These may get you home

As the bike turned out to be one of Honda's best sellers, I'd say that
you were wrong, wouldn't you?[1]

As the bike turned out to be one of Honda's best sellers, I'd be
startled if there's a spare parts shortage, wouldn't you?[2]

And on that basis, why buy an imported bike at all?

[1] Well, no, you wouldn't, because you never do, but you were, anyway.
[2] When new models are launched, the manufacturers bring over a sort of
"first basics" kit of parts. These are the things they *know* buyers
will want. Like there's always someone who'll crash the new
Sooper-Dooper Model on its release day, so they'll have things like
levers, panels, mirrors, etc on hand.

Other parts might come over later. It's pretty safe to bet that nobody's
going to need (for example) a crankshaft on Day One. But these pieces
can always be air freighted in an emergency.

Unsurprisingly, the dats for what they'll want immediately and what they
might want later has been recorded and built up over many years/decades.
They can forecast it amazingly accurately.

At least, that's the way it works in Europe. I'd be surprised if it's
very different in the US.

 

kinda funny, seeing krusty blasting someone elses somewhat wacky
idea.........

otoh I have seen reports of iron butt guys wrapping rope around their tires
to get through muck and snow successfully. Plastic zip ties cost what, a few
pennies? If they come off, what damage could they cause?? I have seen video
of what happens to CAR drivers in England and the southern US when a few
flakes fall, (complete utter disaster) so maybe they are not the best ones
to be commenting on what someone else has tried for 2 street tires on snow.



blah blah blah, hyuk!

 

I have to admit: you have hit the nail on the head here.

<Doffs hat>

 

The Older Gentleman wrote:

Of course they were mass produced. That's the way Honda operates,
except for some truly small run RCxx racing models.

Don't you understand that the salescreep in the $tealer$hip with the
worst reputation for
dirty dealing in SoCal was trying to get me to make a deposit based on
an inflated price
for a motorcycle that *he* claimed was going to be limited edition?

People who just have to have the latest greatest motorcycle or car
always wind up paying
a premium for that vehicle. One guy in Minnesota just had to have the
first Miata in the state. He paid $25K for it. Another guy wanted to
buy the first Viper in the showroom. The salescreep wouldn't even let
the prospective customer *sit* in the car, even though he had the $52K
in cash to buy it. That car went for $90K.

But, back to the CBR900RR. I could have gotten a GSXR for less, Suzukis
are always on sale somewhere. And, the Fireblade didn't fit me at all.

No, I wouldn't be a bit surprised that there was a parts shortage for
the first year models, it's always been like that in SoCal. I remember
being told that I wouldn't be able to ride my Yamaha dirtbike because
the $tealer$hip didn't have any clutch levers to replace the
one I broke the first day out in the desert.

I asked the partscreep if he had a *brake* lever he could sell me.
Sure, he had a brake lever, but how was that going to fix my broken
*clutch* lever?

I turned the brake lever over and used it for a clutch lever until I
broke that one. By then, the new clutch levers had arrived.

 

Yes, of course I do.

He was a silly bastard.

And you said: "there was no way in Hell that I was ever going to pay $
9K for a Honda, and if they were "limited production" as the salescreep
claimed, I knew that I would have a hard time getting parts for it."

Which makes you a silly bastard. All the original write-ups for the
Blade made it crystal clear this was no homologated race special (I
mean, for a start, what class would it fit in?) but a "We're going to
sell this by the boatload" brilliant Honda.

One of few modern Hondas I've considered buying, actually.

Oh - your brake/clutch lever swap. Sometimes manufacturers get it right.
My Ducati uses exactly the same lever for both. The lever is
symmetrical. I carry a spare in hte tool roll.

 

So why are *you* hanging out with "silly bastards"? Don't you have
anything better to do
on a November evening? Shouldn't you be in your shed, tweaking a Honda
tiddler?

Yeah, well, at the time I wasn't sure whether I even *wanted* to buy
another new motorcycle, I was thinking about a small airplane.

