Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 4:58 am
I hate to bring this thread back from the dead but verms last post is a perfect segue into something I saw yesterday... I had to share....
I was wandering around one of the local dealerships that specializes in used bikes... they have an open lot, a bunch of bikes, and are cool because you can just jump on a CBR, a GSXR, an SV-650, a GZ250, or whatever else they have and compare how they feel to you. So I'm mounting just about everything, checking the ergos, and so on...
A couple (well...male and female...may not be a couple) was looking at a Yamaha supersport (didn't catch which one exactly), poking at it and so on. Neither sat on it that I saw. After a few minutes they found a salesdrone and the bike was pushed off the lot, sold.
A while later my attention was drawn by the sound of an engine starting. I glanced over and saw that the newly purchased bike was going to be ridden away by its new owner.
Well...maybe ridden away...I wasn't at all sure they would make it. They were balanced on the bike...kind of balanced anyway... their legs were fully extended but with the bike upright their toes weren't within 2 inches of touching the ground on either side, so it was sort of tipping back and forth as they tried to balance. The person tried to roll it backwards out of the parking spot, almost dropped it it, jumped off (kickstand still up), braceed it up as it almost fell on them, pushed it around (almost dropping the other way in the process), jumped back on (almost having it fall on them again) and with a sort of curve-accellerate-wobble motion they get it up to rolling speed. Once rolling, they stabilize out to a nice low-speed ride...at that point (for the first time) it looked like they weren't in immediate danger of dropping it.
The other member of the pair (I have no idea which of them was which with their helmets on) was sitting on a bike I assume they rode in on, waiting for the wobbler to ride over to their end of the parking lot so they could leave together. The wobbler, on the other hand, saw an exit straight ahead, didn't want to stop (and struggle with balancing the bike) and pulled out onto the street. Wobbler rode off to the west. The "partner" crossed the street and sat in a driveway waiting for wobbler to return. Eventually, about 5 minutes later, a yamaha rolls up, surging and bucking as the rider tries to downshift and/or brake, and the two roll off to the east....probably not stopping for anything....
That's a rider who should've sat on the bike before they bought it...and if they absolutely *had* to have that exact bike they should've come prepared to deal with the height issue...
I was wandering around one of the local dealerships that specializes in used bikes... they have an open lot, a bunch of bikes, and are cool because you can just jump on a CBR, a GSXR, an SV-650, a GZ250, or whatever else they have and compare how they feel to you. So I'm mounting just about everything, checking the ergos, and so on...
A couple (well...male and female...may not be a couple) was looking at a Yamaha supersport (didn't catch which one exactly), poking at it and so on. Neither sat on it that I saw. After a few minutes they found a salesdrone and the bike was pushed off the lot, sold.
A while later my attention was drawn by the sound of an engine starting. I glanced over and saw that the newly purchased bike was going to be ridden away by its new owner.
Well...maybe ridden away...I wasn't at all sure they would make it. They were balanced on the bike...kind of balanced anyway... their legs were fully extended but with the bike upright their toes weren't within 2 inches of touching the ground on either side, so it was sort of tipping back and forth as they tried to balance. The person tried to roll it backwards out of the parking spot, almost dropped it it, jumped off (kickstand still up), braceed it up as it almost fell on them, pushed it around (almost dropping the other way in the process), jumped back on (almost having it fall on them again) and with a sort of curve-accellerate-wobble motion they get it up to rolling speed. Once rolling, they stabilize out to a nice low-speed ride...at that point (for the first time) it looked like they weren't in immediate danger of dropping it.
The other member of the pair (I have no idea which of them was which with their helmets on) was sitting on a bike I assume they rode in on, waiting for the wobbler to ride over to their end of the parking lot so they could leave together. The wobbler, on the other hand, saw an exit straight ahead, didn't want to stop (and struggle with balancing the bike) and pulled out onto the street. Wobbler rode off to the west. The "partner" crossed the street and sat in a driveway waiting for wobbler to return. Eventually, about 5 minutes later, a yamaha rolls up, surging and bucking as the rider tries to downshift and/or brake, and the two roll off to the east....probably not stopping for anything....
That's a rider who should've sat on the bike before they bought it...and if they absolutely *had* to have that exact bike they should've come prepared to deal with the height issue...
Just a thought.