S11E02: Motorcycle Dating Game Is Back!
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Car
Harley-Davidson Dragonster
The Harley-Davidson Dragonster is a motorcycle that combines traditional Harley style with some modern features, making it popular among riders.
Company
Motul
Motul makes oils and cleaners for cars and motorcycles. They help keep engines running well and clean. You can find their products in many auto shops.
Part
engine oil
Engine oil is a liquid that helps keep the engine parts moving smoothly. It reduces heat and wear, making the engine last longer.
Car
Harley-Davidson FLHTC
The Harley-Davidson FLHTC is a type of motorcycle designed for long rides. It's known for being comfortable and has a fairing that helps protect the rider from wind.
Car
Harley bagger
A bagger is a motorcycle made for long trips, with extra storage bags on the sides. Harley-Davidson makes popular bagger models that are great for touring.
Car
Morgan Six Plus
The Morgan Plus Six is a stylish British sports car that mixes old-school charm with modern technology. It’s known for being well-made and fun to drive.
Car
Goldwing
The Honda Goldwing is a popular motorcycle made for long trips. It has lots of features to make riding comfortable, like a big seat and storage for luggage.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and more powerful the vehicle can be.
Term
shaft drive
Shaft drive is a way to send power from the engine to the wheels using a solid metal shaft. It's often used in motorcycles and some cars because it's durable and requires less maintenance than other systems.
Car
Honda ST 1300
The Honda ST 1300 is a motorcycle made for long-distance travel, offering a comfortable ride and good handling. It's popular among riders who enjoy touring.
Term
V4 engine
A V4 engine has four cylinders that are arranged in a V shape. This design helps the engine be smaller while still giving good power and a smooth ride.
Brand
BMW
BMW is a well-known car and motorcycle brand from Germany, famous for making high-quality and sporty vehicles.
Car
BMW R 1250 RS
The BMW R 1250 RS is a type of motorcycle that combines sporty performance with comfort for longer rides. It's known for its unique engine design and is suitable for various riding styles.
Car
BMW R 1300 RS
The BMW R 1300 RS is a type of motorcycle that combines sportiness with comfort for long rides. It has a strong engine and is good for twisting roads.
Car
BMW K 1600
The BMW K 1600 is a high-end motorcycle designed for long-distance travel. It has a powerful engine and many comfort features, making it great for long rides.
Car
BMW GS
The BMW GS is a type of motorcycle that can handle both city roads and off-road trails, making it very versatile for different riding conditions.
Car
BMW K 1600 GT
The BMW K 1600 GT is a type of motorcycle that combines sporty performance with comfort, making it great for long rides.
Car
Ford Gt Model
The Ford Model T is one of the first cars that regular people could actually afford. It changed how cars were made and helped many families own a car for the first time.
Car
Kawasaki KLX300
The Kawasaki KLX300 is another type of motorcycle that can be used on both roads and dirt paths. It's lighter and easier to handle, making it great for riders who want to ride off-road.
Car
Kawasaki XR650L
The Kawasaki XR650L is a type of motorcycle that can be used on both streets and dirt trails. It's known for being tough and reliable, making it a good choice for riders who like to explore different terrains.
Term
dual sport riding
Dual sport riding means using a motorcycle that can go on both regular roads and rough trails. These bikes are built to handle different types of surfaces, so you can ride almost anywhere.
Car
ZX12R
The ZX12R is a very fast motorcycle from Kawasaki. It's built for speed and is popular with riders who want a high-performance bike.
Car
Ninja 500
The Ninja 500 is a type of sport motorcycle made by Kawasaki. It's popular among new riders because it's easy to handle and not too powerful, making it a good choice for learning.
Car
ZX6R
The ZX6R is a fast sport motorcycle from Kawasaki. It's designed for speed and handling, making it popular with riders who enjoy racing or sporty riding.
Car
SV650
The SV650 is a motorcycle made by Suzuki. It's known for being easy to ride and having a good amount of power, making it a favorite for many riders.
Car
Africa Twin
The Africa Twin is a motorcycle made by Honda that is great for long trips and off-road adventures. It's built to be comfortable and can handle different types of terrain.
Concept
25 year rule
The 25 year rule means that if a vehicle is older than 25 years, you can import it into the U.S. more easily. This is why you see many older cars and motorcycles being brought in from other countries.
Car
Saab 900S
The Saab 900 is a unique car that was made from the 1970s to the 1990s. It’s known for its cool design and powerful engine, especially the turbo versions that many fans love.
Car
Volkswagen Touareg
The Volkswagen Touareg is a fancy SUV that’s good for both city driving and off-road adventures. It has a lot of space inside and is comfortable for families.
Car
KTM 790
The KTM 790 is a type of motorcycle that can be used both on roads and off-road. It's known for being good at handling different terrains.
Car
KLR 650
The KLR 650 is a motorcycle that can be used for long trips on highways as well as off-road riding. It's known for being tough and reliable.
Car
Hudson Hornet
The Hudson Hornet is a classic car from the 1950s that people loved for its unique look and speed. It’s famous for winning races and even appeared in a popular movie about cars.
Brand
Yamaha
Yamaha is a company that makes motorcycles and other vehicles. The MT-09 is one of their popular motorcycle models.
Car
Honda CRF 50
The Honda CRF 50 is a small motorcycle made for kids. It's easy to ride and helps beginners learn how to shift gears and control a bike safely.
Term
clutch
A clutch helps you change gears in a car with a manual transmission. It connects and disconnects the engine from the wheels so you can shift gears smoothly.
Term
shifting
Shifting is how you change gears in a car. In a manual car, you use the clutch and a gear stick to do this, which helps control how fast the car goes.
Term
MSRP
MSRP is the price that the car manufacturer suggests you should pay for a vehicle. It's a starting point for negotiations when buying a car.
Car
Mclaren 650S
The McLaren 650S is a super-fast sports car that looks amazing and drives incredibly well. It has a powerful engine that makes it one of the coolest cars you can buy.
Car
Honda That Honda
The Honda That's is a small car from Japan that’s designed to be practical and easy to drive around the city. It’s known for being fuel-efficient and having a clever use of space.
Car
Renault Latitude
The Renault Latitude is a comfortable car that’s good for families and long trips. It has a lot of space inside and is designed to be easy to drive.
Term
two-stroke
A two-stroke engine is a kind of engine that works in two movements instead of four. This makes it lighter and often faster, but it can also create more pollution than other types of engines.
Car
Lancia Aprilias
The Lancia Aprilia is an old Italian car from the 1930s that was special because it was built in a way that made it lighter and easier to drive. It’s a classic that car lovers really admire.
Car
Eagle Talons
The Eagle Talon is a sporty little car from the 90s that many people liked because it was fast and fun to drive. It has a powerful engine and can handle well on the road.
LIVE
Welcome back to another episode of High Side, Low Side.
I am your host, Spurgeon Dunbar, and today I am joined by Patrick Garvin, who is filling
the shoes of Zach Courts, who is still recovering from a motorcycle accident.
And we are back with another edition of the motorcycle dating game.
We've got a little bit of something for everyone.
We've got adventure bikes, sport bikes, cruisers, touring bikes.
We've got children.
We've got adults.
We've also got a Harley-Davidson Dragonster.
You heard me right, as well as breaking down some of the myths around carburetor maintenance
versus fuel injection, all that and much, much more in today's episode.
However, we first need a word from our sponsor, Motul.
Motul is a longtime supporter of High Side, Low Side, and can support just about any of
your lubrication and cleaning needs as well.
With engine oil for two strokes and four strokes, chain cleaner and lube for on-road
and off-road applications, and dozens more products to keep your machines clean and
running smooth.
Plus, a little bit of every dollar you spend on Motul products at RevZilla.com goes into producing
High Side, Low Side.
To learn more about the Motul catalog, you can go to RevZilla.com slash Motul.
That's RevZilla.com slash M-O-T-U-L.
And while you're over there on RevZilla.com, make sure you check out the RPM program.
That's the rider's preferred membership program.
Now only $39.99 a year.
You get all kinds of discounts on motorcycle gear and apparel.
You get $15 for just signing up, free two-day shipping, concierge service, and it works across
all of RevZilla's sister brands.
That means J&P Cycles, Cycle Gear, RevZilla, and RevR to learn more about all the benefits
of the RPM program, head over RevZilla.com slash RPM.
That's RevZilla.com slash RPM.
Now on with the show.
All right.
So a motorcycle dating game, Sands, Zach, Quartz, Zach is still in the men, but we are joined
by Patrick Garvin.
Patrick, thank you for subbing in today as we try to match lovers with their motorcycles.
Well, thanks for having me.
I'll do my best to fill Mr. Quartz's shoes.
I'm no Chuck Woolery, but I'll do my best.
Well, I'm excited to have this conversation with you.
For the listeners out there, we were going through pre-pro, and Patrick was getting pretty
fired up on some of the listeners that we have today.
Just a reminder, as we're going through this, the listeners that we will discuss today
are high-side, low-side listeners that have written in and have given us their current
situation in riding and what they're looking for in another motorcycle.
Before we jump into that, we do have an online find.
This is an online find that Producer Chase came up with for a little bit of a warm-up here,
and Patrick, he geared it towards you.
So we're going to put the picture up on screen.
We're looking at a 1994 Harley-Davidson FLHTC, nicknamed the Pink Dragon.
Patrick, what are we looking at here, and do you have $15,000 for this motorcycle?
I do not.
So I'm actually pretty sure I've seen this bike in person before.
Sometimes these events and things kind of all run together, the Sturgis rally in Daytona,
but I swear I've seen this bike before.
I figure if anybody saw this in person, it would probably be at either Sturgis or
Bike Week, like somewhere where you might have been.
Well, if you own this bike and you've built this into this machine, you're going to take it.
You're not going to keep this one in your garage, right?
This isn't just for you.
This is for everybody else, too.
This is for everybody else.
So this is one of those things like a long time ago, I learned, especially I think
the longer you're around motorcycles and especially like you and I, we get our
hands on a lot of bikes for whatever reason.
We ride a lot of motorcycles.
You actually start to narrow down what you like in a motorcycle.
You appreciate other things, but you really narrow down what you like in a motorcycle.
And so what I've learned over the years is to appreciate the build and the effort
that goes into a motorcycle, maybe not that actual motorcycle itself.
And this is one of those things.
Somebody has put a lot of effort and a lot of work into doing this and I can appreciate that.
But this is for a very specific audience, right?
Like for those of you listening that maybe aren't looking at the photos,
it is a it is a dragon.
It's been a lot of time and effort on the body work and it looks fantastic.
Yeah, it's a bagger.
It's a Harley bagger that's got a dragon morphed into it.
Yeah.
I mean, if you've ever seen the never ending story, it kind of looks like you're riding.
No, I guess that was a flying dog, right?
That wasn't really technically a dragon, I guess.
Yeah.
The thing that gets me about this is like this isn't like, you don't buy that off the shelf.
Yeah, you went to great lengths.
So somebody had to have a background in like fiberglass or modeling or something, right?
So here's so here's an interesting piece from the seller's description.
This is my first time reading the actual seller's description.
But this is a piece of rideable art, which was purchased by me with 350 miles on the clock.
It has won awards at Sturgis, Daytona and Bike Week in Germany.
So it is possible, Patrick, that you have seen this.
I'm pretty sure that I have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This also reminds me of your this is another like rally specific.
This guy's from Colorado, I believe.
Have you ever heard of the Illinois?
No, the guy I'm going to talk about Dragon Man.
Have you ever heard of Dragon Man?
I have not, no.
It's another dragon themed motorcycle that has like 700 guns mounted to it.
I think it's ridiculous.
I don't know.
The dragon thing is like also what's the movie?
Two dragons.
What the what am I thinking of?
Will Ferrell. Two dragons.
Yeah, he goes to visit.
Will Ferrell has a cameo in a movie.
Is it? Is it Starsky Hutch?
I'm waiting for producer Chase to send us a message here,
because he's the movie buff.
Is it is it Starsky and Hutch where they go?
And Will Ferrell is.
Yep. Starsky and Hutch. Starsky and Hutch.
