already sold....

 

[Kaisersoze]

Thats the one thing I miss from my Kawi 650r, that nice torque curve and deep sounding exhaust. But it had no top end and felt way cheaper in comparison to my FZ6. Also, I heard that v-twin engines last roughly half the life span of I-4s...cant confirm or deny that tho.

 

[Motogiro]

Cruisers feel a little scary to me. They don't respond quick enough. There are decent ones out there but I still feel like I'm going to a gynecologist with my feet up in the stirrups. The suspensions feel like you're riding on Sponge Bob's back

 

[08fz6]

Cruisers feel a little scary to me. They don't respond quick enough. There are decent ones out there but I still feel like I'm going to a gynecologist with my feet up in the stirrups. The suspensions feel like you're riding on Sponge Bob's back

hahahahahahahahhaha

 

[FinalImpact]

Cruisers feel a little scary to me. They don't respond quick enough. There are decent ones out there but I still feel like I'm going to a gynecologist with my feet up in the stirrups. The suspensions feel like you're riding on Sponge Bob's back

LOL OMG, Feet up! Too Funny!

I've ridden several HD's but no European cruisers. Just not my thing as you can't shove them into the corner w/out making fireworks. . . which can end badly if more lean was required. . . if I'm going to cruise I'll take a cage.

 

[rino60]

For very different reasons to my FZ6, I love em.

Gotta make trade ups when choosing any bike - and when you get used to a cruiser, they can be hell-as fun.

Having said that, I would love to have a cruiser as well as my FZ-N. Ride my FZ every day and for fun carving trips, ride my cruiser with my girl on the back, and for LONG touring trips.

 

[Fishwiz4]

I grew up on both bikes, I understand exactly what you are saying. for me Riding a cruiser or a sport bike is second nature, no problems. Yes a cruiser is slower turning and takes more effort, however you should be turning by leaning not turning the handlebars. I prefer a cruiser when riding somewhere where there will be numerous people and slow going or a pretty straight road. However my cruiser of choice is the Yamaha Warrior. It is classified as a sport cruiser. It is decently quick as well. FZ6 is great for the twistier back roads where I live. I would currently own a warrior as well, however I want an '06 because it is also cobalt blue and matches my FZ6. If it popped and backfired it is not jetted correctly or if fuel injected there is no fuel processor. This is not good for the bike...

Correct me if i am wrong, but your should be usign steering input to initaite lean by pressing the bar forward on the side that you would like the bike to go. ex. want to turn left, push forward on the left bar.


by only leaning, you can actually drive a bike amost straight while leaning to the side (have you every riden in a stong side-wind?)


Also, do most cruisers have very weak brakes in comparison to our FZ6?


....the bike is a carb, and i did not know it was bad for the bike to pop when the throttle is closed for decelerating. i will mention it to him that he may want to tune it somehow. I am assuming that the pipes were put on without tuning anything differently.

 

[08fz6]

Correct me if i am wrong, but your should be usign steering input to initaite lean by pressing the bar forward on the side that you would like the bike to go. ex. want to turn left, push forward on the left bar.


by only leaning, you can actually drive a bike amost straight while leaning to the side (have you every riden in a stong side-wind?)


Also, do most cruisers have very weak brakes in comparison to our FZ6?


....the bike is a carb, and i did not know it was bad for the bike to pop when the throttle is closed for decelerating. i will mention it to him that he may want to tune it somehow. I am assuming that the pipes were put on without tuning anything differently.

Yes but a huge part of the turning should be done with your leaning. I can't ride a bike straight when I lean to one side I have to use the bars to keep a bike straight if I lean.

As far as brakes some do some don't, The warrior has fantastic brakes, many budget cruisers have so so brakes. I am not a huge fan of drum brakes for that reason.

As far as the backfire, it would have to be extreme to hurt the motor, however it will cause the pipes to blue, and could cause a dead spot in the acceleration. Basically the backfire is cause by a lean condition.

 

[FinalImpact]

. . . .

. . .

As far as the backfire, it would have to be extreme to hurt the motor, however it will cause the pipes to blue, and could cause a dead spot in the acceleration. Basically the backfire is cause by a lean condition.

The engines cam profile and Ignition advance/ignition retard play a greater roll in the sounds out the pipes as far as backfires, popping, etc. Yes, the air fuel mixture will play a roll and sometimes opening the exhaust up (more free flowing) may make it backfire more as it can lean it out creating an accumulation of unburned fuel and an after burn in the pipes. But just because an engine makes noise out the pipes, throws flames, barks, what ever you see or hear, it doesn't mean its tune is incorrect.

I'm just saying . . .

OK - back to the cruiser thread. . .

 

[MisterX]

I have both, a sport bike and a cruiser. Yeah, there's no question that the cruiser is not as fast and different to control, but over time I bet you'd get used to the difference and be able to ride one without a second thought. Although my Z1000 gets more seat time, it is nice to go out on the cruiser every once and a while and just ride. One thing that I've definitely noticed is that I go ride much closer to the speed limit on the cruiser. Not necessarily because the cruiser can't do it, but well... you know, it's not a sport bike. I also like the fact that I've added bags to it and can pack and go. Oh, and the wife is much more comfortable on the cruiser as well.

