Jato VRD Carbon

[JimrC]

I tried a couple times to buy RZ350 and an RD400 but was never successful. Wanted too much or sold before I got the chance etc.

Have lots of memories of running about with these old bikes as a daft kid, from the RD80LC up to the RD350YVPS ... used to ride both road and dirt bikes then stopped altogether once kids come along ... yup missed but no regrets ... cheers for the memory re-run

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Well your smart enough to not ride in the rain. And you have a Harley so all the chrome would rust (I'm just joking around). I didn't like leaving my bike out overnight but mostly for theft reasons but I did a whole bunch when I started dating my wife in 2006.

Your heart is a totally different case to anyone I've met. Sounds like both the original and the swap are in the right place though.

I've always been a bit cautious and knew my limits (well maybe a few hits to the head when I was a kid going full speed helped knock it into me, good thing my mom wouldn't get me a motorcycle or go-kart). But even still I always chose slightly slower bikes so you could ring it out to the max without getting into too much trouble. Ninja 250/300 were also really good for that, just sucked on the highway.

Chrome? Ha! I am the anti-Harley guy. Have I told you I'm allergic to washing things? My chrome would have turned to rust by now. I'm not much better at maintenance and leave most of that to others. Good thing my brother-in-law is a Harley-certified tech and bike builder. I love to tinker on things, but monotonous tasks like oil changes make me want to smash my face into a wall. I will do the 1-quart oil changes on the Grom though and the 50. Although I'm not always the most consistent with those...

You won't find much chrome on my Fat Bob. The problem with my Harley is that I bought it to slow down only to find out it'll easily do 120 MPH before the top speed limiter kicks in.




Thank you. I appreciate that. I try to ensure a good heart wasn't wasted on me.

Small bikes are fun. I have my Honda Grom for that. And my CRF50 shown in the second photo, but I rarely get the chance to ride that these days. Bought that more for wheelies and stoppies. You may notice the Grom changed in the second photo. That is with the stock wheels and tires. First photo shows the previous generation Grom wheels that are genuine Enkei. I wanted those because they are lighter and I had them powder coated silver. The tinkering was done by me (intake, exhaust, Dynojet tuner, cam, etc).




The Buell in the second photo has since been sold sadly. I miss it. My uncle wrecked it while moving it from my old house to my new house for me. That put some bad voodoo on it IMO. Then my girlfriend passed away from COVID a few months later. I fixed the bike and was riding it like I wanted to die. I knew I had to get rid of it and that's when I bought the Harley...to slow down...

 

[JimrC]

Such a sweet looking Harley JTR ... nice choice

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Such a sweet looking Harley JTR ... nice choice

Thank you, sir!

 

[Speedy-Triple]

nice collection Jato. The little bikes bet they are probably super fun to put around. Between the 2 which would you say its more useable.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

nice collection Jato. The little bikes bet they are probably super fun to put around. Between the 2 which would you say its more useable.

Thank you!

It depends on what you mean by "more usable". The Harley is heavy at around 700 pounds and I'm about 115 pounds right now. So it is more effort to get in and out of my garage, but it is powerful, handles well for its size, and is just fun and fairly comfortable to ride. I never thought I'd like Harleys and this thing is a blast to ride and you can do it all day long without too much pain or discomfort. Cornering clearance is somewhat limited, but you never drag pegs unless you're pushing the bike. It does get hot when sitting in traffic during blazing heat as the engine is air-cooled. I did have my brother-in-law install the Harley Stage II kit with the torque cam. I went with Harley parts because I had a factory warranty at the time and the Screamin' Eagle parts don't affect that. I could have gotten more power with aftermarket parts and an expensive dyno tune, but that would have also removed the top speed limiter and that would be very bad for me. The Harley has a low seat height for those vertically challenged people like myself. It is wide though so it does splay your legs. I installed the slightly lower and narrower "reach" seat to get both of my feet firmly on the ground. Stock, it was more like the balls of both feet on the ground.

My Grom is modified and the rev limiter has been raised a bit. With these modifications, it will hit 70 MPH screaming at the raised redline of 10,000 RPM and that is if the ground is flat and there is no headwind. It will do highways, but it's not great at it. It also loses speed up steep hills. The Grom is so short and light that you can throw the bike around, but the stock suspension is kinda garbage so it's not stable nor that comfortable. The Grom eggs you on to push it. It is the only motorcycle that I've almost high sided - by pushing it too hard in the corners. The Grom is also LOUD. Louder than my Harley. It gives me a headache after 30 minutes of riding unless I wear hearing protection. But the open exhaust is the only way to get the Grom engine to breathe and make power. I did install the dB killer, but I immediately lost a few MPH of top speed. The noise is more tolerable though. The Grom is a much cheaper bike that almost anybody can afford and the parts are pretty cheap as well. And they are simple machines so great for tinkering on! The Grom is also small enough to put in the basement at my girlfriend's house via the man door. The Grom seat height is actually taller than my Harley, but at less than 230 pounds, almost anybody can hold it up.

The Harley with the Stage II kit is bad for tires. With a snap of the wrist, I leave parts of my Pirelli tire everywhere. No clutch required. This is my girlfriend's driveway. Months later, the marks are still there. The day I left one of these, I gleefully asked my girlfriend if she noticed the burnouts. She said, "I watched you do it." She's totally unphased by my antics, thankfully!




