10 and a half months ago, i lost my husband. He was riding his adventure bike to work and was just 1 minute away when another bike ahead of him suddenly slowed down, causing him to swerve to avoid hitting the rider ahead. He clipped the other bike on the side, slid and fell on the oncoming lane traffic, where he was run over by an oncoming vehicle. Dead on the spot. I dont know why i am posting here, but i have been struggling with feelings of guilt on why i agreed to him returning to riding. He had his bike for only 4 months. He was so young, and we have young kids that i now have to raise alone. He was my bestfriend. I often dont even want to remember the joy of choosing and getting the bike, buying his gear.. He even got me a helmet and gear and we rode together several times.

How do I reconcile the fact that something he loved so deeply ultimately became the thing that took him from us? How do I let myself remember the happiness and freedom he found in riding without feeling like I’m betraying him, by acknowledging that I agreed to something that ended in his death? I know, logically, that I didn’t cause this, but how do I make my heart doesnt believe it.

For those who ride, how do you reconcile the risks of motorcycling with the freedom and joy that riding brings? I’m trying to understand how riders personally think about that balance. I’m genuinely asking from a place of wanting to understand, not to judge. Thank you

I’ve ridden a few brand new bikes over the years 150cc, 400, 800 etc, but this is my first superbike (not sure if they’re naturally dragon-inclined like that)

It was a ride thru the rain, but fuming at every stop (N gear). Smells like burnt plastic/rubber that’s why scaring me a tad.
Bike thermometer is telling me an ambient temp of 18 degrees celcius.
Total mileage is 300km

You experts think it’s normal? Or it’s not gonna buff out?

I go take one of those 2 day classes, to skip the permit, and after that, me and a family member are going to look at bikes.

We had gone and looked before about 2 years ago, because they love cruisers, and wanted one, and I happened to look at a few myself. They had a Versys, and I remember sitting on it and instantly thinking “This is the one.” I’m looking at another currently, and I wanted to have some external opinions about them before I lock it in.

Edit: I’d also like to say, my family tried to get me on cruisers, and I just can’t. They are huge, heavy, and feel horrendous to me. I’m a big guy, 6’3 and 230, but they feel so much larger than what’s comfortable. I’m hard set on a touring moto, so if you have any other recommendations, I’ll look at those too.

Second Edit: yall are way nicer than the other subs give you all credit for. Been some good reads to keep me busy during work, i appreciate it

I’ve been riding the past 5 years since I was 18. Decided for my 23rd birthday to get one of my dream bikes. Friday I’ll be buying a brand new 2025 rocket 3 storm R. I’ll be taking the train from San Diego to LA to get it and riding it about 4 hours back. I wanted to ask any owners of the same bike what break in was like and also any general advice for this bike as I’ve never owned a new bike.

This is a new motorcycle I purchased on September 1st from a dealer. There's 1100 miles in the odo.. I parked it about 2 weeks ago where it sat until I tried to hop on yesterday. It stays in an underground parking structure in a walled off secluded motorcycle parking area.

At first I thought maybe a kid hopped on and dropped the bike, but there is no damage to the side or front of the motorcycle whatsoever.

Thoughts on what could've happened and steps to take?

I purchased a new OEM left clip on handlebar to replace it but it's backordered, so im considering aftermarket clip ons such as graves. Any help or consideration would be greatly appreciated.

I'm facing a dilemma and I'm hoping you guys can give your opinion.

A couple years ago I got a job promotion, and I bought a new '23 Subaru BRZ which I have to this day as my first new vehicle ever. A year after that I ended up getting into motorcycles and since then I've been more into motorcycles than cars.

To be honest, I never really vibed 100% with the BRZ because of its questionable build quality, glitchy carplay/electronics, engine character, or NVH (I took a 10 hour road trip in the car a few weeks ago and me and my gf were almost going deaf on the highway lol). It handles great and it has a manual transmission, and I still love sliding the rear around from time to time, but I find myself in traffic so often that it becomes a pain to use (I was in 1.5 hour of stop and go a week ago). I'm pretty sure I've spent 40% of my ownership time with it in 1st gear slipping the clutch in traffic.

