i thought this was going to be about hair

 

we should be so lucky, lol

 

yea not a fan of those bikes

 

Oh an don't take our razzing too seriously. It is your bike and you can do what you want with it.

Some of us just don't understand taking a sport bike and turning it into an uncomfortable cruiser, at least with the hardly daverdsons you sit more comfortably on them for long slow trips.

 

Don't worry I don't take anything seriously except considerate advise. this isn't my first time on a forum, and I'm not sure if everyone understands what kind of extension I'm talking about. For instance you are talking about a cruiser which would make me think about fork extensions. I'm talking about swingarm extensions.

 

We know what swingarm extensions are...even more offensive with the 300 rear tire. It's just my opinion but most rank right up there with...

 

Uhum... And what can that bike do...?

Can you go fast in the corners? um... Nope!
Can you go fast in straight line? Yeah, but you already said you wheren't going to the track with it, and it's a bit underpowered unless you dig into the engine...
Going for long trips? Um... Yeah right, with the short tank range and cramped quarters I'd rather take the bus...

What's left? Cruising... Which is what lazn was talking about... And I happen to agree... If I'm going cruising I want a big fat sofa to sit on...

 

Oh, I know what swing arm extensions are.. Just as Tweety said though: All that the bike will be good for afterwords is: cruising, while in a sit up and beg seating arrangement.. A bikealounger like a normal cruiser is more suited to what the bike can do post extension.

If you were actually drag racing it then it has some purpose.. however the VTR is underpowered for that.

But I guess it is no more silly than 22" rims on a 85 malibu or a 15" spoiler on a civic.

 

Don't take it too seriously bro' like you said it's a forum and folks will bust your *****. But it's your bike you can do whatever you like with it. But I guess for most it's like putting 15" gold daytons or 26" chrome spinners on a corvette. And the slower the bike is you put them on the sillier they look. I can MAYBE see putting them on a big ZX12/14 or a Hayabusa, but **** I've seen them on a gs500, a katana... why? I owned a mildly modded ZX12 that came from my buddy lowered but with a stock wheelbase and that gave it plenty of stability and kept the front wheel down fine. Still looked good too.

 

I have run the strip a couple of times on a busa that puts out in the neighbourhood of 650 horses to the wheel... It does not have a stretched swing altough at that point I could see the use for it...

It's best party piece though is when you are sitting next to another bike at around 55 mph and you just wave "bye-bye" and twist it a tad more... Makes the other bike look like a pedal bike... Don't need a stretch for that... Just throttle control... (And stupid control)

 

not sure why people keep telling me not to take it seriously, I already said I'm not. Besides I never said I was looking for an 8" extension, I was just curious. Trust me I know enough that if I wanted a track bike it wouldn't be a vtr. Even more so I wouldn't make a drag bike out of my very first bike. Oh well I appreciate everyone's input, I'll admit that I didn't know that extensions would affect my cornering that much as I am new to this. By the way I finally got around to taking some pics of the bike, so I'll be posting them up in members rides soon.

 

I'm kind of "bashing" the idea since I dislike it myself... But I'll gladly discuss the effects...

In terms of handling, without the bullshit, the VTR has a longer wheelbase than many bike's of it's type and setup like it is from the factory it's pretty stable and "lazy" in the corners... It never was intended as a pure canyon carver from Honda... Hence the "Sport Touring" label... Very user friendly and safe... But not fun for a more experienced rider...

A popular way of making it quicker is dropping the front by moving the forklegs up in the triples by a few millimeters... The downside is that you start grinding stuff pretty soon as you don't have all that great ground clearance... And metal against tarmac in a turn makes for interesting moments...

Another way is to raise the rear by sticking a shim on the rear shock... This both shortens the effective wheelbase and changes the angle, so you get quicker steering without loosing ground clearance...

When you add lenght to the swingarm you increase the wheelbase making the steering slower and you drop the angle on the fork which also affects the steering... Lowering it by adjusting the link/shock again lenghtens the effective wheelbase... It also changes the lenght of the leverage for the shock, making the shock "lighter", ie more movement, but still the same amount of dampening, which at this point becomes to little...

The end result is a bike with a lazy turn in and probably nervous, bumpy movement through the corner and low ground clearance with excellent chances of grinding something... Add in a front fork that is on the soft side and brakes that have plenty of stopping power but a soft squishy inital bite and I can promise you, you don't want to push that bike in a corner... Also with those characteristics you loose the joy of using the low end grunt that the VTR have in oodles to get up and go at the corner exit... Pin the throttle and it will feel like a rocking horse...

At that point I'd rather be on a Harley with a better seating position and better ability to corner (I can't believe I said that...) The VTR might still beat me on the long straights, but I'll still have more fun...