why spend so much money on your bike???

[Bonnet]

I was talking to my mate the other day and we got onto the topic of why we spend so much money on bikes, anyway, someone he knows asked him this as well. The thing is this person owns one of those souped up skyline japanese rice burners. So naturally my mate asked why spend so much on a car, when all your doing is making it look good (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, i think most of those cars look ugly) and the answer was to make it look and sound better and go a little faster.... BUT WHY? at least the mods i do to my bike have some sort of performance advantages, like better brakes and more travel etc. then he tried to argue that his car would be much faster than most cars on the road, i dont disagree with this, but then my mate asked him how much he spent on his car....answer, $30,000 on the car and about the same on mods. now his next point was, that you can go spend ~$30000 on a car and mod it up, or about $15000 on a motor bike (stock) and go even faster than the car could ever go.

anyway...sorry about that rant...i guess my question is what do you tell yourself (or your non-riding mates) to justify spending serious moola on a push bike?

[grovesy]

Different folks,
different strokes.
Those Skylines are an exceptional vehicle.

[Bender is CRAZY]

Because it means i can do bigger and better stuff without it braking!

[scotty beefs]

its fun...no point having money if you can't do what you like doin with it, as stinky 5 said essentially - each to their own. I have mates with fast cars ie skyline and twin turbo supra and they are seriously fun cars...when i have serious money i'm gettin one!

cuz bikes are our passions?

[CHEWY]

beacause i like it

[curtisrider]

cos u want to.

[Gemini]

As i wheeled my new bike from the shop a guy says he would not spend that much on a bike although 12Grand on a carbon fiber skulls boat you cant fish out of wasok :roll: , if you were to ask how much a good golf club was, you can pay up to $1000 each

[lupine128]

i came from a background of racing road motos. it always seems kinda retarded to me when people spend a fortune adding a shitload of weight to their four wheeled box. you spend money to ad 15kg of stereo???
WTF for?
or they work the motor of their gemini to the limit, and forget about brakes.
most people who work on moto's whether it's on road or off, get the whole lightened first, then look at the handling, then the motor. but then we realise that it's more important to stop and turn than go quick or look good.
sorry, i have issues with cars....
and idiots who drive them.....
MTB riders seem to have more of a moto outlook than a car outlook. mostly they fix handling first, then braking, then cosmetic last.

[Rik]

Why people spend money on aesthetics really baffles me (coz it pulls chicks bro :roll:)... Whereas I spend all my money on bikes because I want something that's lighter, smoother, faster and generally nicer to ride.

[Bonnet]

sorry if i seemed a little unclear in the beginning...i have no problems with ppl spending their hard earned on whatever they like. cars don't do much for me, i own a mini clubman (1977) and it does me fine, gets from A to B, and its really fun to drive.

just wanna know what ppl tell others why they spend money on their bikes....and if anyone else spends equal amount (or more) on another passion of theirs, i know someone (i think its gutty, maybe not) spends serious dooly on fish, or so i've heard.

[Rik]

I just tell them it's more than a hobby, it's a passion and a lifestye, and if they don't undestand, I make comparisons to whatever they enjoy as a pastime. But really, when someone says something dumb like "wow, I coulda bought a car for that", I just say "I could've bought one, but I know which one I have more fun with" and don't bother justifying things any further, as they're usually too close-minded to understand.

I've also sunk a bit of money into computers and audio equipment, but they get relegated to collecting dust, because no matter what my flavour of the month is hobby wise, I always come back to bikes.

[Adi]

Because our 2 wheeled friends are special and we love what we do. :)

[lupine128]

because i'm a big fat bastard, and if i drop 4' on cheap anything i need surgery to remove the offending part.

[Squidly Didly]

It's a statement of how high your wank factor is!
Nah really just appologise to em that you have an appreciation for quality and they settle for cheap and nasty. This usually leaves them with a gutted and/or offended facial expression. teehee

[peachy]

hehehe.
i have a mate who is into moto cross and he always says "man u could have bought a motor bike with that, why a push bike." its always hard to answer back to those questions, but i guess its our money and we do what we want.... i guess my answer to "why do you spend so much money on a bike," is "because its THE SHIT, and you SUCK BALLS, if u don't accept it - go eat horse shit you narrow minded fuck"

:D:D:D

[toodles]

It was a DH bike or smack habit and I don't like needles...