And they need information out of Will Ferrell's character.
And he's like, he's Will Ferrell's all into dragons.
And he's like, I'm not going to lie to you here.
He goes, yeah, I thought, yeah, I thought I was thinking of like
something like full on like in a dragon fantasy.
You're talking about that's the scene.
And so yeah, I'm like, I'm not going to lie to you.
It's going to get weird.
I'm with you.
Two drags. I'm with you.
Two dragons.
Well, so it sounds like it sounds like Patrick doesn't have
fifteen thousand dollars laying around in a dragon bagger.
But for those of you out there that are watching the podcast,
listening to the podcast, at the time of recording,
this is still up for sale.
So if you have ever dreamt of riding a dragon,
you could make your dream a reality for fifteen thousand dollars
in Antionk, Illinois, save you a lot of build time,
fast track, you're right to that dragon.
There you go.
And it sounds like it's already an award winner
so you can ride it right to Daytona Bike Week this winter.
If you buy this bike, come find me.
I'll be at both J&P locations during Daytona and Sturges.
I want a picture.
Well, speaking of bike builds,
Patrick, you are currently working on a little build yourself for Daytona.
Are you not?
Yes, we are building a Milwaukee Twins bike and it's it's another chopper.
I do love building choppers and we built the cherry bomb chopper
a couple of years ago.
People may have seen that video.
This will be kind of similar, but different to that.
Yeah, I do. I'm a I'm a sucker for a chopper.
All right.
Well, we look forward to seeing that one come together.
You got a few months to get this done.
Are you feeling any anxiety at this point?
Or you're always you're pretty much you can't have enough time.
Well, we will definitely look forward
to seeing more of what you've got in store as it comes together.
But for right now, we're going to make we're going to make some listeners
dreams come true as we match them up with their perfect motorcycle.
So just a reminder, all the contestants today
on the Moto dating game, as we like to call it,
are listeners like yourself from out there in the audience.
They filled out a bike recommendation profile.
We put all the random names in a hat.
We had, I think it was something like over 30 different contestants
that we're trying to win and we've narrowed it down to
our top six, plus potentially a bonus seven.
And I would just like to say the start of this,
if any of you out there are interested in having
Zach or Patrick or whoever help pick your next motorcycle,
you can always shoot an email to highside, lowside at Revzilla.com.
Let us know that you are interested in being a contestant
on the motorcycle dating game and producer Chase will send you
all you need to know, should we decide to do this again?
This is not the first time we've done it,
but this is the first time that we are doing it solo with Patrick Garvin.
Patrick, the first contestant is Jay.
Why don't you give us a little bit of his personal information?
So Jay is five, six hundred and forty pounds.
The reason like, you know, obviously,
that's going to be important size of the person here, myself being us
basically the same height as Jay.
I wish I was a hundred and forty pounds.
I'd be much, I'd be much faster. Me too.
I think I was a hundred and forty pounds when I was in sixth grade.
So good on you, Jay.
So Jay is I it's thirty inch and see me says without boots.
That's that's worth taking to consideration.
Uh, father of two, he says he rides dirt with the older one,
younger one is seems to be interested in bikes as bike, bike.
Every time he sees one.
So great parenting out of Jay there,
getting those kids involved in motorcycles, but he rides dirt.
So he obviously has some some, you know, skill set and background.
And he also mentions he's into bonsai trees, which he's he's
balancing out the aggression of ripping on dirt bikes, little bonsai action.
You know, Mr. Miyagi, you know, that really caught my eye
because as a guy who's tried to grow and groom a bonsai tree
and failed spectacularly, I that's I mean,
I thought you were I thought you were going to say you're trying
to grow and groom other other plants in your backyard.
I'm like, Patrick, come on.
This is a family friendly podcast.
No, I did the bonsai attempt years ago.
It looked so cool when I failed miserably.
So good on you, Jay.
I think like the whole trick of this is not a bonsai tree podcast,
but I believe like the whole trick of bonsai is like super,
like small snips, right?
Like you don't want to go too aggressive.
So, yeah, I mean, so maybe that gives us a little bit of a, you know,
peak. There's a yin and yang involved here with Jay.
Yeah, totally. It's from New Mexico, budget 15 to 25 K.
Now, we do have some wrenching experience.
Engine swaps, fork, rebuilds, valve adjustments.
So this is a mechanically inclined person.
Ten years of riding experience, you know, a pretty good budget
to spend 15 to $25,000.
And here's the interesting thing about Jay.
Jay is a heavy commuter.
He's looking for a bike that's going to do a 160 mile round
trip, commute two days a week with about 100 miles of twisties thrown in.
He does give us some considerations.
He's thinking, you know, he's thinking he might be, you know,
relegated to a Goldwing or a GS from BMW before he's ready.
You know, he doesn't know exactly what he's looking for,
but he is interested in something that's around 150 horsepower
that also has shaft drive and cruise control.
If I'm reading this correctly.
Yeah, so if I would have written just the considerations
before anything else about Jay, I would have assumed he was a 65 year old man.
I want a GSA or a Goldwing.
I want 150 horsepower and a shaft drive with cruise control.
Yeah, I mean, no knock on a GSA or a Goldwing.
Obviously, fantastic motorcycles.
But I mean, that's a that's a that's a poke for a commute, right?
160 miles round trip.
That's yeah.
And I think the interesting here is the shaft drive, right?
Because I, you know, I was immediately thinking, you know,
there's a multi strata.
There is a an S 1000 XR.
Yep.
But those are those are not.
Well, so that is the concourse shaft drivers.
That's no, but when I was reading into the not shaft drive.
No, concourse is not shaft drive.
When I was just kind of like reading into the style of bike,
I was like, well, you can get kind of like a those are both very large.
Yeah.
As far as like just their I mean, they're like so they're great motorcycles.
When you get a thing about a Goldwing is we get on it.
It feels like it loses half its weight, right?
So like, yeah, but they're big bikes, even, you know, just a half
in your garage, it takes up a lot of space.
So my thoughts kind of immediately went to like more Svelte versions of those.
What about is ST 1300 shaft drive?
I'm not sure on that.
I feel like an ST 1300 is chain drive.
I'm looking it up right now, because I that's a great recommendation,
but that's not going to have electronic cruise control for him.
So for those of you listening, an ST 1300 is a Honda.
It's basically like a it's kind of like smaller than a Goldwing.
It's a V four.
They don't make it anymore.
Yeah, it's a Goldwing light.
But I don't remember if that was shaft drive or not.
I don't either have a buddy that has one.
So I have a buddy, Joe Sparrow, who had a Goldwing with five hundred.
Shaft drive, five, five, five speed shaft drive.
Yeah, there we go.
So Joe's Goldwing had five hundred and ninety eight thousand miles on it.
He had a O two.
And when it finally let go, he went to an ST 1300.
Yeah, which made me think of that.
I just don't think the show.
I don't think that's going to have cruise control.
Yeah, you might be right.
And I, you know, with a hundred and sixty mile round trip, crews would be nice.
All right, so let's let's think about this strategically.
What about so let's let's look at BMW.
So when I'm thinking shaft drive, we're listen, Jay, we're not going to put
you on a Goldwing.
We're not going to put you on a GSA.
There's got to be something.
There's going to be something sportier that we can get you.
What about the R I don't know if it's the R 1300 yet.
But the R 1250 RS.
Is that they make that I'm trying.
I'm thinking if that's a 1300 at this point, because I know that everything's
getting shifted over. It is. All right.
So here we go, a R 1300 RS, 1300 CCs, 145 horsepower.
It's close, right?
I know you're looking for a hundred and fifty plus, but like, let's let's give
us that's that's pretty a little bit lenient here if you want the shaft drive.
I can't think of anything else that's going to give him a solid, sporty
experience for the 100 miles of twisties that he's doing.
We'll also give him a shaft drive.
What am I missing with a shaft drive other than like a Goldwing?
I know I feel like you either outside of a Goldwing.
I'm just like you if you have shaft drive as a deal breaker,
you pretty much have to stay in that BMW family.
Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's I'm listening for the listeners out there
that might be screaming at their at their, you know, stereo speakers.
I am I am racking my brain here in real time to think of anything
that would be better than an R 1300 RS to get Jay away from,
you know, the the GS, you know, what Goldwing type.
What a style. You know, it's funny when he mentioned Goldwing,
but he didn't mention the K 1600.
OK, OK, you know, I mean, I just I but let me ask you a question.
So I've ridden the K 1600, I've ridden a Goldwing.
I've ridden an R 1250 RS.
I just if I'm doing miles down the highway,
but I'm also looking for a sporty
experience through 100 miles of twisties a week,
not that the not that the K 1600 couldn't do it or the GS
or the the Goldwing couldn't do it there, there could they could.
But I just would feel like I would probably want something a little on the
sportier side. 100 percent.
Yeah, I agree with you totally.
There is the GT model of the K 1600,
which is basically like the the street glide, I guess, version.
If you're talking to cruiser guy like me, you know, no tour pack bags only.
It's, you know, still a decently sized bike.
But if I'm looking at Goldwings, I'm looking at K 1600s, too.
But I agree with you.
I agree with you.
No, I think I think, I mean, and maybe that's the compromise of
of something a little bit, you know, on the more aggressive side there.
I just feel like, Jay, you're 30 years old.
You are you are someone that, you know, you got a father or two.
You're not we're not I just I just would hate to see, you know,
on a on a Goldwing before your time, my friend.
I mean, just think about picking one of your young children up
from school on a Goldwing and harassment.
The other kids are going to get those.
I mean, dad.
But if you pick the if you pick those kids up on an R 1300 RS, who?
Oh, yeah, way cool.
Other other dads are stopping to stare, thinking,
yeah, what kind of a cool dad are you?
You know, you.
Yeah, you're going to intimidate the other dads in the school pickup lane.
Well, for what it's worth, for what it's worth, Jay.
We actually on the last episode, you know, Lance and I gave some
advice to a young man in Italy about a bike recommendation.
He actually reached out and said, hey, you know, I hope that I didn't
disappoint you and Lance, but I didn't go with the bigger scrambler.
I didn't go with the smaller one.
I found an older one that was kind of in the middle.
I said, no, like, you know, I think it's one thing for us to give advice,
but it's another thing for, you know, riders to go out and actually
put their asses in seats and try to find some time to see what fits them
the best.
I would say, Jay, you know, you threw considerations out of a Goldwing of a GS.
Both of those are excellent options for you to consider.
Patrick's option for a K 1600.
That's another great option for you to consider.
And I would definitely take a look at a R 1300 RS.
I've done lots of highway miles with that.
And I have also done lots of twisties with that.
And I think that the previous generation, I think that's a bike that
should at least be one that you throw your leg over.
Yeah, I agree.
I think there's something to be said.
I mean, the most important thing you think you said there is,
if you can get your butt into the saddle of these things,
even for a quick test drive, I think that's going to
really help make your decision because you and I, both of them,
we've been on bikes for not very long before.
And you'd be like, oh, you know,
like the handlebar position on this or the footpeg position.
This ain't going to work.
So you'll know right away.
If you can get you throw a leg over those things,
it's going to help make your decision.
Well, we are going to, hopefully, Jay,
we've steered you in some kind of a direction.
And we are now going to move on to Arturo.
Arturo is 39 years old, six foot one, weighs in at 250 pounds
with a 32 inch inseam, manufacturing engineer by day,
motorcyclist by weekend and evenings.
Some fun facts for Arturo is that he recently moved
to York P.A. only a few hours away from where I reside,
has ridden the M.A. B.D.R., the Pennsylvania Wilds B.D.R. X,
and planning on riding the Northeast B.D.R. next year
on either his XR650L or a KLX300.
So it sounds like Arturo is already pretty well steeped
in like dual sport riding, been riding for 13 years,
has owned a slew of bikes, including a Ninja 500,
a ZX6R, an SV650, a ZX12R, an Africa Twin.
He now owns a 1998 Sportster, an XR650L, and a KLX300.
So Arturo has been around the block and has got some decent
wrenching experience with rebuilding engines on dirt bikes and such.
