Question for you bike gurus out there

Ok here's the deal, i plan on doing a little clean up painting and body work on the subie here pretty soon and after that i want to get a bike. I'm thinking i want something different, not another crotch rocket covered in plastic farrings (spelling?) like every one else (no offense if ya have one), i'm thinking something retro, i was thinking about the harley sportster 1200 originally but with all the extras i would want on it to get the look i was going for it's a little pricey so now i've been looking at the triumph thruxton 900, it's not a beast of a bike but i like the look and it's very different. On top of that it's not insanely expensive. Just looking for your guys thoughts.

 

so you say not like everyone else but in the same sentence you talk about a Harley Sportser... ha ha ha just playing...

Find what you really wnat, look at the options and go from there... I have one of those crotch rocket "fairing decorated" bikes though a TL1000R is not a typical crotch rocket though it looks like it... anyways... I am seriously wanting something like a BMW 1200 or soemthing... smooth, comfortable and qutie a bit of power...

ultimately work out what you want then go for it...

 

yeah i know sportsters are a dime a dozen but what i was thikning of had a couple thousand dollars worth of mods added to it. The look i'm going for is kinda a retro sport bike. Arrrrrrgh why can't anything be easy, theres just so much stuff to choose from these days.

 

I think the Dukatis and Buels look good without being over done on the ferrings, just my thoughts.

 

I can't help but to point out with those spellings you might not be an expert on motorcycles.

 

Haha, that's exactly what I was thinking.

 

never said i was an expert just like the looks. and i know, it's ducati and Buell. just tired and I messed up.

 

I had an '03 1200 Custom, it was a great bike. Check out powerbrokersinc.com. That is where I sold mine, sold within a few hours of being there, but they had a lot of bikes for sale, and the people were very nice. Sounds like to me you are looking for an old cafe racer. get an old triumph.

 

If you haven't owned a bike before, I highly recommend a Suzuki SV650. They're a small V-twin, sound nice and rumbly if you put a loud muffler on, handle great, good brakes. Not a lot of top end, but it'll feel awfully fast if you've never been on a bigger sportbike before. I know several people who have bought them and love 'em. If you're really a speed demon you can trade it in on something faster after a couple of years. They're cheap, too. $5700 new, I think?

Handling a big, heavy cruiser sucks if you're not used to it so its not a good place to start.

There's also the Yamaha FZ6, more FAIRINGS, faster. SV1000 the 650's big brother, Honda 599, Kawasaki Z750S. There's lots of options in the "naked sportbike" category to choose from.

I started on sportbikes and riding cruisers just makes me nervous 'cause they can't stop as fast generally and certainly can't swerve as quickly. They usually come equipped with "touring" AKA hard tires.

If you actually want an old bike, there are obviously thousands of options as long as you like the smell of carb cleaner.

 

+1 for the SV650. There is a bike which really did more to the "real rider" portion of motorcycling than most people realized. It doesn't take much to be able to take one racing. As a matter of fact, there are alot of guys out there who could rider something bigger or faster, and choose the SV just because its cost vs. performance ratio is so dang good. Alot of bang for the buck in other words. You wouldn'tbe able to spend too many $k's on mods, but there are certainly enough aftermarket goodies for the model to sort it out just for you & indidualize it too.

Two more thoughts -

FZ1 - don't get a new one. The owners are seeming to prefer the original. That is one of the most outstanding "do it all" motorcycles to ever grace the sport. I recommended one to my ex wife & she ended up running off with a dude that had one too. I am not saying it will break you marriage if ya have one. . .. just that I did my homework when it came time for my ex to get a "big bike" and I still think I steered her in a good dirrection. The afetrmarket is brimming and there is a huge enthusiast base (kinda like our Scoobies) that can help ya.

Sportsters are for girls. If ya wanna go with technology and capability on that performance level, why not do something really different. Something that doesn't scream: 1. I wanted a Harley so I'd be cool but couldn't afford a real Harley. . . . or 2. My boyfriend rides the real Harley, but when I am not riding bitch, he lets me ride my own Sportster . . . I usually have to make up for it by wearing the feather duster butt plug while singing YMCA though.
Given that - you might want to consider a Ural.


