Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

If you cant afford to break it, you just cant afford to ride it, as simple as that irrespective of whether you ride a hyper class, liter class or even a 150cc motorcycle for that matter.

Kudos to the OP, guess you're the first Suber'Biker' I actually find worthy of respect. Keep up the spirit as well as the miles and stay safe.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Interesting thread!
While I never owned a superbike or any big bike in India, I would still like to add my 2 cents.

I currently own a Daytona 675 here in the states. She is a stunner and goes like a dream, but I still find it a challenge to use her on a daily basis. You cannot ride one for more than an hour without your body parts falling off. Even when the weather is relatively colder (~20 degree C), I still find the engine heating up with moderate traffic (moderate as per the US, no traffic as per Indian standards).

In the states also 95% of these motorcycles are weekend warriors, they are pointless if you only want to ride from A to B. While you can argue that the weather isn't the best, other vehicles are way more faster etc., but these machines are more enjoyable on your weekend rides, when you just want to enjoy the bike to its full potential, and not worry about reaching somewhere on time.

Coming back to Indian roads, I feel, a duke 390 gives you crazy power for the roads we have. It is a perfect tool to ride daily, and more than fast to give you the thrills. And honestly these machines are not meant to be ridden in traffic, parked on our 'beautiful' roads with 2000 other bikes falling on yours, and basically not meant for commuting in general. If you are lucky to have nicer roads around, the true potential of these bikes can be experienced on a weekend, where your excuse to leave the house is to feel alive on your superbike.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Commuting on a liter bike for the last few weeks, 5 days a week on the busiest road of the city. Only thing I can think of as a deterrant is the fuel economy of 11kmpl. Lol!
But I still look forward to the commutes for the parts of the roads where you can let open the throttle and make everyone eat your dust (or mud splashes in monsoon). Don't think I'd have looked forward to commuting to work in my life.

So yeah my two cents, everything is better on a superbike! EVERYTHING!

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Did you successfully weld the broken exhaust pipe?

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

no just put it like it was and secure it with a clamp. no wielding but I guess that'd help when I remove the cat! XD

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

@revoconner - I went through your earlier posts where you talk about how everything is better on a super bike. I believe unless you have the right 2 wheeler for the job, everything is definitely not better on a super bike.
I ll try to elucidate. My fat gixxer is a pain to take to the local market to get a packet of milk or candy. Too heavy and bulbous to manage. However, my simple 350 cc 2 stroke does the same job wonderfully well. On the other hand, on the highway the 2 stroke is just plain boring and slow but the Fat gixxer is the most fun one can have on 2 wheels. Fast , stable and intimidating. For that matter any faired liter class pocket rocket is super fun on good highway roads.
Similarly on hilly/broken road the Fat gixxer is just exhaustive and tiring but my adventure tourer seems like a walk in a park and puts a big smile on my face. I dont need to worry about potholes,slush,mud etc etc. Even a 80 - 100 bhp middle weight naked is super fun on the twisties. They are light with enough power to go lean and WOT. In-fact a duke 390 is so much fun on the hills it is un real. And that's no super bike.
Point being, after covering over 90,000 kms on just the 2 old ladies that I had/have and thousands on a whole variety of other 2 wheelers, I can safely say that unless you have the right bike for the intended purpose, everything is not going to be better on a super-bike. In fact , the contrary is true and if you have a wrong super bike for the job it is one of the most un-comfortable situation you can be in. Heat, weight, power , traffic , ergonomics all go a long way to make everything great. I also find it hard to relate to the part where you mention you open the throttle on relatively empty city stretches and make people eat your dust/mud. Maybe I will have to ride even more to understand the fun in it.
Since you ride a Ducati ( I am presuming) I ll share a story. A few years ago an old acquaintance had a 1198 SP I think. A super rare highly track specific bike. I took it for a short 100 km ride on a well laid out 8 lane highway ( a relatively empty patch that I often ride on and where I regularly try and on many occasions have managed to reach the elusive 186 on several other bikes) and cursed every minute of it. It was rickety, clanky and it just dint want me sitting on her. I again took it on a track at a latter point in time and loved the agility and how swiftly it got out of corners. I and it felt exactly at home on the track.What can I say, same bike, same rider just 2 different scenarios.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Logged in after a long time and saw notifications fr this thread.
I had posted a reply to the OP saying Indians ride small sportsbikes everyday so supersport riding posture should not be a reason of them being ridden less, to which I had said the R15s, Ninja 250s may look like mini sports bike but at the end of the day they really are 'fun' commuters with much comfortable posture compared with 600/1000 supersports.