So Patrick, what is the interesting little flip of the script here for Arturo?
Well, I think he's fairly diverse in his motorcycle ownership there in Arturo,
and I have a couple of things in common.
I have also owned a ZX12R and many, many Sportsters.
My love of the XL-based platform is known far and wide.
So he said he's rebuilt an XR650L engine and transmission.
So again, a pretty good wrench turner here.
He does have some budget considerations, less than seven grand American.
But he said he would like to purchase a motorcycle in Europe in tour on it
with his wife, import it back to PA using the 25 year rule.
Now that is the biggest consideration, right?
Like that really puts us in a box.
Exactly. So I think for the audience to understand this, if you're not familiar,
if a vehicle is older than 25 years old, even if it was not originally imported into the
United States, you have an easier time bringing it into the United States is why you can start
to see vintage cars and things. We see it a lot with vintage motorcycles too,
with some of the work that our friend Abby does with iconic motorbikes, importing bikes from
Japan or other countries where they have cool stuff that they couldn't get originally in the
United States, but now you can import them in. Yeah. So he's really narrowed some things
down there. And again, has to be comfortable for a billion. So he's looking to have his wife
tour with him. He's got seven grand. That's a decent budget, but it's not like we had
Jay with a much, much steeper budget there. So it puts us in a little bit of a box.
He says he's looking at Supertenor A750s, XRV750 Africa Twin, Triumph Tiger 900, a DR800,
is open to a sport touring model. So honestly, what jumped off the list to me right there was the
DR800. Well, I want to remind everybody that while 25 years sounds like a long time ago,
that was really just the 2000. So really, we just need to find a bike from
the late 1990s that could work for him. Yeah. And explain the first one that jumped off of it.
Explain why that's interesting. Just the versatility of the bike, right? And availability
of parts, stuff like that, models that have been made for a while, ease of working on it when
you're over there because you are buying an older motorcycle. So on something that's 25 years
old and while it's not really that long ago, those bikes are going to be prone to break more,
right? Like they've just been around longer, they've been on the road longer. And so I'm going to look
for a bike that, especially when I'm in another country, that I'm going to have access probably
to more parts and things like that should something go wrong.
And you were saying the Africa Twin is the one that you were?
I was looking at the Suzuki DR800. Okay. And explain the Suzuki DR800 for our audience.
It's something similar. So he's got experience within, what do you say, an XR650?
It's more, you know, I would say similar to that bike than to like a Tiger 900. You know what I mean?
It's a little more utilitarian things like that. I think it'd probably be easier to work on
than the Triumph, although... Yeah, but let me ask you a question, Patrick. Are you putting
your wife on the back of this bike? That's the kicker. That's like, you know, a Triumph
Tiger 900. Your passenger is probably going to be a lot happier.
Yeah. So I think it's important to note that Arturo is looking for a bike that has a comfortable
pillion seat because he's looking to tour around Europe with her on the back. And I'm trying to
imagine the DR800 as a passenger carrier, probably not as comfortable. I like, you know,
it's interesting because I agree with everything you were saying. I had a friend who had one of
the original Tiger 900s. For those of you that are not familiar, look up the green one. I forget
which crazy green color Triumph called it, but there was like a crazy green one. These are
the Tigers that were made, I believe, in like 1999. They were the predecessor to, you know,
what the Tiger became. And I have a buddy when I was living down in Tennessee who had one with like
70,000 miles on it and it was, you know, just a bulletproof motorcycle. And the beauty of this,
you know, unlike the DR800, which I don't think was ever imported to the United States,
the Tiger 900 was. So knowing that you're planning on bringing this bike back over
there would be a bike that you could have probably a hoot of a time on
riding around Europe. And then you should be able to bring it over and not have a hard time
finding parts for it here in the United States. Yeah, that's a great point. And to your point
about having a passenger, I think those, those, those Tigers look cool too. Those
kind of goofy dual headlights. The one thing I like about that DR800, it looks,
it's like the, it's like the Katana version of a dirt bike. It's got that weird pointy
front end on it. But to me, that's also like a reason to bring it back over here,
because then you have something else that nobody else has. And it's not like it's
some collector's item, but it is cool and an oddity. But yeah, you're right about
the passenger part of that, that DR. It's going to be probably a little more difficult with
luggage and things like that than the Tiger would be. And I don't want to, I don't
want to naysay, you know, the idea of the Africa twin, you know, he was also
looking at the XRV 750 Africa twin, which is, you know, roughly ran from like 89 to 2003.
So you could find some of those, but like, I just feel like those are probably going to
start getting pricey at this point from a collectability standpoint. And I don't know
what the prices are on those in Europe, but I do know that especially with the
reintroduction of the Africa twin, those original ones started kind of creeping up in value.
Oh, definitely. Again, I mean, honestly, the bikes, listen, they all look really cool,
especially when you're getting into that kind of like retro kind of looking, you know, ADV
bike that Africa twin has that like kind of crazy like splattered paint job on it,
very, very retro. But I think you're right. I think you're probably going to run into
those caught, you know, being a little more pricey because of what they are and what people
are doing with them. But if you could pick one of those up for the right price, again,
you know, parts are going to be available. It's a Honda, probably nothing's going to go
wrong with it ever, ever. So I would just throw out there too.
And this is a bike that I probably use. Zach's not here to stop me from talking about it,
but you did say that you are open or thorough to potentially a sport touring bike.
And I would be remiss if I were not to bring up a Honda VFR because that is a bike through the
mid 90s into 99. You have your you have your pick of whether you want to go with an older 750
or if you want to get up into the the 800, which ran through the started basically in 98.
And that would be a bike you could import back to the United States, you could probably find one
for, you know, four or $5,000 or bulletproof dependable, your wife will be comfortable on the back,
you know, 100 horsepower sport touring machine, just a fun, cool motorcycle that's not going to
give you any issues over there. And again, from a parts availability standpoint, you'd be able
to import it back in the United States and have a good time with it. You know, honestly, I
think that's probably the best case scenario is that is the VFR. I mean, today was open
to a sport tour. I mean, what are the real, you know, what's the what how realistic is that
he's going to really be in the dirt outside of a gravel road when he's touring over there?
You know, it doesn't sound like he's taken some wild off road adventure. So
I agree with you. I think that might be the best choice is a VFR.
I understand Arturo that you are and this is one of his considerations. I'm looking for a
model that was not available stateside or had a very limited run and is at least 25 years old.
So like, if you absolutely want something that was not available in the United States,
then, you know, maybe the Africa Twin or the DR 800, you know, I still think that
if you are looking for something with a limited run that would still be pretty unique
in the US, a Triumph Tiger 900 would be an excellent consideration for you. A VFR would be
something that, you know, probably the most vanilla of all of them. We didn't really talk about the
Yamaha Super Tenere at all. And again, I think my only my only hesitation there is as
as the Africa Twin and the Tenere have come back around, there has just been some desirable
price increases with these older models. Also, I just don't know the Super Tenere again,
I'm sure it would be comfortable enough for a passenger. But that might be
a consideration there, I suppose. Yeah. And the other thing is, you know,
he's currently owns a Sportster, an XR650 and a KLX300. Another point to the VFR is like,
that's a style of bike you don't currently have at home. You know, if you're bringing back
a DR800, it's basically, you know, it's very similar to the bikes you own as far as the XR
and the Kawasaki. The VFR is going to give you another category of bike that you own. You have
your Cruiser, your Sportster, you have your two dirt bikes, then you would have that
sport tour when you got back home. All right. So, Patrick, final pick for
Arturo? Honestly, I really like your VFR pick.
Okay. So, Patrick's going to go with the VFR. I'm, listen, here's a guy that likes doing BDRs,
might want something a little bit bigger than his current smaller dirt bikes.
Triumph Tiger 900 is weird. Get it in the, find one in the green and no one,
half the people you run into in Pennsylvania aren't going to even realize that that bike
existed here when it did. So, Arturo, you're leading in the right direction.
Consider a VFR and out of those ones that you listed, I think a Triumph Tiger 100 is
probably going to give you affordability over the old Africa Twin and over the old Super
Tenere. It's a hell of a reliable platform, but it's going to look weird enough that no one
is going to know that you had that in the United States and you're going to be able to find
parts for it. So, Patrick, let's move on to Justin and what's some of Justin's personal info?
Justin, 39-year-old Justin, who is a personal trainer or six foot two,
215 pounds with a 36 inch inseam. So, a guy that shouldn't have any problems stepping over just
about any bike here. Oh, man. Long spider legs. Oh, yeah. Army Vet, thank you for your service, sir.
Drove, what do you say? Drove lead gun truck in Iraq and have been in multiple firefights?
Good lord, dude. I see an adventure bike in this guy. I don't know, I haven't even read the rest of
it yet, but like this guy, I'm guessing Justin wants to go out and get dirty and have some
gnarly fun on an adventure bike. Yeah, for sure. He said he made his dad ride his R6
two hours so he could be there when he got home on leave. What a great dad. My dad two hours
on R6 would, that wouldn't be a great conversation when you got there.
He also taught himself to ride on that same R6, put 2,000 miles on it in 14 days. It's pretty good
on R6. He said he's taken the MSF course, one dirt course, and he's looking to get into riding
after 15 years. So, it sounds like he was, had that R6 and then went away from riding for a
while. Well, hold on a second Justin, because I'm seeing that you took a dirt course. So,
I'm guessing that my prediction about adventure bikes might be coming true here. Let's keep going
with wrenching experience, had some mechanics in the military, but really new to motorcycle maintenance.
Consider myself more of a good parts changer rather than a mechanic. No shame in that Justin.
$12,000 is the maximum you want to spend. We can keep you below that. Coastal North
County, San Diego, plenty of great places to ride. And look at this, looking for a dual sport,
our adventure bike, 90% of the road, 10% off road. The closest dirt riding is 45 minutes away,
so that he would need to ride out there. Yeah, new to dirt riding, done a dirt bike course,
and Anza would love to explore Southern California interior. When off road, I'd
prefer gravel and dirt roads, not single track. All right, listen. Yeah, we know where this is going.
Yeah, you've taken a test right on a tenor and a Toregg. What else, what else sub,
you know, with $12,000 maximum, use your imagination, Patrick. What is Justin considering?
I'm going to tell Justin a little bit about what his future holds here, and it's a good thing.
So, Justin, this 90% road, 10% dirt, you can go ahead and throw that out the window,
buddy, because I can tell already. This person, I can attest to this. You're going to be like, oh,
yeah, I'm going to go on the dirt a little bit, and then you're going to spend the next few years
of your life riding dirt out there in the Mojave, and you're going to love it. So, plan on more
dirt is what I'm telling you. Yeah, he's got a good budget here. I think he's in a really
good place. I mean, it's going to be hard, kind of, I think, to beat maybe the tenor in
this situation, because of price, because of how good the bike is, just box stock,
and then the availability to upgrade that thing over some time. Of the two he's listed,
nothing wrong with the Touareg, but there's a lot of tenor A's out there. There's a lot of
aftermarket out there. There's a lot of information. You and I both know a lot of
guys here at work that have those, and we've ridden with them. You could go,
kind of, that XR 650. You could go even more dirt, but he's, say, a 90% road. I think that puts him
squarely in some sort of ADV bike, but you could totally get a used KTMA 90 or 790.
Settle down. It's like you're trying to get me riled up over here with mentioning a KTM.
Here's the deal. I'm trying to think a little bit conservatively here. Justin
is an Army veteran. He put 2,000 miles on an R6. I understand that he probably likes some speed,
but he also has been away from this for 15 years looking to get back into it.
I know that you have $12,000 to spend, Justin, but I am honestly thinking maybe,
just hear me out, finding a used KLR 650. You can tour on it. It'll do 75,
80 miles on the highway. The newer ones are awesome. You can find those used for five or
six grand, if not less. You can go out and you can explore some dirt roads without feeling
you're worried that you're going to scrape the bike up or scratch the bike up. I agree with
Patrick. I think you're going to get in the dirt and you're going to like the taste of it,
and you're going to want to savor that feeling a little bit more than you might realize.
