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Originally Posted by primal
Define "ultimate touring experience." Honestly, the whole Iron Butt thing would be pretty dull for me, and not my idea of what touring should be, i.e. spending so much time on the road that you don't actually get to see anything.
And for the record, #14 was a Victory Vision.  |
I agree with you 100% about "the Iron Butt thing". It's not something I would ever attempt, or want to do. It's an extreme behavior. However, the point I was making is that, like many extreme behaviors, what people learn from doing it can be instructive to us all. Another example, totally unrelated, is what the bench rest rifle shooters of the late 1940's and early 1950's learned and taught us about what makes a rifle accurate. Up till then there had been a lot of misconceptions about that, but those guys pushed the envelope way out there, and we all benefited and learned, including today's Joe average hunter. Rifles, even hunting rifles, are made differently in some ways than they were before the early bench rest shooters did what they did. So is ammunition. Same with the Iron Butt riders. They have learned a lot the hard way so that we don't have to. If a style, or set of styles, of bike is overwhelmingly proven to be the best for 1000 mile days, there's a good chance that it will also be best for non-fanatics who want to do 200 to 400 mile days, which is a fair daily average for touring, or even extended day rides. The last two rides I did were 219 miles and 275 miles, two days apart, In 35 to 55 degree weather, and one of them was about half in the rain. For that kind of riding, especially at my age, I need something that works, and I'm not too concerned about image.
I got an opportunity to look at a Victory Vision recently, by the way. It's not a cruiser. It's Victory's version of very highly stylized touring bike. If you see one, you'll either love it or hate it. It's a pretty "out there" design. I haven't made up my mind yet.
Danny,
I don't recall using the word "crap" once. What I said was that, performance wise, handling wise, control wise, and long distance comfort wise, cruisers are not the most functional motorcycles, and are not, for the most part chosen by knowledgeable people who care most about those parameters. That's not opinion. Statistically, it's provable fact. That's not to say that you or anyone else shouldn't ride a cruiser if that's what you like to ride. I like cruisers. I've owned several of them, and will probably own others. I own one now - the GZ250. I love it. I don't think it's crap at all. But if I want the best handling and the most comfortable long distance ride, I'll choose something else.
My comments were addressed originally to a rider who is relatively new to riding (the original poster in this thread), and who has only owned cruisers. All I really said, or intended to say, is that he should look at some other options. Looking at, and learning about, other options is generally a good thing to do before spending large amounts of money. Something I learned the hard way.