Video: Knowing the Difference Between Sport Bikes & Cruisers

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Learn about the difference between sport bikes and other types of motorcycles in this free biking video on sport bikes gear and tips.

Comments

captwsims Apr 22, 2011
I do not care much for his speaking style, but the content is accurate, IMO. I am 59 years old and ride a sport bike because I want total performance from bikes and cars (DD is a Z06). Total perfomance is safer than less performance provided you ride/drive properly.
kirklandguy124 Aug 02, 2008
i teach at seattle's ever green safety council and i am telling you this guy's advice will get you in trouble on the road. did he really say sport bikes are safer than cruisers? let us ignore the fact that 87% of fatalities involve a sport bike and not a cruiser. i have a ducatti and a harlet and the cruiser by far safer. did he say a fast bike is a safe bike?
learningjim Aug 02, 2008
Well,yea,he did-and he's right,for the most part.Physically,a big cruiser SHOULD stop shorter than a sportbike[wheelbase length,CG],but yes-you're only defense is not being there.The truth is,the safe cyclist is the [continually] training cyclist.I've taken BRC,2 ERC's , CLASS with Reg Pridmore,and do regular trackdays.Sold my beloved V65 Magna because i began to realize i needed a bike that would MANEUVER when i needed it to.And only now understanding how little i knew.Many great machines,cruisers and sport alike,but to learn well-sport is better!
kirklandguy124 Aug 02, 2008
i teach at seattle's ever green safety council and i am telling you this guy's advice will get you in trouble on the road. did he really say sport bikes are safer than cruisers? let us ignore the fact that 87% of fatalities involve a sport bike and not a cruiser. i have a ducatti and a harlet and the cruiser by far safer. did he say a fast bike is a safe bike?

Video Transcript

Hi, my name’s Chad. I want to talk a little bit about sport bikes and the differences between sport bikes and other kinds of bikes. As everybody’s probably noticed on the street, you see all kinds of bikes from long, stretched out choppers all the way down to little, tiny dirt bikes to sport bikes. Basically, what makes a sport bike different from other bikes is it is made purely for performance. And that means that it’s short, so it will turn very quickly, makes a lot of horsepower, so it has a very tuned motor, which means that it takes a lot of upkeep. It makes it very expensive- you’re talking about race parts, they’re essentially parts that came off the race track at one point. A sport bike is also not made for comfort. Comfort is not an issue on a sport bike. It’s made for you to sit on and be in the right position to ride fast. To have the optimal body position. Other bikes, like cruisers, tend to be a little bit more for comfort. They tend to not turn very quickly, they’re made just to kind of go in a straight line and kind of go relatively slow. Acceleration doesn’t even come close, and the braking usually not even close. They weigh a whole lot more. They’re made more for just sitting back, kind of like a Cadillac versus a Ferrari. That’s really kind of what its like. A sport bike, really, in some ways is probably the safest bike you can buy because it turns quickly, it stops quickly, and it accelerates quickly. And those are the only advantages that you have on a motorcycle. In a car, you’re surrounded by steel, and you’re big and you don’t have to worry- that’s your protection. On a motorcycle, not being there is your protection. So in that sense, in many ways a sport bike is the safest bike you can ride, as long as you control yourself. Don’t go too fast, don’t accelerate too quickly. Cruiser bikes are not made to do that, they’re not made to turn quickly, stop quickly, or accelerate quickly relative to a sport bike. So that really makes the sport bike in many ways, in my opinion, a much superior product unless you plan to go on a long, long ride. Then you’re probably not going to want to be on one of these because they’re not made for you to be comfortable. But that’s the basic differences- sports bike are all about performance, in every way, and cruiser bikes are often about the way they look, the way they sound, and about an easy ride for longer periods and long distances.

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Knowing the Difference Between Sport Bikes & Cruisers

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