Mowgli1647545497

I'm curious why. Why not choose the better performing (in every measure), better handling, easier to drive fast, better behaved at sane speeds, better build quality, better engineered, and far more rare car? Why not choose the car that the european reviewers are almost unanimously saying has more soul, emotion, and does everything a car is supposed to do better, easier, faster, and with more ... well, soul. The italians love it, the germans love it, I know personally several Dutch in-laws that want it, the british are peeing themselves over it. And Ford's spelled with the same four letters over there as here. I know the answer, but I'm asking anyway.

Good... cuz they sucked (oops did I say that?)

At its supposed-to-list price of $134k, or even at $150k, or even at $200k it crushes all comers. Its not out of its league, its busting the nuts off everything IN its league. Just like last time - when none of you were born yet. The dealer markup is sleazy. Not surprising though. Just got done reading an Automobile article where they did a 4-way comparo of the true 200mph cars for sale in the USA. In a nutshell, passerbys walked past the Mercedes SLR McLaren, past the Porsche GT, past the Lambo Murcielago, to go muscle a look at the GT. And these are 1/2million dollar cars. They ended up calling it the one car that could make the dead get up and walk the earth. So, seeing as how nobody here has driven any one of these cars, I'm going to call you all out and say none of you know what the nut you're talking about. You're all (me too) about as much qualified to utter the phrase "its only a Ford" and thumb it down at $200k or whatever pricepoint its at other than its $134k list, as knowing how to comb your hair prepares you to perform brain surgery. Opinions and assholes, as the saying goes... Guess what my opinion of it is? Not getting into the debate about wether the Mark III sucked or not, where can you get one?

Who's Diana DiGarmo?

The rule of thumb loss for the T56 and IRS equipped Cobras has been 12-16%

I agree I think thats a fair article. Also, though I personally have sat on a 919 in the showroom I have not rode one. I have rode a Ducati Monster which is sorta kinda the same thing as this bike and I will say this bike felt to me alot more comfortable that the Ducati, simple because of the angle of the grips and the peg placement.

Tits - buying one. Unless the 06 CTS-V gets that engine, then its the Caddy.

linkie no workie cut/paste works though

ACK RANE! Return that 9800 pro right now and go to CompUSA and buy a 6800GT. Same price, 1.5x performance. Plus the TAP plan. ...Or were they out too? I've come full circle. But ONLY because of the TAP. (Otherwise I'd still be on NewEgg or whoever else gave me the best price on Pricewatch.com that moment.)

There are several different model bikini fairings for the RSW. Yup its is air and oil cooled (theres a small oil cooler radiator out front): looser tolerances=big room for power upgrades, and disgustingly easy to work on because of it. Its got an engine management computer to go along with the fuel injection (doesn't control just fuel flow) that I hear is flashable, but I'm not positive on that. There's a bunch of oil cooling kits out for it, but you really don't need them, they're really just chromey vanity things - heck, even with the Stage 3 SpeedStar kit (and by that time you're in the ballpark of 150lbs of torque starting at 1800rpm - which is a shitload of torque for a bike, btw) the bike doesn't overheat at all. I've had it out on 95+ degree days in direct daylight stop and go traffic and the only thing that roasted were my nuts. As opposed to the Ninja, where along with my nuts, my right shin roasts whenever the fan comes on. I'm a bit confused on the Ninja ZX-7R. You folks keeps saying its a big bike, but I've sat on my friend's, and I'm 6' with a 32" inseam (pretty average imo), and that bike ain't big; my knees were up almost in my chest, and with a 34" sleeve it wasnt even a long reach to the bars, if I locked my elbows I was completely up and out of the windscreen's protection and smack upright. I'll have to go back and ask him what year his was, because my recollection was it was small, and Perfect Enemy's 5'10" - thats not much shorter than me - course it depends on the inseam and armlength I guess? But I do remember with my legs doubled up as much as they were I couldn't put any weight on my feet for cornering and such, so I sat there with all my weight riding on the boys. crunch. no way am I taking a high G turn smushing the twins. one pothole and i would be a soprano. You know - bikes are so good these days its really hard to find a dog. All bikes, IMO. Everyone's right - you gotta sit on em all first. You may find yourself surprising yourself and liking something you didn't expect to, like maybe the Bandit or that retro Kawasaki (those were the replicate Lawson superbikes right? nice bikes). [ 09. December 2004, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Neo - no. DragKnee has it right: dollar for dollar. No it doesn't need to be broke. I tell em its broke, though. But I've yet to have them ask any questions, they just look in the box to see if its actually in there, lol. For example, the price of my 9800xt last year was $499. This time i went in they were out of the x800xt and the 6800ultra, which are the current $499 cards. So I got a 6800GT (a $399) card and a $100 gift card. I took $39 of that giftcard and TAP'd this last card. So, in a year when I want a new card I can get a $399 card for free. Or apply that to whatever $499 card is out, dollar for dollar. Plus the $39 fee to TAP it. (might be $49 at the $499 level)

