I most recently owned a 1990 Yamaha FJ1200. It was mostly stock, except that the cam had been degree'd, the intake breathes through a reusable K&N air filter, and the carbs were all rejetted a while back. It was running lean off-idle, which was making it very un-fun to drive around town, and it actually was running rich at higher RPMs and wider throttle openings. After the work was done, by the outstanding people at AllPro Motorsports in Waukesha, WI, it was like having a new bike.
Even though I sold my last bike a few years ago, I still maintain a "lust list" in my mind about what my next bike might
be at any given time. Currently, the three on the list are the Honda
VTX1800, the Honda Valkyrie, and a 600cc series bike like the Kawasaki ZX-6 or
Honda CBR600 F4i or something. Oh, and a Boss Hoss of some sort! I doubt it, but perhaps I should consider
the recently-announced new Harley "performance" bike, the VRSCA V-Rod.
The VTX looks
like:
The CBR600 F4i
looks like:
The
Valkyrie looks like:
The ZX-6
(not the R model) looks like:
Well, I still tend to lean toward the bigger bikes (there is no substitute for cubic inches (or
centimeters, in this case)!). So, here's a picture of the ZX-12R:
.
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During our recent trip to Florida, I was fortunate enough to be able to ride a new heavy-cruiser motorcycle from one of the very few American motorcycle manufacturers, American Quantum Cycles (AMQC). This beast sports a 45-degree V common crank pin design engine with high-performance heads, cam, and other parts. This is a Q2, and was designed for the sales manager at AMQC. We spent a good part of a day putting some gentle break-in miles on this bike as well as on my uncle's brand new Suzuki Bandit S 1200 (no pictures, unfortunately)... |
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...We had fun! At idle, the exhaust spits out of the pipes, and any twist of the throttle causes a crackley bark of V-twin sound and power. The bike is so low to the ground that it feels relatively light and handleable, but it is a massive, heavy, strong machine. |
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Malina did some demo-riding too; trying out one of the new bikes at a toy store in St. Augustine, FL. She just tried it out for size, actually, and didn't do any riding because she doesn't have a helmet yet. |
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