On Mar 27, 2008, at 11:53 AM, William Robb wrote: >> >> The rubber-mounted engine models (2004 and later) have far less >> vibrations. They still don't handle as well as a sportbike, but >> well >> enough for riding around. > > The Sporties from when I was riding (mid 70s through to the mid 80s > handled as well as or better > the other 1000cc bikes that were available at the time. The Cow > 1000 was a cow when put into a > turn, and the Goldwing wasn't noted for nimble handling either. I > know because I rode both. The > Wing had been stripped for the street, so the touring equipment > can't be held blame. The Wing > did have a nice smooth engine, which the inline engines didn't > have. I found the inline fours to > be hand numbingly buzzy, whereas the Harleys, while they did > vibrate enough to make you need to > pee quite often, the vibration was a low enough frequency that you > could settle into it and ride > with it, in much the same way that a horse rider gets acclimatizes > to the movements of his steed > (I've done my share of bareback riding as well). > The big Beemers were definitely several cuts above anything else > that was on the street, but > they had all the style of a pregnant walrus.
I rode Ducati and Moto Guzzi twins for thirty years, had Hondas, Kawasakis, Yamahas, and rode several H-Ds as well. The Ducatis and Moto Guzzis were several cuts above the BMWs, and everything else, handling-wise. The Guzzis were not only easier to maintain, more durable, but more comfortable as well. The Ducatis were pretty darn good, simple to work on, and much smoother than *anything* else albeit not generally built for maximum comfort. No comparison to the ancient technology of the Norton and Triumph twins I started with, that's for sure. But they were fun in their own right. Norton did the rubber mounted engine thing with the Commando ... the Isolastic System they called it ... in 1968-69. It worked, but had its own problems. The old Featherbed frame always felt better to me. One of my best friends, a fierce H-D Sportster fanatic for 20 years, took a ride one afternoon a dozen years ago on my Ducati 907IE. He sold his Sportie the next day for a Ducati and hasn't touched anything else since. He's at 120,000 miles on the old beater now... :-) Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