I get told so moany times that I could have bought a moto or spent the money on my car or whatnot. Like I could race a $2500 moto...

[Gutty]

you spend money to ad 15kg of stereo???
WTF for?
or they work the motor of their gemini to the limit, and forget about brakes.
most people who work on moto's whether it's on road or off, get the whole lightened first, then look at the handling, then the motor. but then we realise that it's more important to stop and turn than go quick or look good.
sorry, i have issues with cars....
and idiots who drive them.....



http://helmies.org.uk/BeerChug.gif

[scotty beefs]

you spend money to ad 15kg of stereo???
WTF for?
or they work the motor of their gemini to the limit, and forget about brakes.
most people who work on moto's whether it's on road or off, get the whole lightened first, then look at the handling, then the motor. but then we realise that it's more important to stop and turn than go quick or look good.
sorry, i have issues with cars....
and idiots who drive them.....


http://helmies.org.uk/BeerChug.gif

i would say i think you're both tools but that would be resorting to petty name calling and each to their own preferences...When i get a decent car, i'm putting a nice stereo in it, i personally like listening to some decent beats on a nice stereo. As for the idiots that drive cars - lets look briefly at all those sensible, responsible people out there on road bikes that tear around the place including the two that have hit my mum... I mean you must be a responsible rider on your motorbikes lupine, judging from your injury list in a previous thread ( I can see this bit coming back to stupid drivers...)

[Rik]

i would say i think you're both tools but that would be resorting to petty name calling and each to their own preferences...

:roll:
You said it yourself
Each to their own preferences

If someone thinks I'm stupid for spending so much on my bikes, yet they've got a big system in their car, who's the tool that resorts to petty name calling?

[Gutty]

you spend money to ad 15kg of stereo???
WTF for?
or they work the motor of their gemini to the limit, and forget about brakes.
most people who work on moto's whether it's on road or off, get the whole lightened first, then look at the handling, then the motor. but then we realise that it's more important to stop and turn than go quick or look good.
sorry, i have issues with cars....
and idiots who drive them.....


http://helmies.org.uk/BeerChug.gif

i would say i think you're both tools but that would be resorting to petty name calling and each to their own preferences...When i get a decent car, i'm putting a nice stereo in it, i personally like listening to some decent beats on a nice stereo. As for the idiots that drive cars - lets look briefly at all those sensible, responsible people out there on road bikes that tear around the place including the two that have hit my mum... I mean you must be a responsible rider on your motorbikes lupine, judging from your injury list in a previous thread ( I can see this bit coming back to stupid drivers...)

Call me a tool all you like, if it makes you feel better. :roll:

I personally think these massive stereos in cars are dumb, i've had a couple myself over the years and quite frankly, i now think they're nothing more than a "look at me" wank. Clear, Loud music can be had from a decent Amp/CD unit and 2-4 6x9 three ways, all these massive amps and subwoofers really don't improve the sound INSIDE your car at all. And thats from experience........
I really have to laugh when i see these kids in there lowered Lancers and stuff, no ground clearance, massive exhaust outlet, the drivers seat is so layed back there is no way they could control the car properly in the event of an accident. And the things still go, stop and handle like a shopping trolley. Whats the point other than to look cool ?
If thats what you're after Scotty, thats fine, i'll laugh at you while you drive around giving yourself tenitis calling me a tool. :wink: (note: kidding)

As for bikes v cars, i'm in no way "pro roadbike". I have a registered moto but i don't ride it on the road..............BECAUSE OF ALL THE IDIOTS IN CARS.

And, because your mum has been hit by 2 bikes Lupine must be irresponsible ?? Thats not really fare is it ?!
Also, i'd imagine alot of Lupines injuries happened on the race track, where most responsible speed demons go to have fun. somthing to think about..........

[scotty beefs]

i would have quoted all of what you said gutty but then it would have turned into a MEGA post :wink: I agree with all of what you said about the lowered lancers etc espesh what you said about the seat laid right back...is just laughable, but i think what i am talking about is i find nothing wrong with spending money on whatever takes your fancy to make it look good in this case cars or bikes. (when building up my le toy i personally shelled out the extra couple hundred bucks to get psylo sl's instead of xc's purely cause they had gold stanchions and this matched my brake cables :lol: , obviously they are a better fork albeit in retrospect i would have got something completely different!)

