What size bike do you recommend to start on....

[ZooTech]

Starting a thread about beginners' bikes and expecting it to stay free from argument? My, my...setting your sights high, aren't you?!

[Mintbread]

I don't see too many Haitian refugees washing up on your shores, or people sneaking across your borders just to pick strawberries for a living.

Yours is the only country in the world with immigration issues? Wrong.

P.S: The irony in your sig is utterly delightful.

Which part?

I was having a look at your "I just washed my bike" thread and happened to notice the wear on your tyres. Have you considered asking Dunlop for some money back on all that unused rubber?

[ZooTech]

I was having a look at your "I just washed my bike" thread and happened to notice the wear on your tyres. Have you considered asking Dunlop for some money back on all that unused rubber?

Ahhh, how clever of you. So I suppose I'm a wuss for commuting 100+ miles round trip to work on the interstate? I scrape my pegs plenty...if you doubt it just as Scan or Loonette...they've both ridden with me. Yes, I spend far more time upright than I'd like to, but that's simply because I do far more freeway running than anything else.

Good try, though. I like the cut of your jib!

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[edit]

For anyone who's curious (i.e. nobody) here's what Minty Boy was getting at. Note that area "A" is where I spend most of my time, riding to and from work on Interstate 33 and on all the various freeways in and around Columbus going to school or meeting up with friends. Area "B" shows how far I lean the bike and where my "chicken strips" are, which are peg-induced:



They make tires with a harder compound in the center 2" for this very reason, but those are the OEM Dunlops in the photo. Incidentally, I managed to get 9,200 miles out of that tire.

[Mintbread]

Yes, yes you have mentioned many times that your behemoth is incapable of cornering properly. My point was the irony of your signature. I didn't ask for justification, merely clarification.

[ZooTech]

Yes, yes you have mentioned many times that your behemoth is incapable of cornering properly. My point was the irony of your signature. I didn't ask for justification, merely clarification.

It handles fine, and there's no irony in the signature. The worn area of my tire comes within a half-inch of the edge of the useable tread area, thus my chicken strips are only about 1/2" wide. If my pegs didn't touch down first I'm sure I'd use every bit of it. Show me a tire with even wear across the entire width and I'll show you a bike ridden on a figure eight race track.

[Mintbread]

Who said anything about "even wear"?

[ZooTech]

Who said anything about "even wear"?

Okay, now you're just messing around with me. If my sig is supposedly full of irony, it's because of the well-worn center 2" of my tire, right? All I'm saying is that although I don't spend a whole helluva lot of time on the shoulders of my Dunlops, I do go there as often as I can. So I'm really having trouble understanding your critcism here...

[Mintbread]

It has nothing to do with your well worn centres.

Chicken strips - The outer edge of a tyre that never sees the road due to a lack of cornering clearance or a lack of cornering bravado.

'04 Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak 1600 - Lack of cornering clearance.

Therefore chicken strips "extra thin" on a mean streak is an impossibility.
Hence the irony.

Mind you, I would have been just as amused if sidecarguy made the same claim. Nothing personal, just an observation.

[Mr_X]

put larger...

I started on an 1100..

But I'm in highschool.. and my posistion was bassically.. the bike I buy is gonna be the bike I use for a coulple years.. and I did'nt wanna be putting around on a ninja 250..

[ZooTech]

Chicken strips - The outer edge of a tyre that never sees the road due to a lack of cornering clearance or a lack of cornering bravado.

'04 Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak 1600 - Lack of cornering clearance.

Therefore chicken strips "extra thin" on a mean streak is an impossibility.
Hence the irony.

The pegs touching down with only 1/2" of usable tread left is hardly a problem with cornering clearance, especially considering it's a cruiser. Believe me, my Dad's floorboards hit the pavement with a lot more shoulder rubber going unused. My sig would be ironic if it said something like, "I like my chicken strips non-existent" or something like that. Last I checked, 1/2" is pretty thin as far as those go.