OK Piz, for the benefit of your S.O. Cruisers are inherently more dangerous than sportbikes due to the suck weight bias and lack of good brakes and suspension travel.

Sportbikes are way safer due to optimized weight transfer, powerful brakes, well behaved suspension...Brighter colors mean more visibilty. You sit up higher and therefore can see better too!

I've used that angle already.

I agree wholeheartedly.
But the average person and probably dude's wife, think that slow and relaxed must be safer than fast and trying really hard and in that sense they're right. Sportbikers tend to haul ass and take way more risks on the road than cruiser riders yet in my experience cruiser riders are much more likely to ride to a bar, get fairly trashed and ride home where as most sportbikers are pretty good about that kind of shit.

We must convince her that the cruiser riders she wants him to be like are really liquor swilling madmen with barely functioning controls and handling that's wildly unsafe while sportbikers are gear nazi's who stress temperance and safety...and obeying speed laws...:whistle:

I am 50 and have a Ducati 999 and a Turbo Busa .. my wife who is "39 with a couple years experience" is begining to look for her sport bike. I dont care if you can tell how old I am or not. I don't hang out with 20 year olds as a rule cause it makes me and the 20 year olds feel creepy. Ride what you what you want the way you want to ride it!

There are many times I feel old, but that wouldn't stop me from having a sportbike :). What stops me is the uncomfortable riding position. Now if only they'd make an upright with a full engine instead of this detuned business.

get what u want. Don't get something that someone else wants. Besides 75% of riders I see @ the canyons are 40+...most city riders I see are kids like me who can't afford gas so we commute with it!

Most of the riders I see on sportbikes have helmets and leathers. Most of the riders on cruisers have hardly any gear. Maybe you wife is trying to kill you off. And if you think sportbikes are uncomfortable by putting too much weight on your wrists, try riding a cruiser with all your weight on your backbone. By the way, I'm 58 and I hate cruisers.

You remember Jayfooey from TWF? That dude was 45 and he was dragging fucking elbow! Another guy about the same age as you was running 1:20's on 5/17 when I was running 1:26's...and 1:26 is mid-pack race pace. You're not too old at all. Tell your wife to shut the fuck up and dep-dick her face.

Who gives a shit what angle you use. Use the "because I fucking want one" angle. Be a man.

Where's the not too old option?

:twfix:That shit brought a tear to my eye. Perfectly said.

Seriously, I read all of the options 3 times looking for a "I'm not too old, damnit." option. Get a sportbike. Its what you love. How much fun can it be to ride in a mile long funeral-procession type group down a straight road all day long. (This is in no way a bash at freedom riders or whatever its called. I actually want to get involved in it)