As for lupine being irresponsible cause my mum has been hit by two motorbikes, i think that was just misinterepreted by you...

Ahhh yes lupines injuries on racetrack...that one i lept into a bit quickly!

Overall i think i am just one of those people that is prepared to spend extra money on product A purely because it looks better than product B, as long as the performance is there of course...

[Gutty]

Overall i think i am just one of those people that is prepared to spend extra money on product A purely because it looks better than product B, as long as the performance is there of course...

This is where i misunderstood your story, I took it as a "Biggest is Best" kinda quote. Not always the case, like stuffing a huge home entertainment system into 5ft x5ft room.........just doesn't work right.
And don't get me wrong, i love loud music too, i have a pretty nice system at home(DVD, Dolby 5 Speaker Surround etc). Just some of these kids go over board on their stereos and the end result is worse than what they could have had for half the price because of all the reverberation(is that the right word ?)

If the performance is there and can be usefull then go for it.

[lupine128]

i love clear undistorted music. unfortunatly it's the "dooff dooff" brigade that i'm worried about. if you can hear some guys bass line more than 6 meters away, how the hell is he supposed to hear whats happening around him?
when i drive i like to hear whats happening around me, i like to hear if anything is amiss with the engine, and if 7 ambulances are trying to pass me. it's a result of riding i guess, both motos and mtb's. if you can't hear whats happening around you, you aren't as safe as you could be.

it's also a proven fact that less than 15% of multi vehicle motorcycle road accidents are caused by the rider. 85% of them are caused by motorists not looking properly. people pull out in front of you, change lanes into you, don't stop at lights for you. you name it. it's like being on a pushie realy. single vehicle accidents are differant tho. i fully admit to going to fast, and way way to fast, at places like glorious. i also accept that when i come off, it's my fault, and my responsiblity. pretty much everyone i know feels the same way about that. it's the people who don't look, and don't think that get to me.

they did a series of studies in germany a few years ago that proved that MOST, not all, but most drivers are only using about 40% of their visual acuity when driving, less than 30% if it's an auto. what that means is that are concentrating about 40% on driving. 60% of their concentration is onther things. in the study the other things were music, whoever was with them, what they driving to, what they were driving from, basicaly everything except what they were doing. the same group tested riders and forund that the concentration levels were closer to 80%. riders had to concentrate twice as much on the task at hand.
the reason they came up with for this was twofold. one is that driving is inherantly distracting with a stereo, a passanger, fluffy dice from the mirror, whatever.
but mostly it was that people went into auto pilot for driving. the brainwave patterns for drivers were closer to people watching television than people doing a complex task. how scary is that. you concentrate as much on t.v. as you do on driving. and before you scream that that isn't you, the study concluded that this was true of nearly 90% of drivers at any one time, and 100% of drivers at some time.
riding requires constant concentration just to stay upright, and riders tend to be far more observant, while they are riding, than drivers.
arrgghh, i've been ranting again. sometimes i shouldn't be let near a keyboard.

[curtisrider]

for fun

[Fatman]

WHY?


WHY NOT!

[bazza]

a nice 6x9 set up is what i want, head deck and amp maybe 'a' sub and thats about it. friend has about 5k worth of stero in the back of his bloody ford telstar. its the biggest shitter that he picked up for 400 bucks but the sound is his thing, just like a bike is my thing. its all fair, its just people trying to satisfy unlimited wants with limited resources. hehehe 2 years of economics there for ya.

[Fatman]

It's all about what makes people tick.Some people must spend on crappy japanese cars that look like tupperware and are used to propell their sound systems around, some buy computers, others wear suits and buy shares. None of these are wrong. You dont leave life alive and you cant take anything with you when you die so enjoy everything while you got the chance. It's only money.

[spudz]

You wouldn't understand i'm addicted!

[Simo]

bikes r drugs that u can ride

[zen_rider]

i guess my answer to "why do you spend so much money on a bike," is "because its THE SHIT, and you SUCK BALLS, if u don't accept it - go eat horse shit you narrow minded fuck"

:D:D:D

hahaha yeah, these are my thoughts exactly.

[bazza]

i wish i could be the man in the suit that buys shares and makes millions over the riding a bike. because then i could buy my bike and then go back to ridin my bike.

[Squidly Didly]

Just do what Larz did in Chain Reaction 4, and hit up some jumps in a suit. Funny scene allright