Re: Last Bike?

 

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 17:28:10 -0800 (PST), BryanUT


Interesting question. My first thought was I'd want something I
haven't had before. I don't care about brand names. In my opinion they
all make good bikes, for the purpose they were intended.

Maybe a dual purpose or a sport bike. I haven't done a lot of off road
riding and that might be fun. Nor have I ridden a performance machine.
I think my riding skills are far better today than ever before and it
would be fun to step it up a notch.

Then I got to thinking, it is my last bike, what if I don't like it or
it is not a good fit for me. That would be a problem. A big problem.

So I am back to something I know, which would be a cruiser or a
touring model. What is there in that genre that would get my juices
flowing?  The Victory Cross Country has recently caught my eye. Still
little Jetsony in the styling but a good looking bike. And I like what
I am hearing these days about the comfort and performance of the
Victory line.

Now if Yamaha would put that new V-Max engine in a better balanced
Venture frame, the decision would be simple. But they are not about to
do that.

Going back to something I know, I know my Road King and am very happy
with it. It fits me well and when I clean it up it looks like it is
right off the showroom floor. It is a little under powered but a 95
kit and a little head work will fix that.

At the end of the day, if the bike I have right now was also my last
bike, I wouldn't be disappointed. Given your hypothetical question
this might be the boring answer, but it is the truth.

So, if I can't have them all, I'll stick with what I have.

 


Feel the same about my ST1300. When I consider my age and state of
(deteriorating) health, it could very well be my last bike. If so, I won't
complain.

 

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 22:17:00 -0500, "Martin Walker"


Well if that's the case I hope you ride it for a very long time.

 



<Points at SS in sig>

The old ones are surprisingly easy to fettle, you know.

But overall, I suppose, an airhead BMW GS.

--
BMW K1100LT  Ducati 750SS  Honda CB400F  Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER (currently Beaving)  Damn, back to five bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

 


I'm looking at one of these right now.  http://powersports.honda.com/2010/N=
T700V.aspx

Downsides are that it's somewhat heavy, mildly underpowered, and more
than somewhat expensive.

Upsides are that it's been out in Europe for quite a while now and has
done quite well there, it's dead-bang reliable, comfortable, easy to
maintain, doesn't hurt the eyes any, comes with 10 liters of built-in
cargo space plus whatever you might want to add, and at 31.7" the seat
height is circa 1" lower than your 600.

They're supposed to hit town any day now (according to Honda) and once
I've had a chance to sit on one and kick the tires I may well trade in
my aging VFR.

I always thought the VFR would be my "last bike", but I never figured
on lasting as long as I have either and now after three or four hours
on the VFR the relatively low bars are causing a back-ache right
between my shoulder blades.