How the golly gosh darn flip do you ride a cruiser?

[phill-k]

So i recently bought a 95 virago 1100.

WOW

What a shit house bike. How do you go around corners.

Can Robert Taylor or someone improve the suspension on cruisers?

So wobbly at high speed in corners.

And WOW dose the front twin discs feel like the rubber brakes on an old moutain bike!!!

Impressive rear brake tho.

Dragging your rear brake in any slow cornering such as u turns, round-a-bouts really helps control, keeps the bike standing up and you can bring it in real tight.

[PirateJafa]

I've noticed it time and time again. If you put someone who's really cool on a cruiser, they look like a complete twat, and ride like a total n00b.

Well, RM has always looked like a twat and ridden like a nub. Maybe the inverse will hold true and he'll finally look cool?

[HenryDorsetCase]

I got beaten by a girl once... but I had to pay extra

Oh yeah, I hear that.

[ducatilover]

Cut 50mm off the fork spring and put in 70mm of preload spacer, use straight 50 motor oil for the fork oil. Safe.

As for the rear, dump the shocks and make it rigid, then use about 20psi in the rear tire for absorbing bumps.

Mean bro

Mint ideas, can you come fix my bike? I have a sad bit of chrome on the forks, so if we cut that part of the tube and weld it back up, it'll be legit as.

The good news is that riding a bike that doesn't handle well will do more for your riding and road skills than you thought possible. (if you survive.....)

Should also help ones buying choices too

[gijoe1313]

Dont....he'll do it...and end up looking like one of those ashen females I once mentioned not so long ago in a time when men were men...

What is seen cannot be unseen! Well, I guess he just wants to put mean as ape hangers on and some chromed out bling, his inner cruisier rider is coming out ...

[onearmedbandit]

Dont use the countersteering movement of pushing on the bars, which all KB"ers promote to the max

Really? All 'KBers'? And promote to the max? Really? Been here since day one and never seen any evidence of this.

[The Pastor]

Not to scare you, the 1100 Virago was the first V twin I owned, I traded a Kwaka 1000 on it. For 3 months I wondered why the fuck I had bought such a heap of shit.... (I was giving it full bore on a UK motorway on the Kwaka, indicated 150, and had one of those epiphany moments).. Anyway, the XV1100 was reckoned to be the best handling cruiser in those days, the VN's HD's were far worse, and it was quicker than the 1200 Evo sporty.
Cornering..... you need a completely different style of cornering. Set up the corner early, rather than HARD braking, gentle brakes, use the torque rather than sprot bike gear changes. Have the corner speed 'set' before entering it, Out wide, apex ONLY as it reaches the point your view round the bend is beginning to open, then back out wide... making the corner as straight as possible. Cruisers are about smooth riding style. Dont try to corner at anywhere near sprot bike speeds until you've mastered the technique needed. Once you have you'll be surprised how quickly you can hustle them round.

Brakes? you're about right, even compared to the old 80's kwaka brakes,they werent exactly fantastic, a bloody good sqeeze!! Oh and a lot of the Yammy calipers of those days were prone to seizing up. Rear drum was brilliant for feel and power. There is some amount of engine braking, your actually better off to lose speed early into corners by allowing some engine braking first.

Suspension? It's a cruiser, soft, wallowy and spongy. AND I'll say again the VX outhandled all comers in the 1980 for cruisers. A set of Ikon's on the rear will work wonders, and if not progressive springs, thicker oil and a little 'extra' 15-25cc will improve things. I can assure you the XV1100 handled far better than my VN1500C, but choice for handling? Was the Guzzi California 1100 I owned in the mid to late 90's......

Dude.

I mean, come on.

You're seriously too cool to ride a Virago. Seriously.

I've noticed it time and time again. If you put someone who's really cool on a cruiser, they look like a complete twat, and ride like a total n00b.

Your street cred is at stake here. Don't do it, eh...

