YOUR Moto Questions Answered (and Zack's Dad)! | HSLS S07E11 

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You guys should have your dads as guests in one episode !

More Zack's Dad! Loved him in the sidecar video and his historical knowledge of 🏍️ stuff is awesome!

Hey gang, Alex from question 4 here. I figured Zack would have some thoughts about brakes on old airheads, but I didn't expect a voicemail from his dad! That was really cool, and I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to answer my email. Tell Tim I'll take him up on the parts attic offer if I'm ever in the area! Haha. I also appreciated the tip from Spurge about keeping the old parts. Keep up the good work, fellas.

Love Zach's comment about riding after the track accident. There are no absolute guarantees in life. You have to live your life

I learned how to ride mostly on a CM185T. The next bike I went to was a GL1100. The very first time I took the Gold Wing out, I scraped both my pegs. Because quite frankly when moving that goldwing feels about the same as the twinstar did. Even the same seating position and everything. And after riding the goldwing for a couple months. I kept getting deeper and deeper into my corners. And one morning. 70 plus degrees dry roads. 1leaned too hard into a corner. And I put my engine crash bars into the pavement. Which lifted up the rear tire. I went for a slide. If I hadn't been so comfortable throwing around that twin star. I don't think I ever would have gotten so comfortable throwing around a Gold Wing. Hard to say if it was because I wrode a small bike first. I loved that goldwing. I resurrected it It was a $200 basket case when I bought it. My dad's a BMW R bike guy, and he talked me into selling the Gold Wing and buying a '94 R1100 RS! Haven't been able to put very many miles on it. As I have not rounded up the few dollars I need for new tires. But I'm sure it won't disappoint. I'm with Zack. I pay cash for everything!

I’m patting myself on the back I guessed the bike immediately. The z750s was available in the US for 2005 and 2006 in black or blue, we got a sexy red colour scheme in Canada.

Spurge's relationship podcast's name will be "Tubes n' Lubes"

spurgeon with the elvis hair lol

Hello Zack, Spurge, Ari and crew, I really enjoy how thoughtful Zack approaches arguments are and how encouraging you two are for riders to continue riding. Seeing the little sparks in everyone's eyes is also fun, since we all here enjoy the same thing. Keep it up - Daniel N

I used to own a 2005 z750s, start up of the fuel injection sounded just like the revtrivia bike. If its not a 750 I’d guess an early 2000’s z1000

This is addictive, I only thought to listen for a while but somehow (again) more than two hours have passed and this happens almost every time. But almost everything about motorcycles is interesting. Next year is my 50:th anniversary as a licensed motorcycle rider and many of the best moments in my life have one thing or another to do with bikes. It is like an addiction, though. I´ve tried to quit a couple of times, but now I have resigned to my fate and will continue for as long as I am able to. At 65 I realize that my riding days have an expiring date but at least 10 more years is the aim. Thanks for the always entertaining and also informative ways you guys do your work, and share your passion with us others!

I went to my first two track days with my stock Z650 as being my only bike and I had a heck of a good time. Got passed in straights for sure but in corners I felt like those big bore guys held me up. I swapped since, but still in the middle weight naked bike group. Still going to track with stock bike, still having fun. Don't let others tell you what supposed to be fun. Great show, as always.

Keep smiling Chey, your definitely a inspiration for all the young folk out there and a few old ones too.

Two things on financing, which Spurg indirectly covered one, are knowing what cost-of-money is and walk in with good financing in pocket from a third party source even if you plan to take the offered dealer/manufacturer/whatever offers. The first is simply what is the cost of the financing above the cash price verses estimated inflation over that time (which can often be different than price a dealer is willing to go when financing in-house) then knowing your personal financial condition. If you focus just on interest paid verses inflation over the same period that is the pure definition of cost of money but individuals have other concerns as our income is finite. Your personal financial position plays in as liquidity (cash in the bank) can allow you persue other opportunities to save money you would not have had you spent that on a motorcycle. Walking in with your own financing in place allows you to use it as a lever to potentially get a better rate from what the dealer is offering by either using your financing or threatenning to. If you have less-than-stellar credit, it is almost a must just in case they cannot finance you or they offer a stupid rate. I had a dealer pull a fast one on me that is totally legal but completely unethical and I left their office with a 9.99% finacing rate (830 credit rating) for 84 months. I made one payment then refinanced with my favorite powersports finance company (4.9% over 3 years). Immediately got a call from that dealer because they lost their bonus from the finance company because I did not make the required 6 payments. Yeah, dealers still try to pull stuff like that.