It turns out that the 900RR had a class in club racing where it
wouldn't be at a disadvantage because it is so much lighter than other
open class motorcycles. Even the GSXR750 was becoming decidely porky
and the GSXR1100 was turning into a boat.

Pretty soon, 900RR's were winning endurance races and they were running
in AMA events in a class called "Formula Extreme" before it went to
600cc...

 

I have never been in a position where I *had* to ride in snow on a road
bike, but have ridden dirt bikes in the stuff for fun.

My concern with your idea is the tie wraps are made from hard plastic
(nylon), and while they may give you more traction in the acceleration
and braking departments, they would be counterproductive in the sideways
traction needed for leaning and steering the bike.

Also, my expeirence with tie-wraps in the cold is they like to break
easily. That would not be great if they started popping while underway.

 

************************************************
Fred,
I started using cable ties many years ago when I was an O/O in the
trucking business. I was pulling flatbeds and I started using the cable
ties to tie small parts and various hoses, lines etc on my truck. Most
retail outlets don't sell cable ties in very large sizes. I had the
good luck to buy a few cases of various sizes at a railroad salvage
auction. I had some really huge ones that were about 60 inches long and
1/2 inch wide. They had release snaps on them and IIRC the load rating
on them was over 300 pounds. That was not the tensile strength just the
load rating.

I stumbled on the idea of using them as tire chains when I got caught
in a Spring blizzard in British Columbia. I had pulled some muscles in
my side while manhandling a set of tarps and I didn't think I had the
strength to sling all my double chains on that I would need to get from
the mine where I had unloaded to a good Motel 15 miles away. I thought
what the hell I'll put a few of those cable ties on the drive axle, a
trailer axle and the steering axle tires. With the Bud type wheels I
had it was very easy to thread them through and cinch them up.
It only took about ten minutes and I was ready to go. I had a D-8
escort from the mine to the Highway and coming out of the Mine road I
didn't have any problems at all. I made the 15 miles to the Motel in
about 45 minutes and I parked the truck for two days until the blizzard
was over. Because of poor visibility I probably didn't go over 30 MPH
and I was empty. The Highway I had travelled from the mine road to the
Motel was gentle hills with no grades of more than probably 3%. When I
was ready to leave the Motel I pulled off the Cable ties and none of
them were broken or even showed any signs of wear. After that I kept
about 100 of these in my truck at all times. I still carried the heavy
old tire chains because in so many of the Western States a chain law is
in effect at least six months or more a year. In the next ten years I
used those cable ties more times than I ever did the heavy iron. I did
break a few of them but I can't remember having more than one or two
coming apart on the same tire. FYI tire chains are just to get you to a
safe place to park. That thinking applies to both trucks and
motorcycles.

After my success with the cable ties on the truck I started carrying an
appropriately sized set of them with me in my Motorcycle survival bag.
On the cycle I have used them three or four times and have never had
any problems with them. Remember you are on icy, snowy roads and you
are not going to be going to fast. They can get you to a safe place!

Dennis

 

although my snow ridin' days are over, when i rode in snow i would have
loved to have that extra traction that tyraps would have provided.
on a trip to nova scotia and prince edward island, we ran a stretch of
road that was in process of repair. it was the greasiest red clay and was
exactly like riding on snow..........it was summer
sure woulda liked to have had them there.
i started riding to high school on a harley JD, snow or shine, in '48
sammmm





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They don't work for traction worth a damn. Bungie cords work better. I
tried both last night with my sidecar rig. I'm gonna have to get dirt
bike tire for the back of the Triumph.

Les

 

Try using them with the bump where the end slides through against the
tread. That way it's like you have knobby tires.

Ian Singer

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I did, they didn't do anything. I may try again, I hate not getting out
and riding on the snow. Even had it ready for a toy run Saturday, they
canceled it due to the sleet / snow. Drifts up to 2' deep in places.

Les