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Daytona Bike Week

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Heading to Key West tomorrow morning. Daytona is over until next year ( if I still have a job next year)
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humanrace said:
I was told that the old people were on Main Street and the young people were in another area. I can't remember the name of the streets. Quite a few fatalities last week, some bikers and a couple of "jumpers.". The number of jumpers is expected to increase this week because of spring break. Drunk kids think they can stand on their balcony railing and jump to another building and grab the railing on the other balcony. According to my co-worker that once spent a week in the local ICU with a race induced broken pelvis, jumpers came in often enough that the nurses created that name for them.
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Great, my son is in Pensacola with ~25 of his A&M classmates.
Hopefully they skip on some of the stupidity.
Their bayside rental house isn't close enough to anything to jump to..... at least from what I can see on google earth..... I'm sure there's a tree that will catch their eye - LOL.
 
humanrace said:
I'm glad CFMOTO is paying expenses. I checked out of my motel this morning . $4,080 for 10 days during bike week.
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That's one of the reasons I don't go to Bike Week anymore. When I was going 35 or 40 years ago, the cheap rooms near Main St. were $125 to $150 a night which would be around $340 in todays dollars. It was a lot of money for a kid just getting started in life after college.
 
I've been wanting to go back to the Florida Keys, especially Key West, since I went there in 1969 to maintain the radar on F-4s that were saving us from Cuba. I just left Key West. That's all I'm saying since I don't have anything nice to say.
 
humanrace said:
I've been wanting to go back to the Florida Keys, especially Key West, since I went there in 1969 to maintain the radar on F-4s that were saving us from Cuba. I just left Key West. That's all I'm saying since I don't have anything nice to say.
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I spent a lot of time in Key West in my 20's and early 30's. Was there a few years ago on a bike trip and was highly disappointed in what Key West has become.
 
Crazy stuff.
 

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I lived 14 years in China (2004-2018) and still go back and forth for work every now and then. I had multiple Chinese bikes and a BMW while living there. The BMW GS800 was a fantastic bike to have there but the Chinese bikes were actually more fun even though they were not near the ride the BMW was. I never had one, but I was intrigued with CFMoto from the beginning as they seemed to really be trying to listen to western input, but of course, as with all bike manufacturers, listening and then actually doing something with what they hear is difficult. I am sure you have a list of issues they need to improve on and it is always difficult to get a motorcycle manufacturer to put their own ego to the side and look to improve while watching costs. This is especially true with China manufacturing. Process controls and consistency are not ingrained into the culture there. If it works, they do not see the problem with lack of standards. However, that being said, they are not stupid and not lazy and often more open and willing to learn than our western motorcycle manufacturers. I also remember well laughing at the Suzuki 400 break the frame while racing my Bultaco Bandido back in 1971. In less than 10 years, Bultaco went away and Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki kicked *** on the Europeans. I learned never to underestimate those that work hard to achieve a goal. Anyway, good luck with your CF Moto adventure. Sounds like a lot of fun no matter what happens. If you get the chance to go visit the factory, do it and make them help you get a license and do some riding in the countryside there. I rode all over Anhui and Jiangsu province on my bikes and enjoyed every minute of it. Too many stories to even start on but they are great memories. I am a bit jealous (in a good way) of your dive into China Motorcycle launches.
 
I indirectly work for CFMOTO. I work for a company that does demos. I was surprised when The Yamaha and CF teams helped each other put up and take down their canopies. The CEO of CF came to Daytona. After I took a group of riders on the 125cc Papio for a ride, he came over and asked me if there was anything I would change on the bike. I told him the rear sprocket needed to be bigger to help acceleration in 1st and 2nd. He asked, "One or two teeth."

I raced a Grom for 3 years and have ridden Kawasaki's version. The Papio has better tires and much better suspension and it has a six speed transmission and will go faster than the competition. My personal view is, they have already done their research and are now putting on the finishing touches. The 450 naked pushes all my buttons. I don't ride that type of bike, but if I did, I would have a CF 450 in my garage.

Are they perfect? No, one bike I looked at closely had a flimsy rear brake light switch actuator. The tech that came out to lube chains and adjust clutch cables said he hadn't seen one fail. I'm sure there are other flaws that I didn't have time to find. We rode 22 bikes for 10 days, and other than a broken mirror from a tip over in the parking lot, we had no problems. I came to the demos with a preconceived notion and left pleasantly surprised with the overall construction.
 
Been watching it on the motorad channel on antenna tv , its come a long way since they first one i saw , when the rider picked up his hog out of the grass after getting pitched when he high sided in the rain and finished the race for overall points i was very impressed . These guys are serious racers . Id say on par with anybody in the business the way they pitch these bikes around .
 
humanrace said:
I indirectly work for CFMOTO. I work for a company that does demos. I was surprised when The Yamaha and CF teams helped each other put up and take down their canopies. The CEO of CF came to Daytona. After I took a group of riders on the 125cc Papio for a ride, he came over and asked me if there was anything I would change on the bike. I told him the rear sprocket needed to be bigger to help acceleration in 1st and 2nd. He asked, "One or two teeth."

I raced a Grom for 3 years and have ridden Kawasaki's version. The Papio has better tires and much better suspension and it has a six speed transmission and will go faster than the competition. My personal view is, they have already done their research and are now putting on the finishing touches. The 450 naked pushes all my buttons. I don't ride that type of bike, but if I did, I would have a CF 450 in my garage.

Are they perfect? No, one bike I looked at closely had a flimsy rear brake light switch actuator. The tech that came out to lube chains and adjust clutch cables said he hadn't seen one fail. I'm sure there are other flaws that I didn't have time to find. We rode 22 bikes for 10 days, and other than a broken mirror from a tip over in the parking lot, we had no problems. I came to the demos with a preconceived notion and left pleasantly surprised with the overall construction.
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Sounds like you found a fun way to be involved with the industry!
 
Looking out my motel window at a beautiful sunny day. Unfortunately, it's 28* with a high in the 40s. My wife told me to fly to Nashville, work and then fly back to N. Carolina when it'sforecast to be warmer. She has no idea how hard SHE works for that much money 💰💰💰.
 

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I was going to do the Tail of the Dragon today, but 30* temperature and Heidenaur tires convinced me to ride the Cherohala (Spelling) parkway instead.
 
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