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Re: First Bike?



On Wed, 1 Dec 1999 06:05:05 -0800 , Bill Flowers
<waflowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Previously, you (Rick Damiani) wrote:
>> I'll second that. A Sprint ST makes just over 100BHP but that dosn't tell
>> the whole story. Unlike the 600cc screamers [1] that also make ~100BHP the
>> Sprint makes it's power the old-fashond way - 70+ ft-lbs of torque.
>
>Wonderful stuff, isn't it?  :-)
>
>> Add that
>> to the hyperactive brakes,
>
>Funny, I find them to be very well behaved.  Having lots of available
>braking power doesn't make them a threat if they are well controlled
>(they are) and give the rider a well-defined feel for feedback (they
>do).

The brakes are quite well behaved with good feel and good control.
They are also powerful enough for this mad cackling fat man to heft
the rear wheel into the air even with fully loaded panniers attached
and an (estimated) total weight of over 800lbs[1]. four-fingered
full-force application of those brakes is an extremely bad idea.

>> the 500+ lbs of fully-fueled weight and the high,
>> somewhat top-heavy seating position
>
>What are you talking about? I have sat on my share of top-heavy bikes
>and the Sprint ST sure doesn't qualify for that label! Even my lovely
>wife her motorcycle license still warm from the laser printer declared
>it to be well balanced with a low COG when she sat on it.  (Did I let
>her ride it?  Do you think I'm crazy?  Maybe in the Spring.)

OK. It's not as bad as, say, an ST1100 or a motocrosser. It is still
on the tall side for a street bike and noticeably heavier than either
of the bikes the original poster mentioned. If I was a bit shorter
than I am I would likely have dropped it once or twice myself.

>> and you have a bike that can be a bit of
>> a chalenge even to an experenced rider.
>
>Depends on how you ride it.  Push it and it'll be a challenge.  Treat it
>gently and it'll baby you.  Reminds me of a horse I knew a long, long
>time ago.

Definitely a good all-around bike. I am not sorry I bought it, and
will likely keep it around for quite some time (19,000 miles and doing
good so far)


[1] Why yes, I am on a diet. =8)

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