Motorcycles are great for attracting people. Mostly other old guys who want to talk about their bikes 😆

about the comment "small bikes x big bikes on track"... there's a reason why drivers start in go karts and (hopefully) evolve to F1 and it's not just age, it's more about going through the learning curves of several cars being in itself a learning curve. Guys, this was one of the best podcasts ever! congrats :))

Thanks so much for answering my question! I thought for sure you would go for the Africa Twin or Triumph Scrambler from the Christmas tree episode. Always surprising, thanks a ton

No solvent based fluids for cables. And for many of the new cables that are teflon lined, you should never lube them.

On question 2, I have the previous model CBR650f and went with a front sprocket change from 15 down to 14, it’s slightly louder from the final drive, a little more peppy and my speedometer is now 3 mph faster than what I’m actually riding at.

If you upgrade the brakes on an older bike, aren’t you then risking adding stress to other components such as the wheel rims, spokes, tyres, bearings, forks..? Sure, it might be old and poor compared to contemporary systems but they were fine for people back in the day - maybe a change in riding style to suit the brakes might be an option :) 🇬🇧

Yes a Z750S I have had a 2005 in Plasma Blue since new. I’ve ridden it every year and even used it as my demo bike when teaching the MSF BRC2 course. A UJM that is not to common, great to be unique.

How do you build confidence after a crash? For me, I knew that having an accident on a bike is inevitable. For this reason, I dedicate a road for me that I have known for forever and I have dedicated this road as such since I started riding. Make sure it's low traffic with smooth road surface and not too many distractions. I also dedicate a music playlist to comfort me everytime I start to ride to comfort me and it works for me all the time. It's almost like a ritual. I lowsided onto a curb. I went in to fast and brake too hard and long. I was safe and the bike was more or less ok. Bent the throttle handlebar and fucked up my fairing and tore it in two. Anyways, it was also important for me to hurry and get back on the road. Getting the repairs done, took a month off from riding. My longest yet. At first, my confidence was definitely not there, I was scared to just touch the front brake too much on curves that i have road in multiple upon multiple times. But the more and more I rode again, my confidence gradually came back. Took me about 3 sessions of 2-3 hour riding for me to get it back. For even worse crashes, though? I still don't know how you do it, unless the feeling you get from riding overweights your fear of riding and that's dependent on the how you crash.

I agree with Zack's suggestion to initially buy a used, and my preference, a pre-dented motorcycle. It is easy to drop a motorcycle when learning, especially if you spend time practicing with slow-speed maneuvering and emergency braking, but that practice can come in handy later on in an emergency situation.

2:02:43 The "Flying Brick" BMW K100s of the '80s were inline 4s, not triples. That said, their fuel pump made a very distinctively loud whine.

There are some battery powered air compressors you can get online. They are pretty good for a little air compressor.

This was the first time Zack and Spurge were feeling like I feel every time during engine sound game :D Great episode, if I could add my 2 cents - financing motorcycle is totally ok, I just paid off my bike this month. Second, after falling, the only way that works is to sit back and ride, maybe slower and more cautious but after some time the block disappears.... in the end as the saying goes there are only 2 kinds of bikers - those who have fallen and those will.

