What are you planning to do with your RC390?

[Treachery]

Once bikes get in our hands, there'll no doubt be the traditional/obligatory "What did you do to your RC390 today?" thread. Until that happens, I wondered if it would be interesting to see what everyone has planned for their little RC, assuming you get one.

Are you: Learning to ride? Teaching someone else to ride? Stepping up from the competition? Moving smaller from a bigger bike? Commuting? Racing?

My relative post count in these early days of the forum suggest that mostly I yap online. I've had bigger bikes (ain't tough). I've actually never owned a street-legal single. I'm fortunate to have bigger bikes to travel on and to ride two-up. My interest in the RC is for sport riding here in the NC hills and mountains, and hopefully to take it on track. There are big tracks I've been to where I know I'll get smoked on the straights. I want to learn to ride this bike well enough to dog bigger bikes in the corners, and to give them the itch on tighter tracks where other bikes I've had have felt like a handful.

So, what are YOU​ going to do?

 

[stover]

Planning to use it as a weekend twisty road toy and track bike. It's going to be the exact opposite of what I ride on the street now, a BMW R1200GS Adventure.

 

[VAG944]

Track days, commuting and hoping rides in the country side......where I never enjoyed much before, it always felt like too much bike for it to be enjoyable. The, it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast then a fast bike slow.

 

[Treachery]

Planning to use it as a weekend twisty road toy and track bike. It's going to be the exact opposite of what I ride on the street now, a BMW R1200GS Adventure.

How big a person are ya? I get nosebleeds on the GSA.

Track days, commuting and hoping rides in the country side......where I never enjoyed much before, it always felt like too much bike for it to be enjoyable. The, it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast then a fast bike slow.

See, that's what's drawing me in. One of the reviews talk about the squirt the 390 has. I'm just trying to talk myself out of being spoiled by HP.

 

[stover]

How big a person are ya? I get nosebleeds on the GSA.

5'10 155lbs. I have the low seat option on my GSA so I dont have an issue getting my feet on the ground.

 

[Treachery]

Ah. I tippy toe most everything, but with the GSA (standard seat) vertical, I can't touch on either side.

 

[VAG944]

See, that's what's drawing me in. One of the reviews talk about the squirt the 390 has. I'm just trying to talk myself out of being spoiled by HP.

It is a little worrying for me too. The power band of an RZ350 and the absolute amazing everything of the 675 makes me wonder if I'm going the right way?!?! Oh well, it'll make a great race bike if I decide to race instead of just lapping days and I think I'd still like a 675R. Car racing has me much deeper than bikes do at this point (at least for the last 10 years) so we'll see.

 

[Treachery]

It is a little worrying for me too. The power band of an RZ350 and the absolute amazing everything of the 675 makes me wonder if I'm going the right way?!?! Oh well, it'll make a great race bike if I decide to race instead of just lapping days and I think I'd still like a 675R. Car racing has me much deeper than bikes do at this point (at least for the last 10 years) so we'll see.

I'm going to sit down and calculate the HP/ton ratios for both the RC and the 675. Less than half the power and 100+ pounds lighter, the 675 is going to pull harder, but the effect of weight on cornering isn't linear, so mebbe it'll equal out.

 

[TheseGuns]

Well being 21 and practically starting on the rc390 as my first bike, I'm going to use this baby as my starter and daily ride. Apart from that I don't plan on any track or twisty experiences until I get used to handling and controlling the bike.

 

[kalleh]

It is a little worrying for me too. The power band of an RZ350 and the absolute amazing everything of the 675 makes me wonder if I'm going the right way?!?! Oh well, it'll make a great race bike if I decide to race instead of just lapping days and I think I'd still like a 675R. Car racing has me much deeper than bikes do at this point (at least for the last 10 years) so we'll see.

I'm selling my 2013 674R for the RC390. Doing track days mostly stock the difference in price and the better brakes and handling of the 675R would make it worth it - but building a competitive race bike out of the 675R is way way way more expensive, and adding tires to the equation the difference in racing budget required is quite significant.

 

[Treachery]

I'm selling my 2013 675R for the RC390. Doing track days mostly stock the difference in price and the better brakes and handling of the 675R would make it worth it - but building a competitive race bike out of the 675R is way way way more expensive, and adding tires to the equation the difference in racing budget required is quite significant.

That makes at least three of us who are coming directly or indirectly from the Triumph. Mine was set up really nice, but I didn't ride it enough; I'm hoping that the "new" factor and the challenge of learning how to maintain speed will put me on the track more often.

I suspect we'll have a fair number of forum members who'll race the 390. We'll be rooting for all of ya!

 

[VAG944]

What does it say when a large percentage of members here have/had Triumph 675s and those make a small percent of the sport bike market!?!? I guess we see small (size), great handling, unique bikes as being awesome.

 

[KennyFish]

My plans are to get 12-15 extra pounds off the bike, air filter, full exhaust, chain and sprockets and ride the hell out of it.

 

[rc_Guy]

The RC390 will be my first bike. Will be using it to learn how to ride as well as commuting and weekend rides around town.

 

[ToraTora]

V,

Here in the States the majority of moto riders suffer from small/no penis syndrome, and must compensate for it with cubic centimeters (some suffer so much that they have to employ cubic inches!). Few have figured out that it is much more fun to actually ride the bike then to parade around on something for which they will probably never have the skill to actually ride. You can easily recognize these cats at intersections where they like to show off by hitting their rev limiters. Yeah I'm sure you've seen them before, they also tend to be really easy to pass in the twisties.