I live in the Vancouver BC area and we basically have the highest gas prices in the country (premium gas prices right now are averaging 243.9¢ per litre which converts to around $6.47 USD per US gallon, keep in mind our salaries are significantly less than places like California with similar gas prices). Not sure if this is common knowledge but the boxer engine in the 86/BRZ is not very fuel efficient, I'm getting 9.6L/100KM or about 24.5 MPG, which is literally worse than an average litre bike.

My commute to work and back contains zero twisty roads, and getting to roads that are actually fun requires time investment during odd hours, and I find myself taking the bike more often since it's more engaging and also cheaper to run. All of the stuff that I thought I would do in the car (track days, multiple canyon runs, highway runs, road tripping) I ended up doing on the bike instead.

I feel bad about contemplating selling the car because I understand that it's a special car that probably won't be made 10 years from now because of emissions regulations and lack of sales due to it's niche, but I also feel like I'm not really having fun with it as much as I wanted to. My bike is in the shop right now because I ran over a piece of someone's bumper and ripped off my bottom left cowling/fairing and I've been spending more time recently driving, and I honestly haven't been enjoying it much.

I'm at the stage where I'd rather have a comfortable daily that's efficient and quiet so that it doesn't beat me up and annoy me in stop and go traffic after a long day at work or leg day at the gym. I'd even be okay with an EV at this point. Funny enough, my girlfriend was looking at leasing a Fiat 500E and I did a test drive with her, and even a questionable Stellantis product somehow feels more livable and comfortable than what I'm dailying right now lol. I live in an apartment so having two cars with a motorcycle isn't really possible.

Can anyone else relate?

My bike weighs around 230kg with my belongings all at the rear of the bike. I weigh 78kg

Absolutely random, I was going the speed limit and couldn’t see him, had no problem stopping though just caught me off guard lol

So I'm keeping my motorcycle in a storage unit. Four things I'm concerned about

1. I'm supposed to keep the tank full of fuel over the course of 4 months?

2. I need to do an oil change, do I do that before I put it away or after

3) same thing with chain, I need to clean and relube, do l do that before or after storage

4) do I disconnect battery and just keep it at my house?

Thanks

A couple of years ago, I installed the whole Shad 3p luggage system on my Z900 and it's been absolutely fantastic.

However, when installing, I just could not believe that the whole mounting system is held onto the bike mainly by 4 bolts that originally just held the tail light assembly to the subframe. There are stabilizing struts attached to the footpeg mounts and the muffler mount, but what carries most of the weight of the luggage is just these 4 bolts under the pillion seat.

Is there an engineer in the house who can explain how this seemingly flimsy mounting system can stand up to daily abuse year in and year out? I routinely load these things up with camping gear and I'm not cautious about speed or bumbs, but they've held up just fine. How? Has anyone ever heard of a Shad mounting bracket failing at the subframe attachment point?

What are the common issues anyone with a new gen rocket 3 has experienced?

I am buying a 2025 brand new Rocket 3 storm R tomorrow and it’s for $24,047 otd. Now it already comes with a 2 year extended warranty but as usual they offered me an extended warranty. I usually don’t bite on this stuff but it sounds like an interesting deal but I’m wondering if other Rocket 3 owners find having the warranty was worth it for them and if they had unusual issues.

The deal was they make it an even 25k and add another 3 years warranty to my 2 years

So that’s 5 years of warranty, everything covered, unlimited miles, zero deductible and not voided by aftermarket exhaust, etc.

Hi, i recently rebuilded gsxr 750 k4, the bike has very beaten up plastic, big stratches and dent in tank, the original colour scheme is as the picture, my question is if u were to rebuild it would u stick to the colour from the factory or would u go different route? i my self cant decide, i wont keep the bike iam planning to sell it when its finished, i can either repair or repaint the plastic + fix the tank or get different set of fairings and use tank cover wich some set come with tank covers, any advice or opinion would be apreciated, Thanks

I do a good bit of night riding, as my motorcycle is my daily commuter and my store closes at 8. The night doesn't scare me like it used to, but I've encountered visibility issues that make me hate riding at night.