A great penultimate episode! ;) I love that guys like you- very public, very much in the spotlight and with a lot of influence on how people think about motorcycles- are doing this show. I love how you are very well balanced when it comes to motorcycling and that you dont fall prey to the several motorcycle myths and misinformation that is out there. For example, I am impressed how you handled Mr. bacon mega rocket's comment with such elegance and dignity as also the finance over cash debate. However, the one bone I have to pick with you both- and admittedly, you have somehow acknowledged it in a previous episode- is that you guys are big guys and have more experience riding than a lot of riders out there. So, when it comes to big adventure bikes, your point of view may be very skewed. Your reviews of big adventure bikes often seem like the reviews that fall prey to marketing, esp when you continue calling bikes like the T7 and 890 "middle weight". All the marketing obviously works- T7 in Romaniacs or Chris Birch throwing around a 1290 adventure like a trials bike- and it does make people think that they can either do the same or that these bikes are actually good adv bikes. It just becomes a matter of stoking their ego in being able to show the world and themselves that they can ride a big bike despite their smaller stature! I am one of those annoying long distance adv riders that prefers lightweight bikes and have had the occasional misfortune of riding with "middleweight" and "heavyweight" bikes that we have had to help lift up when the inevitable drops happen in unforgiving terrain. For smaller mortals like us anything above 400/450lbs should be labelled heavyweight bikes because with a few weeks of luggage, these bikes are very very unmanageable, inefficient and just distracting from the ride. I would suggest taking regular people with you on your reviews of adventure bikes, load the bikes up with luggage and see how they perform for two weeks to make a good assessment of what really works and what does not for an adv bike. That kind of review may actually make manufacturers bring out the 400-500cc, non-dirt bike, lower seat height, sub-400lbs unicorn adv bike- something we have all been asking for. It's so odd to see a company like Kove bring 2 of those unicorns to reality if their claims are to be believed. That's a whole other podcast probably!

I got into motoecycles last year specifically to get into track days and I'm loving it 🙌🙌🙌

re riding financed bikes on a track: Track riding can sometimes void insurance policies, so crashing a track bike and not having insurance cover it to pay off the loan is not great. Buddy is an insurance adjuster and more than once has he told people who thought were covered that the policy is void because the bike is either altered or being operated outside normal activities.

I don’t dispute Spurgeon’s math, but I will say that my experience during 6+ decades on this planet is that someone who can’t save enough money in advance to pay cash for toys like motorcycles lacks the financial discipline to invest any money they don’t spend on the motorcycle loan in a higher interest bearing investment. That is a great example of one of my favorite sayings as a retired engineer, “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice: In practice, there is.” While financing is a great theory as to being better financially, it basically never is in the real world. Much better to learn financial discipline and save up for toys that depreciate rapidly. And Spurgeon ignored the issue of someone who finances a bike for 5 years and then crashes it two years later and gets an insurance reimbursement that doesn’t come close to paying off the loan given the rapid early depreciation. Now you are paying for a bike for three years that you no longer own. A new and someone broke rider should listen to Zack and buy a used bike with cash. That way if you crash the bike and scratch it up, you don’t have to be so bummed about it. And if you total it, you haven’t lost much and you aren’t paying off a bike you no longer have. On this topic the score is: Zack - 1 Spurgeon - 0

EagleRider in Las Vegas has T7s and Super Teneres, Tiger 850, and R1250GSs available. 53:21

