Can anybody that has a lot of motorcycles give me some advice?
I love bikes, but I've only ever ridden Harleys my whole life. Recently, this company from a few towns over (Goshen) started making these motorcycles with old vintage styling. They have a 229cc Honda 4-stroke in it. Advertised top speed is 70 mph, 14 hp at 7000 RPM.
I'm going to test drive one soon, but I've never ridden on anything with such a small engine. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 230 lbs. Am I too big for a bike this small? I've been getting Veeky Forums and losing weight (down 30 lbs since spring), but even then I'm tall and have very broad shoulders and a big build, so I'll probably always weigh about 200 lbs.
I'm a huge buff of old vintage styling and these bikes are right up my alley. I'm just worried that when I hop on that thing it'll turn into a lowrider and I'll look like I'm riding a clown bike making 25 mph in 5th gear.
>tl;dr Is a modern 229cc engine enough to handle a tall guy that weighs around 200 lbs?
Not wanted: shitposts about how the bike is overpriced or built for hipsters
>Can anybody that has a lot of motorycles lot of motorcycle experience*
Jacob Nelson
I'm similar in build, 6'2" and 200. I used to ride an old Yamaha 100cc two stroke and it was fine. I'd say remember that most motorcycle shocks / struts are adjustable and make sure they're set for you as a load. Beyond that it might feel very slow with only 14 hp. Around town would probably still be fun, but I wouldn't want to be on the highway with one.
Landon Bailey
I ran an aprilia scarabeo 150cc scooter for a while and weighed 190lbs. It had about 11hp and 6 lb-ft of torque. It worked ok up to 60mph, and could even run me up a decent grade at that. The biggest downside is you will be running it hard. Which is why I preferred to ride around the 50 mph mark. On that Honda it will be happy around the 50-60 mph area. I believe that it can go 70mph on a downhill with a full tuck. Just delegate the bike to a city/rural country road bike and it can work. If you have to do any freeway above 60mph get something else. You can always get new springs for the back or front suspension. I do that to most of my bikes. I run a heavier weight oil+stiffer springs.
Julian Howard
>14 hp at 7000 RPM *laughs internally*
Chase Bailey
I mean, I'm 300lbs and when I test rode a crf250 I got to like 80mph. You're way lighter and it's a similar engine so it'll be no problem for you. Just try to keep it off Interstates and you'll be much happier with it since you won't have it pinned the whole time.
Isaac Robinson
Thanks for the advice, glad to hear it'll be able to handle me. I don't plan on using it all on the highways or for serious trips. Mostly just around town and also for short trips over to the Dunes and on country roads. A sightseeing bike, really, with the ability to bring some gear and water for a day-hike or whatever.
Christopher Flores
bikes are like pants dude. you just gotta go try it on.
Xavier Gray
Chinkshit what do you expect?
Leo Russell
The whole company is literally like 4 people designing and building these bikes from scratch in a small garage in Goshen, Indiana.They Amish make all the leather for them, they make their fuel tanks, frames, and forks in-house and the rest is outsourced to other businesses around northern Indiana. Do you really expect them to be able to get into engine R&D when the company is this young and small? And the engine is a Honda engine that's just made by a different company, there's nothing wrong with it.
Aiden Diaz
Also, they're still working on upgrading their EPA license to allow them to sell more motorcycles. They said they won't be able to get into engine R&D until they're able to sell enough bikes to expand more. The guys have been restoring vintage scooters and bikes for their whole lives, and making custom ones. I trust their judgment when it comes to which motor they're using.
Jose Flores
Cubs with less than half the displacement have been hauling more ass than that. Why don't you buy a sr400 new or a cb1100?
Kayden Wilson
Gee maybe because I said the specific attraction of these bikes is their vintage styling and the fact that I'm supporting a business of local craftsman rather than a billion dollar multi-national corporation. I'm venting right now but I really can't stand people who come into threads and say shit like this. >"Hey, I'm thinking of buying X because I really like these things about it." >"X? Why not buy Y? Y looks absolutely nothing like it and doesn't meet half the reasons why you want X but it's Y and if you don't want Y you're stupid."
If I was in the market for a generic small-displacement motorcycle I would have said so. I'm specifically in the market for a classic-styled bike.