So what fuel economy do you get? I just filled up the 1st tank and got 10lkm/l! Somethings wrong there

[Virago]

So what fuel economy do you get? I just filled up the 1st tank and got 10lkm/l! Somethings wrong there

Fairly spirited riding, around 16 to 17 km/l. Even two-up with full luggage makes little difference to economy.

They don't have a huge fuel range. The 16.8 litre tank can only take around 14 litres - because the fuel cap is not at the top of the tank... I can get around 200-210 kms to reserve, with another 30-40 kms on reserve. The fuel warning light should let you know about 10 km before reserve.

If you want it to go fast - forget it. It's a cruiser - you're suppose to cruise. Would you buy a race-spec sportsbike to go serious off-roading?

Having said that, I push mine along quite comfortably. I keep up without effort on the mixed bike group rides. Cornering is no problem, the sound of scraping metal will let you know when you're reaching the limits.

Speed - it will cruise along nicely at 120, still happy out to 140 (with good pick-up), getting uncomfortable at 150-160, max out at 180 (at which stage it feels like it's going to explode). If you want it to go any faster than that, throw it out of a plane.

It sounds like you've got some issues with your machine. I'd start with getting the front end overhauled.

[HenryDorsetCase]

bacon grease is better than fork oil. All I'm saying. Gotta be freedom farms though

[tristania]

Golly gosh indeed..I've got an XV250 Virago... it's okay to ride while I get my road confidence back, but I feel like I need moar power, want to take the corners faster and getting sick of being blown all over the road..... I wonder if it's worth graduating to a 750 cruiser or just get a sporty bike
Do bigger cruisers handle the same as smaller ones?

[mossy1200]

Golly gosh indeed..I've got an XV250 Virago... it's okay to ride while I get my road confidence back, but I feel like I need moar power, want to take the corners faster and getting sick of being blown all over the road..... I wonder if it's worth graduating to a 750 cruiser or just get a sporty bike
Do bigger cruisers handle the same as smaller ones?

Worsa

[Subike]

Golly gosh indeed..I've got an XV250 Virago... it's okay to ride while I get my road confidence back, but I feel like I need moar power, want to take the corners faster and getting sick of being blown all over the road..... I wonder if it's worth graduating to a 750 cruiser or just get a sporty bike
Do bigger cruisers handle the same as smaller ones?

your in windy welly right, mmm
well i ride a copy of your cruiser, and its fun
but I normally ride a 480kg SX1100 yammy, and its fun too
a bigger cruiser will be more stable, but not as much fun
Taking corners faster? have you been able to scrape the foot-pegs on your 250?
I have been trying to on mine for the past 6 weeks, all I have managed to do is remove the chicken strips from both tires.
Just thinking, in welly, the camber on the road might be more than what it is here in chch, so peg scraping might be possible.....

[tristania]

your in windy welly right, mmm
well i ride a copy of your cruiser, and its fun
but I normally ride a 480kg SX1100 yammy, and its fun too
a bigger cruiser will be more stable, but not as much fun
Taking corners faster? have you been able to scrape the foot-pegs on your 250?
I have been trying to on mine for the past 6 weeks, all I have managed to do is remove the chicken strips from both tires.
Just thinking, in welly, the camber on the road might be more than what it is here in chch, so peg scraping might be possible.....

Alllmost a bit of scrapage on the footpegs...feels like bugger all ground clearance.. I have been told it looked like I was on the verge of scraping taking a what I thought was an easy corner, so it's a matter of time! and yup there are some twisties here alright

[The Pastor]

Alllmost a bit of scrapage on the footpegs...feels like bugger all ground clearance.. I have been told it looked like I was on the verge of scraping taking a what I thought was an easy corner, so it's a matter of time! and yup there are some twisties here alright

its normal for pegs to scrape the ground,

[Flip]

All I can say is; slow in, watch your line in the apex and fast out. Works for me.