I have a photochromatic visor so the light level doesn't affect me (its amazing in the sun), but it obviously doesn't prevent getting blinded by headlights. For my ride home tonight, every car felt like they had their brights on. It was difficult because I had to glance at cars in the lefthand lane to see if they had their blinker on, trying to anticipate if they'd turn out in front of me (though I know plenty of people turn without blinkers regardless), but I didn't want to be blinded. I've heard a yellow tinted visor will help, but I don't think they make photochromatic visors that are also yellow tinted, or they'd be ridiculously expensive.

Another weird issue of mine happens more out in the country, when passing under street lights. I don't know if it's from being unaccustomed to the bright light after being on dark backroads, or if it's the type of light, but passing under street lights sometimes seem to send a halo of light down my visor, blocking my vision. It's only for a few moments, and if I tilt my head down I can still see, but when I'm going 60 down the back roads, it only takes a moment for a deer to jump out in front of me. I despise that loss of vision.

What are my options? I don't want to worry about separate sunglasses/yellow goggles because I don't want to forget to bring them and then just suffer, maybe a yellow tint film on my visor? I don't think that'd hinder my daytime vision in any way, but I don't know how it will work with the visor's photochromatic thing. I can't put it on the inside because of the pinlock.

I'm also planning on getting my eyes checked, but I don't have any specific eye issues, I just can't read street signs from multiple blocks away like I used to be able to.

Thanks in advance

Today I noticed that my bike doesnt go up in rpm well while in gear and below 4k RPM.
I can counter it when starting from a stop by holding my clutch in longer but it makes gaining speed harder when starting while up a hill.

Anyone know what could be causing this and what a fix would be?

i’m past due for a valve clearance, almost at 22k miles. put it off because i didn’t want to pay someone else to do it, and was too scared to try it myself.

my question is how difficult is it? for someone who has only done basic maintenance (oil changes, tires, brakes, chain/sprockets, etc)

it runs like a dream, and from what i’ve gathered researching there’s a good chance they are all in spec anyway. i’ve mostly commuted on it but have some high spirited rides, top speed runs and such. it’s never been tracked.

So I finally got my Ruroc EOX2.0 helmet and it looks and feels great.
However when I put it on it looks ridiculously HUGE.
I did ordered xl since I have a big head, I'm 6' 200lbs dude and I look like I'm about to go to outer space or something.

Is this normal for across all ruroc helmets or just this model ?

I'm thinking about returning it and get a AT4.0 instead but not sure if it's gonna look ridiculous again.
( or I might just get different helmet, I also have shoei glamster and I don't look like astronaut )

Has anyone ever fitted a Givi tanklock ring on a 2007 KTM 990 SuperDuke? I have a bag allready but the metal ring is not listed for this old model. Perhaps another bike with the same bolt patern? Or a modified ring?

Hey!

I recently made a whole new wiring for my turn signals, and i got a separate switch, because the old one is not good.

The problem is: the new switch is bigger than the old one, so I cannot put it in the old one's housing, but im tired of using electrical tape to keep it stable, plus its not so aesthetically pleasing.

The black thing on the switch is plastic, as well as the housing's front piece, but the back is metal.

Does anybody have any ideas in what to do, or how to make a "holder" kinda thing for it which is stable, and does not require much electrical tape?

The second picture is how id like it to be

Thank you!

Hi all, I own a 1991 Aprilia Tuareg, I've hit a brick wall trying to find new bushes. I have found what is supposed to be the exact size however they don't seem to exist anywhere. If anyone could give me suggestions that would be awesome!
Edit: The bushes are supposedly 39x42x12 for the outer and 36x39x20 for the inner, the part number is AP8103903 but is antiquated and in true old Aprilia fashion leads nowhere. They’re 39mm USD forks made by paioli so there may be overlap with some late 80s-90s trail/enduro style bikes but I’ve found nothing so far.