Is the classic sport-touring motorcycle doomed to extinction?

I know I can 'throttle walk" my NC DCT at 1 mph with zero chance of it stalling which I can't do on my manual CB 1100
 
the Ferret said:
I know I can 'throttle walk" my NC DCT at 1 mph with zero chance of it stalling which I can't do on my manual CB 1100
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Why is it harder on the CB1100?

On my ST1300, when going straight, I just slip the clutch and/or coast. For slow speed turns, some rear brake with some clutch (friction zone) works well. So Yeah, in that case, I don't have both feet on the ground and 1 mph is not as easy. Perhaps that's what you mean.
 
Is throttle walking what Rider Coaches call straddle walking? Slipping the clutch while seated on the bike, walking with feet on the ground?

I can only get to 2mph consistently when I try to do a trackstand... full stop, feet up. Yeah, I know. 2mph is NOT a full stop. Rarely can I get to 1mph (GPS on the GSA or ST, or TFT on the GSA).

Still working on a full stop with feet up. Even though both bikes are superbly balanced, and even though I work at relaxing my upper body. Difficult to stand still, feet on pegs.
 
Sadlsor said:
Is throttle walking what Rider Coaches call straddle walking? Slipping the clutch while seated on the bike, walking with feet on the ground?

I can only get to 2mph consistently when I try to do a trackstand... full stop, feet up. Yeah, I know. 2mph is NOT a full stop. Rarely can I get to 1mph (GPS on the GSA or ST, or TFT on the GSA).

Still working on a full stop with feet up. Even though both bikes are superbly balanced, and even though I work at relaxing my upper body. Difficult to stand still, feet on pegs.
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Add a trials bike to your stable. Good training for balance. After a short while you'll be an expert.
 
Sadlsor said:
Still working on a full stop with feet up. Even though both bikes are superbly balanced, and even though I work at relaxing my upper body. Difficult to stand still, feet on pegs.
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I can stop before I put my feet down, and I can lift my feet before I start going.

But I can not seem to stop and then go without putting my feet down.
 
Larry Fine said:
I can stop before I put my feet down, and I can lift my feet before I start going.

But I can not seem to stop and then go without putting my feet down.
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Had to when I was in the USMC to get my 73 Triumph on base (a lot younger with quicker reflexes).
They set up a series of cones that gradually narrowed until just room enough for the bike to go through.
You had to pull up, come to a full stop, and then you could go when the 'inspector' clapped his hands (he watched the spokes of your front wheel).
If you knocked over a cone or put your foot down, you failed and did not get on the base.
They also had a line of 'inspectors' along an old runway where you took off like a mad banshee.
One of them would step out and you had to do a panic stop and stay upright (before the days of ABS on bikes).
And there were some more 'tests' like that.
They basically did not want motorcycles on that base and did their best to insure that.
But I passed and got my sticker to go on base! ;)
 
Andrew Shadow said:
Add a trials bike to your stable. Good training for balance. After a short while you'll be an expert.
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I've considered that, but I'm out of room. Yeah, even for a skinny trials machine.

But no doubt that would add to my control skills, I've seen good riders do amazing things on those big GSAs, and I'm pretty sure they didn't start learning on a 600lb pig. Not most of them, anyway.

Chris Birch come to mind, and Jimmy Lewis.

ALL the offroad instructors who i follow and admire, always stress balancing yourself on bike FIRST. When you are in balance, it opens up a whole new world of technical riding.
 
Sadlsor said:
But no doubt that would add to my control skills, I've seen good riders do amazing things on those big GSAs, and I'm pretty sure they didn't start learning on a 600lb pig. Not most of them, anyway.
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Ask them how many broken bones they've had riding... :rofl1:
 
I think what Ferret meant by throttle walk is standing on a side of a bike and power walking it. In this case I guess is easier than modulate the clutch and throttle, dunno.
 
Sorry just got in from my daily ride. Day 291 of riding this year. Lousy weather, 52 degrees and spitting drizzle.

What I meant by throttle walking is, I can sit on the bike and go forward as far as I want at 1 mph just by using the throttle with no brakes or no clutch slipping. I just slowly pull forward. My manual CB would either buck/stall or I'd have to pull in the clutch to keep it from bucking/stalling if I tried that. Comes in handy when putting it away in the garage, between my car and my other bike, during slow speed parking lot maneuvers, U turns or an uphill or downhill switchback. You just have to learn how to ride a DCT, just like you have to learn how to modulate slow speed maneuvers/turning on a manual shift bike. They each have their processes.
 
ddemair said:
"character" can be a euphemism for flaws or lack of reliability. Or it can mean a more visceral experience.
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Back in 2016, I had some time free and stopped in at my local motorcycle dealer. He had both Yamaha and BMW bikes, plus some others. As luck would have it, he had both the FJ-09 and F800GT, and let me take both bikes out. I rode the FJ-09 first and took it around the block. Halfway around the block, I almost parked it and walked back. I couldn't stand it.

The magazine reviewers could only praise the FJ-09...especially about how well you could pop wheelies on it. What I found was a bike with a snatchy throttle and clutch action. The friction zone was minimal. It was either on, or off. I figured I could learn to live with it...but I shouldn't have to. I had to have a bike I could ride in stop-n-go traffic for potentially miles on my commute. This was definitely not it. In all the reviews I'd read, only one reviewer made anything like a minimal reference to the snatchy throttle. Reviews on the later models would talk about how the snatchy throttle was a bit smoother, which told me it wasn't just me, but a problem with the bike.

I got on the F800GT, and it felt like a glove in contrast. I kept it for hours and the only reason I didn't keep riding it longer was the dealership was closing.

Both bikes had "character". In one case, the character was one aspect of the bike that dominated the rider's perspective on how the rest of the bike performed. Some would look at the throttle response as being wonderfully responsive to pop wheelies...others would look at it as a negative in slow traffic. I've never found wheelies to be advantageous in stop-n-go traffic.

The other bike had "character" in that every aspect of the bike was great. None stood out, but they all blended together. My F800GT always felt like an extension of me. If I wanted to just relax in city traffic, it'd do that without any fuss. If I wanted to keep up with fast riders, it would do that too without any fuss. That's the "character" I want.

Chris
 
Sadlsor said:
I've seen good riders do amazing things on those big GSAs
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Technique and experience count for a lot.
My Brother in-law knew the guy who used to be the instructor for the Quebec Provincial Police motorcycle officers. He was one hell of a rider on or off road. His personal ride was a GS. He used to ride it on the snowmobile trails in the summer. Snowmobile trails didn't used to be the well groomed things that they are now. We don't seem to get as much snow now as we used so they have to manicure and groom the trails to be able to use them in a lot of areas. Back then the trails were just a path cut through the trees. The tree stumps, the rocks, the rivers and streams, the ravines, all of it was still there buried under a layer of snow that smoothed it all out. In the summer it is one hell of a mess that you can barely walk through. This guy would ride his big heavy GS all over the province on these trails. It was amazing to watch what he could do with that thing. Most of where he went most people wouldn't dare go on anything bigger and heavier than a 200 or 250 or something similarly small and light. He would barrel through, sometimes sinking up to the axles, but he always got through somehow. It was amazing to watch. Anyone who never saw him do it would never believe you when you told them where he went with that big bike.
 
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