Check this out. This site gives you rider posture triangles. The R15 is almost upright really. The RC 390 is the most dedicated among the generally available smaller bikes in India but still falls short of a Honda 600RR/R6

Motorcycle Ergonomics

On free flowing roads with wind taking some pressure off your arms the crouched posture may not be that bad but if you have to stop every now and then on traffic laden Indian roads.....you get my point!

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

In india if you buy a 'superbike' you are already rich (75%). Remaining are working class, and cant afford to keep it up.so they sell.less ridden
Now this rich class, they use the cycle for a little while-sell and then buy another.that is why they are less ridden. And yeah, superbikes do cause backaches.
I have been carefully monitoring karol bagh market. Shady. They buy crashed/stolen bikes and offer to public. Not to mention all dealers are interconnected. Of course not all are shady, but most are

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Only commenting on 2008 crisis.well if it was for usa then it was a plan.imagine a long race for months.everybody on the race track is with a plan.same like countries of this world-race to survive.who wins? The one creates an illusion for others.
Usa did the same, in order to increase taxes, impose a state of reccession. Even if they dont pay their loan, they will loose the lien, and job but will still get money from their state government. Rest of the world suffered, they enjoyed.
Alas, superbikes are expensive to maintain and some people sell as they never calculate the calculated risks.
Well, i maintain camaro in this desert of usa. Yeah, people here are shocked and often ask me how to i do that when compare their trucks with the car. My answer is straight- i have spent my childhood days without food. This is heaven for me. Ha

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

@jitendra - I have absolutely no idea what you just wrote or trying to convey. Your general analogies, comparisons and what was that no food example in the end that you made. It looked (?) like a synopsis on economics ,banking with a hint of melodrama.
I majored in Criminal Jurisprudence so maybe you could break it down for readers like us who take time to comprehend.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?


I'm late to the party here, but here's what I came up with:

First, Superbikes in India are the equivalent of Super- and Hypercars here in the US (and Europe as well). They're largely bought for the cachet of owning one, rather than any real intention of taking it to the track and wringing it out. For example: here in the US, most Dodge Vipers were bought by rich idiots with more money than sense; the Viper is horrible as an actual car. The original had no side windows, no A/C, no anti-lock brakes, no traction control, a clutch pedal stiff enough to give you cramps, and rear tires so wide than any moisture on the road was enough to get the car hydroplaning (assuming you were masochistic enough to drive in the rain in the first place). But it looked cool, so it became The Thing to have. On the other end of the scale, Ferraris and Lamborghinis are so excruciatingly expensive that maintenance and insurance is often the equivalent of buying a decent mid-range car every year. Even the very rich don't often risk the possibility of damaging their vehicles.

In India, despite the better riding season than much of the US experiences, Superbikes are really toys. There are some "superbikes" in the sense of large-displacement imports that do get ridden pretty frequently. For example, there's a pretty big contingent of Harleys and other "cruiser" bikes in Bhubaneswar. Such bikes are placid enough to deal with the lower speeds experienced on Indian roads without too much hassle. I've seen more than a few Goldwings too, and while those bikes would also be miserable in heavy city traffic because of their weight (400KG!), they are not impossible thanks to the more upright riding position, and they are really meant for longer rides anyway, and so get used that way. The big sport bikes, on the other hand, are punishing in Indian traffic. The low speeds mean no wind assistance to help carry your weight, so it's all on your wrists. The bikes are heavy, and the sport geometry means the bikes have wide turning radii, and wrangling them through tight quarters is difficult due to the narrow handlebars (and corresponding lack of leverage). And even when you get away from the city, there are few roads good enough to really ride more than a few dozen miles. You can't ride anywhere near the potential of the bike, so most riders probably don't bother to take them long distances. Instead, they use them to show off, by riding them down to restaurants or shopping centers so they can impress their friends.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Primary reason is that there are no roads to ride them.
Secondly they are not practical in any way ,when you dont have proper roads ,where would you ride them.

