My Classic seems sporty!

[bobhamlin]

I've been "road testing" the '06 Nomad that I've restored. Borrowing the plate from my '01 1500 Classic and hoping that if I got stopped, the officer wouldn't distinguish between the two bikes, I've commuted several times (40+ each way).

After noticing my brake light was out (because a helpful cager yelled it), I used the Classic today.

The Classic felt amazingly small and nimble. When I moved from an 1100cc Virago to the 1500 Classic, I remember feeling the same difference.

The Nomad's a beast!

[paul]

When I bought the Sabre, it was my intro bike back into 'the life' after a 25 year absence. At the time, I wondered if I hadn't overdone it and should have starter a little smaller. ??? Time and miles passed and I got used to it and decided I wanted something even larger for long distance. Got the Nomad and have used it a lot!

Now, when I get the urge to take the Honda out it feels like riding a bicycle. The thing seems sitting in a small office desk chair compared to my Nomad, which is like relaxing in a big ol' cumfy recliner. I like my recliner .

[oldbikers]

But a very good beast

[dank]

My son has a 1500 Classic, and every now and then we trade. It does feel much smaller, more nimble and just a bit quicker, but some of that may be the increased wind in the face without the windshield. Bikes seem about equal in acceleration as we ride together with the Classic perhaps just a shade quicker off the line, but he has stock tires and I have Elite III's, so I take him in the corners and I carry his gear. He gets higher mpgs, but I've got the better looking tank. Both are nice bikes, and we both prefer our own. A good situation all around.

[taranis]

Friend of mine had a 1500 Classic while I had my Vstar 1300T. We traded for a ride to the local dealership and it was great fun, but what a difference. The classic felt HUGE with GOBS of power. He had the modular Jardine backrest - that thing was like riding a couch - very comfortable. Funny thing was that he traded for an '08 Nomad that day, so it was the last time either of us would ride Ol' Blue.

When I first started riding, it was on a Honda VLX 600, and I thought it was HUGE also. Rode that for about a year before moving up to a Suzuki 800, then finally to the VStar. The Star would've been my last bike had I not sold it to pay for our relocation to Texas. Instead of getting another one, I found my Nomad.

When we went to the Dallas MC show a few months ago, I sat once again on a Vstar 1300T. The bike felt so tiny.. LOL.

My buddy still misses his old bike. Good thing I live 1/2 way across the country now... :)

[rlfaubion]

Skullatore - She was nimble and quick with an attitude, and I miss her at times.

[cactusjack]

I went from a 2005 Suzuki C50T to my Nomad. The Nomad outweighs the Boulevard by a good 200 pounds. Other than the initial shock when I stood the Nomad up off the sidestand for the first time, it was an easy transition.

When I rode my friend's Road Glide a couple of months back, it seemed light and cramped compared to the Nomad. You get used to it and expect all real motorcycles to weigh at least 800 pounds.

[dantama]

I think its all perception, but perception ='s reality.

If a Nomad can do a full circle in 17 1/2 feet, how much tighter does it need to turn, and how much tighter does one do it on a 1500 or even an 800?

I can do a 90 degree turn in 2 1/2 feet, how much quicker does one need to do it?

But I agree, there is a perception that its big and not as nimble, but its just perception. My wife and other riders like the big bags next to them. They've said that it makes them feel more secure. So the perception is shared by the passenger too.

I think the only place that a classic would actually be more nimble is going through a tight spot like some upright posts. They might squeeze through and the Nomad might hit the guards and not make it, but other than that...I don't think there is anything that is actually more nimble about a classic.

But the perception is certainly there.

[bobhamlin]

Hi Dan,

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

I can do a 90 degree turn in 2 1/2 feet, how much quicker does one need to do it?

I realize I'm a newbie but: Damn! That's some kind of riding. I can't even do that walking the bike in my garage.

Is there a typo? (Or am I wrongly calculating doing a complete circle in 5 feet?)

If it's not obvious: ;)

[dantama]

Originally Posted by bobhamlin

Hi Dan,

I realize I'm a newbie but: Damn! That's some kind of riding. I can't even do that walking the bike in my garage.

Is there a typo? (Or am I wrongly calculating doing a complete circle in 5 feet?)