Neat thing is, it comes with a sidecar so you can ride in the winter. Moreover some models (without removeable sidecars) are available in 2WD

 

kawasaki had the w650.
it was a retro triumph looking bike with out the triumph time sink into keeping it running.

i think they quit making them in 91' so finding one local might not be too easy.
you will be working on an old triumph all the time.

if you want vintage japanese muscle look for suzuki titan 500's, yamaha 350 rz or rd. kawasaki h1 or h2. stupid fast bikes, 2 stroke madness, god forbid you EVER need to do carbs or replace a voltage regulator....

 

+1 on the sv650 although I don't know if its really what you are looking for I have the s model and love it. I think many ofthe newer naked bikes sorta have a retro look to them. Not truly retro but that stripped down bare bones look wich the old bikes seem to have. that triumph thruxton is a really cool looking bike but I really don't know much about them. anyway Just make sure to get what you want its not a poularity contest everyone will have their favorites but remember its your bike! ride safe.
:fiddy:

 

omg omg
http://www.kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/

 

are you a first time rider? That should also factor into what you want to buy. The bike you like and the bike that will be forgiving and easy to ride at first might not be the same thing. If you're on the highway a lot you might not want a naked bike.

That being said the suzuki sv650 would be an excellent choice for gettting started and having a bike you wont quickly outgrow, and the naked version looks a lot better.

 

If you want to see a cool two-stroke, Google tularis. I rode some old honda 350cc two-stroke once. The powerband comes on like somebody lit up the rocket-pack. Total opposite from an SV's motor that makes the same amount of power at any RPM.

Also,
<-- this thing is the Ducati Desmosedici RR. Its street legal. It costs $65,000. It has "more than 200bhp" which puts its lbs./horsepower ratio with rider at somewhere around 2.6. (380+170)/210

Each of a Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo's ponies has to haul around about 4.1 lbs. The car topping the power/weight ratio list on supercars.net comes out at 2.5 lbs/bhp and that's the only one on the list that tops this Ducati.

 

I was actually just looking at yamaha TZ250's online earlier today. Rocket insane acceleration and you can be heard coming for several miles away =]

I don't know if theyre street legal at all, the one I rode was a race bike. it was small and light, but felt like you were eing catapulted when it was in the powerband.

 

I agree with everyone saying that the SV650 is a great starter bike. I started with an '01 SV650 and I loved it, it is a good all around bike. It was fast enough and fun in corners, but also a comfortable bike for just riding.

 

Um, don't know if you are hooked up or on the market, but that last comment made me think . .. . Yeah, you are hot! You started on an SV? Right choice and ya know it. Passing the knowledge along . . . priceless.

 

Oh, and because I always postwhore when I am tipsy . .. . esperunit, have ya considered a Gamma? My old Mech, the guy that taught me 9/10ths of all I know, had a Gamma Engine set in a Spondon frame just shortly before he made the transition from mostly insane to just plain nutty. He was a good guy and the bike . . . well . . . .

 

A friend o' mine on Des Moines has a gamma that's he's modified to the point where it has about 150 bhp. It weighs 350 lbs soaking wet. It does 6th gear wheelies. Yahoo.

 

I don't think those were ever street legal. The last year 2-smokes were street legal n the US was 1986 (I think). You can get some gray market import stuff going if you want to drop like $20k on an aprilla RS250.

 

There is still plenty of old stuff in good shape. Last time, or the time before when I was at Deal's Gap, there was a two-stoke club there . . . it rocked! So many beautiful old bikes & the sight and smell of the getting it on was priceless. There was even that fabulous bike with like a 12 cylinder engine fabricated out of several Kawi Two stroke triples mated on a common crank. Wicked stuff. I guess what I am getting at is, it doesn't have to be new to be impressive.

That Spondon frammed, Gamma engine (save ya the Google search, the Gamma had what was basically two parallel twin two strokes . . . aranged like the number 4 on a dice. Very compact, powerful for its size and stupidly expensive to manufacture) anyway, that was just an incredible bike & the Spondon frame was a work of art.

 

You are right, I don't think the Gamma was ever street legal. MF ran around the track like a raped ape though. . . made my 900RR feel like a COW. Ah those were the days . .. Sweet that W O T's got a friend that has one. I reckon my old mech is probably dead or close to it by now, have to confess wanting to track down that ride.

