New To Me Motorcycle Considerations

[TrophyRider]

Try a Versys 650 LT. Jon SR is pretty short and gets along fine on one. I loved my Versys and still wish I had kept it. I'm sure Jon SR can be convinced (a beer or two, no Keystone, he's not Bill) to let you take a short test ride.


Jay

[brider]

Try a Versys 650 LT. Jon SR is pretty short and gets along fine on one. I loved my Versys and still wish I had kept it. I'm sure Jon SR can be convinced (a beer or two, no Keystone, he's not Bill) to let you take a short test ride.


Jay

Hey now!  I resemble that remark!  I have seen him drink one in a pinch.

[touringman]

That sounds like a plan to me Jay!! I'd love to take a ride on it. I wouldn't offer a Keystone. Do you know if he likes PBR? Don't worry, we'll sort the beer thing out. Are you guys coming to Big Lynn?

[TrophyRider]

That sounds like a plan to me Jay!! I'd love to take a ride on it. I wouldn't offer a Keystone. Do you know if he likes PBR? Don't worry, we'll sort the beer thing out. Are you guys coming to Big Lynn?

A PBR would probably meet his standards. They're not high, but there are standards.

[TrophyRider]

Try a Versys 650 LT. Jon SR is pretty short and gets along fine on one. I loved my Versys and still wish I had kept it. I'm sure Jon SR can be convinced (a beer or two, no Keystone, he's not Bill) to let you take a short test ride.


Jay

Hey now!  I resemble that remark!  I have seen him drink one in a pinch.

Must have been a momentary lapse in judgement since there is no way it was the last "beer" available on earth. 

[stevegrab]

Try a Versys 650 LT. Jon SR is pretty short and gets along fine on one. I loved my Versys and still wish I had kept it. I'm sure Jon SR can be convinced (a beer or two, no Keystone, he's not Bill) to let you take a short test ride.


Jay

Hey now!  I resemble that remark!  I have seen him drink one in a pinch.

Must have been a momentary lapse in judgement since there is no way it was the last "beer" available on earth. 

Last one available and cold?  I used to say anything cold and free but I've developed higher standards too.

[JimRRides]

With my 45hp '07 BMW F650GS (thumper), on two occasions during STAR I had the experience of rolling on the throttle all the way to the stop without having much, if anything, happen. But the rest of the truth is that it was ok even at that. I've gotten used to sub-50hp bikes, and that's what you'll find dominating my garage. They've taken me all over the country including one year in the Iron Butt Rally, a bunch of STARs and other HSTA/MSTA events, and tons of day to day riding.


If we'd all concentrate on being better riders of the small(ish) bikes in our garages, we'd find we don't need all that silly wasted hp that most of the time never gets used. That's just my opinion.

I agree we don't all need 200HP superbikes or would be able to use that power, but sub 50HP bikes? No thanks...my first bike (98 Suzuki Bandit 600) had about 80HP, next bike was a CBR600F4, with about 90. Of my stable now the Ninja 650R is the lowest with about 70 HP. The VFR and Sprint are both around 100HP.

At one extreme I have a "massaged" 2009 R1 that dynoed at 194 hp, and at the other end I have a Zuma 125 that rocks at about 9 hp (yep, single digit). I own a couple of other bikes as well, different missions/different bikes. I suppose at altitude I'd lose 20-30 percent of the Zuma's power, so then instead of 60 mph top speed (yep, my stock Zuma will hit 60) I'd be stuck with 40 mph or so. I ride the heck out of the Zuma around here, rarely roll out one of the big bikes for anything around town. Quick, fast, big trunk under the seat, park just about anywhere, avg. more than 80 mpg, what's not to like? Proud to be scooter trash, I am. If you can work the bike/ride why worry about the big/little hp number?

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[JimRRides]

Added anecdote, I have a riding buddy who owned a Ducati 1198 and a Suzuki DL 1000, and he often showed up on the SV650 he bought for his wife. We took some big trips with him riding the SV650 and he loved it. He found it relatively easy to lower it for his wife w/o compromising handling. I have no idea what hp/torque was for it but he or his wife would easily hang with us no matter what we were riding. Maybe you could gap her in a long straight but she'd be right off your back tire before you exited the next corner.

 I'd vote for an SV650, Syd.

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[HawkGTRider]

Randy Logan and I have ridden together for a BUNCH of miles over the years. He sold his big bike when his spouse was certain she'd never again be a passenger and bought an SV650. After a few years, he traded that for a V-Strom, and has had several of them since.

For health reasons, he's now quit riding, but he always rode the hound out of those V-Stroms. And the only time he had trouble keeping up with anything was a trip across Texas where we encountered near 40 mph headwinds. My bigger bike, a BMW R1100RS, shrugged off the wind, maintained the 80 mph pace we were doing, and my fuel economy dropped from a typical 42-44 to 37 mpg. To maintain our pace, Randy had to downshift and rev the heck out of the V-Strom leading to his fuel economy dropping from mid 50s to the upper 20s! Other than that, his V-Stroms were great bikes and took him wherever he wanted to go at any speed and road condition you can imagine.

[stevegrab]

Different strokes for different folks. SV650s are nice bikes and probably more in the 65-75 HP range.

I've always been more of a recreational rider than a commuting rider, but can see the appeal of the scooter for daily getting around.