 

[rjo3491]

the exhaust was deep and backfired and poped when decelerating (sounded really mean).

fishwiz4

Sounds like your buddy pulled the baffles without adjusting the carb - less back pressure, less torque, more noise, more gurgling and more popping.

I just sold my FZ6 and picked up a Honda VTX 1300 Cruiser. Much different kind of ride. I plan to keep it through next season then sell it and get an FZ1. Going to ride as many as I can before I'm too old to ride!

 

[callmegandhi]

My dad has a Yamaha Vstar, I took it on a charity ride and I loved it! I take my FZ6 on these rides and it drives me crazy because I just want to go!! The vstar was great, good torque at low rpm's and was very comfortable all day. The right tool for the job! FZ6 for riding hard and fast, the vstar (lazyboy recliner with wheels) for lazy Sunday rides.

 

[Darth Fazer]

Last night I went out for a ride with a friend from work. He rides a 2003 Honda shadow 1300

fishwiz4

My 2nd bike was an '83 Shadow VT750C. It was decently fast, but wouldn't hold a candle to my 1st bike ('78 KZ1000). From my experience, my old '83 was a much better performer than the newer Shadow 750s. '83: shorter stroked, shaft drive, 6-speed, aluminum wheels, dual-disc front brakes, adjustable suspension w/ air-ride on front, centerstand, full gauges on handlebar (fuel, tach, temp). Newer 750's: long stroked, chain drive, 5-speed, wire wheels, single-disc front brakes, non-adjustable soft suspension, no centerstand, single gauge (speedo on tank so your eyes have to leave the road to see how fast your going!). It seems like the Shadow has gotten soft in it's old age!
My last bike was a cruiser too, a '00 Road Star 1600. It was very good at what it did; cruising & long trips. It did not, however, corner like I wanted it too. It did better after I shaved nearly 100 lbs of accessories off of it, raised & tightened the rear suspension, raised the ridiculously low floowboards & replaced the factory beach bars with clubman bars. My best friend, Bill, pointed out that I was trying to turn the Roadie into something that it wasn't, so I sold it & bought the best bike that I've ever owned; my Fizzie6!
I hate to point this out, but Honda never made a "Shadow 1300". Your friend probably has a "VTX1300".

 

[CBRF3RIDER]

I rode a 2012 Victory Vegas 8-Ball a couple of weeks back during a special Victory promotion and man was that thing a blast. Huge engine with tons of torque. Its a weird feeling cruising on the highway at 80MPH at only a little more than 3000RPM. The only thing I really didnt like about it was the forward controls. I thought they were pretty uncomfortable and it just didnt feel right having my feet that far forward. I contemplated taking out the victory vision, but I ended up being a little too intimidated by its space shuttle proportions.

 

[JPH]

Here is a list of the (road) bike's I have ridden (more than 50 miles and more than 20 minutes, most to least) FZ6, BMW K1200rs, Katana 600, Honda Goldwing 1200, Harley FatBob, Triumph Bonneville, Kawasaki Versys, BMW 1200GS, Hayabusa, ZX14, Honda 750 shadow, Triumph America, Kawasaki 650R, Harley Sportster 1200, Harley ElectraGlide, Honda VTX1300, Goldwing 1200 w/sidecar, Triumph Thunderbird 1600. I have a ride on a GSXR1000 lined up for next week.
I really enjoyed the ride on all of these bikes. But then I"ll also eat just about any food you put in front of me. All of the bikes have different character and I enjoyed them each for what they had to offer. Out of all of these I only found the 3 wheelers difficult to handle. I did find the Thunderbird and America more nimble than the FatBob, but I vividly remember scraping the pegs on the FatBob and the Goldwing 1200 with ease and confidence. Bottom Line. BIKES ARE FUN. Bikes are also like food. Some people like to ride and eat just about anything, some people only really love chocolate cake, and the rest is just getting by till the cake is served.
I sometimes get a little annoyed at my FZ for being so 'high strung', but with a baby on the way there's only money for one bike. The FZ is a good, solid, fun, inexpensive, and somewhat versatile choice... for now!!

 

[Sparkybean]

I love cruisers. I know my fz6 is a great compromise but I get bored easily. I've had 5 bikes in the last 3 years and have recently been thinking about a cruiser.
I have ridden a v-rod. It's damn fast for a cruiser.
But more recently rode a kawasaki 1500 drifter.
View attachment 38265
Sorry the pic is sideways.
I was in love with the feel of that big twin throbbing and I may be getting old before my time but sometimes I just cruise on my fz6 only it does not have the same feel as a lazy boy cruiser. Like riding a bed.

 

[Fishwiz4]

Thanks, you are right. his bike is a shadow 1100. my mistake.