Moto-Brian

LITTLE?!?!? Dude, they are one of the top dealers around. If you go into Middletown Cycle, ask for the onwer AAron and tell him I sent you for a great deal. If you need parts there, ask for Broc and tell him I said he was a slow MX guy and wished he was as fast as me...

Yes. I use either one. It's easier to get the OEM ones...

Hard to tell on the sprockets from the pics, really. What you look for is if both the leading and following edges look the same. The leading edge is where the wear is from. It tpically starts to look less like a slope and more straight up and down if worn. Especially the rear sprocket. The chain can show wear and needing replaced when links are looking less in line and more up and down across the gap between rear and front sprockets... The tires are shit.

I wouldn't be too harsh on the Yami filter as it appears to be a high density fabric based filter. Think something like a foam filter vs. paper. Foam will do better at filtration if done correctly... We've done tests with foam filters vs. paper and even cloth like K&N and the foam ones do better. We even had a sponsor that had a test machine that could test flow rates and other weird stuff I have no idea what they mean, but they'd do filters for our race bikes and some were WAY better than what we tested and some sucked or were worse. The paper filters are sometimes worse than you'd think. I know the more pleats, the better they are supposed to be. As noted in Yota's test link - the K&N was below average and done on the cheap with the nut being the major "key point" of the filter... Personally, from what I know of manufacturers is that they have filters specific to what they want in the motor. Meaning, the OEM filter is part of the design process and is used most often. Companies like Emgo and Vesrah are companies that work with the OEMs and are typically the best aftermarket choices... Don't rely on what you use for your car as a reason to buy for your bike. Bikes are under a LOT more strain and wear situations than our cars are. All I know is that I have only used OEM and Vesrah through 14 years of racing and track day abuse. We've NEVER had one issue and the only thing I remember at the track was K&N was at one point banned with WERA as there were too many incidents with them. They've since changed and I think they are great simply as a convenience deal with safety wire and access on and off... Be careful going cheap. Considering how really inexpensive oil and filters are, don't skimp... These are really like owning a high end supercar - you wouldn't put a NAPA filter on your Ferrari, would you?

Heck, I am willing to give out contacts and places to go for about any manufacturer you want. I have a tougher time with Kaws, unfortunately, but know enough dealers to get you started somewhere. Problem is that my territory has changed and the dealers I have aren't that close anymore... I have a KILLER Kaw dealer, though that may be able to help you if need be - especially for parts. However, you know the boys at Clinton and they're really cool folks there and really where I would suggest anyone looking for Kaw and KTM...

Yup. Very cool at the time. It was even cooler when they were putting the R1 motor in that chassis. However, the newest R1 makes the old R7 look like a CBR Hurricane...

If you go to Southside, talk to Gus over there. Tell him I sent you and I said Gus would get you the best deal. Tell him you met me at the track for some track days and I suggested you talk to him...

Why do you need a comparo? They've tested about every one of them. No need on the CBR. You have the R1 tests already done. I think the next RRW will be on the GSXR. You need to not listen to what people say and really go with what works for you and satisfies what you want. All these bikes are so damn close it is picking from VERY small differences...

The motor sound. Damn... LOVE IT - R1!! I think what they stated is what I believe in my mind, as well. More ability to use the power and when asked for on the top and middle of the power band, the R1 is going to win out. That ability to switch maps is great and allows for adaptation in different scenerios. I like that on any of these big bikes, but when it is nice and you can lay out some solid paces, you can switch to the best map and get what you want... I like the CBR more and more, though. It's a really great bike and I think it is going to get left behind and forgotten in typical Honda fashion after the new Zook is added to the mix...

It's a play bike with street gear on it. Personally, unless you were in a downtown area, this would be a terrible choice. Honda needs to take better notes and do what Yamaha did in the 250X street motard they have. That's what you want - not the play bike with signals... Turd.

Call me. Fag.

I have two fairing stays for sale. First one is an OEM one for the 04-05 GSXR 600/750. Stock Suzuki one and in near new condition... $80 shipped. Usually going for $100 and more on Ebay and adding shipping... Second one is a BRAND NEW Vortex fairing stay in black. It fits an 06-07 GSXR 600/750. $120 shipped. Usually going for $134 plus shipping anywhere else...

The XS/SM/MD are the shell size so you can change pads there. LG/XL are the same and the 2XL is for fuggin melon heads...

Doesn't matter. I got a Yamaha Jog I'd slide sideways into the first fucking liter bike I see and ride off in a cloud of two stroke haze. HELLLLLS YEAH!!! With my 1/2 hockey white helmet. Fuckers.:D

Why are you so sure? Find a track test time and I will show you an R6 time that is faster... Oh, yeah... Nobody has tried it back to back and they don't post times even at Road America where they did the 2008 test... Maybe Road America would be a tough test, but at a more typical track, I don't know why you feel that way...

Put it this way... I can cut a faster lap on an R6 (06-09) than I can on a Busa. The clearance and inability to turn it as fast as needed prevents a fast lap as compared to what I can on the R6...