If it's not obvious: ;)

bob, its wrongly calculating the full circle, but no typo.

I can do the full circle in 17 or 17 1/2 feet. And a 90 degree in 2 1/2.

You can't just times the 2 1/2 by 4 and get a 360. I'll have to think on why that is??

Here's a video where I do each


I'm just not convinced that a classic will be much more nimble. I think the size of a Nomad give the impression of not being as maneuverable, but in reality is.

[bobhamlin]

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

You can't just times the 2 1/2 by 4 and get a 360. I'll have to think on why that is??

Here's a video where I do each

Great riding. Do you go through a pair of floorboards per week? Buy in bulk?

As far as the math: I think it might be 2.5 feet forward, but considerably longer to the side. Somehow that factors in. ( I froze in math when I found out I could ever arrive at a destination because I'm halfway there, 1/4 of the way there, 1/8th- onto infinity, but never arriving.)

[coloradontexas]

i went from a vlx 600 to the nomad, and boy was it a hard transition. My wife loved it though, felt like she was riding in the car.

[dank]

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

I think the only place that a classic would actually be more nimble is going through a tight spot like some upright posts. They might squeeze through and the Nomad might hit the guards and not make it, but other than that...I don't think there is anything that is actually more nimble about a classic.

Dan, I assume you have not actually ridden a 1500 Classic from how you wrote your reply. When I say the 1500 Classic is more nimble, it is not a matter of corners in a parking lot. Get it up to 60 and weave the paint stripes on the road. The Nomad will do it, but the Classic displaces into the weave more easily. Rake, trail, tires, and weight all impact this. My Connie was more nimble than my son's 1500 Classic. So was his Yamaha 650 Classic. My guess is the new Connnie would beat all four and from what I read the FJR will beat the C14. And none of those can match the nimbleness of a Ninja. It isn't just perception.

Don't get me wrong: I like how the Nomad handles and it does a nice job on corners. But it isn't flickable.

[dantama]

dank, I haven't ridden a 1500 classic, but I used to ride with a guy with one and he was a pretty aggressive rider. He was the closest to my style of anyone I've ridden with. He didn't seem to have any easier time when we were bombing a canyon.

I rode Ells' 800 classic for a few days last summer and it didn't seem any easier to me.

Of course a Connie or an FJR would be a different story, they are so different from a Nomad. But a Classic and a Nomad are similar enough (I know they have different front end geometry) to be comparable. I still think it is perception more than reality.

I think that if I was given a month to get used to a classic, then timed a cone course with high speeds on it, I could get back on a nomad and do it at the same stop watch time. No one needs to agree with me, I just think its a perception thing. I also think that if we got a Mustang GT and left it bone stock, took another one and only put a louder exhaust on it and told people that it had a hoped up engine in it and had them drive the stock one, then the loud one... Most people would say that the loud one felt more powerful. Reality would be conforming to their expectations.

Cover up the speedo on two dissimilar bikes and ask someone to take up up to 70 mph and then stop, I'll bet the speeds won't be very close if there is no other traffic to compare it to. In your mind 70 mph isn't a static thing, its a perception. When I got my 1600, I went on a trip with my wife right after I got it. I couldn't go under 90 mph. I'd see the speed and slow down, then the next time I looked I was going 90 again. Because of noisy cam chains and such on my high mile 1500, when I did what felt "normal" on the 1600 I was going 90mph.

I'm not trying to be argumentative (though sometimes I am :) ) I just really think that a Nomad is just as maneuverable at any speed as a 1500 with the possible exception of ground clearance. I think that it might feel that way, I just don't think a stop watch would show it. Therefore it would be a perception feeling, not a real thing.

It would be fun to be given the chance to really see. I'd just be shocked if I was faster on a 1500 on a maneuverability course at any speed.

[dank]

Dan, they are very similar, and as I said initially I think one of the big differences in feel is the wind in your face on the 1500, which is perception. And I can stay with my son and in fact soundly beat him in corners, which is a combination of tires and experience. But when I ride it, his bike is noticeably easier, and thus quicker, to displace into a line weave at speed. I can do the same weave on either bike, it just takes more effort on the Nomad. (We won't go back into the physics of what is being done to cause that displacement.) ;)