What's up with the general population of cruiser riders?

[T.W.R]

The weekend just gone was the Woodstock rally which I attended with a mate along on the pillion seat (he did quite well considering the 610kms coast to coast return journey).
Now I scoot along at a fair rate of knots usually attempting to be as consistent as possible and make the ride the smoothest for the pillion and did so on this trip, passing plenty and being passed also (I averaged 18.5km/l sitting around 120ish though, not bad for what the ZXR is & with over 100k on the clock).
Now heres where the question comes in; Whats with Cruiser riders going like stink on the straights then being a mass of brake lights & wallowing bike in the corners? wheres the train of thought that inspires that to happen?
Both heading to & coming from the rally I had this happen on multiple occasions and have had it happen on various other times as well.
During this event though on the Sunday return in particular 2 instances stick in my mind just due to their stupidity and the severity of what could have happened.

A cruiser is meant for cruising not for battling around bends and have the sportsbike you've just passed all over your butt or passing vehicles over blind rises just to almost throw the bike away into westcoast bush

Patience and being relaxed must go out the window somewhere along the line or something ???

[onearmedbandit]

Yeah, I remember a cruiser rider on a ride I was on once, did the same thing. I was approaching a series of corners at about 140km/h, said cruiser rider went past me then hit the brakes and wallowed around the corner after hitting the brakes hard. Not safe riding at all.

[98tls]

Stop talkin shit Bill,its just not possible that a cruiser rider could be that irresponsibleMust have been fat sprotbikes

[doc]

Its not just the cruiser riders either. There are a lot of dudes out there that have too much bike for their honest abilities.. Most stuff nowdays is too much for the road anyway. Sometimes my bike is bigger, newer than yours, the road test said it was faster, so they have to be in front theory rules.. I always enjoy staying loosely around the speed limit on the straights and hooning it on the corners, having real fun with types like that, all brake lights and boot it out of the corner then heaps of brake light again. Of course they piss off once you get out of the gorge.
I'm always wary of the ones who come a long with a reputation "Man he can ride" usually end up causing someone to do something stupid trying to give him the learn.

[Headbanger]

I fail to see the issue, Crank it down the straight, Panic on the corners.

Thats how we roll in these parts.

[AllanB]

Smooth smooth smooth that's the way to go fast(ish) for me. If I start to light it up too much I'll just start f-ing up corners and go slower!

I prefer to be able to wind it on mid-corner and exit at a respectable speed than fill my leather trou entering too fast and panic braking.

[T.W.R]

Stop talkin shit Bill,its just not possible that a cruiser rider could be that irresponsibleMust have been fat sprotbikes

well the cruisers in question were a M109 & V-Rod in particular and in amongst them a few other hogs & assorted cruisers.
The only time I've found it entertaining was last years Woodstock on the trip there I covered a few kms with a Rocket 111 which was a laugh but down right bloody impressive with the straight line punch

But these guys over the weekend were just making their rides so much bloody hard work as well as being unnecessarily dangerous and it seems a common theme

[P38]

I ride with guys like this and they arent all on crusiers either.

Sad thing is they never arrive at a destination more then an few minutes ahead of anyone else, and several have got a ride in the helicopter because of it.

You can raise it with them, some listen some don't, at the end of the day its their funeral.

[T.W.R]

Its not just the cruiser riders either. There are a lot of dudes out there that have too much bike for their honest abilities.. Most stuff nowdays is too much for the road anyway. Sometimes my bike is bigger, newer than yours, the road test said it was faster, so they have to be in front theory rules.. I always enjoy staying loosely around the speed limit on the straights and hooning it on the corners, having real fun with types like that, all brake lights and boot it out of the corner then heaps of brake light again. Of course they piss off once you get out of the gorge.
I'm always wary of the ones who come a long with a reputation "Man he can ride" usually end up causing someone to do something stupid trying to give him the learn.

Yeah thats a common flaw across the board, the misconception of theoretical mechanical ability controlled by individual ability, absolutely no-one rides the same as another.
Keeping a consistent pace over a distance is far more rewarding than being a straight line hero.
Chasing a faster rider for the sake of gauging ones self or making a blind pass just to gap the bike behind is just a lack of discipline

I fail to see the issue, Crank it down the straight, Panic on the corners.