Eli Davis
buy a cheap jap 400 (cb/cm400 engine is 200-400 making almost 45 hp) and have them install it.
Liam Sanders
>top speed is 70 mph, 14 hp at 7000 RPM.
is a single cylinder? it will basically be like riding an oversized slightly faster 125cc
are any of their bikes 2-stroke? because that I would choose
Nicholas Flores
Yeah, it's a single-cylinder. I'm not a gear head or a mechanic, I don't really understand much about mechanics except for the very basics of how engines work, how to change my oil, etc. From their website and talking with people I know that it's a 229cc one-cylinder 4-stroke air-cooled engine, designed by Honda and made by a Chinese manufacturer. At this time I don't think they're offering any other engines simply because of the hassle of having to license them and stuff. But they're a custom shop, after all, so I'm sure with a little bit of money I could persuade them to put a different engine in if I supplied it, though I doubt they would cover it with their 2-year powertrain warranty.
I don't know why they went with 4-stroke over 2-stroke. Like I said, I'm not a mechanic and I'll be the first one to admit I don't know shit about engines so I don't know what the advantage of a 4-stroke over a 2-stroke is.
Isaiah King
in small displacements there is no advantage of 2 stroke over 4 that i can think of. 2 strokes will smell better, make more power, be easier to service, and have less overall parts.
that and the expansion pipe looks cool
Eli Roberts
Southeast Asia has the most interesting third world countries bar none
I'm aware of that. I'm saying the reason they haven't designed their own engine is because they're so small and engine R&D is simply beyond their grasp right now. The reason they aren't using name brand engines is because they can't afford the cost and hassle of licensing them. I'm sure the engines work fine, I don't get what the big deal is about them using a Chinese manufactured engine. It's based on a Honda and it's just a one-cylinder, not exactly a lot that can go wrong with it.
Aaron Rivera
OP here, for anybody that was criticizing the engine, I did some more reading on what the founders had to say and found out why they chose to go with the Lifan engine. Apparently they wanted a 2-stroke engine, but weren't able to meet EPA standards, especially in California. The Lifan engine was already EPA certified and at a decent price point. Buying an American-made 4-stroke was simply too expensive and would make the finished bikes too overpriced.
The Lifans are apparently tested by putting 18,000 miles through them. They aren't very good for performance but they're incredibly reliable, and the design of the Janus motorcycles is more as a bike to dart across the city or go for a ride on backcountry roads, so they decided that sacrificing performance for cost and reliability was worth it.
Just in case anyone was wondering why they went with a Chinese-made engine. As far as I can tell, 95% of the rest of the stuff is made in northern Indiana, and assembled in Goshen.
Connor Mitchell
>I trust their judgement >They're using trailing link front suspension Lul
Michael James
Bikes aren't designed with spaghetti frames and lawnmower engines anymore for a reason. if you want a retro bike that is worth half a damn and you will actually enjoy riding coming from a Harley, look into the cb1100.
Gabriel Phillips
>Chink scrap
Don't do it. Everything about them is terrible. bad gearbox, poorly tuned engine, shit build quality. They are built to star in glamor shots not to ride. Anyone who thinks the same about harleys needs to sit on a chink bike to get a real appreciation for what a poser machine is.
Just buy an actual old UJM. UJMs, despite the cafe meme tax, shouldn't ever cost more than two and a half grand. If unmolested. Especially old KZ1000s.
Julian Barnes
>implying anyone notices the spaghetti frame meme except when cornering hard or riding above 80mph
he rides a harley user just what kind of riding do you think he's gonna do? also that bike has a spaghetti frame too >not trellis, twin spar, or monocoque >rigid >pick one
>Canyon riders: Dood im so good my knee touched the road lmao. No liter no peter. >Track riders: Dude, I'm so bad. My knee actually touched the pavement. Anyone got body position advice? My RS125 can definitely do better than that without my legs standing in the way of higher speeds and steeper leans.
Josiah Brown
>Trellis >Rigid The advantage Italian bikes used to have was that they tactically flex for more traction mid corner
Oliver Hughes
Modern trellis frames are rigid and selective rigidity is part of the design of all frames and swingarms now