I like the 10-ray. I like the Torig. I like the 890, but if I'm being honest,
they are a little bit difficult to manage in the softer sands outside of San Diego
in Southern California. I'm trying to think of something that if you were to get yourself
in over your head a little bit, as maybe the dirt road turns into a sandy wash,
a KLR 650 is easy to pick up. You're not going to worry if it gets scraped up the way you might
on a 10-ray or a Torig. You could buy one brand new for like under $7,000.
Maybe a KLR 650 would be something to consider, Justin. You don't have to
agree with me, Patrick. I'm not asking you. I want you to be aware that just because
you're subbing in for Zach Courts, Zach wouldn't always agree with me, so you don't have to,
but if you wanted to, you could. I think your point about paying less for that bike is good,
but I think you probably get a 10-ray, not that cheap, but I guess leading room for quote-unquote
Farkles is a good idea, right? Because you know you're going to get into this dirt game,
and he's got some Creega bags in his future. He's going to have tires coming,
maybe some suspension modifications like hand guards. This is all in your future, Justin.
It just is. So leaving yourself some budget for that. So we're just smiling because he knows.
It's going to happen. You're going to want to get some extra little Farkles here and there,
you're going to get the little taste of dirt, and next thing you know,
you're going to want an adventure helmet or something like that.
I'm just trying to think, what else are we not considering? I hate to go KTM 690 only because
KTM 690 could be good, but it could be more, if he gets one used, he might run into some
mechanical issues depending on how the previous owner maintained it.
Yeah. That jumped into my brain almost right away. My hesitation there is because,
which I think he could get, he's got, buying a used one is within his budget,
but I would, there was fuel pump issues, I believe like pre-2019, I would probably shy away
from those earlier ones just because of, you know, he's mechanic. I think he'll be
plenty mechanically inclined with his military background.
They didn't get the dual counter balancer until a little bit later.
You know, you could get a newer one. I mean, you had, didn't you have a 690?
I had the Supermodo, which I, one of my favorite all-time bikes, mine was a 21, I think.
So I had the dual counter balancer. I didn't have any fuel pump issues. The bike ran like a top,
but you would have to buy a newer one, which he's probably going to be in the
nine or $10,000 range. And if somebody's buying that bike, chances are they've used it a
little bit harder. Yeah. Also, it's not going to be as good on the road as maybe the KLR
and the Tenere. There's zero wind protection. So I think you enjoyed that bike on there.
I mean, I know that yours was the road version. And I'm a lunatic though. I'll drive anything.
You are a lunatic, but I'm, but this is, this is a dude that is putting 2000 miles on an R6
in 14 days. And I'm not going to call Justin a lunatic because I'm pretty sure he could kick
my ass. But like, I'm, I'm guessing that Justin, given his, his history of lead gun truck in Iraq,
might be open for a little bit of lunacy as he's heading out into the desert on something.
So maybe a 690 is right up this, this man's alley. Maybe if it's me, if it's me, I'm
taking a 690, like just because I want to do things to it and, you know, put mods on it.
And like, I think off-road, it's going to be much, much better for him to handle
than even a Tenere or something like that. It's going to be, it's going to be the weapon off-road.
And honestly, it's like, there's, there's not crews on a Tenere. So it's not like you're
getting cruise control or something like that on a Tenere that you don't get on the,
I mean, the dash on those 690s, you know, the brand new one's got a different dash,
right? Would they finally put the TFT dash on the earlier one? They has a dirt bike dash.
That's a great bike off-road. It's going to do him the, you know,
a lot of favors in the sand and things like that. But he's a big guy. He's a personal trainer.
Any of these bikes he drops, he's going to be able to pick up. But you're going to break
less things if you drop a 690. I think, I think where I'm leaning here is I want Justin to get
out into a desert gravel road, right? And I want him to experience that and I want
him to enjoy it. And even, you know, in the desert roads, I mean, Patrick and I have been,
we've spent quite a bit of time together riding in like Mojave, which is north of Los Angeles.
So a little bit outside of the range of, of, you know, coastal San Diego, but not necessarily
out of the range of the kind of terrain that Justin might be riding in. And I say that to say
that like, you'll be riding along a hard pack gravel road. And then all of a sudden,
you're in a sand wash for, you know, five miles, and you're like, where did this come from? And if
you're not sure what you're doing, you can get in over your head pretty quickly. And I think that
whether it's a KLR 650 or a KTM 690, it's just a little bit of an easier experience.
And both of those bikes are still going to be comfortable for, you know, the 90% of road
riding that they're looking to do. I mean, if Justin's looking at getting, you know,
on the bike for 45 minutes to get out to a dirt road, I think he's going to be able to do that.
Oh, 100% for sure. And that 690 engine is just a hammer of an engine. I mean, it's
of all the bikes we've talked about, it's the fastest.
And I have a feeling that Justin likes speed.
Yeah, I mean, if he's, if he's making his dad deliver R6s to him,
like, I think he's going to appreciate the 690 engine.
All right. So Justin, here it is. I would say that if you're looking to just dip in your toe in,
you want to get something affordable, KLR 650 might, might be the most affordable way for you
to get out and have some fun, beat the hell out of a motorcycle and not feel bad about it.
You could go the small adventure bike route, you could go a 10 array or a Torig,
and you'll probably appreciate their comfort and, you know, pizzazz on the street,
but they might even at their size, feel a little bit, you know, unwieldy on a gravel road,
if it, you know, gets a little soft and sandy. I think Patrick's onto something that a KTM 690
Enduro R, if you can find a late model one that's been well maintained,
could be, could be just a ticket for you. I think you might enjoy that.
I'm with you on the 690. So I would say there's probably a bunch of 10 arrays you can find,
you know, but if it's me, and I'm living vicariously through Justin a little bit here,
because I kind of want to buy a 690 Enduro R, I get the 690. I think you'll like,
you're, you're, you're probably will ride that bike longer, whereas maybe if you get the KLR,
you'd be like, okay, this is cool. And now I want to get something a little bit
spicier in the, in that realm, you're going to upgrade to something else. I think if you
get this, I think the 690 by the late model one, do a little bit of research. I'm pretty sure
it's like 2019 or 2020. They changed like the fuel pump and went to the dual counterbalancers
and smoothed all that out. Just get one with that engine in it. There's, there's a ton of
aftermarket out there. If you're looking for a little more wind protection on that bike,
there are windshields they sell that are a little taller, but also you could go real
cool guy with like a rally tower. If you really get into it, I mean,
Oh, stop it. He's got a $12,000 budget Patrick, and you're talking about rally
towers. I mean, I'm living vicariously through Justin here by that 690 Enduro R,
and just dive right in. You're, I'm telling you, you have a lot of good dirt miles in your future
here, Justin. Justin Patrick is having no problem spending your money. I will tell you, Justin,
if you do end up buying a used motorcycle, make sure that you take that part, change
your mentality and change the oil, which is a perfect segue into a quick word from our sponsor,
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All right, we are back and we are now going to look at contestant number four, Vicki,
who is 44 years young, five foot six, 160 pounds. Her profession is a technical draft person in
construction. Vicki, you're being humble. You're saying you're kind of boring outside of
being well traveled and she's traveled to Hong Kong and New England and New York and Nigeria
and Japan and France and Italy. You sound pretty interesting to us, Vicki. Vicki has been a passenger
for 20 years, but for the last six has been piloting her own motorcycle, is a licensed
auto mechanic and regularly repairs her CBR. So Vicki, you're quite interesting here. Come on.
Vicki seems extremely interesting as she's really selling herself short here. I mean,
very well traveled. She was a passenger for 20 years. Now she's riding. I mean,
even you and I, we haven't spent a lot of time as a passenger. That's a totally different
experience on a motorcycle. Yeah. I mean, she's a licensed auto mechanic. I'd hang out with Vicki.
I want to bring something up. She lives in the Mediterranean.
Yeah, so that's something I want to, I need to clear up something here.
She says, she's general location, Mediterranean, St. Tropez. She says, parentheses, you two are
always invited. So does that mean you and I, do I get that invite?
Zach's not here anymore. So you get the invite. So we're heading to Europe, baby.
We're going to St. Tropez. Yeah. That's all I wanted to make sure that that was my invite,
not Zach's. So Vicki, while Patrick and I are looking up flights,
you are looking for a motorcycle that is new. You don't want to spend more than $20,000.
Long distance traveler around Europe, no iron butt rides, but likes to do two to three hours
straight in the saddle, likes destination trips that are one to two days away,
is looking for more torque. Currently her CBR and I don't see if it doesn't say if she's
riding a CBR 600 or CBR 1000. Oh, she has a CBR 650R. Okay. So she has a middle weight inline four,
but is looking for more torque. She has back issues. It's uncomfortable sitting upright. So she
wants something that is a little bit more tucked down. And what are some of the options that
you're thinking of here, Patrick? Yeah. When she says she has to tuck down,
honestly, until I got to that, I was going to recommend a Harley.
So especially with my, so she's looking for more torque because climbing up her CBR 650 is not
happy climbing uphill, especially with her 170 pound son or her husband behind me. So
Vicki is often taking passengers on the back with her as well. That's an interesting
consideration. So we're maybe considering passenger accommodations. I'm thinking here,
Patrick, what do we, what do we got? So she finds that the GSX S1000T was too upright.
She's ridden her husband's Hornet, but it's still, it's too upright for her. All right.
So what do we, what do we got? What are we thinking? It's more torque. I mean, she could do,
she could do a, man, we could go crazy. You could do a, an Aprilio Tuono V4.
Dude, that would be an incredible bike. You know, I don't, would the Kawasaki like the Z1000 fit
in here? Or is that too upright? I mean, it could, it could be more aggressive than Z1000.
That's a naked sport bike, kind of similar to what she has from a, from a seating position
standpoint. It is a bit more of aggressive seating position. Could be a little bit more
than, than she has currently. I hate to add to like the, the heavy KTM bias that we
are accused of, but I, you know, does a Duke, does the 990?
You know, it could, it could. That's a great motorcycle.
You know, it's, I know, but I, I am very afraid of my KTM bias. I think that would be similar
to what she has now, but going to the parallel twin would give her the torque.
Yep. She's in an inline four. For those of you that are not familiar, the CB650R right now
that Vicky is riding is the only middleweight, naked-ish sport bike that has an inline
four, to my knowledge, which is just not going to have the same torque as a P-twin.
Something like the, the KTM 990 Duke that Patrick is referring to, that engine spins up fast, has a
lot of oomph, definitely more torque. We're going in the right direction. You're going
in the right direction here. What, what, what else are you thinking?
Yeah, the 990 really jumped out because of that, because of that, that twin.
Man. So she's, what about a Honda? Like, does Honda have a parallel twin in that same kind
of configuration? I'm not really sure. No, they have, they have the, she said she wrote her husband's
Hornet, which would be, she, I don't think she says if it was the Hornet 750 or the Hornet
1000, but she said that was still, that was too upright for her.
I'm thinking. What about a triple? What do we go Triumph?
Triumph. I like it. I like where your head's going here.
Yeah. A little triple.
But she, so Triumph just announced that they were discontinuing the Street Triple R,
which would be the one with the pillion seat. She could get the RS and add the pillion seat.
I think that's a fun bike to sport tour on, not a lot of wind protection,
but she could do it. She's doing it. She's doing it right now in a CBR6.
She's doing it. I don't think, I don't, that doesn't seem to be an issue for her.
I mean, yeah, I think outside of the 990, like I said, I don't hate the Z1000.
That's going to have plenty of power.
I mean, Yamaha is a triple. She could do the MT-09.
That's a great bike too. You know, my brother was kind of in this little bit of the same
situation recently, looking to, he was actually was looking real hard at the MT-09s.
And we ended up finding him a one year old 790 Duke and loves it. I mean, absolute great
motorcycle. You know, it's parallel to a little smaller, but he was, but it was right there
against the MT-09 for him. And we just ended up, it was basically found the right bike.
