A new trend? ("retro standard")

 

Walking into a Honda dealer's showroom today I saw
an interesting bike, a Shadow 750RS. RS standing
for "retro standard". Although it looked a lot like
a cruiser, the peg position was a welcome surprise.

Ie, it wasn't so far forward as to painfully stretch
my hamstring tendons like most cruisers would do.
Sitting on it I found the riding position within
my comfort zone.

Here's a review I can relate to:
http://www.wheels.ca/Motorcycles/article/784878

If I were starting out looking for a bike this would be
a strong contender. Now if only the motor would shake
a bit...

SQ

 


I am the owner of a Honda Shadow 600 with 25K on it, of which I've put on
23.5K.  Here is my take on it ...

Entry level, and not entirely practical.

The Honda Shadow 600 stands out because, except for the ignition controller,
it is WWII technology.  Honda took a lawnmower engine, threw on some black
paint and chrome, and called it a motorcycle.

Advantages:

a)Cheap (as you said, for a first bike).

b)Not overpowered (again, great for a first bike).

c)Resistant to learner mistakes.  (I've replaced a turn signal and pegs, but
no "low side" action has resulted in frame damage.  Also, the pegs and turn
signals conveniently act as spacers so your leg doesn't get burned when
you're on your side and getting yourself out from under the bike.  Don't ask
me how I know that.)

Disadvantages:

a)Won't cruise comfortably at practical highway speeds (70 is OK, 80 is
not).

b)Relatively short-range tank. (When I hit about 100 miles on the tank,
which I try to avoid, I switch it to RESERVE so I don't get surprised by a
power loss and must find a gas station.  It will run out of primary gas at
about 120 miles.)

c)Underpowered, especially at freeway speeds.  Going from 0-60 is fine.
Going from 70 to 80 takes a while.

I'm not sure why Honda is deploying an EFI system on an entry-level bike.
Why do it?  You just jack the price up on something that is a starter bike.

Does look like a Sportster knockoff, though.

They could have just styled it like a Sportster and not deployed the EFI.

My carbureted engine does fine.

Datesfat

 

Datesfat Chicks wrote:


The Shadow RS I saw has 25% more cubes than your 600 and my guess is
that would increase the performance to a satisfying level for a lot
of riders -- including me.

SQ

 

On Tue, 25 May 2010 16:08:24 -0700, in rec.motorcycles, sean_q_


Yep.  My elderly 900 accelerates as quickly as I care to, and has plenty of
power for highway riding, 70 to 80 to 90 is done quickly and easily in high
gear.  I can't imagine that a new, modern EFI 750 wouldn't perform just as
well.

--
'82 CB900F
'04 FSC600 (SWMBO)

 


You may very well be right.

The other thing about the 600 is that it is a 4-speed transmission.  The top
gear may not be quite as tall as one would like.

The worst experience I had was one day I was doing 75 and some idiot looked
like he was going to him me from behind.  I about broke my wrist putting the
throttle against the stop.

And nothing happened.

For quite a while.

He eventually swerved around me, and I may have bought some time by
accelerating as best I could, giving him extra time to swerve.

One a really good day if I give it an Italian tuneup it will top out at 95.
One a bad day, 90.

Datesfat