...wow.
 

I've loved my trans am to death forever now it seems... but ive grown more and more attached to my 96 bmw r850r. by no means a sport bike, its awesome to throw around the curves and cruise around in absolute comfort.

my rule has been the speed limit and nothin more, dont ride to often, never on a highway before... use it for pleasure and a summer gas saver (might as well be solar powered compared to my trans)... but last night i took it on 18 for the first time... i was nervous about going so fast without a windshield...55 is the fastest ive been without it, and its kinda brutal... but i was goin to meet a girl ive been crazt about for awhile now so nothin was gunna stop me if it was gunna be uncomfortable or whatever.

trip up there almost no traffic, i was feeling out how 65 then 70 then finally cruisin along at 75 felt. even the bumps and crud thats on 18 that i usually feel like a land mine in my car really didnt effect me at all... i was getting pretty comfy, i guess the bike is just light enough to glide over most stuff that i thought would be quite umcomfy to hit.

skip forward a bit, nights over, time to head on home. traffic again is empty, and once ive done something, i have no fear about doing it again. it was a breeze, and i found myself playing around more and more to feel out the new speeds. nearly full moon, highways empty, the roads clean and i havent seen a cop all night.

time to experiment.

i lean forward onto the wind, and crack open the throttle in 5th. i dont have a tach and its a sportster designed for city or rural areas so its only a 5 speed. i dont know where the redline is, but its been low in the rpms even at 75mph.

before i know it im laying on the wind... litterally. for those of you who dont own a motorcycle, i have to say the feeling is magic. the air is literally pushing back on you so hard, that you can lean on it and LAY on the WIND. it holds you up ever so gently howling in your ear, as i relized i was slowly slipping towards triple digits.... and i wasnt scared at all. if i didnt look at the white lines passing by me faster then the 1's and 0's on a windows fatal error crash screen, or at the speedo moving faster then it ever has at such speed in my 400+rwhp trans, i wouldnt have been able to tell you if i was doing 50 or 110.

leaning into the swooping turns still in my lane, i relized that i had now gone all the way down laying on my tank filling in my head my roll as a motogp racer on the final lap towards victory. not a car in sight when i see taillights ahead in the right lane.... they approach and dissapear in my blurred mirrors like a red shooting star in the sky.... well into the 120+ range my speedo is already maxxed out and its as comfy as taking a stroll through the park.

i live it up a few more miles... it feels like forever and at the same time like an instant... i slow it back... my exits comming up and i roll back to the mid 80's... finally making it back off the ramp back towards home.

ill never forget the feeling... and i think its officially time to hang up the trans am... fix it up enough to sell a year or so down the line, and invest all my time into the two wheel heaven that is motorcycling. this is the last summer i will own a sporster too... i crave the 200 mark that even my trans cannot touch.

the point of this post.... GET A ****ING MOTORCYCLE OMG.

thats it.

and heaven forbid you hit that one steep pot hole and go flying off your bike. that's alright I'll stick with the muscle car. =]

wtf you live in Long Branch also...?

Yea to many varibles ill stick to four wheels
________
Gm le8 engine history

born n raised

I live in long branch too! I drive an 87 924S and a 91 formula. the porsche is to save gas and it still only gets 18-20 mpgs. I want a motorcylce bad. Ive ridden dirt bikes and quads all my life and i know how much fun it is being out in the air flying. I have to get my bike license tho

Join the club brother. Every night before I go to bed I take my bike out to experience that same feeling. Motorcycles are awesome, but I still haven't forgotten about my car either. They both have their pro's & con's and its nice to be able to go between the two.

that ride sounded amazing :drool:

Ooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaby that got me excited....

pretty sick. what color is your 924s red w/ black rims?

Wait, who here owns the red RS with black stock rims?

Motorcycles can be fun. Saves on gas. I trust myself with me on a bike. I just don't trust the aholes that drive around me when I'm on one. I don't know about NJ but in CA, myself and a few other two wheeled comuters was splitting lanes during traffic because you can legally do that only if the traffic is going at 25 mph ar below. Some guy didn't like the fact that we weren't stuck as he was and tried to clothsline the guy behind me. He didn't succeed but still a messed up thing to do.

pretty messed up

think that would definatly qualify as reckless driving, at the very least careless or improper passing lol... points no matter what, sucks to have to drive in NJ, specially in the summer when the bennies take over the roads.

Like I said. In CA, your allowed to split lanes when traffic is rolling under 25 MPH, at a stop on a red light. But I sold my bike to fix the T/A so oh well.

Just always remember to maintain the ideals of a good NJ driver, tailgate, swerve, yell and make hand gestures. :nod:

i love hand gestures

And what works out nice for me, is that there are few cars that could catch me. :mrgreen:

I'm actually gonna get into the whole bike world pretty soon. Problem I seem to be having though is that I'm 6'7" and don't want a cruiser.

They are pricey but they are the most comfortable and reliable bikes out there... check BMW's. There is one right near you I believe by Rutgers U. I got my 1996 for $4,000 flat... heated handbars, seat and vest... drive shaft (no chain), horizontally opposed motor (boxer) like a porche/wrx... adjustable seat height, adjustable suspension, adjustable handbars... anything and everything you could want as a creature comfort, and its the same weight as a sport bike and its an 850 so its definatly no cruiser. I'm not 6'7 but I'm 6'2 and i can get the bike high enough where id be on my toes sitting, or low enough to flatfoot. my sister and her husband have been riding for years, her husband is around 6'5 and he rights thier 1100 and i can barely touch the ground on it, they are tall bikes if you need em! they also have some seriously sick sport bikes comming out next year, they have 1 out now the hp2 sport but thier premier one next year if you have the money is the bmw s1000rr, they also have the k1200r/s which are 170hp bikes with all the comforts you would never see on a jap ricer

Only problem with the BMW is getting it serviced when it breaks (which they don't do too often). One of the guys I work with has a GS1100 and he just killed a bearing in the "rear" and the bearing material split the seal on the case, so it was dumping fluid on the road right next to his rear tire. He has been in contact with every dealership that services BMW bikes within 100 miles of Princeton, NJ (where we work) and Fairfax, VA (his permanent home), as well as all the ones he could find in between, and he can't get an appointment to get it fixed for at least 6 weeks at any of them.

That alone would be reason enough for me to not get a BMW......

- Justin

wow... that does suck. i know the harly dav shop in long branch wont even do an oil change on mine, but other then the big stuff there really isnt any reason to bring a motorcycle for work anywho. you can even learn to do valve lash adjustments etc, just get a haynes manual... however you spell that.

mines a 1996 with 75,000 miles on it, only thing its ever needed so far was fluids, filters and bulbs... so those 13 years of perfect service make up for the possible downtime on something major for all the downtown every year youd have with any other bike :)

i feel ya bro, i haven't touched my car in awhile since i bought a bike and i'm having just so much fun. bought the bike last friday had 5 miles on it new, its now saturday i have 875 on it but also there were two/three days in the week raining so i didint ride it.

His is an 01 or 02 with 93k miles....it's his primary vehicle - summer, winter, rain, light snow....he rides it non stop.

- Justin