He would have went to that MT-09. But again, I think as far as a triple,
that MT-09 sits in a really interesting spot. I think for the money, it's really hard to beat
that motorcycle. Yeah, I'm, listen, we're throwing a bunch of stuff at you, Vicki. And I am thinking,
I'm thinking the Aprilia Tuono, while it would come in under your $20,000 price range,
I believe. I'm not sure what they go for in Europe. That's taking a pretty big jump in
power. You're, you're not quite doubling your horsepower, but it would be a pretty big jump.
I think something where you're getting more torque and you're getting more horsepower,
but not like, you know, 100% increase in horsepower. I like the idea of it. Even as I was looking like
an MT-10, that's another inline four, more torque than she has now. But again, maybe,
maybe not enough of what she's looking for. The MT-09 could be something to consider.
You know, the MT-10s, they just seem so much like physically bigger than the MT-09 when you sit on
them. And I mean, they're not, not wanting for power at all. And, but again, I kind of like
that triple motor, the MT-09. I've spent a fair amount of time on MT-09s, not the latest
version of a few years back, Buddy of Mine had one. I actually borrowed it for about three months
and really, really enjoyed that bike, comfortable bike. I mean, you won't want for coming off that,
off your 650, the thing's going to seem like an absolute rocket ship.
They have an SP version, which has the nicer suspension. So I'm just looking at, I'm looking
at some specs for you, Vicki. You're, you're five foot six, you're 160 pounds,
but you did not give us your inseam. The MT-09 has a 32.5 inch seat height. It is a,
it is a slightly more aggressive seating position. And if we were to compare that
to a Triumph Street Triple, let's see here. I'm just, I'm doing research in real time.
If you're, if you're listening and you know the exact seat height of a Street Triple,
feel free to yell it out, but a Street Triple R, I'm looking right now, Vicki,
chassis design. Come on, give it to me, people dimensions and weight. Oh, here we go.
32.5 inch seat height with a low seat version available for 30.7 inches. So
not that Yamaha doesn't have a low seat, but I'm not seeing that easily listed.
But an MT-09 with a 32.5 inch seat height Street Triple R, 32.5 inch seat height,
low seat height available, 30.7 inches for an inseam. I think either of those bikes will
probably have a slightly more aggressive seating position. I think the Triumph might be
a little bit more aggressive than the, than the Yamaha. And I would, I would not ask Vicki
to sport tour on anything that I wouldn't be willing to sport tour on. And I have sport toured
on both an MT, well it was an X, it was an XSR 900, but very similar to the MT-09.
So I've sport toured on a very similar bike to an MT-09. And I've also sport toured on a Street
Triple R. Let me throw one more thing in there. I love it. Ducati monster.
You son of a, just when we thought you were out of ideas, you come at us with a Ducati monster.
I love it. So 32.5 inch seat height, but they have a lowering kit that drops it down to 30.5.
So we're, we're there again. It's going to be a little torqueier than what she has.
We, you know, there's an option to drop it down if she's not, you know, comfortable with
the 32 inches, you know, little flair to it, little European, you know, Pizazz from Ducati.
She's right there down the street. She can go over and pick it up from the factory.
Yeah. Looks like, and again, Vicki, we're going on US prices here. So you said you
want under $20,000. I'm not sure what these are going for over in your neck of the woods,
but we're looking at it roughly starting price around $14,000 US. For those of you
that are not familiar, this is a 90 degree V-twin engine. Definitely going to be some,
this is the newer version, 110 horsepower, 67 foot pounds of torque. Definitely something a little
bit on the sportier side. You can still have a passenger on it. Definitely a little bit more
of an aggressive seating position, but still that naked kind of a sport bike look.
Listen, man, I feel like we're barking up the right tree for Vicki. So Vicki,
if you're listening here, we hear that you like the CBR 650R. You'd like that naked sport bike
kind of a feel to it. You're not having any problems currently sport touring on that bike.
What Patrick and I are trying to do is find you a bike that's similar to that,
but with different engine characteristics, continually thinking about that seating
position. You want that more aggressive seating position for your lower back.
You're in the Mediterranean. We want to give you something with some European flair to it.
I mean, I know the Japanese bike doesn't have that same sexy European flair.
I like Patrick's idea for the Ducati. The Ducati monster is a great bike.
And I feel like the only thing that the Yamaha might give you even over the Triumph and potentially
the Ducati is like it's really hard to beat the punch to the throat torque of that
triple engine in the Yamaha. So I'm torn here. These are all great options.
Yeah. I'm torn a little bit. I mean, honestly, it comes down to,
for me, it's coming down to the MT-09 or the monster. And this is really interesting because,
like I said, I just, I went through this real life experience with my brother,
looking at these same bikes. And it came down to what was available. And
that's why we ended up going with that 790. But I think, man, it's hard to get away from that MT-09.
I think in the class, it's really hard to beat the MT-09 for what it is.
Yeah. Unless you hate the way it looks. And then it's very easy to get away from what it is.
You know what? And that's a great point. Because if you're looking for a little bit
for a little bit of sex appeal, the Ducati wins. It sounds great. It's Ducati.
So aesthetically, it's always going to have a little bit of an edge to it.
European flair and all that. So if that's what she's looking for, but just on like,
man, it's tough to beat those MT-09. So aesthetics out of it, I'd probably go
with the MT-09. If you're looking for a little bit more flash aesthetically,
then I'd probably go with the monster.
I don't think you'd go wrong either way.
Listen, I think Patrick's absolutely right, Vicki. I'm still not sure that we want to rule out
the triumph as well. But I don't know if we're going to... I think sometimes when we do this with
Zack, Zack holds a little bit more of the feet to the fire and says, you have to pick one.
Yeah.
I feel like, Patrick, if I'm holding your feet to the fire, guest host honor,
which bike are you recommending for Vicki?
I'm going to go with the MT-09. And what I think is pushing me over the edge a little bit here
is the tail section on that Ducati is so little. It's very little. If you want to put a little
bit of luggage or something on it, I think maybe the MT-09 might be a little bit more
user-friendly with that. Or she did mention there's some two-up riding there. Even with her husband,
I think riding on the back of her bike, I think she mentioned that in there. And I think if you're
going to go there, not that either of these bikes are really meant for long-term two-up riding,
it's just hard to beat the MT-09. If you're holding my feet to the fire, I'm taking the Yamaha.
Okay. So Patrick's saying the Yamaha, I'm having a hard... My heart, I know that I have things
that I like here, and it's hard for me to get away from them. I really think the Triumph Street Triple
R, having used that bike when I was living in Tennessee for a short while as a sport touring
option, I think that's another great option to consider. So Vicki, not that you shouldn't
maybe test-drive a Ducati to, but start with the MT-09 from Yamaha or the Triumph
Street Triple R. If you can find one in your neck of the woods, both of those picks are
going to keep you well under the $20,000 limit, and I think they might be just the ticket for you.
So I think it's now time that we move on to Noah, and Patrick, introduce us to Noah.
Boy, Noah, we really kind of stood out to us here. This is a little bit of a different one. So
Noah is seven years old. Seven years old. I love it. We got a kid coming in.
I mean, this is great. Like, Noah, you're a hero, like seven years old. First of all,
listening to this podcast. Hey, this is a family-friendly podcast. We watch our language for
the most part. We try to bleep stuff out. And it sounds like Randy Noah's father actually
took the time to send this in. So thank you, Randy, for exposing Noah to motorcycling. Maybe
not exposing him as much to the Shannon and Anagins of Zach Courts and Patrick Garvin to myself,
because we can be, I guess we're all parents here. So maybe we are a good influence on the world of
children. A plus for Randy. You're raising this kid right. Noah, I mean, use your better judgment
when taking our advice. So he broaches an interesting question here that I think is,
we're going to, a lot of people are with, kids are probably have the same question. So he's
currently on a razor electric bike. He said he's reached his limits. He loves it. And he wants,
he wants some more. Dad helps Noah with basic oil changes in brake fluid, gizmo wiring,
nothing too serious. They have a $3,000 max riding around a property and off-roading
trail. But Spurge, this is probably, we're talking to thousands of kids and potential
riders with this same dilemma right here, right? I'm thinking a little Spurge in a couple of years
right now. I know Zach's son is probably getting close to, well, he's probably still about four or
five years away from Noah's age and my son's probably about six years away. But Patrick,
you've gone through this, right? Your son is already out in the world. He has gone through
this age. If your boy was seven years old coming up, what are you considering?
For $3,000 or less? So this is interesting because, so my son is getting maybe 22,
we went through this, but we didn't, the electric kind of revolution, we were
right before that, you know what I mean? So when he, we're talking 15 years ago.
So we went, we were PW 50, right? Which was what everybody, it was pretty much your go-to.
Everybody went PW 50. And then we kind of skipped over, we kind of skipped, I would say like a
motorcycle and like, we didn't go to like CRF 50 or anything. We went to, we went straight to
a KTM 65, which was a big jump. Those little 65 two strokes are really fast. We went
65, then we went Suzuki 85. And so then we're basically like a full-on motorcycle. So
we kind of jumped over where I think he has a lot more options than we did. As far as
what to go to here, because he could totally stay electric here, right?
And he's riding the razor electric dirt bike right now?
Yeah, it just says a razor electric bike. So that's, I'm guessing that's a pretty small,
but now what you're seeing in a lot of these, your local motocross tracks and that,
instead of kids going to 65 CC two strokes, you're getting the electric bikes from KTM or
Husky or whoever. And I'm not super versed in those, but I can tell you from,
you know, working my local motocross, the Jack Pine Gypsies here, I've worked a couple
races with them. It's just a, you know, a corner worker and that these electric bikes are every bit
as good, if not better than the gas-powered bike in those classes. It's less maintenance,
obviously for the parents, you know what I mean? There's just the two strokes can be
finicky if you don't have them tuned right. We've all seen probably a clip of the parent
on the starting line furiously kicking the child's bike. So as the dad, like, you know, you, you,
you get rid of a lot of that with the electric bike. It's literally, you know, plugging it in,
making sure your tires are set and going. So I think if he's got the electric bike already,
probably, probably worth, you know, keeping him in that, on that electric bike, I would say.
Also, the two-stroke 65cc bikes are, they are like gold, meaning even the used ones are pretty expensive.
Yeah. I'm looking through his, his considerations here. And one of the things he says is, you know,
he doesn't want his quote unquote old man view of gas engines to get in the way
of the possibility that young kids, you know, growing up might love e-bikes more than gas,
right? The twist and go, like, my nephews are all on Stasix of a variety of sizes.
You know, one of the things I'm thinking about here for Noah is that, like, you can get on a
Stasix and follow that up the path. And, you know, there's kids out there ripping on Stasix that
might as well be electric dirt bikes. But I feel like that's probably a little bit too
electric bicycle for what Noah is looking to do. He also goes on to say, and I just
want to pause for a second and say, Randy, I really appreciate your perspective as a father.
I think you're being really self aware of, you know, the way that maybe you grew up writing
and not wanting to project that on young Noah. I think that's awesome. I think that's,
that's something that we could probably all stand to pause and reflect on from time to time.
And, you know, Randy goes on to say, should we get Noah a easy,
easy electric bike that he'll immediately be at home with? Or, you know, do you force the learning
curve in the spirit of long term benefit, right? Do you get the Honda CRF 50, which requires
shifting? And what I will say about the Honda is that it's, it's clutchless. It's three gears,
you know, he has to jam it down. He can rev the hell out of it and then has to learn
to pull the gear, the gear lever up. I don't think, I don't think Noah is going to struggle with it
too, too much. I think he'll probably be able to figure it out and that might give him
the benefit of moving up into other, you know, dirt bikes later on. But like our, our West Coast
producer Spencer Roberts pointed out, there's also a lot of really popular smaller electric dirt
bikes that are coming out that, you know, maybe that's the way that Noah wants to bump into.
But I do think your point about cost is something to consider.
Yeah, I, I think the, I am a, you know, I've, I'm a gas powered guy. I see the benefit of the
electric bikes. I mean, obviously the, the stark var, you know, as far as a full size
electric bike is just, there's nothing but good things as far as like how, how they perform. The
performance is there. I think he makes a good point in that, I mean, he's, he's going to eventually
need to learn a clutch and shifting, right? And I very vividly remember.