I could not wait for this penultimate episode. Thank you Zack for that great 50 cent word! Shocked Spurge went with Sally the Rally over Katie Emm. Spurge this is a family show watch the hand pumping lol! Yeah, motorcycles dont really attract women but the Ninja 400 is a good looking bike. My girlfriend won't get on my motorcycle but she gets why I like it and doesn't try to stop me. I guess sometimes thats the best you can hope for. Maybe Courts and Dunbar, the seniors, along with Lance should start their own podcast. The Xbow(which has 4 wheels), the Slingshot, and similar are cars not motorcycles. I agree with Kyle and I still stand with turbo Bruce. I think Zack should do Daily Rider episodes with the Can Am Spyder and the Monotracer. Sounds like Eric wants to to go back to riding so I would say get back on that horse but take it slow and see if the confidence comes back. Surprised no one went with the Triumph Scrambler seems a decent all rounder. No matter how much engine braking you prefer its a good idea to use a little braking as well to alert those behind that you are slowing down. Spurge is that a wild hair or wild hare up that horses hind end? You are quite welcome and thanks for testing me in this episode fellas! This episode Spurge 3 Zack 1. Chase the boys need the original email I sent you. Zack and Spurge the list had season, episode, the title of the episode, the time stamps, who said it, and the complete quote. Im nothing if not thorough. Expect the season 7 list shortly. I do have a HS/LS t-shirt which Spurge sent me for my cookie recipe all the way back in season 3. You can see proof of this on Revzillas website as as I submitted a review of the tee with photo. BTW according to "Best Friend" Chase I was the first listener to write in and claim the HS/LS giveaway T-shirt. 0-11 oof! Good show old sports! See you in 2!

As a 24 year old financing a new ZX-4RR I can tell you insurance is the only annoying part. 4 Years riding experience and I pay for insurance on 5 vehicles, 3 bikes, a car and a truck. Payments are what I expected and when I went in for insurance it was less than $100…that was until Geico got more info on the bike. They now want to charge me $541 a month even though I have no reported accidents or tickets. Always buy outright if you can and if you finance make sure what you’re getting is worth it to you. Actively paying off the loan faster now and with a new insurance company

I would argue that the “seat for every ass” doesn’t apply in the large touring market. I think the hay day of that market was in the 80s when you had the Gold Wing, Voyager XII, Venture, and Cavalcade. I don’t consider an air cooled V-twin as a luxury touring bike. Today you basically have the new, smaller Gold Wing and the K1600 BMWs which are also smaller than the K1200LT. Neither of these compares to the aforementioned bikes in regard to two-up comfort, luggage capacity, etc. In pretty much every other category, the choices are better than ever, but not in the two-up luxury touring market.

I ride my financed 22 Speed Triple 1200 on the track, insured! Trackday insurance is out there, just make sure you are covered. Check with your local track day organization, they'll be able to tell you how to go about getting your bike insured on track.

Zack got caught multitasking. 😂 “What’s that? What did you say to me?”

Great video, love both the MT-09 and GSXR-750… I think you just need both bikes! I’ve found owning bikes from sub 100hp to over 200hp and everything in between is the best way to enjoy and appreciate them all! Just my opinion 🤷🏻‍♂️

While i do think that smaller bikes are great to learn track riding on, after my first 3 track days (on my street tuono 600) this year i am currently looking for my first dedicated track bike and decided to go for an old (~2006) 600cc inline-4 instead of the 400class. I would love some feedback if my reasoning is sound: - Firstly, even on my Tuono 660 I was often unable to ride "my" line because of traffic. Many beginner riders, most on bigger bikes, breaking early, carrying little speed through the corner and accelerating hard relying on electronics to keep the rear in check. With a small bike where corner speed is key, i fear I would spend a lot of time just waiting for traffic to clear up, without being able to practice what i bought the bike for. With them not repeating a line, but being all over the place round for round, it is hard to overtake cleanly except for on the brakes, V-ing the corner and getting out in front of them, something I understand would be hard to do with a small bike. - Second, after teaching the basics, instructors would explain line choice and i understood that for everything but small bikes nowadays a sharper V-line is preferred while on a 400 i would ride a round corner to carry the speed - so I would need to retrain my brain when upgrading to a bigger bike. - And at last, small bikes are hard to come by and therefore relatively expensive where i live - I can get a raceprepped CBR600RR for under 3k and a Ninja ZX6r for under 4k, while an old (=unreliable) RC390 comes in at 4k and a street Ninja 400 at 4.5k. So I would simply need to spend more money on the smaller bike. These reasons are sorted by priority, with me being willing to spend relatively more on a fitting bike, but not at all willing to spend hundreds on trackdays to then be held up by novices outperforming on exit and underperforming on entry. I wonder how much of this has to do with track culture, track availability and track day pricing (with me living in europe). Once again a great episode, thanks guys!