Motard crash I assume? On a mini no less in the wet?? Also, how thin is the leather where it was rubbed on the wet pavement? Looks awful thin and the color went away REALLY easily, huh? Looked like they held up which is cool. Again, great for an entry level suit. Just not sure how a crash on a big bike on a road course would result in. Probably hold up well enough to protect, though.

Looks VEEEEEEERRRY familiar.... Best helmets EVAR!

Dude, you can take an experienced rider on a Busa and a average rider on an R6 and the Busa is going to get waxed on the track stock to stock...

I can prove you wrong on all the above statements... Plus, what I find totally entertaining is the guys that say they "use all the power"... Maybe at the strip and at the track, but seriously, who runs 180+ ALL the time? Who on here runs their bike out to red line on a liter bike all the time? Nobody if they are talking honestly. It's like owning a Lamborghini and using it as a street machine. They don't/can't use all the power of the car... I know guys like Nick and a few others get bent over track talk. Here's my feelings. Track is where you can learn the bike. Nobody on the street can understand what their bike does. You have too many factors. Cops, stones, old ladies, Bambi, cliffs, guardrails, etc. We can take a kid that is a fast street guy and take a kid that has done 20 track days and doesn't ride the street anymore and we'd have two different levels of ability. BUT, we take the street kid and get him to the track, he will be able to understand what the bike is doing. What it is acting like with certain inputs and certain things when applied. You cannot use a modern day sportbike to any of it's potential on the street. Think you can? Then you are kidding yourself. If that's the case, come to the track and show us how you've mastered the machine. After all, the track is like a twisty road, but w/o all the issues involved. We can see ability a mile away. We also can see when someone is full of shit, too... What kills me is that there are so many people that no matter what the bike - 250, 600, 750, 1000, 1400 - they do not know enough at what they are doing. We can feel and understand what the bike does. Can we tame it and use it beyond it's ability? No. Can Ben Spies? Sure. That's a VERY small % of the world... But look at the people even on here that say their crash was because the pavement was cold, the loose debris, the front washed out on them, etc. They CANNOT accept that they as the rider were the cause. If we get them to the track, they can feel what is going on. They can learn the bike. If you "use the power of the bike" and even if you feel you can ride to the ability of that machine, you probably can still learn what it is doing and realize that you aren't... I don't care if it is a liter bike or a scooter. Nobody is a master of their bike if they solely ride street... Back to the Busa vs. liter bike... 7lbs is 1 HP. Think about that... If you give up 100 pounds, you are giving up over 14 hp... If your Busa is 175 and a liter bike is 165, you're toast... Drag racing is different as the weight helps to keep it good off the line. You'd have to lower and stretch the liter bike to get the launch you would need, but look at the magazine results and tell me where drag racing is the end all? Personally, I like a 1000 for a street bike and a buddy of mine likes 600s. Another buddy likes 750s. We can all ride together and hang fairly well. The street never allows the liter bike to get really far out front to where the other bikes cannot gain back in the turns or exits. However, if they get out front, the liter bike can make ground on the straights and just after exit. It's give and take... Now those damn good SV riders are another story!

Is Cy still in parts up there?