Oh and gimme a call in spring if you wanna go ride together smile.gif

The naked 919 is a sweet bike. And sweet looking. And I don't think its a matter of "it sounds like it’s a slouch when it comes to getting going from a roll". But I'm biased too - I almost bought one myself. I'm kinda like StockV6 in advice. But then, I went from a GS450 to a 900 Ninja and never looked back. You *could* stepping stone your way up the whole way, never incrementing more than you can handle just beyond your current limit, but then you'll go thru a whole lot more bikes. Or you could just jump to a literbike. Sure if you're a dumbass you could get more bike than you can handle, but then a CR50 can kill you just as dead as a CBR XX Blackbird. And after all, it doesn't hurt a bike to be driven at its 50% point, and so what if you never eventually can carve on it past its 60% point. I've watched big guys on old dinosaur FJ1300s and skinny tires whup skinny 22yr olds on CBR600F4s and new fat rubber thru curves. It aint the bike its the rider. If it fits you, ride it.

HDs: Look dated, sound bad, zero nuts. tongue.gif Heh -------------------- Sounds like from everything you're saying you want a bike with torque. And if you go naked, then you want bigger not smaller. But sounds like you got the right idea- with a torque bike you can have fun without having to go 100mph+ to get a thrill. Hell on my fully faired ZX-11 if I'm going 80mph it doesn't even know anything is happening. Boring. Like riding a sewing machine until you achieve Ludicrous Speed. Where you start having real fun, until the Captain of the Chevy Impala ahead of you orders up hard left rudder and steers into your lane... BTW - the seat on the RSW was changed for 2004 over the earlier design which was more streamlined. I like the seat on my 02 better. Anyhoo if you go here there are two 360 degree views you can rotate the bike around. Its pretty muscular. Also check out RSWarrior.com for more owners' pics. But alot of the people there ruin the unique look of the Warrior by taking it back toward looking like a cruiser. Lower it and lose the awesome cornering clearance, and put dual straightpipes on it and become completely unoriginal. Ugh. But there are a few badass looking bikes there, and you can get a good lead on a used example from there too. Also I recommend the chin cowl for it - I mounted one on mine. I'll see if I can dig up a pic of that that also shows the smaller passenger seat. You're also welcome to come try it out if you want to wait til spring, obviously mine's not for sale but you can get a taste to see if its along your lines. Its an easy bike to ride - very forgiving. Also with that howizter of an exhaust can the exhaust sounds awesome. Not blat blat blatty like a stright piped HD and not tinny like my ZX. Think Ducati but MUCH deeper throat. You can still "BLAT" away a tailgating car though when you want, heh, loudly. Oh, and also they're fuel injected. Never deal with the choke or poor cold performance, or float bowl maintenance again. EDIT: Here's a pic of mine with the chincowl on, you can also see the smaller passenger seat of the 02. And they've got a kickass blue hue'd display that looks great at night - I think they changed this to red for the 05. And, even though it doesn't sound like you're worried about this, remember the basic rule of thumb: Women look better on sportbikes, men look better on cruisers. Also - don't forget to check out the Bandit 1200. [ 08. December 2004, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Started out good: 1 out of 1 perfect, 49 turns to go | Error 0 Miles | Avg Error 0 miles Course its easy when you get New York smile.gif Then I had to drop Colorado next - shite! 84% 49miles Its all about getting those coast states up front, the later ones plug right in.