The manufactures bolster this position because they can charge a significantly larger amount of money for a large displacement moto. It doesn't cost that much less to build a really good small displacement bike as it does for a large one, and yet the common mind set is that you'd be insane to spend $10K plus on a small displacement bike. But I tell you if the manufactures would build an awesome small displacement bike it would be way more fun than pretty much anything they offer now.

The RC390 while having it's own issues is the best thing to come to this market in many years. The 2005 GPR when upgraded with a whole bunch of stuff costing thousands (putting it in the same price point as the RC) is a super fun bike--but most folks can't understand that spending five or six grand on a fifty as a good value. Our market probably isn't going to change, but it is very exciting to see the positive reception that the RC 390 is getting around here. Very exciting indeed.

rc_Guy,

If you've never ridden a moto before this probably isn't the best choice for you. Get a small dirt bike, like a KX100, and go learn how to ride a bike where there are no cars, and other very dangerous road hazards. If you are buying a bike to commute, and you don't know how to ride, you are most likely asking to become a statistic*. Sure it's possible that you'll survive, but the odds are stacked against you.

Here let me ask you a question. When you cross an intersection at a light on foot do you:
a) go when the light turns green
b) look first before you go, and then go
c) look the entire time you cross, before, during, and after, checking the eyes of the drivers even if they have come to a stop

See below for results.

The RC is a high revving purpose built bike. It's designed to be ridden, and probably wont like being paraded. It's really not a great choice for someone brand new to motorcycles. Seriously, the dirt is the place for that experience. Motorcycles are a wonderful way to live--but you have to be really smart about it, or you will die.

Question results: if you even had to think about this, and didn't choose "c" as the only reasonable answer you shouldn't be getting on the road with a motorcycle. If you have to ask why then you are reenforcing the idea that you should stay off of a bike on the road.

*statistic is code for dead

 

[rc_Guy]

Thanks for the read. I'm sure I'll figure it out. If not you'll guys have some extra spare parts for your rc390. It'll all work out in the end.

 

[TZMike]

I'm planning to do a bunch of track days, occasional Sunday rides to Alice's Restaurant, and possibly some racing with AFM. Will know more once bike is in hand!

For the RC390 I am expecting great handling with so-so power, but that's OK with me. I have owned a number of 250 two-strokes (TZs, NSRs, RGVs, TZRs) and know what 40-ish HP feels like. With these bike the thrill is in the curves, not the straights

 

[DaveI]

I'm thinking this high compression single is going to have a LOT of engine braking (Similar to my dirtbike/SM)...So I'm thinking the first (best?) mod
for the RC390 will be a slipper clutch...They've got them for the RC8 so I bet it won't be long after the RC390 makes it to the States before there is an
aftermarket slipper clutch available (Probably already available overseas?)...

EDIT: Haha...Looks like KTM already beat me to it...

Rumour: KTM to introduce slipper clutch on RC range | Team-BHP

 

[ToraTora]

I really have my doubts about this being of much use on the track. Remember when Aprilia tried (stupidly) to market the RS125 street bike as a "track bike"? It was a total failure--even with a super hot actress hawking it in a robot movie. There was a shoot out with it vs the Moriwaki 250 race bike. The Aprilia never had a chance, and the Moriwaki with its dirt bike engine is even gasping on a full size track.

You can happily ride the Mori on a cart track, but the Aprilia is physically too large, and heavy to have much fun on a cart track. The RC is similar in size to the Aprilia, but a whole lot heavier. Sure it's got more power, but not much more than you'd have if you properly set up the RS--strokers have huge advantages in racing. So much so that Honda regularly changes the rules just so that they can compete (probable due to their inability to win on the track if they don't "win" in the boardroom). Anyway--the RC is, like the Aprilia too large physically to be much fun on the cart tracks, and too heavy/under powered to be a full size track bike.

For some info on this check out the kids that had to race the KTM duke 690's have to say about their experience on heavy low powered four strokes.

Another comparison would be MotoGP 125 bikes, and even the Moto3 bikes. They weigh about half of what the RC weighs, have more power, and still (compared to the larger bikes) take what seems like forever to get around a full size track--and that's with great riders that weigh slightly more than a hoagie sandwich.

All that said I'm sure the RC390 will show up on track days, and make the B-class riders totally hate it. ;P

Davel, If they do put a slipper on the bike it will be mostly because that's the only marketing advantage that the Japanese currently have over these bikes (well the whole twin vs thumper thing too). The RC8 has two huge coffee can sized pistons that can lock up the rear wheel--it truly benefits from a slipper (and well pretty much every bike in that class comes with one these days). If it shows up on the 390 it will be mostly due to removing the marketing advantage of the Japanese. As posted in another thread by someone else--the costs when mass produced wont be appreciably different than the current clutch. You can see this in the price stability of the Japanese bikes when they became so endowed.

PS--I'd be filling these posts up with links, and photos like I did with my earlier posts, but when I do so it takes a seriously long time for my posts to show up. So google that action for yourselves.

 

[fos373]

I unloaded my bike on Tuesday night and stripped it down on Wednesday/Thursday. All extra wiring is off. Started drilling for safety wire. Case covers on.