Can't imagine messing with gearing on a Triumph Bonneville which is one aspect Triumph is known for. I've owned a modern T100 and T120 and the gearing is superb out of the box.

re: The KLR650 being air cooled. "I could be wrong about that too" turned out prophetic. They've always been water cooled.

Is the TTD shirt from Tonys Track Days?? That was my firsr group, great guys

HOW I M LOST IN THIS RU-vid UNIVERSE AND LANDED SAFELY HERE❤😂🎉

I think you guys missed a point about ever-growing engine sizes, and it is a big one. The problem is, all manufacturers, and I don't think I am wrong but you are welcome to correct me, reserve the highest tech/highest luxury to their largest displacement which is typically the most expensive one as well. I would love Apple Carplay/Android Auto on Honda Transalp 750, but Honda says - no no, you have to buy AfricaTwin. Heck they don't even offer a cruise control on the smaller bike. So in that sense, we do have a problem with ever-growing engine sizes (and more importantly weight). This can be easily fixed by manufacturers offering all options, where technically possible, to all models instead of the biggest bikes. But I doubt that will ever happen. And no Honda, I have the money but I am not buying AfricaTwin. ADV market desperately needs high end, smaller displacement bikes. VersysX 450, KTM 490, Dominator 500 etc. I think many will pay the premium for premium features and lower weight, especially if manufacturers put a bit of effort to explain that bigger is not always better.

If the three wheeler fits into the width of the spot for the motorcycle, then why not? If it is too wide, then it needs to park in a large enough spot which is probably a car spot.

Don’t have enough time for all this , time to go riding

18:22 Motorcycling is - and always should be - and end unto itself. Not the means to an end. You may like the people you meet when you ride. You may even find romance through riding one day. But one's _reason_ to ride should be simple - because you like to ride. In a group or on your own, down to the shops or 8 hours away...ride _because you like riding._

I bought my z400 new for cash, and it was nice knowing that it was entirely mine and I was only losing money on the stupid dealer fees. But I specifically plan to finance my next bike after I pay off my car just so I can keep payment history rolling so my credit score stays decent. Though I also make double payments to save on the interest paid.

If the bike fits in the MC parking spot, it's allowed to park there. Space is really the main factor in parking.

I’ve financed two bikes already (KLR and T7) but always with the knowledge that I’m going to pay them off within a year or two. TLDR: Financing is fine in moderation, but don’t get crazy with what you’re buying.

38:10 im reasonably sure that guy did the same thing i did and mixed up the ktm crossbow with the polaris SLINGSHOT, both named after weapons for a 9yo boy/both look like transformers... that polaris is the 3 wheeler with the roof hes talking about. crossbow is ktms supercar, 4 wheels, they know its a car.

Suggestion for a crazy CTXP: vintage Honda Cubs, Cannonball Run NY to LA. 😮 Edit: Not off road though.

for me personally, it made sense to buy a bike new as I know nothing about the mechanics and would not be able to diagnose whether or not it would be a reliable machine. costs more, but I looked at it as paying for peace of mind. financing just made sense so that I didn't have to spend all my money on the bike and could afford the other bits I needed; yes, you do have to pay interest, which isn't great, but I can agree with a lender making money for fronting me the money. I can pay it off sooner and not pay as much in interest anyways so whatever makes better sense to you, for your situation, is going to be what you should do. it's relative, basically.

On the subject of bikes and romance or status, unfortunately we have a few in our midst who use bikes as a status, especially certain “domestic” brands. On the gearing, I did go up two teeth on my monster 796, it made the world of difference in city. I don’t need the top end especially on the naked bike with no wind protection.

It’s kind of like when a large person takes up two seats on a plane, they should pay for two seats! Two wheels only!

You don't have to connect an air pump to your battery terminals these days. There are electric pumps available with rechargeable batteries inside.

