Originally Posted by Kodiakisland
Originally Posted by Birdwatcher
Of all the dealerships to walk into I find the Honda product line to be the most interesting and diverse. They’re all Hondas too so they’ll run forever. I don’t care for their cartoonish big v-twins with the fat rear times and weirdly arching gas tanks, can’t believe anyone buys ‘em. But everything else in their product line is good.

In particular I think they hit it out of the ballpark whith their inexpensive 400lb wet wt Rebel 500 twin. I could have a lot of fun flogging that thing down backroads in the Hill Country.


Yeah, I've thought about that Rebel 500 ABS for my daughter. I plan to go test ride one sometime soon when she's home. Pretty sure it's the same motor as in the CBR500 detuned.


The most fun I’ve had on backroads was on smaller-displacement motorcycles running with the fast boys on full-on repli-racers. There’s very few curves worth hitting on legal highways that can be taken at faster than 80, so all ya really need is a motorcycle that pulls useful acceleration through 80 mph.

Except if ya don’t got that many horses on tap, you have to hit every gear and braking point exactly right to stay in the powerband Great fun.

One time during my 750 Ninja period I was out riding with a guy on an actual 250cc KLR dirtbike. To keep it fair I didn’t go faster than 70mph even tho the bike would do 140 easy. Still, for the roads we were on 70 was plenty fast. That guy just left that little 250cc thumper flat out pegged the whole time.

Much I tried I could NOT shake that SOB grin, every time I checked my mirrors there he was, right on my tail. ‘ Course, places where the road straightened out I coulda just twisted the throttle and left him behind, but straight lines don’t count, cornering is everything.

"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744