I’ve been around motorcycles since early childhood (I’m 45 now) & have seen ppl doing burnouts on their bikes probably since around the same time.
Until today, I still can’t figure out the point, purpose and/or enjoyment of it. Please don’t get me wrong here, in no way shape or form am I trying to judge anyone who does like doing or watching it being done, but it’s beyond me why someone would willfully damage their ride & most of its critical components for some smoke & validation from onlookers??? I can understand if you’re a teen ager or may a twenty something year old, but I’m talking about guys who are well tenured riders & have been in the saddle for even longer than most of us here..
So for those of you who do enjoy doing burnouts, can you please fill me in as to what is It that I’ve been missing here for over 4 decades already??
I don't, but I have done once upon a time. The response would be the same as it is for many things that are reasonably common but difficult for some to understand and that is ... "if you gotta ask, you'd never understand".
There is a certain "Je ne sais quoi" about the whole thing that speaks to the inner child in a motorhead. And, yes, it is childish, or at the very least juvenile, but we occasionally do silly things that could be considered such ... or at least I do. I think I'd find life boring if I didn't. It's like, why would you take any bike, or car for that matter, to over 100MPH (160KPH for us metric folks), or to it's terminal speed, without having a life threatening consequence of not doing so? Think Road Warrior here. The answer is for the thrill. Juvenile in nature to be sure, but you need to feed the inner child every once in a while. Doing such things is full of risk, escalated by speed, and ages machinery for nothing more than a thrill. Yet some do it, and if you gotta ask why ....
If anyone ever asks you "why do you choose to ride a motorcycle?", a valid answer is "if you gotta ask, you'd never understand", is it not?
I don't do burnouts or otherwise mistreat any of my motorcycles or vehicles, but I have to admit, when I first got my VTX I did some vigorous burnouts on it - several times - and on purpose. :grin2: The power at the rear wheel was surprising and my "inner child" just could not resist.
Sometimes you just gotta live a little Pushrod. Continue to feed that inner child, responsibly and within means of course, and age does in fact become a state of mind. You didn't buy a bike, and especially not a VTX if your inner child didn't crave something.
To be clear, I would never question anyone's inner child, Need for Speed or anything like that. I guess I'm looking at it more in the context of the damage you can do to the bike. Particularly the tires and brakes.
I remember the guy who blew his trans in 2003. He had to crack the cases to fix the trans.
IIRC he did it in fifth gear at the rev limiter. Different strokes I suppose. I don't care why anyone else does it - that is their choice.
For those that have been to Hewlett WY on that special day during the rally you understand the alure. Childish? yep. Did I enjoy watching it? you bet. I would never do that to my bike.
A good analogy might be my vices and their effect on my health. Most people I know are at least a little abusive to their health. Personally, I certainly will not have a pristine corpse. I expect most people to say "WTF? How did this guy make it this far???!!!" at my wake. :thumbup:
at sturgis, daytona and most other rally's the front tire is locked down.
too dangerous for the crowds
if your bike gets traction or slides out from under you it will come over or shoot off to the side where it wants to go.
i am sure it can be done without lockdown and i would like to see it!!!
even in the crazy years i never tried it....i knew better.
The lighter and more powerful the bike the greater the risk of something going really bad. A heavy bike like a VTX is relatively easy to manage doing a brake stand. Don't get me wrong, things can still get out of control, but things don't tend to happen as quickly with a heavier bike. OTOH, when things do go bad with a bigger bike, it tends to cost more ... Lol
If I do, it's for a launch off the line. To just sit and spin, is senseless.
A father once sold his 30ish year old son his BossHoss. When he attempted to do a burn out, he crashed and died at Quaker State, and I believe his father was in the crowd. Very Sad! day. I could puke thinking about it.
If I do, it's for a launch off the line. To just sit and spin, is senseless.
A father once sold his 30ish year old son his BossHoss. When he attempted to do a burn out, he crashed and died at Quaker State, and I believe his father was in the crowd. Very Sad! day. I could puke thinking about it.
Its about how you spend your money. One mans good value is another mans frivolous waste of funds. If you can afford the tyres give it your best. It is testosterone dribbling out of your system. Reminds me of a story. A millionaire is driving along on a wet night when it is bucketing down. He sees a police car and flattens it. The cop pulls him over and standing at the window in the rain says "Do you know why I pulled you over?" The millionaire says " I'm worth 100 million dollars, hate cops and love staying dry. Do you want to know why I flattened it?
I think there are actually two instances being discussed here. One: Burnout contest, where you blow thru all the gears and fry the hide until it pops, and the crowd roars. Two: Devil on your shoulder, and you squeeze the brake a little, blip the throttle and dump the clutch for a little rubber-aromatherapy to appease the little bastard.
I think the VTX is plenty sturdy enough to handle #2 on infrequent occasions, and well worth the involuntary grins it causes me.
#1, I think is ridiculous, and waaaayyy to had on parts and tires just to please OTHER PEOPLE. STOP living for their "likes", go chase your own.
I fully respect other people's habits despite draining the wallet and destroying their equipment. I will reiterate that I still fail to understand the enjoyment in this. Yes and if I have to ask I guess I just cannot and will not understand. Don't get me wrong here, I have done and sometimes still do plenty of foolish things that drain my wallet. Some which unfortunately due to the moderator that can't discuss on this forum. I guess at the end of the day, if it makes you happy and to get your rocks off keep doing it!
Amen to that brother just seems so childish and dumb to me, I guess to each his own but I'll be ridding while there working on their bike changing a clutch or tires. I have been on a bike for 53 years and never would think of doing burnouts but that's me!
I'm 46. I do burn-outs whenever possible. Not the BS pansy @$$ ones where you prop your front tire up against a wall either. Why? Well, I look at it like this.... Doing burn-outs on a bike is like riding a bull. Especially on the VTX with a 200 rear tire. The more you do them, the scarier they get because you always want to push it a little bit further. For me, it's for the adrenaline dump. The fact that I survived yet another long, smokey, squirrelly burn-out is just a feeling I crave. So it shaves some miles off the tire... so what? Are burn-outs for everybody? Hell no. Do I care what you think? Nope.
I will bet he giggles like a kid every time too. Your bike, your wallet, your rules. Just be responsible about it. I also laugh my arse off when the bike gets away from some kid who doesn't know what they are doing. I laugh and I laugh ... :grin2:>
As you can see, you will get as many varied answers as you have members. For the life of me I don't understand why someone would pay top dollar for a "muscle car" and then drive it forever after at the speed limit or less while holding up the rest of us Beetles and Pintos and Vegas (I'm dating myself here, and I didn't even bring flowers). However, when someone asks why anyone would need a 15-rd magazine in their pistol, or a bad-ass looking AR-15, I point to the 'vettes and Hemi's as an answer.
Now you're going down a different path. Because there is no such thing as too much ammo. Not going to get into it but those who know ,,know what I mean.
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