Do you think newer riders are missing out?
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 7:22 am
Ok so just a conversation I was having with some modern (newer) motorcyclists recently. Not all of them were young uns either.
It evolved around the fact that when I was a young biker (at 16 years of age, the licence laws were different in 1970) I started out my biking life on a 50cc bike, then went on to a 90cc, 125cc, 175cc and then on to really big bikes like the 250's of the 70's! Then it was 350's, 500's 650's and a 750 and an 850. All this took me 14-15 years to get to the 750 Commando, and then an 850 Interstate. Loved them all. But got to say the really fun bikes were the smaller one for sure.
As many of you know, I've had a shed load of other bikes too up to 1000cc and 1400cc GSX Suzukis etc etc. But I now ride a GTS300 Vespa that I've owned for over 2.5yrs. It's very good, fast, handles well, very comfy and does long trips fine etc and is a joy to look at! Yeah...I know, that makes me sound soppy!
Now talking about this to the group of newer bikers they seemed amazed that anyone could go back(wards) to a smaller bike with less performance etc etc etc! None of them could ever contemplate doing that. Yet when I asked them if any of them had actually ridden a smaller bike after doing Direct Access sometime ago, they all said no. I pointed out that they just might be missing a trick here as none of them actually knew what it was like to ride a decent 250, 300 or 500. The response was they had all tried the Kawasaki or Honda 500's they had trained on and they felt flat as a pancake regarding performance. So what's the point of trying any bike under 500cc because it won't have any performance to put a grin on their smug little faces! I pointed out the 500cc bikes they trained on were restricted models! Surprisingly none of them realised that! If anyone has ever tried an unrestricted CB500 you'll know they go really well with a nice punch in the back as you open it up. Next step was to let one of them have a (short) go on my Vespa. The guy chosen normally rides a Triumph Tiger 800. He needed persuading to do it but eventually agreed.
Off he went. 20 mins later he returned having just thrown it around our local twisty and few other roads. "How much power does this thing have"? he asked. After furnishing him with the details requested he exclaimed, "that was brilliant" can't believe it handles so well on little wheels! Goes really well too and it's comfortable. The rest of the group looked perplexed!
The point of all this is that I heard from him just 10 days later to say he had ordered a brand new GTS300 HPE Vespa! He gets it next week! Could barely believe it. I think this points out that bikers often overlook the attributes of smaller machines thinking they are in some way inferior, lack performance, and ability to tour. Just goes to show eh!
It evolved around the fact that when I was a young biker (at 16 years of age, the licence laws were different in 1970) I started out my biking life on a 50cc bike, then went on to a 90cc, 125cc, 175cc and then on to really big bikes like the 250's of the 70's! Then it was 350's, 500's 650's and a 750 and an 850. All this took me 14-15 years to get to the 750 Commando, and then an 850 Interstate. Loved them all. But got to say the really fun bikes were the smaller one for sure.
As many of you know, I've had a shed load of other bikes too up to 1000cc and 1400cc GSX Suzukis etc etc. But I now ride a GTS300 Vespa that I've owned for over 2.5yrs. It's very good, fast, handles well, very comfy and does long trips fine etc and is a joy to look at! Yeah...I know, that makes me sound soppy!
Now talking about this to the group of newer bikers they seemed amazed that anyone could go back(wards) to a smaller bike with less performance etc etc etc! None of them could ever contemplate doing that. Yet when I asked them if any of them had actually ridden a smaller bike after doing Direct Access sometime ago, they all said no. I pointed out that they just might be missing a trick here as none of them actually knew what it was like to ride a decent 250, 300 or 500. The response was they had all tried the Kawasaki or Honda 500's they had trained on and they felt flat as a pancake regarding performance. So what's the point of trying any bike under 500cc because it won't have any performance to put a grin on their smug little faces! I pointed out the 500cc bikes they trained on were restricted models! Surprisingly none of them realised that! If anyone has ever tried an unrestricted CB500 you'll know they go really well with a nice punch in the back as you open it up. Next step was to let one of them have a (short) go on my Vespa. The guy chosen normally rides a Triumph Tiger 800. He needed persuading to do it but eventually agreed.
Off he went. 20 mins later he returned having just thrown it around our local twisty and few other roads. "How much power does this thing have"? he asked. After furnishing him with the details requested he exclaimed, "that was brilliant" can't believe it handles so well on little wheels! Goes really well too and it's comfortable. The rest of the group looked perplexed!
The point of all this is that I heard from him just 10 days later to say he had ordered a brand new GTS300 HPE Vespa! He gets it next week! Could barely believe it. I think this points out that bikers often overlook the attributes of smaller machines thinking they are in some way inferior, lack performance, and ability to tour. Just goes to show eh!