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Originally Posted by Sutripta I'm confused. For this thread we are separating small/ big at 200cc?
Regards
Sutripta |
The intention was not to give off such a message.
Though in my case my preference leans towards smaller motorcycles as in motorcycles with the following attributes;
1. Manageable weight, should be lift/push/slide-able when the situation demands.
2. Bare minimum electronics, even with shot electrical's the things should be able to run.
3. Easy to work on, a busted cable should take 5 min's flat to change.
4. Rugged, should be able to take anything Indian roads and trails can throw at it.
5. Reasonable pricing, buying a motorcycle is easy, keeping it running is the hard part, especially if you intend to clock some miles on it.
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Originally Posted by Kosfactor The effortless cruising speed for small bikes are far below the speed limit of most highways and even state roads, I'm not sure if they will get anywhere comfortably. |
Not sure if we ride in the same country, but I ride a puny(by any standard) motorcycle and I'm yet to face any issues/restrictions while riding on Indian roads over a considerable distance.
Irrespective of displacement, the overall distance covered in a day or over a week still remains the same in India, if otherwise then it would've made a strong case like in the case of other countries where without being over a specific displacement class you simply would not be able to cover said miles over the same period of time.
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The small air cooled engines are not designed for sustained high engine speed runs over a long distance. The oil cooled ones are better, water cooled ones are even better.
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That is just a perception, all motorcycles are designed to be idiot proof, so unless you're on a 2 Stroke, you'd be just fine wringing the throttle wide open for the whole day without a care in the world.
Here's a picture of my total distance covered in a day during our GQ run,
The motorcycle in question is a Bajaj CT100B and the motorcycle had gone through similar experiences through out the course of 2 weeks before we reached home, still runs fine and is my daily driver.
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That's about the bike, let's talk about the actual issue - Fatigue.
Fatigue is a killer. An effortless , comfortable and yet nimble enough motorbike is what a long distance traveler needs. There is no need to rev it hard, squeeze the throttle a bit and you are ahead. Fatigue free motoring, a huge safety plus.
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There are two types of fatigue, one is physical and the other is mental.
The more miles you haul the better you get with dealing with physical fatigue but it works the other way when it comes to mental fatigue/disconnect.
The more miles you have under the belt, the less shock value the ride at hand poses and hence without something to keep you engaged, say a buzzy motor, you'd konk off in the blink of an eye.
Interestingly this is the same reason why people start with vanilla porn and then as time goes by shift to more perverse interests as the shock value goes down over time and you'd need something with more shock value to keep you interested. The things you learn about your mind, eh?
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Touring bikes should be large enough for a longer wheelbase and as big and powerful engine it can handle while being compact enough to be able to manage on the winding hill roads.
Seasoned riders(without brand affiliations) will own a bike like this or wants to own one like this.
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Quite the contrary.
Going by the theory of the weakest link giving up first a seasoned motorcyclist would shy away from the following;
1. Liquid Cooling.
2. Fuel Injection.
3. Complex electricals.
Because he/she knows that when crap hits the roof, its better to keep moving at any pace rather than at no pace.
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Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR Should we also look at the places we live, to understand what each other is talking about? Since I'm from Kerala like you - I perfectly understand your points as well - and I really doubt if I could have enjoyed the Versys as much there. A Duke would have been my weapon of choice for sure - with majority of two lane, narrow winding roads dominating the state - where slotting in 5th and 6th gear would be near impossible on the big bikes.
However, being based out of Chennai and Bangalore for more than a decade now, and having used a Pulsar on these roads too - I feel the Versys (or any other big bike for that matter) brings a whole new level of bliss on such roads - and its not about top speeds- the stability, comfort and the sheer way it demolishes whatever conditions are thrown at it brings a big grin! |
Indeed, growing up in Kerala did have an impact and I did have high expectations regarding what the rest of the country would be like.
But my expectations were not met which may be due to my limited experience but what I understood from that is that we simply do not have favorable conditions to sustain higher cruising speeds over an extended period of time.
The first couple of times is definitely a hoot, but sooner or later you settle down to your own pace and irrespective of the motorcycle you ride that won't change given our conditions.
Now this is with my limited experience comparing 100cc's to sub quarter liter motorcycles, because going by numbers I should expect anywhere from 100~120% increase in my statistics but so far the difference has been negligible and even counter productive when considering our own Kerala roads.
Now this comparison is not so obvious to perceptions and only shine when measuring average speeds and total running time.
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Same way - I've driven Chennai / Bangalore - Trivandrum in my old WagonR and current Punto. There's a bliss to the latter which is always questionable - since the WagonR effectively could do the same job as well - but that bliss is there nonetheless. Someone with an Octavia vRS might puke at this thought - because 'bliss' for him might be an all new level. Someone in the hills might puke at the vRS and prefer his decade old Jeep instead.
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Now just consider this,
The vRS would be a killer on the expressways, the Jeep would be a killer on the hills, but would you opt for either when covering a larger span of land with a mix of both and everything in between?
I doubt it, because it would make more sense to go for an Alto which would be able to maintain better average speeds and running time, above all at a fraction of the investment.
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Afterall - our personalities and choices are shaped by the conditions we live in!
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Spot on! Irrespective of scales.
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Originally Posted by pramods I have a different take. there is not right or wrong choice/answer here it all depends on the rider, smaller bike you are riding on the motorcycle limit, while on bigger bike you are the limit.
I don't see this as a machine vs machine issue, its mostly the capability of rider vs machine. If you are more capable than the machine you are riding you are always going to feel better and incontrol of everything, otherwise you are going to be nervous. |
A very valid take indeed.
Though personally I'm yet to go hyper or super, I doubt it would improve my total range and even say if it does I doubt the difference would be quite enough to justify the sacrifices.
As in spite of the motorcycle changing, the human element i.e me, remains the same.
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Originally Posted by Kosfactor Possible , I think there is a lot to be gained from a 200 cc motorbike.
Most likely the bike has an oil cooled or water cooled engine, a sixth gear, better brakes etc.
That alone makes it better than a commuter bike for the job at hand. |
There is a lot to be gained just as there is a lot to be lost.
Better technology has its perks, but not so much considering down-time.
Now one could argue that the prospect of down-time is non-existent on an advanced motorcycle but that would be just like the teenage version of us claiming to be never involved in a wreck in spite of our aggressive riding style.
The eventual wreck, just like down-time is inevitable irrespective of how or what we ride, sooner or later you'd get to that point and when you do it helps to have something manageable.
In a video shared by Art of Motorcycles, Junaid, a trained mechanic experiences a technical difficulty with his Triumph Tiger that sets him back by over a day or two, in comparison if he was on a more trivial motorcycle he would've been back on the road within no time, as shown in a later video he fixes his Tiger on his own but the reason for the delay was that he simply couldn't do the same without the right premise for working on a complex machine.
If it weren't for his popularity I doubt he'd be back on the road as soon as he could then.
If it were me with say a KTM 200 or a Dominar 400, then I'd be hopelessly stranded and at the mercy of the RSA, which as you could see is yet to straighten its nicks as Junaid can be seen being tested to wits end by Triumph's RSA.
Same experience was faced by a fellow rider on his KTM 200 while getting leh'd, he rode all the way from Kerala and had to return via public transport, not because he wanted to but simply because he was left without any viable options.
In the light of similar experiences I've even penned a quote which I intend to make a fender sticker of, it goes like this;
"If you can't Run, Walk.
If you can't Walk, Crawl.
Just Don't Stop!"