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What does “confidence inspiring traction” feel like? Are you after “feeling every grain of sand”, or “rolling on velvet carpet”? How’s it different from bike to bike? What are the key contributing factors?

What was your experience when you had to brake hard due to unanticipated hazards? What do you remember? I had to brake hard a number of times to avoid hitting deer over the years. The most recent two incidents were interesting in that my reaction and thought process were different. Last...

The new to me 950SM’s clutch master cylinder seems to have a slow leak at the piston. The lever got very soft during the last ride so I topped off the fluid (used synthetic ATF for mineral oil) yesterday, and rode up Mt Hamilton today. The same problem occurred: The clutch worked ok when the...

Used a bathroom scale to weigh 3 of my bikes. All 3 came out about what I thought what they would be. Each bike is fully fueled. '07 KTM 690 Supermoto (Stock except Akrapovic exhaust. Avon Trailrider front, Shinko 705 rear.) - Front: 179 lbs - Rear: 180 lbs - Total: 359 lbs '13 Ducati...

Has anyone rented a bike with riders-share.com? How was your experience – either as an owner or a renter? Some of the bikes look very reasonably priced (< $100 per day), and they all include unlimited mileage, I think. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to the owner if the renter puts a few...

I don't ride La Honda a whole lot but heading uphill toward Alice's this corner seems always slippery. The road surface seems always damp and has a mossy color. I get rear slide without going very fast. Have you experienced that? How do you handle this corner...

Personality, financial situation, and type of riding are factors I can think of. I started riding late in life (when I was 44), and I want to make good use of the available riding time. I’m more interested in new and unique experiences, and less concerned with utilities and operating costs...

I tend to remember each drop on each bike. I got thru some bikes without ever dropping them, but dropped some more often than I wished. I dropped my R1150GS 5 times before it got totaled recently. It came closest to being like an old beat up pickup truck where another dent or scratch didn't make...

Two of my current favorites, both provide a high level of confidence. How does yours feel? KTM 690 Supermoto (’07) Very light, good suspension, good body position and bar leverage. It feels like I could dive into a turn and make corrections at will. I could feel the suspension working, and each...

I listed my Speed Triple for sale on Craigslist last September, stopped after October, and restarted again in late January this year. Finally got it sold today; it took 6 months! It's a bit draining.

Which do you prefer? I have the Series II (with end cups), but I think the end cup’s too fat (diameter) so they get canted when cinched and puts all the stress on the bar ends. Seems like the end cups would distribute the load more evenly if they have smaller diameter for a tighter fit over the...

There’s nothing more exciting than finding and getting a new-to-us bike home. Sometimes meeting the buyer is a fun experience by itself. Selling is more of a hassle, but it also feels great when a bike you no longer want finally finds another home. Do you have some notable stories buying...

I'm wondering if I could go back to and be happy with a budget Japanese middle-weight. Are you happy with your bike downgrades - getting a bike that cost less, has less power, with lower grade brakes/suspension, than what you had previously? Perhaps the downgrade is more reliable, cheaper to...

So you've owned and ridden two bikes for a while. Maybe you found a clear winner from the start and not touched the loser in a while, maybe they each fulfill a different need and you must have both, or maybe you don't like something about both and are planning for the next move. The newer and...

Bike controls are intrinsically asymmetrical - the throttle is on the right, so it's necessary to compensate for that to achieve left turn-right turn symmetry. This question popped into my head: Are throttle-brake control more difficult for lefties? If they made bikes in "left-handed" version -...

Is there a way to quantify how a street bike handles? Car magazines do max cornering g and slalom speed tests, but those max limit data cannot quite quantify the dynamic feel of how a car handles in everyday use. It seems even harder to do that with bikes. Is it all about subject feel? What...

1. How long have you hung on to a bike that you don’t ride much? 2. Why? 3. What made you sell it at the end? I’m about $5.5k into my dirt set up ($2.5k WR250F + $2k Kendon trailer/hitch + $1k dirt gear), but last year I didn’t get to ride my WR at an OHV park at all. Rode around the...

Don’t know why but I don’t see many good used bike deals around San Jose. I’m willing to go up to 100 miles (< 2 hrs) to check out a good deal, beyond that it seems too far. Only reason I got 2 bikes from LA (seems to have more good deals than Bay Area) is because I have family down there so I...

Last Saturday morning I picked up my SuperDuke from the shop (service recalls, ECU remap, plus oil and battery) and decided to ride some tight roads. The whole time, though, I was thinking about the pending sale of my Multistrada - how I'd miss it, how smooth its fueling was compared to the SD...

All this time I think of cost of ownership this way: what I paid - what I sold = cost. So I paid $4.5k for my ZX-10R, 4 years later sold it for $4k. $500 is pretty cheap for riding it 4 years! :cool Well, I just looked at my records and went over the numbers for real: Purchased price...