 

Wow not expecting that kind of a response haha, That ural looks sweet, that's almost exactly what i was thinking of but didn't realize they make new bikes like that stil. that thing is SWEET. I'll have to look into them. Thanks guys.

 

Yup, I seriously considered (after my car got impounded and auctioned bts) buying a 2wd Ural and saying F_ _ K It! to cars alltogether. I am a biker's biker though. Have ridden 362 days out of a year and am no stranger to sub zero rides.

It was seeing a Scoobie club down at Deal's Gap that sealed the deal between me and my converion fron VWer.

 

I am still hard thinking about a Gamma engine modded to 150hp . .. . I am not even near a Viagra bottle, but a Gamma engine like that could make a girl really happy on my equipment.

Yes I know the word conversion has an "s" in it. And yes, I used to subscribe to a philosophy: Performance is only available when you can use it. . . There is no better performance for the buck than two wheels . . . . if the roads/weather is too bad for two wheels, it is too bad to have fun --> thus a car should be the cheapest most reliable thing that will haul dog and get groceries & a bike should be about one thing a car should be cheap and practical.

Somewhere hereabouts I had an Epiphany. With a WRX I can have my cake and eat it too. So as a biker first and foremost, new to the Scoobie scene, I am gonna lay it down ---> An SV650 if performance vs $ is in your decision grid, if quality classic (bear in mind the Russians are “new” to the world market & turning out the best stuff they can to try and get in on that market . . . I don’t know that quality won’t go down in the future, but judging by the Russian AK in .308 I have (an attempt by them to go from military arms to hunting rifles) . . . these folks are doing darn near custom work at stupendously low prices to try and edge into a market where they have never been. Heck, the Counsil used to determine who “needed” a Ural in the communist context. . . now they are trying to get into a market that has so many familiar faces. These folks are putting extra love and care into the bikes, hoping it means a future. Well, that is enough for my comments on Urals, emerging markets, and bikes. . . for now.

 

my old neighbor had a ural.
he worked on it once for every 18 times he worked on his triumph.

btw if you do go vintage english steve hammel in st. paul is THE guy to have work on them...

he went through my old bsa and transformed it from an undriveable leaky POS into a thumping, asphalt tossing beast.

 

Just got back from the bike shop, looked at a Triumph Thruxton...man i really like it, right now that's what i'm really leaning towards.

 

2 stroke 50's were legal up until last year. Anything bigger than that has been "off street only" in the forever in the usa. I forgot to mention the tz250 I rode was in italy, wher eeverything 2 stroke is still popular.

I saw 250 2 stroke aprilias in italy. They actually make a 50cc 2stroke aprilia they still sell internationally, although nobody wants a tiny 2stroke and i think they probably converted it to ditech injection, so impossible to bump the cylinder size.

I still think that kitted 50's are fun on scooters and I wish I didn't have to sell my 50 and i could kit it to a 88cc aluminum airsal kit. there are people pulling ~70mph with 5 second zero to sixty times on those things, and they sound like the chainsaw from hell. Granted you can get that performace easily out of a sports bike, but you cant wheelie it for 5 minutes straight either, or park it on the sidewalk downtown =]

I still look at my B&W 250's exhaust manifold and start thinking "hmm, put a turbo on that sucker, that would be awesome" but then I think I'd like to live to see thirty.

 

http://www.husqvarnausa.com/2006/06_SM610.html

mmmmmmmmmm

 

+1 on sv650 if you're a first timer.

Seasoned Rider:
1) Triumph Speed Triple (99-01 or 2005+ preferable, but anything after 99 would work).

2) The new Ducati Sport Classic is also pretty slick.

3) Thruxton is also cool, but a little underpowered.

 

Yeah, there's a couple companies making street versions of their motard bikes now. Those would make a pretty damn fun bike around town. Not sure what happens over 100mph on one.

