A bike choice question
in [Motorcycles]
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From: dusty on 29 Jul 2010 02:38 Yo all! New to the group with a question. I'm a former biker, BMW 500, Yamaha 500 among others (smaller). Next spring I retire and want to, "Live to Ride!" I'm one of those types who's heroes have always been cowboys so I see a bike as a 'stand-in' for a horse. You can guess that my garb is going to be western right down to the boots and spurs. Right now I'm dealing with the choice of pony. I want a bike that will pretty much do what a horse can do, only faster and more enduring. I'll want to tour but I don't want to be limited to the road. I'm in Eastern Canada and want to make the Rockies and back in about 4-5 weeks in 2012. I'll probably be buying second hand to avoid financing. I weigh in at 140lbs so I'd like to keep it in the 500cc class to avoid a heavy bike off-road. I'm thinking that would allow me to cruise legal highway speeds pretty much all day. Right? I toured most of Europe on my BMW and didn't have any problems. I'll be riding fully attired so outside a change of clothes, a netbook and some photography gear, I'll be traveling light. Harley D's don't put out a 500 so I'm thinking Honda or Yamaha. Don't care for the others and parts acquisitions 'anywhere' seems assured with either. I haven't been keeping up with the industry since the early nineties so I'm wondering if there are any model suggestions out there? Thanks.
From: The Older Gentleman on 29 Jul 2010 07:14 dusty <hard.rider(a)the.big.roundup.com> wrote: <snip> > > I haven't been keeping up with the industry since the early nineties > so I'm wondering if there are any model suggestions out there? > Yamaha XT600E. Absolutely indestructible do-anything, go-anywhere basic air-cooled trail bike. Fun on the road. Cheap, too. -- BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Triumph Street Triple Honda CB400F Suzuki TS250 Suzuki GN250 chateaudotmurrayatidnetdotcom Nothing damages a machine more than an ignoramus with a manual, a can-do attitude and a set of cheap tools
From: Datesfat Chicks on 29 Jul 2010 09:30 "sean_q" <no.spam(a)no.spam> wrote in message news:6Gc4o.41001$4B7.25410(a)newsfe16.iad... > > In your situation I'd forget about the 500cc limit and get a Suzuki > V-Strom DL650. That's because the ergonomics (for me) would be > the most comfortable for touring. The bike weighs around 450 lbs. I think (I'm too lazy to look it up). Anyway, I'm going to get one myself eventually. One thing I was looking for is whether it would cruise comfortably on the freeway at maybe 80 mph, and by all accounts it will. There is a forum devoted to this bike and its no-longer-made larger cousin, http://www.stromtrooper.com/ You could post subsequent questions there. Datesfat
From: S'mee on 29 Jul 2010 10:37 On Jul 29, 5:14 am, totallydeadmail...(a)yahoo.co.uk (The Older Gentleman) wrote: > dusty <hard.ri...(a)the.big.roundup.com> wrote: > > <snip> > > > I haven't been keeping up with the industry since the early nineties > > so I'm wondering if there are any model suggestions out there? > > Yamaha XT600E. Absolutely indestructible do-anything, go-anywhere basic > air-cooled trail bike. Fun on the road. Cheap, too. Yep and it's ALMOST as good as the KLR650 or so I'm told by many owners. Only thing better costs much more...
From: Datesfat Chicks on 29 Jul 2010 11:43
<.p.jm.(a)see_my_sig_for_address.com> wrote in message news:sg5356h7s8qfmhniq6k5u8bu2rrvjm0tji(a)4ax.com... > On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:30:26 -0400, "Datesfat Chicks" > <datesfat.chicks(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >>"sean_q" <no.spam(a)no.spam> wrote in message >>news:6Gc4o.41001$4B7.25410(a)newsfe16.iad... >>> >>> In your situation I'd forget about the 500cc limit and get a Suzuki >>> V-Strom DL650. That's because the ergonomics (for me) would be >>> the most comfortable for touring. >> >>The bike weighs around 450 lbs. I think (I'm too lazy to look it up). >> >>Anyway, I'm going to get one myself eventually. One thing I was looking >>for >>is whether it would cruise comfortably on the freeway at maybe 80 mph, and >>by all accounts it will. > > I've never seen anything to the contrary. And balls to spare > at that speed, too. That was a relevant question for me. My little Honda will cruise comfortably at 70, but at 80 it ain't comfortable. I just want to keep up with traffic in the right lane of the Interstate. I need something just a touch faster. I will upgrade eventually. But I will miss my little Honda. Unless I keep them both. Datesfat |