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| *Vultures Knob>>>Road Bike |
What kind of motorcycle for me? |
I am 55 y.o. male, ave. weight and height. i want a bike that I can sit up straight on. Years ago I had a Honda 450 and loved it. Now I looked at Ducati but you have to ride all of the newer ones sorta seated at 45 degree angle, even with handlebar risers. i'm looking at Triumph Bonneville. Make sense? Too much bike for an old re-beginner guy like me? Anyone ride a Triumph or anyone older (or anyone else) I'd like to hear from. Thanks a lot. I live in L.A. by the way, need to ride on streets and on freeway as well as road trips. We are older and still ride an older Honda Gold wing (1981). It rides nice and it maneuvers well. We like the fact I can adjust the air if I have my wife on the back. The newer ones also have reverse on them. It has plenty of storage for a road trip, and ours has a hitch for a motorcycle trailer for camping. It just depends what you are comfortable with. I would just go out and test drive several until I find what I wanted. You looking at riding or traveling? I've had a 1978 Honda CB550K for some time--that's my running around bike though I baby it a bit as it's becoming a classic. Recently added a Goldwing 1100 (not so many bells, whistles, and plastic as newer Goldwings, but still mighty comfy). It lumbers around corners a bit at slow speeds and I can't just hop it up into the yard when I want to wash it, but it carries two and plenty of "stuff" with ease. Not exactly sporty but it will do some serious highway riding. If you had no trouble with the 450 you should be able to adjust. Just allow for more power and weight--controls are right where you remember them and the seats at exactly the same height as smaller Hondas. You'll be able to sit up just fine. How your gona use the bike makes a big difference as to how much bike you will need... I would recomment nothing less than a 650 cc.. A 750 would be better. I bought a Suzuki 800 (model) and I did not like the way it handled. Narrow front tire and handle bars that were too close in diameter. Some squirley handling and the way it was geered. It was hard to keep it under 50 mph... Too much zip..---kept it for one month and traded for the Suzuki Intruder 1400cc... Nice ride and lots of torque... I'm 60 and just started 1 1/2 years ago.. Also recommend buying used--cheaper... I have a Honda Shadow 600 and it has 80,000 miles and I love it for around town --Daytona. I also learned to ride on that bike... The poop on a Harley is continual maintence in the shop.. I hope I helped --have fun and always were a helmet... . Riding positions are like that so you're leaning into the wind a bit t freeway speeds - and because handling's much better if you have a little weight over the bars. (Takes all sorts - Americans fit handlebar risers, while others, Brits in particular, fit clip-ons to lower the bars) Have you looked at the Ducati Multistrada if you really want a Duke ? - it has an upright riding position, and the older, cheaper-to-run air-cooled 2 valve motor. The Bonnie's a pretty good bike, but you might find it a bit heavy. Suzuki SV650 or the 650 VStrom (same motor, more upright) would be worth a look - the owners of these rave about them. You'll find bikes have changes a fair bit since the old 450 - tires and brakes in particular. Make sure you get some (re) training - there's been many former bikers among recent accident statistics. Buy some good riding gear - older bones don't heal so well. The Triumph sounds like a good bet to me.I know a few shall we say mature riders that have Tridents,Thunderbirds,and they love them.Tried a Sprint RS myself,bit too sporty for my taste,awesome bike but ended up going way too fast on it.You lean forward on the RS but once you get up to speed the weight is lifted from your arms a bit. The new Triumphs are really popular down here in New Zealand and I've heard nothing bad about them. Having said all that,I ride a Harley. One nice thing about Triumph motorcycles is that you can actually test drive most of the bikes at the dealer ship. You can see for yourself if you think it is a good fit for you but going on a test ride. having tested the Scrambler, Bonneville, and Speedmaster I'd say that the Bonneville is a great re-entry motorcycle. The power delivery is almost flat which means that you can get power down low or in the middle of their rev range. This and the seating position make it a great around towner. The bike is also smooth enough for extended highway driving especially with a bolt on fairing. If you want a more up right seating position you can easily change out the handle bars or look at the Scrambler. The Triumph is also much lighter in weight that many of the larger cruisers or touring bikes. Also, if you have not ridden in a while please think about taking one of the MSF classes or another motorcycle safety class. I hope this helps, Devon My brother and I bought 2 new bikes for a summer vacation. His 1200 Bandit leaked gas and ruined the motor before it got 2000 miles. We asked Suzuki to replace the motor so we could go on vacation. They said it鈥檚 to expensive and would cost $3000. After 4 months and the vacation gone they got the motor rebuilt at a their cost of $3700. The dealer wanted to replace the motor but Suzuki squashed that. The gas stained cases and burnt exhaust pipes were not replaced. The bike got nicked and scratched all over from being apart for so long. The rep rode it and looked at it, then said it鈥?good as new. It ran like crap and looked worse. We called Japan for nothing, and even wrote the US CEO all for nothing. We spent $15,000 for the bikes to get ripped off. We spent our vacation hassling with Suzuki, and not one person there gave a F! Beware Suzuki鈥檚 warranty is not worth the paper it鈥檚 printed on! Buy one of their lemons are get ripped off like we did! Suzuki ripped off a man dieing cancer and stole his only chance for a summer motorcycle vacation with his brother while he was still healthy enough to go. We did everything possible to make our vacation happen and we were insulted by the Suzuki rep. Not one person anywhere in Suzuki鈥檚 entire organization cared one whit. It鈥檚 perfectly OK to rip off a dying man and steal his only chance for a vacation after we spent $15,000. What ever you do run from buying any Suzuki. If you get a lemon you鈥檙e screwed and no one there will care. It happened to us it can happen to you. |
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