 

Its got TZ250 cylinders and custom water injection. He pissed off the guys with turbo R6's at Daytona's dyno shootout in the under 600cc category.
http://homepage.mac.com/rg500delta/

 

I think the story goes like this, correct me if anyone knows differently. In 1940 the Russians obtained a few BMW R71 motorcycles, reverse engineered them, and started building them in a couple of plants in Russia. They've been doing it ever since. So a Ural is a basiacally brand-new 1940-model BMW motorcycle. There have been a few updates to the design over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural_motorcycle

 

Maybe that was the last year you can easily get grey-market imports or something, then. My friends Gamma has a legal Iowa license plate.

 

Yeah the underpoweredness of it doesn't really bother me since it's my first bike i'd actually prefer it to be kinda slow so i won't kill my self.

 

I do have to admit, for a first bike, the Thruxton would be one helluva nice ride. With that first bike thing in mind though, I am still gonna pull out the big ole peice of accumulated knowledge (15 or so years rolling gthe streets on two wheels) and suggest you buy something used and cheaper, use what you save on gear and a track day or two. You could pick up a used but nice SV650 for roughly half the price of a Thruxton. Power and weight are in the same neighborhood and the aftermarket for the SV is fat, lots of options.

Everybody makes newbie mistakes, forgets to put the kickstand down, that kind of stuff. You may know somebody who says they never have, but they are lying just like if they told ya they'd never spanked the monkey. Everybody makes newby mistakes & you'll kick yourself less for it if ya make 'em on a used ride . . . Upgrade later, after ya got some miles on.

 

Yeah you do make a good point i've been thinking about doing that for a while. I may end up just using my buddies old crappy honda for a month or two until i get really comfortable then buying the Triumph.

 

It's probably going to take longer than a month or two to get some real riding experience. IMO you should get a cheap ninja 250, rid that for a year or two, then move up to the bike you really want. You can get ninja 250's for $1500-$2k and resell it for almost as much and its a very good bike to learn to ride on.

your first bike shouldn't be nice, it should be the kind of thing that makes you shrug when it hits the ground.

 

Yup, back in the day I asked some grizzled old riders I had respect for & knew socially. . . they said Honda Nighthawk . . . I listened and was greatful, dropped it a couple of times and got on with life. My Ex-wife started riding and I gave her the advice I got, she picked up an '83 Nighthawk 650 & among other things the first day she drove it to work, she was so excited to run in and show her co-workers that she forgot to put the kickstand down . . . she learned and now she is one of the baddest azz biker girlz on this continent . . . a motorcycle safety instructor & well known throughout the riding community (hey, she might not be that faithful, but she is one hell of an impressive motorcyclist).

Esperunit and I aren’t trying to curb your fun, or tell ya that you suck at learning to ride. We are guys that have been there & know you’ll learn more on something (almost embarrassingly) moderate & be a better rider later for it, than if you jump right or too quickly to the best performing thing you can afford. A part of the advice I have always included in the soapbox on which I climb, is that you are best served starting on a “standard†that is, a bike that is a sort of do it all, doesn’t do anything excellent but is pretty much capable of doing anything . . . hell, you don’t even really know what riding style you want yet, and can’t till you get some miles on. Maybe in that first year you find yourself doing a lot of miles and longing to do more if only . . . and a more touring bike is your cup of tea. Maybe in the first year you never get out of the cities and find handling and fun trump top end and a Motard is in your future. Maybe you find yourself doing a track day and it wakes something up in ya & a 600 Sportbike is just the ticket. Until you put the miles on and see what you are actually into, a specialized bike is robbing you of the opportunity to explore your sport. I will say that the 250 Ninja idea isn’t a bad one at all. .. . It isn’t that far from the standard or UJM I’d recommend . . . I know I had my ex-wife looking at those and EX500’s when we were in the market for a starter bike for her.

 

Uh, yeah. I'm ashamed to admit it, but even as an experienced rider you aren't exempt from stupid mistakes. About 2 weeks after purchasing an Aprilia Mille I was coasting through a car dealership looking for my next ride. I went to stop and put my foot down...my foot hit some sand that I didn't see, and the leg slipped right out. Bike went down on it's side and took out a turn signal and gave the fairings a few scars. I did get some superhuman strength and almost recovered from it...but alas I did not.

Moral of the story, definately buy something that you don't mind getting beat up...but experience won't necessarilly keep your bike out of harms way.