Does he, does he? Like that's the whole point that I think he's trying to make. Like maybe
he doesn't ever have to learn that, right? Like possibly, but I think he's going to want to.
You know what I mean? As a kid, I think you're going to want to eventually.
I remember really, really clearly teaching my son race how to, it's not the shifting. The
shifting, they get right away. It's the takeoff, right? It's using a clutch.
That's the difficult part. And it's difficult as a parent too, because you're turning them
loose. Like you're telling them to release this clutch and give it gas and hope it all
goes well. Where the electric bike is a lot simpler. But if you're looking at it from that,
that point, like it's probably easier to teach them that on a 50cc bike rather than two years
from now, he's nine years old. He's looking at 65 or an 85. And then you're learning that
clutch control on a bigger bike that is definitely faster. So I see, I see the pros,
honestly, to going to the gas powered side of things. Whereas like it's going to be easier though
on the electric side as far as like you don't have to haul gas to the track. You don't have to
fill it back up. You don't have to worry about, like I said, it not starting and flooding it
and kicking it a thousand times. So there are benefits to both, but I'm honestly kind of leaning
towards the gas powered side of things. I think the struggle here, and I'm trying to be super
open minded with you, Randy, as you're trying to figure this out, and you're trying to
be open minded as well. I'm looking at just some of the prices. For example, one of the bikes you
mentioned is the electric bike from KTM, which is the, they have a KTM SX-E5, which is a
ripping little electric bike for kids, like real suspension, real tires, real brakes,
you know, just a gnarly dirt bike for children with an MSRP of $5,800. So that's new. So Randy,
I'm keeping your $3,000 max in mind. So now I'm looking used, and the most affordable one I can
use that I can find used is a 2025 model. It looks, let's just say well used, and that is going to be
$4,400. So like, even if you go in there and low ball them, you're not like, I just have a hard
time believing you're going to get that bike for $3,000. Whereas by comparison, you can walk
into the local Honda dealership in your town and get a brand new CRF 50 for roughly $1,900 plus a $300
destination charging taxes. Let's say, let's factor in your sales tax too, Randy. You're
coming out the door for $2,500 for a brand new bike. And don't even get me started on what you
can probably find a CRF 50 for if you're checking your local Facebook marketplace ads.
Yeah, that's the other thing. The electric, especially the small electric bikes have a kind of
a ridiculous price tag to them. I haven't looked at the used Honda CRF 50 market,
but like you said, I bet you there's plenty to be had.
Yeah. I think if we're factoring in, and I'm just, I'm scouring quickly for you, Randy.
I think if we are factoring in ease of use and we are factoring in
cost, $3,000 max, I think NOAA would probably be able to hop on a Honda 50 and figure it out
pretty quickly with that auto clutch. It's pretty easy to use, and I think it would maybe give him
a little bit more of that experience of being like dad. It sounds like NOAA already likes helping
dad do basic things, oil change, brake fluids, gizmo wiring, et cetera. So he has that interest
and maybe getting him something that feels a little bit more like the bike that dad is on
would just help with that bonding experience too. Yeah. I mean, also, I just looked real quick,
the Yamaha, the TTR 50. That's the other option. I think it's probably a little bit cheaper than
the Honda. Very similar motorcycle, but again, between the two, you probably have a much better
chance of finding one of those rather than electric bike for the price. So if you can't
find the Honda, you'll probably find the TTR 50. Yeah. The PW 50 I think is probably too small,
so you're looking at the TTR, which is a little bit bigger. And again, I'm not super sure on the size
of the TTR 50 compared to the CRF 50, but the TTR might be a little more like
leaning in the full-size motorcycle feel than the Honda is. Yeah.
Just, I'm trying to do some research because I don't have a seven-year-old yet,
right? Like, Patrick, you've had a seven-year-old like, I know it's coming way too fast. He's
already 16 months old. This is insane. But also, I know Honda, I don't think Honda even makes,
does Honda make their electric CRF 50 anymore? They used to have a CRF 50.
And theirs was more affordable. Granger Power Sports. I'm not seeing it on Honda's website,
but I know Honda has the CRF E2. And I feel like we've tried this bike for common
trend. Give me one second, audience, as I look this up quickly, and then we'll move on,
because I know there's a lot of you out there that probably aren't too concerned,
but I will say this. So check out this article as a final takeaway, Noah and Randy,
because Randy, you might have to read the article to Noah. Back in February 27, 2023,
we actually got a kid, and we had an employee's child give us a little write-up on the Honda CRF
dash E. At the time, MSRP was $2,950. And this is just kind of a little interesting article.
The article is entitled 2022 Honda CRF E2 electric mini bike review. And maybe if you
can find one of those used, that could be a way to split the difference. I don't think
you're going to be able to get the KTM in the price point that you're looking for,
but maybe the Honda would split the difference for you. But I would also say that
knowing that little Noah's already trying to mimic dad in the garage and potentially
out there on the trail, the three-speed auto clutch on the CRF 50 would probably be a cool
learning experience for Noah. Yeah, I'm with you there. I would go with... I mean,
I'd probably go with the Honda if you... But I wouldn't pass a good deal on a Yamaha TTR 50.
All right. There you have it. So you're not standing in the way of Noah. I think you're
probably thinking about this exactly the right way, if you will. And so with that being said,
let's move on to Cedar, who is 29. Now, here's the fun fact about Cedar. Cedar
was... It's not so much a secret anymore, but this contestant was secretly sent in
by Cedar's partner, Anna. Anna wants you to have a new motorcycle, Cedar. What a partner she must be.
Oh, man. You got to win her. Hold on to that one. Exactly. Cedar is 29 years old,
five foot 11, 220 pounds, 32-inch inseam. Cedar is a student. He used to be a race technician for Porsche.
I just want to pause and reflect there. I like Cedar already.
Cedar, let's talk about these Porsches. Yeah. Do you have... I mean,
I feel like there's some knowledge we could probably gain from Cedar. Yeah.
Did you get to race at Porsche while you were the race technician? Like,
what's going on here? I'm interested. Yeah. I feel like that's much... Yeah,
I mean, what do we mess around these motorcycles for, Cedar?
Patrick, let's... Do read for me the fun facts here, which I think will be interesting for our
audience. Yeah. So like Anna said, Anna said this, so she says, yes, he does have the best
partner who wants to see him riding a nice bike alongside me on a Kawasaki Z500 SE.
She says, he got me to start riding two years ago. So he got her to start riding and now that is
paying off for him. Individence. Yeah. So yeah, well done. Another interesting, we have a Kawasaki
ZX-7R as an island piece in our kitchen, as well as a few other bikes in a display room of our
house. I mean, mind blown here. I... There's a lot going on here. There's a lot going on here, Cedar
and Anna. And we're just getting a small glimpse into your lifestyle, but frankly,
it seems pretty cool. So... Yeah, yeah. Cedar's riding experience has been riding for about
three years, has a few long trips under his belt, has ridden a few sport bikes like a CBR600RR, dirt
bikes like a KX450 and a couple of cruisers like a Honda Magna, has wrenched on all these bikes as
well. So he's a Porsche mechanic, I'm sure. He's not going to have a problem there. The SV650S,
he's been rebuilding from a total ruin, has a budget of around $8,000 and goes on to
just kind of clarify. Been rebuilding an SV650S once a faster bike like an S1000 or a GSXR 1000
or even a bike more suitable for doing long trips and off-road BDR adventures like a DR650. So
there's a lot to... I mean, that's a huge... I mean, you went from Jixxer 1000 to BDR
from SV650 and DR. I mean, that's a... I mean, basically it's a wide, wide range of possibilities
here with the really the only consideration being $8,000 because that's a wide range of motorcycles.
I just want to say something to jump out of me here. $8,000 in Jixxer and a Jixxer 1000. Have you
heard of Dave the Jixxer? If you haven't seen that episode of CTXP with our friends, Harry
Henning and Zach Quartz. I think that's the first thing that jumped into my mind was Dave the Jixxer.
So for $8,000, you're probably... you're not getting a new, a new or a really Jixxer 1000,
but that also doesn't matter if you've seen the Dave the Jixxer episode because that just
shows you how capable an older Jixxer 1000 is. And I'm not sure what they paid for Dave,
but was it even $8,000? It was not a lot of money. I'd have to go back and remind
myself, but I don't think... I think $8,000 would probably be way too much money when you consider
Dave. And Cedar knows how to fix it, right? So you can buy a bit of a trainwreck and put it back
together. Yeah, I mean, I think what we're going to take away here is like you can get a lot of
motorcycle, a lot of performance motorcycle, and to give you the... not to, you know,
spoil or alert the Dave the Jixxer episode, but Zach and Harry put that up against like
the leading edge Ducati at the time and had some, let's just say rather phenomenal results
out of Dave. I'm looking at the budget of $8,000, right? So the S1000 that Anna is referencing is a
BMW. The S1000RRs hold their value really well. I don't know if you're going to be able to find
one in that $8,000 price range per se. I am... also something might be that's more suitable for long
trips or off-road, BDR adventures. You know, does she say where they live? She doesn't say where
they live. I've mentioned Octio Wells. Okay, so maybe... okay, I know that I know that when we
did... Patrick was the guest when Zach and Patrick and I played a game where we each had $20,000 to spend
and we were in the different areas in which we reside and Zach was in charge of shopping in the
Southern California region, which I'm guessing that they are located in. And one of the bikes that he
found a lot of ease finding was an R1250 GS for that $8,000, $9,000 range. Now, I know that that
might not be exactly what Cedar would be considering off the top of his head, but
you know, a Porsche engine is not... Yeah, he's talking about an opposed cylinder heads there.
You know, that's a similar engine design. That's also a really versatile bike, right?
I mean, everybody thinks of that as being like this, you know, it's a strictly adventure bike,
but I mean, there was that Boxer series for a while, right? There was a road race series that
they raced a certain BMW Boxer engine in. But I mean, I think when you're thinking about this from a
doing long trips, potentially off-road, BDR adventures, you know, you could look at a
GS 1250 and have a hood of a time. I'm also being mindful that I don't know what his
experience is off-road. Like maybe the DR 650 would be, you know, more of an appropriate bike
off-road. And I don't want to go back out and make the same exact recommendations
that we kicked off with Arturo, you know, with the... Well, I guess he was looking for more of
like a European take on things. So I'm thinking of Justin, who was San Diego. Justin was our
military vet and he was looking for an adventure bike. Some of those same comparisons could kind of
hang out here too. So like, what's something that splits the difference? What's something that would
be that would feel fast like a sport bike that would be more suitable for long trips,
potentially some off-roading $8,000 price tag? So yeah, the difference is, you know,
Justin had a four more grand to spend. And whenever somebody mentions DR 650, I think
you also have to think Honda XR 650L, right? So if you're thinking of a Suzuki DR,
I think you always have to consider the Honda also. I have seen an XR 400 turned into a pretty cool
Supermodo. It was the... Rouser used to work for Biltwell. He may still work for Biltwell.
He had a really trick XR 400 Supermodo that he built. So you're not getting the obviously Jixxer
1000 horsepower out of that bike, but you can get kind of a similar experience. That's a really
versatile bike. You could have two sets of wheels. You know what I mean? I like where your
head's at here. Keep going. Don't stop. You're on the right track. Yeah. So I think you can
build a versatile bike because the difficulty here is they gave us such a crazy
like span. You know, we're talking about a Jixxer 1000 and a DR 650 in the same sentence.
So to me, you got to get a bike that's a little bit more of a Swiss Army knife,
which to your point, the BMW is that also. But honestly, I kind of like the idea of the Honda.
I like the fact you're thinking... I like the fact that you're thinking of something
wacky and weird because it sounds like, I mean, this is the couple that has a ZX7R in their
home as a conversation piece in their kitchen. Cedar is mechanically inclined. So an XR400R
was manufactured, I think, only up until like the early 2000s. It's a kickstart only. But hell,
Cedar's only 29 years old. He can kickstart a motorcycle. He's not worried about bad knees.