Sorry about the long ass response/rant. I get excited when talking motorcycles!

 

[Speedy-Triple]

I def get you on the speed ... and how a real motorcycle feels on the open road ... believe me I know that adrenaline rush, but as you mentioned slowing down is necessary and always pushing the limit is not the best decision. That is what I meant by usable I been looking into a pit bike (50's) or a small bike (groom/monkey) like to put around the block and something small that my kids can learn on. I don't take my triple out enough and having something ready in the garage to satisfy the urge to go through gears for a quick spin would help with the urge to head out all morning to the canyons for some spirited riding. I know the groom is plated compared to the cr50 so it would be more useful if ever needed for an errand.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I def get you on the speed ... and how a real motorcycle feels on the open road ... believe me I know that adrenaline rush, but as you mentioned slowing down is necessary and always pushing the limit is not the best decision. That is what I meant by usable I been looking into a pit bike (50's) or a small bike (groom/monkey) like to put around the block and something small that my kids can learn on. I don't take my triple out enough and having something ready in the garage to satisfy the urge to go through gears for a quick spin would help with the urge to head out all morning to the canyons for some spirited riding. I know the groom is plated compared to the cr50 so it would be more useful if ever needed for an errand.

Oh yeah the Grom is great for quick errand runs and short commutes. 100+ MPG. And you can spend hours on back roads just having fun as well. Honda also has the Monkey, SuperCub, Trail and now they just announced the Dax is coming to the US. Some of the MiniMOTO bikes are auto-clutch which makes them even easier to ride for newbies.

I bought my Grom to wheelie because I can ride wheelies on my 50 for days. I am not good at wheelies at all on the Grom. It's much tougher to get the front wheel up. Plus, falling off hurts a lot more now that I'm old.

https://powersports.honda.com/motorcycle/minimoto/dax-125

 

[ferp420]

i wont ride street anymore just decided it wasent that much fun anymore
but i did build a bike just for the
fun of it so i have a what i think is a nice custom hardtail virago i wish i could find some pics after i finished the build cause it looks like crap now lol
its so low it dosent even have a kick stand lol definitly not built to ride lol
i have a 1100 motor i was going to swap in but im not sure why i would do that lol
i might clean it up again and fix the dent in the tank and repaint it someday maybe after i restore my vws i dont know lol

 

[89Industries]

I had forgot Harley went back to their flat track days for some of the modern bikes. Those look nice.

My 2002 Honda vfr800 got at stoplights too. Not just an air cooled thing. Nice I'm cali winter terrible in summer. I was also on tip toes on that and it was 500 lbs and weigh maybe 130. But the v4 was the best motor I've gotten to ride.

We also still have my wife's ninja 650r but need to sell it because it just collects dust and I feel sorry for it. Could use the room in the garage too.

The groms are cool, lots of aftermarket, but for whatever reason if I got something to just put around again on the street I want an early 70s 350 or 400 twin. Why I want something with a carburetor is beyond me. Maybe it subconsciously keeps me from actually buying one.

If you ask motorcyclists about motorcycles you should expect a long answer.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

i wont ride street anymore just decided it wasent that much fun anymore
but i did build a bike just for the
fun of it so i have a what i think is a nice custom hardtail virago i wish i could find some pics after i finished the build cause it looks like crap now lol
its so low it dosent even have a kick stand lol definitly not built to ride lol
i have a 1100 motor i was going to swap in but im not sure why i would do that lol
i might clean it up again and fix the dent in the tank and repaint it someday maybe after i restore my vws i dont know lol

That's some project building motorcycles and not riding them. I can't even fathom that!

I had forgot Harley went back to their flat track days for some of the modern bikes. Those look nice.

My 2002 Honda vfr800 got at stoplights too. Not just an air cooled thing. Nice I'm cali winter terrible in summer. I was also on tip toes on that and it was 500 lbs and weigh maybe 130. But the v4 was the best motor I've gotten to ride.

We also still have my wife's ninja 650r but need to sell it because it just collects dust and I feel sorry for it. Could use the room in the garage too.

The groms are cool, lots of aftermarket, but for whatever reason if I got something to just put around again on the street I want an early 70s 350 or 400 twin. Why I want something with a carburetor is beyond me. Maybe it subconsciously keeps me from actually buying one.

If you ask motorcyclists about motorcycles you should expect a long answer.

Thank you.

A lot of us, especially former Buell owners, wish Harley would make something like an XR750 for the street. The Revolution motor in the Pan America would be a good powerplant for a street tracker or naked Harley. Indian makes the FTR750, but the power and weight specs are disappointing.

I've read lots and lots of great things about the VFR, but never had the chance to ride one. I'd probably like it because twins are great. Honda builds amazing things when they want to. Then there are times when they are stuck in a conservative rut and not producing anything groundbreaking. But they still sell the Fury somehow... I think the miniMOTOs are the most interesting bikes coming from Honda these days. At least they are still making inline 4-cylinders.

The Z400 now Z500, the naked sibling to the little Ninja, has my eye. I think I'd love one of those for a runaround bike.

Yeah I would not want to give up FI. Even my FI Grom is cold-blooded, but at least it starts right up and I don't have to choke or rejet it.