Thats how we roll in these parts.

I ride with guys like this and they arent all on crusiers either.

Sad thing is they never arrive at a destination more then an few minutes ahead of anyone else, and several have got a ride in the helicopter because of it.

You can raise it with them, some listen some don't, at the end of the day its their funeral.

Yeah it's better to be a few minutes late rather than dead on time.
Yeah it's their choice to do so but it's just unnecessary hard work that escalates risk for all involved.

[Nagash]

That's pretty standard behaivour, just trying to keep up (or ahead) of others in a no skill mad dash trying to make it anyway possible. Unfortunately cruisers really don't have that leaning ability of spoty's or naked bikes..

There was a great video somewhere, live leak or something of a few cruisers passing some holiday campings who are making a video on a blind outside corner and one of the cruiser's goes straight off the edge and right into a ditch, another manages to scramble the bike over the ditch to the other end, bloody hilarious to watch.

[Subike]

As I See It
We in NZ have the best sport/touring roads in the world without a doubt.
And there in lies the reasoning.
Harleys, and all the big crusers that grace these same roads
were just not designed for them.
Think.....yes think
where are harleys built?
What market are the Jap crusers designed and aimed for?
America
400mile long straights!
Go sit on your sports/ tourer and travel across Texas.
Your ass will be raw, your arms will be lock jointed, your legs unbendable by the time you cross the first interstate line.
They dont have the awsome tight hills as often as us, neither the short hops town to town.
100 miles is nothing in a straight line on a cruzer, and where is a straght road even resembling that in NZ?
No they cannot corner as well, and yes the riders do brake hard, turn slow and the fang it along the straight.
But thats what the crusers were designed for.
I do agree that there are a few cruser riders who try to ride past their bikes ability to turn, but then so do sprot riders, just at twice the pace.
If the guy in front of you on the cruser is getting you hot under the collar,
Stop!
Chill out!
Ride to the conditions.
That way tempers dont cause either of you to kiss the gravel.
So you dont like the style of his ride?
He may not like yours either.
Self control, self disiple, know your spot on the road, and all will be well.
In my opinion

[onearmedbandit]

Not so easy when some of these cruiser riders feel the need to prove themselves right in front of you. Literally.

[onearmedbandit]

So you're happily riding along at your pace when a rider of either less capability or on an inadequete machine (for what they are attempting) passes you, then pulls directly in front of you and hits the brakes hard, all at the last minute. And you'd have no problem with this? It's downright fucking dangerous riding. And then their problem becomes mine.

[jrandom]

So you're happily riding along at your pace when a rider of either less capability or on an inadequete machine (for what they are attempting) passes you, then pulls directly in front of you and hits the brakes hard, all at the last minute.

I don't think any of us are happy when that happens.

There was some twunt on a ZX-10R pillioning his missus around Taupo track in medium group at MotoTT last weekend, cutting in front of n00bs with no room to spare (entirely unnecessary - heaps of space on the track and he had twice the power of most bikes in medium group), taking all sorts of odd lines through corners, and generally making himself look like a complete squid.

He probably has no idea how close he came to receiving a good 'talking to' from several other riders that afternoon.

Good thing we're all generally fairly tolerant, easy-going types, eh?



Personally, I won't ride with anyone I don't trust. I prefer to ride with guys who are a faster and smoother than me - I don't get in their way, they stay in front of me, I pick up a few pointers from watching them, everyone's happy.

If I was out with anyone who was riding inconsiderately, I'd simply fuck off alone and not ride with them again.

[Ixion]

Hm. Without passing judgement either way (and accepting that the riders originally cited may just have been twats), but ..

Crusiers have a long trail, shallow rake. That makes them hard to turn turn in.

So, maybe some riders adopt the style I do on the Yamaha. Brake hard into the corner, right up to the turn in point and a wee bit beyond. That compresses the forks (muchly so on the Yamaha with it's long soft suspension). Which reduces the trail, and facilitates the turn in. Then at the apex full gauntlet to extend the forks and straighten up.

So , maybe what people are complaining about is just that the crusier riders are not riding the same way as sprotsbikers. Cos, like, they're crusiers.