Are you Alex? Nope... So... the comment wasn't for you. If you invited him, that's cool. He has every right to defend. I also think that people need to understand things about how things are made and the process by which they are made. He says he designs them and they are "his" suits. Another guys posted a similar suit made in the same area of the world... He can offer "custom" as well... Thing here is simple. Buy what you feel will work best for you. Just understand that it is fine to support the "little guy", but the big company that really doesn't give a F%ck as mentioned does in fact go and make sure things are being done as planned. Saying they are your suit designs is fine. Saying they are built to your standards is something he cannot say as he cannot nor doesn't go to the factory with any regularity to make sure things are done correctly. Few questions: 1) What is the leather process? How is the leather cured and where is it from? Is it cured in cow urine? Can he even tell? What visits have allowed him to make sure they are cured in a proper fashion? 2) Although there is a difference between Schoeller and other Keprotec style materials, there are also some companies that offer similar products that even when looking at them vs. testing can be mistaken for Schoeller's. However, much cheaper... Can he prove that the material is actually Schoeller? 3) CE approved armor is an easy to get standard. Where is that armor from and what are it's qualities? Meaning, does it incorporate memory foam in the suit? Is the armor thin plastic on standard foam? CE approved simply means that a sharp object doesn't pass through it. Well, it is one test... But, anything plastic can get CE approval. $10 sunglasses at Speedway have the same CE approval as a pair of Oakley sunglasses... 4) What are the QC standards for the factory and are they being met? Has he been to the factory to make sure that issues are being addressed and are implemented? Or, is he getting the changes done weeks after seeing issues and having to get ahold of the factory and get the changes then made? How fast can changes occur? How many trips are taken to make sure the suits are being built and assembled the way he expects? 5) The leather is touted as full grain, but there are grades of full grain. Has he been to the leather tanneries and checked the quality of the leather before it is finished? Has he been able to test them at a leather quality control facility that is QLL Certified? Not just someone that has an abrasion testing machine that can tell you how many times it rubs before tearing vs. someone else's leather... The company in comparison may be using thinner leather and using dual layers in certain areas common for impact. Same result, thinner everywhere else for a lighter weight suit... Look, AGAIN... These are great suits and as he stated, but somehow gets not listed on his site - THESE ARE GREAT ENTRY LEVEL TO MID-LEVEL GRADE SUITS. Simple. Cool. Fieldsheer isn't regarded as a top choice for suits or a top choice for leather/textile street gear. Top companies are as follows: AStars Icon Hein Gericke Joe Rocket SS SHIFT Coretech Teknic Dainese Taichi Komodo Arlen Ness Fieldsheer Probably more that I cannot remember, but you get the idea... The other thing to consider here is that Dave goes to the dealer show to see the competition. As I stated earlier, most companies doing this have their 2010 stuff done and working on 2011 already. They also make NUMEROUS visits to factories in different countries to validate and get with suppliers for their materials. At that time, it is usually a time where they can see what the competition is doing. Ever wonder why companies come out with similar designs and patterns usually at the same time? They all see each others' stuff before it is released. You can visit the AStar factory or the Icon factory, etc... It is also a deal where a lot of the top companies can have changes made when the riders (who typically develop the suits and safety components and processes WAY before release) find something that needs addressed. The company I work for can actually make a change in production at any time and have in the past. The reason they can is because they use test riders and pro athletes to garnish feedback and that will put their product through the paces. One thing that echoes every time with the "smaller guys" is the "I don't pay wages, pay for warehouses, pay for offices, etc..." Well, the bigger guys who don't give a shit as you all seem to say actually have pro athletes helping with development. You want guys like Matt Mladin, Roger Hayden, Josh Herrin, Neil Hodgson and many others testing and giving feedback to you rather than Bob who rides the Dragon or Chuck who races club events. It isn't that those guys cannot give great feedback, but the pro guys and even test riders are at the track, on the road, testing and testing and testing. They have more seat time and have better input abilities than most people out there. They have only a few short months where they are not testing and the environment they test in is the most extreme and toughest you'll find. It helps develop a product a lot more than you think. Here's an example. A company I know a buddy works for has a great boot they have had on the market. Had some serious criticism as to how it fit, how it worked on the bike, etc. The company then signs one of the most aggressive, most winningest riders in the world. First time wearing the boot was at a race at the beginning of the year. The company had the development team at the race taking notes. After the event, they had over 8 pages of notes to make the boot work better and perform better and be better at protecting the rider. They had numerous riders on board, but when the boot was redesigned, it became one of the best boots out there... Another better idea is that AStar works with a LOT of racers. It's really all they do. They do this and take crash test suits and research what they did in that particular crash. In an effort for safer suits and safer processes, they take that info and make their suits better. I know the person who did this with AStar for over 5 years. The companies that can do this are not simply going to copy what others are doing and will lead rather than follow. That payroll and that marketing budget and all those "extras" lead to great product. That marketing budget allows to sign riders that are not only going to validate a product, but it most cases, it helps that company make their product better. I just hate when I hear the "big guy vs the little guy" BS speeches... Give some credit where it is due. Lost and Jagr - what bikes do you guys ride? The "Big guy who doesn't give a shit" or something from a smaller guy like MZ or UM? Is that SV better than the UM or MZ version? What helmets do you guys wear? How about jackets? What about tires? What gas? What grocery store do you shop? See where I am going? There's room for ANYONE and ANY type of product out there. Just don't sit and say that UM 650 is better than many twins on the market. Many includes a LOT of twins like Suzuki and Kawasaki. Don't say that Shinko race compound tires are better than many race compound tires used out there. That's a LOT of tires like Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, BStone. Spartan suits are a great entry level or mid-level suit when compared to the others in it's class. Saying you do things a little better than even the AStar entry level suit is cool, but better is a tough measure. Many includes a lot of companies I listed above. When talking suits, that list is rather short and sure, maybe better than FS, but that's not many...

What's your price range? That really starts the ball rolling as you can buy some great bikes out there for set amounts... Out of your list, stay away from a CBR600F1. Old school and hard to get parts and tires... F2/F3s are great starter bikes, but an SV650 would be more modern in terms of chassis and parts. The ZX7 is a great bike honestly and has a soft spot in my heart as I had a couple of these. However, they are PIGS and pretty tough to ride at any sort of pace w/o feeling like you went rounds upon rounds of boxing against a seasoned fighter... SV650 is your best choice. Teaches corner speed which a LOT of track guys lack, they are easy to work on and parts are stupid cheap. Seasoned riders can embarrass a lot of 600 riders. Good SV650 riders are like gnats at times as they are always around you and you cannot shake them easily...

The new Honda looks like a Scorpion 700 helmet. Yuck.