Yeah. But he could build it into something that's pretty cool. Like you've seen the XR400
platform used into like, you know, kind of cool desert racing things. I just don't know if
it's going to give him the street functionality suitable for longer trips that he is looking for.
So again, so the 650, you know, the XR650 would be, I think, maybe a little more tailored to
that. But same vein. There's a guy on Instagram. I think he's out of Indiana.
It's par motorcycles, P-A-R-R. The guy builds really cool stuff out of Honda 650s, like
Supermodo looking. I mean, we're talking a pretty extravagant builds. But the point being,
I think you could build a real Swiss army knife of a bike out of that Honda 650 to the point where
you could have two sets of wheels, right? Like you could have a set of 17s, maybe a different
set of suspension. If you really wanted to go whole hog, you put a Supermodo front fender
on it, trims it up, you do LED lighting on it. You know, you can kind of get real
trick with those bikes and build yourself that, you know, combination machine there.
I know I'm a little bit, I know I'm going out on a limb here.
I don't hate the direction you're going in. I am going to shift in a slightly different direction
just for your consideration, Cedar. A Triumph Scrambler 1200
is going to be torquey and powerful, probably a little bit more appropriate for the street.
With some knobby tires, you can get away with riding that off-road. I know that my buddy
Jeff Kanairi rode one in Southern California. I believe Zach Quartz rode one. I know Zach
rode one in, you know, Venture Fest up in the Black Hills with you. I've ridden the
snot out of that bike, both on-road and off. Really fun. You can find them. I'm doing a
quick search right now. You can find them for around the $8,000 price range and knowing that
Cedar likes to tinker and, you know, mess around with things, he can probably build that into a
pretty cool-looking, you know, desert racer slash tour slash, you know, whatever he wants it to be.
I'll be honest with you. I'm surprised. Like, if you can get that bike for a grand,
that's a great pick. My buddy Brady McClane from Go Fast, he actually owns two of those
now. I have traveled extensively with Brady, with him on that bike. Just, that's a great motorcycle
to do all the things you want to do with it. That's a really good pick. If you can find one
for a grand, I would. Killer engine. Killer engine. Killer engine. Very capable. I would say
for the audience listening, that bike is available in two variants. There's the XE
and the XC. The XC has a slightly lower suspension. The XE has a taller suspension.
I'm looking at Cedar. You are 5'2 with a 32-inch inseam. You can probably get away
with the taller suspension, but you just might want to throw your leg over at first. But I don't
really see that even being an issue from a seat height standpoint for you.
Yeah, that's a great point. I wouldn't even have thought of that bike
for, I was surprised you can get one used for that, which it makes sense because they've
been out for a while now. So that's a great motor. I'm looking at like 2019, 2020 versions,
under 10,000 miles. There's a couple of really good used deals out there on CycleTrader for those
of you out there that might be considering a used Scrambler 1200. I don't know. I think
there's two good picks on two different ends of the spectrum. What's really unique about Cedar
is that it sounds like he's not afraid to get in there and get weird and rebuild something from
ground up. Yeah, I mean, I think you got a couple different ways to go there. If it's me, I mean,
obviously, I like to build stuff. I would probably gravitate to the Honda and just go in
and build in something that was like, I said, a Swiss Army knife. I'm surprised you haven't
like, listen, you haven't brought up a Harley-Davidson once for any of these people.
Well, they've not really. They haven't really given me the option. I mean, what about like taking
a sportster? Have you ever considered, Patrick, whilst riding in Southern California, taking a
sportster and turning it into a dirt Scrambler? And if so, would you recommend somebody else do
that? So I have done that. I highly recommend it. One of the reasons I didn't break,
because I was thinking about bringing it up here. This is Jixxer Thousand thing. Like if you're
looking for Jixxer Thousand power, a sportster is not for you, sir. But it might check every other
box. Again, being a real Swiss Army knife of a motorcycle and there is kind of a certain,
there's a movement, let's say, right now to make dirtsters kind of that's being pushed by
Mark Atkins, Rusty Butcher. He's built a bunch of these. The guys over at Lead
Sled have built a couple of them. Guys are taking like Honda 450 front ends,
revolving the front and putting them on sportsters and long shocks on the back.
And they make a surprisingly capable off-road bike. Mark has even built a supermodo with a set of
17s and different suspension. Again, Cedar, if you like to tinker and you like to build stuff,
it's sportsters are pretty awesome. They're pretty bulletproof motors. You can build an
80 horsepower version really easily. I mean, like no nothing exotic in the motor. Simply cams and a
big bore will get you 80 horsepower at the wheel of a sportster. Very torquey 80 horsepower.
So that's what do you recommend for not blowing the shocks out right away?
That Honda front ends pretty great.
So I brought one to a get an adventure fest with a built, let's say,
two over front ends, still 39 millimeter Harley and a set of aftermarket shocks on the back,
tall shocks. And in one afternoon, I managed to blow both fork seals and one of the rear shocks.
Brutal riding and maybe that's part of it too. Like I don't know,
it sounds like if Cedar was going to be riding off road, it might be a little bit more of an entry
level endeavor for him. But I guess my point and bring it up was, one, I know that you've
done that. And two, like it sounds like Cedar is not out of the realm of weird, wild and
possibilities. Yeah, especially from what they what they've talked about doing there.
Yeah, I think I think that opens you up. And again, like I am the work on your own
bike guy, obviously, I'm a big proponent of of doing things yourself and working and it just
opens your your possibilities up so much more. If you are willing to, you know, grab a hold of
a wrench and do some things yourself. It gives you a lot of latitude in your motorcycle choices,
which I think Cedar has here. I, I like where we landed with this one in Cedar.
I'm going to leave you with the range of options to consider. I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
you know, thank your partner Anna in advance for this one because
super way super fun way for us to end the episode. Patrick brought up a bike that I
haven't thought about for a long time, which was the Honda XR 400R really a unique historic bike
from Honda. You can probably find a ton of them hanging out in the desert in SoCal.
And that would give you a hell of a platform to have a lot of fun on.
I think if you want something more modern, you know, more powerful that you can still,
you know, tool around with, check out a 2019 or later Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE or XE.
I think you'll love the engine and I think it'll be something you could ride for a long road trip.
You could take off road. You could have fun in the twisties. You could build it out the way
you want to build it out. And if you want a real wild card, Patrick, I think we probably have
some picture of the the Sportster build that you took to get on the venture fest.
We'll have to put that up on the screen for our audience because that's the wild card.
Cedar, we will leave you with that. If you have Patrick Garvin's ambition,
maybe a Sportster build, you know, would be the way to go.
Crank that hog, brother. Speaking of cranking hogs, you have provided us with a perfect
segue for the engine sound guessing game. Just keep in mind here, this is brought to you by our
friends at Acropovich. So if you are looking to make your motorcycle engine sound better than it
ever has, consider an exhaust from Acropovich. They make the most premium exhaust that money
can buy for your motorcycle from sport bikes off road. They've got you covered.
So now, Patrick, how about you do guest honors and crank the hog for our audience?
All right.
I can smell that audio clip. All right. I wanted to take a pause for one second
and just remind everybody that Patrick, I think, is probably got the most glorious fail on record
of ever with the high side, low side guessing game. I got too big for my britches.
You got really you you got cocky because you were so good at it. And then I was doing so
swinging and you're like, this is what it is. And you were so definitive and you were you were not
right. Oh, man. It was a fall from grace. Patrick, what are you hearing with this engine sound?
So it's pretty clearly a two stroke in an older two stroke. Like I immediately,
like so I can smell that that audio clip. Like it just brought me back to like,
you know, being a kid and like somebody in your neighborhood had a dirt bike.
It went over and started it up and started revving it. Like that's right where I went.
And what did you how did you hear it starting? Did you hear a starter motor or no?
I don't believe I did. Like maybe like it's like one of those things where you immediately
start remembering things that maybe aren't there because I started having like these
flashbacks to my childhood of like two-stroke dirt bikes and like with this.
How many cylinders are you hearing? That's a single cylinder.
Single cylinder. I heard I thought I heard a kick starter. So it would be right in line.
Do you want a hint first or do you want to listen a second time?
There are so many possibilities here, I think that I think I need the hint.
Okay. I'm pretty sure like it's not like it's pretty clear to me that it's a single cylinder
older two-stroke. Okay. So in real time, for those of you playing along at home,
Patrick and I are going to flip over the hint together. The hint is a two-stroke street bike.
Oh, okay. So here's my only thought.
Is it might not be a single cylinder even though that's what I thought I heard too.
That's yep. So let's listen. So typically two-strokes are not built for the street
any longer because of emission standards. So if this is a two-stroke street bike,
this is probably more of a vintage motorcycle. Some that come to mind are Yamaha's and Kawasaki's.
Yeah, like RD350. Did not sound like a triple to me though. It did not sound like the Kawasaki.
So if it's an RD350, it's not a single obviously. It's probably not a single if it's a street bike.
Man, that's all right. Let's listen one more time because if it's not a single,
maybe it's a parallel twin, but let's take one more listen.
Okay. I'm more lost than ever because I am racking my brain for other street bikes
that are two-strokes outside of Yamaha RD350s and H2 Kawasaki, but that was a triple.
But they had three different variants of that triple too. They had a small one. I think they had a
250 triple, a 500 triple, and a 750 triple. And that doesn't really sound like a triple to me,
but maybe I'm just not hearing it right. Listening back, it does sound like a two-cylinder.
My first listen, I immediately started having flashbacks in my childhood.
Wait a second. Don't doubt yourself. What if it's a scooter? What if it's like a...
I've never considered that.
I know that the Kimcos even recently had a 50cc street legal scooter, but historically,
you could get... Like a Yamaha Zuma?
Yeah. Or even my buddy Jeff Kanairi and Liz Kanairi, what did they have?
They had something like knock off. I think theirs was a two-stroke. Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe it was a four-stroke. But I feel like historically you could get a scooter that
was a two-stroke and it would be street legal and it would also probably be a single cylinder.
Yeah. Well, I mean, there's a number of Aprilias and then there's the Zuma. I'm pretty sure it was a
50cc two-stroke street legal. When I was drag racing, everybody at the track had one. Let me
throw another wrench into this. Do it. I love it. Throw a wrench. Harley Hummer.
What? You think it's going to be that old?
Could be. I mean, RD35... How old is Harley Hummer? Is what? Like...
Those are 70s, aren't they? I'm not super versed on those,
but weren't they like single cylinder? Yeah, but I thought they were earlier than that.
They might have been a little bit... To the internet,
well, see, here's the real key to being a good podcast host is that we keep the conversation
going whilst looking up things on the internet to make it seem like we're seamlessly this smart
all the time. Yeah, so I'm thinking 1955 to 1959. Yeah.
Okay. So probably not that, but I'm just trying to think a street legal...
It doesn't sound... It sounds like an older two-stroke for some reason,
and I'm probably stuck. My buddy had an RD350, a really cool one, and I'm trying to remember...
Man, I know that's probably just too easy of a guess for me to have, but I'm just
stuck on an RD350. I think it's hard because it doesn't sound like a two-cylinder to me.
When you first said a vintage two-stroke dirt bike, it definitely didn't sound like a modern
two-stroke dirt bike. It did not sound like a liquid-cooled fire breather. It sounded like an
older kind of air-cooled two-stroke. I heard a Kickstarter there. I'm not hearing a starter
motor. So let's do second hints. First hint was a two-stroke street bike. The second hint,
single cylinder made in Italy. Oh my god. No idea. It's got to be a scooter, right?
Because I was going to Yamaha and Darrow. The Ducati. What was like a vintage Ducati?
Come on, Spurgeon. What's your Ducati knowledge here?
I mean, a Priglia had two-stroke road race bikes. We can't use the internet for this. This is
cheating. So I'm not using the internet for this. A Priglia had two-stroke road race bikes,
but were any of them street legal? Well, you say that you're probably a scooter that you said.
Yeah, totally. I don't know the models, but there are plenty of a Priglia two-stroke
scooters that use those. Zach, what's the one that Zach had? Oh, yeah. What did he have? It's
probably Zach's bike. He probably sent the sound. No, he sold it. He sold it. No, no, no. Zach,
because I know that he used, he worked with Abbey that bike was up on Iconics website.
