I can't understand why in the US people need such huge engines. 250cc is pretty good for getting around. I might not choose one for a road trip, but for every day stuff I think it would be just fine. Do a lot of people ride in NZ? Seems like a nice place for it . . .
…because going uphill at 80mph requires at least 800cc. I used to ride a KLR650. And it was mostly okay. Probably put 30,000 miles on that bike. But going up Sepulveda Pass you have to open the throttle wide and even then you wish you had more. And my KLR was actually a KLR720 because of the piston kit. You can get around town on a moped, that's no issue. But if your life regularly involves freeways and 80mph, you need some beans.
…and that "800cc" thing is a reflection of me on my KLR, which probably made 60hp on a good day. Piaggio does make freeway-capable scooters, but I think I'd rather have a little more geometry to my suspension if we're going to make that sort of rate. 125s and 250s are absolutely awesome up to and including about 50mph, in my experience. Once you get up into the realm of "crazy American speeds" it helps to have some reserve. I had to push my KLR to 95 in order to escape a homocidal semi driver and it was an "engines canna take much more'o'this captain" experience. On that Benelli? "BLLLLIP you're doing 130 mutherfucker."
Spot on. My bike back in the US was a crappy old Yamaha Virago 920, v-twin (basically a bored out 750 for the extra cc's), and the extra power is so nice on the highway. Mine had a digital speedo which wouldn't go above 85 mph (by design), which I thought was a smart idea - going any faster than that, you got no business looking at it anyway, and it prevents you from pushing up to triple digits to see it tick over.
I've got a digital speedo on the Benelli and it has the drawback of demonstrating exactly zero of the drama you're incurring by leaping off the onramp at 7000RPM in 3rd. The digits just sort of blur; "68" and "98" are placidly similar enough that you're like "whatever" but the reality of the situation is YOU ARE ENTERING THE FREEWAY AT DAMN NEAR 100MPH AND YOU HAVE THREE GEARS TO GO. The tach, on the other hand, does a great job of saying "hoo boy we're having fun now. VROOM VROOM VROOM"
I had heard about those. I was making a bit of a joke though. They call these things "rascal scooters" where I'm from: Geez. The attitudes that motorists have about motorcyclists is really terrible here. Of course, some of that might be a little bit attributable to the douchebro attitude of many motorcyclists in this country too. All I can say from personal experience is, getting run off the road on a bike by a huge bus is a pretty pants-shitting experience that I think a lot of drivers of larger vehicles might benefit from.Piaggio does make freeway-capable scooters, but I think I'd rather have a little more geometry to my suspension if we're going to make that sort of rate.
I had to push my KLR to 95 in order to escape a homocidal semi driver and it was an "engines canna take much more'o'this captain" experience.
It's well-earned, though. There are a lot of terrible motorcyclists. I ride in LA and I can say with no quaver in my voice that every paranoid angelino who fears for my safety while I commute has a well-founded basis for that fear based on watching my compatriots demonstrate the low value they assign their own survival. It doesn't have to be that way, but it is. The stories I could tell…
I still remember as a youth what it was like to travel in a car and be able to see the highway and horizon before you, even though the roads were filled with other cars. I remember when SUV's started becoming a "thing" in the nineties because of the number of times I was suddenly found myself strikingly aware of the fact that I was sitting in traffic, just looking at a wall of steel rising up in front of me. To this day I still resent SUVs on that level. They just block too much stuff.
I wanted that thing to be awesome. I really did. Instead we got a Razor with the wheels on sideways and a Celeron to keep it from tipping over. I'm ungainly as fuck on my longboard. I am not a graceful man. But even I look down my nose at the German tourists on their "people movers."
Not a lot of riders here, but it is a fantastic place for it. I used to ride when I lived in OK, but I haven't owned a bike since I moved here, 15 years now. I miss riding a lot, now and then.