LOL

Get the 6800GT. Not the ATI X800Pro. Dunno enough about the 6600GT. My brother in law both went out and got new cards - I got the ATI x800Pro, he the BFG 6800GT. We immediately did frames/sec tests in Doom3, HL2, and Pacific Fighters. The 6800GT pulled ahead in all three, and CRUSHED the ATI card in Doom3. I returned mine that night and got a 6800GT. And had been on ATI cards for awhile (9700pro, 9800xt). BTW - buy it at CompUSA, then buy the TAP for it (tech assurance plan or some such junk). 39 bucks. Use it for a year, turn it in, get a new card. Now your price just halved across the two cards. TAP that one. Use it for a year, turn it in, get a new one. Price is now 1/3 acrss the three cards. TAP that one.... see where I'm going here? Aside from the initial outlay for the first card, you're picking up new cards every year for ~$39. If you're like me and upgrade alot, its worth it. I used to research prices on Pricewatch.com and religiously buy from the lowest vendor there. Get stuck with one lemon and deal with the hassle of mail returns, and it ain't worth it. Besides, you'll beat Pricewatch prices via this strat (over time) and its local.

Chicken strips are the tire wear that happens only on the center section of the tire. Made mostly by NOT leaning the bike over to wear the entire tire. First thing alot of curve carving bike guys will look at when they look at your bike. I also tend to finger the footpeg nipples for wear.... At 6' and 225lbs we're about the same size (34" sleeve, 32" inseam). If you're close to that you will NOT fit comfortably on a GSXR 750 if you plan to do any long distance or cruising. The 919 is a GREAT bike. When I was looking for my third I almost bought one. Definitely check his out. Of all the open standards I liked that and the Bandit 1200 the best for fit. Both have enough torque to make you never miss the top end horsepower. However, I myself settled on the Yamaha Road Star Warrior. Don't confuse this with the rest of the Road Star line (cruisers), this is a muscle bike in the vein of the VMax, but built to stop and turn also. I picked mine up, a 2002, for $6k. They're $12k new but the 02s and 03s are starting to appear used on the market. You'll have the best time finding used Bandits as there's more of them. Then used 919s, then RSWs. The RSW has the R1 inverted fork (a 41mm inverted Kayaba), fully adjustable rear suspension (Single shock, link-type), a 48degree lean angle (that BTW beats some "sport bikes"), its got a 200 series rear, huge 300mm 6pot dual discs up front, 4 pot out back (strong brakes), belt drive (meaning less lash, less noise, and near zero maintenance), and the kicker - a 1700cc engine. Torque stock is 105ftlbs, but for real cheap you can get Yamaha performance kits for it that'll put it into the 130s hp and 140-150s torque. And from there its easy to go up, like the Cobra they respond VERY well to simple mods. Probably the cheapest bike to add horsepower to I've ever owned. There are maybe ~three cars on here you couldn't crush with this thing (counting the purple dragster). Being a V Twin its disgustingly simple to launch, and with the rear tire out behind you as opposed to under you, you can launch alot harder without having to feather for lift. By way of comparison it took me two summers to learn how to launch my ZX11 well enough to get into the low tens. I cracked 10.50 on the RSW two months into it. (In the nines by end of summer) The 200 series rear plus a 66" wheelbase = Dump-N-GO. Burns out real nice: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/mcy/media/wallpaper/wallpaper_mcy_02rswarrior_gray_6_800.jpg You can also get it entirely blacked out. Some more pics: This first one shows the Baron's Rad'ius Drag Bars which I like and probably will be mounting on mine http://www.rswarrior.com/members/_SeaDragon_/ride-2.jpg (You'll have to cut n paste that url into another browser window, the club doesn't allow hotlinking) This second one is my bike - showing you the rear tire and that awesome exhaust: http://www.rswarrior.com/members/Mowgli/MVC-006Fs.JPG I would definitely look at Hoblicks 919. And thats as small as I'd go (you'll tire of a 750), and if you don't jump on the 919, look into the RSW, you'll be pleased. I also never fit right on Hondas. They are, IMO, made for the "little fellas". Try a late 90s literbike like a ZX11 or ZX10 or one of the Yamaha Rs. Again a 750 will be too small and a 600 will be like riding a cramped toy for you. [ 08. December 2004, 10:57 AM: Message edited by: Mowgli ]

Swiss army knife and 4 bolts. Piece of cake.

Moral of the story: If your Porsche catches on fire, remove the wheels, suspension, engine, and transmission immediately.

+1. Gay as a Barbara Streisand audience.

Curse you Orion and Blowzilla for beating me to the SpellCheck Police arrest.

Try working on a v6 fiero some time. Bullet thru the head.

unless you're building flares

Yeah. But the Porsches wheels still lit up the surroundings like a spotlight