Sorry about the slow revving - it wasn't an intentional attempt to confuse things. It was not a common bike in the US, which is why I thought it might be a good submission.

The problem with the thesis in comment #1 is that when you're on a Ninja, nobody can see you. If they could, though, hot chicks would be flagging you down constantly. There's some comfort in that.

I’m in the market for a new bike, sold my KTM950 Adventure (love/hate relationship) and have been eyeing the T7. However the new Vstrom 800DE looks really nice. Which one would you recommend for doing some BDR routes with a fair bit of slabs in between?

I would have that monocycle as a 4th bike for winter and rainy days. Never on a sunny day

I thought there were certain sprocket combos and chain lenghts that are problematic. If the same chain link hits the same sprocket tooth every rotation there ckuld be wear issues?

The best podcast out there for girls and guys riding , can't wait for some MotoGP stu8😊😊😊

I don’t know if it still holds true but I understand WD-40 isn’t good for aluminum.

Yea I don't play that riding behind me mess 💪🏼💯💨💨💨

The reason most places have motorcycle parking is because the side stand goes into asphalt. Our motorcycle parking is concrete.

Zack always gets it.

Girls aren't into motorcycles, unless they think the guy on it is cute. Then they might do it for awhile as a way to shop for more clothing items. Ari Henning has a very good video on how to repair a tire on side of road . You can always upgrade brake pads. Most won't come with premium pads. Real motorcycles have kickstands. Always pay cash for your toys. Some tracks offer track insurance. My zx10 searching for traction and power wheeling out of turns gives the brain a lot more to process than a lesser bike. I'm a believer in start small.

advice backfired haha! Ninja 400

When you ride motorcycles regularly, you become a more happy, positive, light soul, interesting person, thus you will be able to attract interesting people to your life.

High side/ low side is the greatest 👍

Old airhead slash bikes are first love.

Why RU-vid autoplay always plays your video

Lookin pretty slim there Spurg! Keep it up!

good one!

You guys should invite Ed March on the show.

Looking at the leader board for this year, I notice zero tuning forks (and three, count ‘em, THREE Suzukis at the top!) just sayin’

If it has handlebars, then its a motorcycle....if you have a steering wheel....no motorcycle

I would love to know how big Pol Teres is and Chris Birch

LoL, engine braking is the most effective braking method on a Harley. 😂

Crossbow has 4 wheels lol. Polaris slingshot or the trex has 3

Look at THAT HAIR SPURG!!!!!!

They don't

To Spurge’s comment on the internet - you’re wrong! ;)

We have motorcycle parking with concrete. So if you dont have a kickstand you dont belong there. 😊

Even without a broken roof I sometimes get wet in my miata because the seals are starting to wear out 🤣

I have a question: How do I remove the RevZilla stickers from my motorcycles? Ever since I put them on, I have been getting way too much attention from the ladies. I mean, I like the lady types as much as the next guy, but with these RevZilla stickers on my bikes, it has been way too much. These ladies are really "all up ons" and it's difficult just getting groceries when 10 to 15 of them are aggressively giving me their phone numbers at every stop.

insurance may not cover track day recks

I'm with Spurg on the trike parking. Bikes only. Look up the Quasar from the 70's for an early version of the enclosed motorbike. Can we have an episode of something/anything with Zack and Ari in Zack's dad's attic?

Chrome won’t get ya home but it might get ya laid. -shadetree surgeons

First two wheel love tip: ditch the ninja and get a scooter.

Nice

If you think you can go out and do anything that is sponsored by Red Bull you have a screw loose

I like to be debt free so im not huge about financing bikes. If i can’t afford it i can’t afford it. I keep saving lol. That being said i doubt ill ever buy a bike more than 10k because theres just no reason to spend that much for a “toy”. 🤷‍♂️ Everyones different.

Is Zach drinking Pedialite?

Id say ,if you cant afford it,dont buy it!

Su

Let's be honest, guys. Women don't think that motorcycles are cool. They think they're dangerous.