What was the a Priglia two-stroke scooter? I thought they had a pretty
popular, it was a bigger CC, like a 125 two-stroke scooter. I can't remember.
He had no. He had the 50 CC. It was an SR, an SR50R, I believe was the scooter that Zach had.
So he had a smaller 50 CC two-stroke scooter. Yeah, SR. So I'm positive they made an SR125.
I just don't know how old it is. If that's a recent, you know what I mean?
Because Zach's was not vintage, right? Zach's was like a two. Yeah, I was like mid 2000s.
I am late 2000s. Way out on this one. All right. So yeah, I mean, I feel like that or a Vespa,
like an older Vespa two-stroke scooter. Vespa's definite possibility.
But what was the hint again? So I mean, a Vespa, I feel like they would have made
two-strokes. I guess at this point, we're not going to, we're going to, we have all the information
we probably have. Like any final guesses, I think like an Aprilia scooter would probably be.
I'm going with Aprilia. Let's just, I'm going to go with the SR125.
Okay. I'll say SR50 scooter. And let's see if we're anywhere close.
Oh, Patrick, you should have followed your Harley Hummer passion here.
This was a 1974 Harley Davidson Z90. And Patrick, what can you tell us about mid-70s,
small displacement Harleys? Where were they imported from?
Those were imported from Italy, right? Yeah. Yeah. So this would have been,
this would have been a little Italian motorcycle that Harley Davidson would have, would have
rebadged. I didn't even think about them. And I knew that too. I knew them. I knew that was a
rebadged Italian bike. I think I talked myself out of it with, I was thinking that those were more,
but I know they are around in the 50s, but they must have stayed around for quite a while,
longer than I thought. Yeah. The Aramachi era of Harley did.
That's the Aramachi one. Yeah. Yeah. So that was, they,
there was a partnership in the 70s with Aramachi and they brought in small displacement
motorcycles with, with rebadging done. And I think once, once AMF came along,
they sold off the Aramachi. That's for you. Yeah. And I should have known that. I was,
I was almost there and I talked myself out of it. There you go. Well, for those of you listening
at home, maybe, maybe there was someone out there that wasn't fooled the way that Patrick and
I were, because typically when you think of a two-stroke street bike, single cylinder nonetheless,
you're not thinking of Harley Davidson, but this was a 1974 Harley Davidson Z90 would have been
manufactured by Aramachi in Italy and then imported into the United States with a Harley
Davidson logo on the tank. Thank you to Tim for sending in such a unique engine sound.
Tim sent us in a, a sound of his stock 1974 Harley Davidson Z90. Tim, do make sure you
send us an email to highsidelociedatrevzilla.com with your address, preferred shirt size and your
highside loci shirt design that you'd like. And for those of you that want to play along
with the engine sound guessing game, you can send us a clip of your motorcycle. We need
the year, make, model and mods. You want to get the bike firing up and you want to give it a couple
of good revs, let it idle for a little bit and you too can play the engine sound guessing game
by sending us your engine clip. That being said, we do have another t-shirt to give away.
Patrick, you want to, you want to do guest honors here and read the t-shirt winner?
Uh, yes. So while Patrick is pulling up the highside loci comment, I can read it to Patrick,
if you would, if you're having trouble finding it there, but you want to always make sure to please
leave us a Apple podcast review, leave a comment over on Spotify. We try to read all the comments,
send an email to highsidelociedatrevzilla.com or drop a little note on YouTube and you too
can potentially have your comment read out loud. Did you, uh, did you find it?
Uh, I believe so. So we're talking about, uh, I am new to writing.
From Edward.
Yes. Uh, I'm new to writing. I got my license in Australia only a year ago, age 50. I own a Z650
with like a second bike. I've been looking at Triumph's W800S and Moto Guzzi V7 special,
depending on the year, uh, decides carb or EFI. I was watching your episode on modern classics.
You recommend, uh, you recommend a carb bike. He says, are carbs unreliable and maintenance
heavy? I am not very mechanically inclined. A mate has said, um, a mate has said the,
the fully is way smoother. I think it means, I think it means fueling.
Oh yeah. It's, I'm, uh, yeah. I'm not translating.
Yeah. You're trying to read Australian. Yeah.
I feel like I was reading, I should have read it with an accent. I probably would have got it.
Yeah, I did that. I did that in the first episode and Lance Oliver was really
not keen on having me continue by trying to read in an accent. So.
So he asked, is this true or is it just the way he rides, uh, for him to find this?
So basically what he's asking us there is like, he's not super mechanically inclined.
Should he buy, should he buy a carbureted bike or not?
Well, here's the deal. I think that this is perfect for yourself. And he's probably,
when I was, when he's talking about the modern classic, he's probably referring to the fact
that I have a Bonneville, uh, with carburetors on it. But Patrick, guess honors, um, your
opinion about, you know, some of these, you know, still later model motorcycles,
you know, that, that have carburetors are carburetors unreliable and maintenance
heavy in your opinion. So it's probably going to be more maintenance heavy,
long run than a fuel injected bike, but a carburetor can be very reliable.
It comes with some caveats. Is the bike well maintained a bike that's not well maintained
if you buying a bike that's been sitting outside for a long time or, you know, it's
hard starting or somebody hasn't, you know, they haven't maintained the bike in the winter
time as far as like fuel and it's gummed up the carburetor. Yeah, it's going to be
very maintenance heavy. So this is kind of a little bit of a, uh, a caveated question in
good maintenance order. A carburetor is, is very reliable. Again, if it's a bike have
heavy modification, if you're buying a bike that has like an aftermarket, an aftermarket
like big bore and exhaust on it, where you're going to have to chase jetting,
well, then you get a little bit more complicated. If you're talking about a well
maintained stock motorcycle, a carburetor can be very reliable. I think, you know,
some considerations for you to Edward. So my Bonneville has got 80,000 miles on it.
I've rejetted the carburetor once and when you say rejet a carburetor, you're putting in
different little nozzles on the inside, which are, they have holes in them and they allow
either more or less fuel to come through. And you want to make sure that the carburetor,
quote unquote, is jetted correctly for the amount of air you have coming in to mix with the fuel
and then the amount of exhaust that you have going out. So aside from
rejetting the carburetor, when I change the exhaust, I've done nothing to that motorcycle.
Now in the United States, we do have a situation that has occurred over the past,
you know, 10 years or so where ethanol has been introduced into the fuel.
And if you let ethanol, ethanol infused fuel sit in carburetors for a while,
like Patrick said, it can gum up, it can get sticky and it can actually block your carburetor
jet. So if you in Australia have ethanol in your fuel, you need to make sure not to let the bike
sit for three to four weeks at a time. You would want to add an additive or you would want to
just drain the carburetors from the fuel. That would be a consideration or get ethanol free
fuel. And then the only other consideration from carburetors is the elevation that you're
at. Like if you were going through drastic elevation changes, like if I'm riding from Pennsylvania
through the Rocky Mountains, the fueling that I have in the flatlands of Iowa might not be ideal
for the heights of the Rocky Mountain passes with fuel injection. And for the audience listening
when he talks about EFI, he's talking about electronic fuel injection,
electronic fuel injection has sensors that can regulate how much fuel based on elevation,
based on temperature, things like that. Carburetors, you'd manually have to
change the jets in a carburetor depending on the bike that's either easier or more difficult to do.
You could also have to re-sync the carburetors if they get out of sync for a multi-cylinder bike.
There's definitely more maintenance, but in my experience, once you have them dialed in
for the majority of riding you're doing, they're really, they're really pretty spot on.
Yeah, my main two street bikes are both carbureted bikes. My FXR and my shovel head and once I've
got them dialed in, I literally have not touched them. They just, like I said, as long as you
take into consideration that fuel and not letting them gum up, well then you're going
to be in good shape. And like you said, elevation changes. I'm not sure in Australia how much
elevation he's going to be getting to, but again, that's a pretty isolated use case scenario.
So I'm with you there. As long as they're well maintained, you're not going to have any problem
with the carburetor. It's got a lot, there's a lot of carbureted bikes on the road that have
run really, really well for a very, very long time. In the lineage of motorcycles,
fuel injection is still a fairly new thing. I would say it sounds like your buddy says
that the fueling could be way smoother. I think some of the issues that folks have run into with
fuel injection, especially with some of the newer EPA regulations is a lot of the manufacturers
have them running really lean. At times, there can be some rough spots at lower idle and it's
a little bit harder and more expensive to work that out with aftermarket tools. For as a carburetor,
like I said, a couple of small little pilot jets or a change to your needle jets and
you're in a completely different situation. So Edward, it's a great question.
And I would say as long as you're okay with maybe a little bit of time to get them dialed in
and maybe a little bit more maintenance than with fuel injection, a carburetor bike could be an
excellent option for you. And also congratulations on getting into motorcycling,
you know, no matter the age. You know, I love to see that.
Yeah, 100%. We've run quite the spectrum here from Noah to Edward here.
Yeah. So Edward, we're going to do our best to send you a high side, low side t-shirt to the
land down under. Please do send us your mailing address and your preferred shirt size to
high side, low side at revzilla.com as well as which high side, low side design you would like
and we will get you squared away. And again, just a reminder, please do leave us a comment on YouTube
on Spotify. Leave us a review on Apple Podcast. We love to hear from you, the audience.
If you are looking to leave a more detailed email or you want to donate an engine sound or
perhaps you want to put yourself up for, you know, a guest on the next episode of the
Motorcycle Dating Game, you can shoot us an email to highside, low side at revzilla.com.
And with that, Patrick, any final thoughts from the discussion today?
You know what? It's just, it's great to see, you know, other people's like motorcycle
situations because like I mentioned before, if you've been riding for a long time, you
kind of get settled into your own, you know, like view of motorcycles and what you like.
That tends to, I think, narrow up a little bit because you've kind of been there and done that.
And it's really cool to see other people's journeys and where they're at in like their
motorcycle lifespan. It's very refreshing. Like you said, to see Edward at 50 and Noah at seven
and all these people's different journeys, it kind of reenergizes you
as somebody who's been in the motorcycle space for a long time.
100%. And speaking of motorcycle journeys, the question that I'm left with for you is,
you know, you're talking about this new bike build that you're doing. You typically build a
bike every 12 to 18 months. You know, you're pretty prolific when it comes to turning wrenches on
motorcycles. When are we going to see the Patrick Garvin dragon build? When are you going to build
us a motorcycle that resembles some time, some type of, like, could we get like an alligator
build? Could you do like the alligator bike? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like an eagle?
Is that on your bucket list? Could you do like the eagle of freedom with the talons coming out
the front instead? Yeah. Like just, yeah, I'm holding the turn signals. Yeah. Oh man, Robert.
Well, now that you've got that idea rolling around in your noodle, I am very excited to see,
yeah, I'm very excited to see what you do with this build that will be debuting,
debuting at Daytona this year. Until that folks, without any further ado to Patrick's
build, I think we've come to the end of another episode of Highside Lowside. Patrick,
thank you so much for sitting in today and helping us fill Zach Quartz's seat.
Big shoes to fill. Thanks for having me, Spurge. All right. Well, until next time,
ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for listening to another episode of Highside
Lowside. We will see you next time.
About this episode
The motorcycle dating game returns with hosts Spurgeon Dunbar and Patrick Garvin, who fills in for Zach Courts. They match listeners with their ideal motorcycles, discussing various styles including adventure bikes, sport bikes, and cruisers. The episode features a unique Harley-Davidson Dragonster and delves into carburetor maintenance versus fuel injection. With a mix of humor and expert advice, the hosts engage with contestants' needs, offering insights on bike recommendations while keeping the tone light and entertaining.
Original notes
The Motorcycle Dating Game returns! Patrick Garvin and Spurg match Highside/Lowside listeners to their perfect motorcycle. And they all lived happily ever after!
Check out more from RevZilla:
- Common Tread: News, opinions, and written reviews
- RevZillaTV: Bike reviews, How-To's, and product videos
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