There is no use of buying a bike ,if one cannot use its full power.

90% of people buy it for showoff.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

@ om1234 - When you say there are no roads are you speaking from experience or hearsay? I have personally covered close to 1,00,000 kms on various super bikes over the past 2 decades. All over India using interstate. On almost all occasions, the roads were up to it. There were definitely stretches here and there that were not suitable but then they were far and limited during our tours. The roadways has greatly improved in the past decade in this country.
Also, just because one uses a super bike it does not mean that one will go WOT every time he is out for a ride. At 80- 120 kmph a super bike is far safer than any 100/200 cc commuter. Better control, better brakes better everything.
Coming to your second part of showing off. Its true because its an inherent outcome of a system where kids with no riding experience can take their daddies to any dealer with bags of money and ride out on a death machine and crash all over the place.No questions asked.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Riding a motorcycle as i have said many a times, is a sensorial experience.

Now if i ride my 200HP motorcycle everyday to work, i have to bear in mind the few things,
- Thanks to upgrading this city, BMC has obliged us with next to no roads. No infrastructure.
- Weather. It's October and 42 degrees sometimes (Real feel). Bike in traffic goes to in and around 110c when stationary. How many times do you switch off an on in crawling traffic?
- No civic sense. Everyone wants to occupy every inch of the road. Pedestrians, Rickshaws, Cars, other two wheelers, Cows, Dogs? There is no lane discipline whatsoever.
- Work commute is around 7-8kms. With the conditions mentioned above, have never gone above second gear.

Personally that's murder. How do you enjoy that? How do you like the fact that knowingly you are stressing the engine out.
If you really want to stress the engine out, let the bike breathe. It needs air to feed. Take it to a track or a proper early Sunday ride.
With our conditions it's rubbish riding these motorcycles daily.

Practically, what joy am i to get from riding a motorcycle like this?!

Insurance as a another thing which was pointed out here. How many times does an insurance company allow for a claim? And why should i bloody pay for that extra premium for no fault of mine when someone else has damaged my motorcycle? Try and ask a rickshaw guy to pay upfront and upload a picture of his expression.

On another note, in an ideal world people would have some respect for someone else's property. But that does not happen.
- Have gotten up at a hotel to find parents taking pictures of their kids on my bike.
- Have had a restaurant security guy sit on my bike with the side stand on.
- Have had mirrors moved around.
That's just to list a few.

Have had a RD350, a Shogun, a Yamaha RX100, Yamaha RX135, Kawasaki ZZR400, Speed Triple and now the GSXR. I would absolutely hate anyone touching any of my motorcycles without my permission. Call it whatever you like. That's how i am wired.

I can afford a motorcycle which i have wanted but not at the cost of ruining it for the sake of random admiration or attention on the road!

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

That's jist of the discussing here, why buy a motorcycle that we can't ride.

Re: Why are superbikes ridden so less?

Progress. Better equipment. Better ride. Better feel. Better engineering.

Why does anyone bother buying a relatively powerful car. The roads are rubbish. Why pay the tax, insurance etc and buy one. Can't we all just settle for a Honda City. Which again, by that logic is anyways way powerful for our roads.

You buy a motorcycle irrespective of which one for whatever your need. I really want to take mine to the track. It's an aspiration that i have. Which BTW is safer than skimming across a busy road in the city. And i intend to enjoy it there and more.

I choose to use my vehicle the way i want to. OP wants to use it everyday and he's happy then that's his choice. We buy bikes for whatever it's purpose and mostly what you need.

Also add work to the previous post. And Family responsibilities to the list while we are at it.

I don't know what else can be said further than that?