Biker's Lounge Thread

Bat · 18 Feb 2010 at 17:02

Can any of you guys recommend some bikes for me to consider? I currently have a 1989 Yammy XT600 Tenere which is fine, but old and slow. Before that I had a Hornet 900 which was great in all respects except the size. I'm 6' 3" with very long legs and the first time I did a long journey on the Hornet I completely went off it due to feeling so cramped.

I've had a Diversion and a CB450 in the past as well, both served a purpose. What I really want is something with the grunt of the Hornet 9 combined with the size and comfort of the XT and ideally for less than £2k. I've considered the TDM900 but they appear to be pretty rare!

Any other suggestions?

Cheers,

fish · 18 Feb 2010 at 17:48

triumph tiger 955 would be pretty decent i reckon

Red_knight · 18 Feb 2010 at 18:29

DavieCramb01 said:
I have had mines out through all the weather.

Going to put it in garage and strip down body work and clean everything realy well got some fibre glass work to do as well

I do ride in all weathers, but when riding for fun rather than work or SERV nice weather is a bonus.

Bat · 18 Feb 2010 at 18:35

fish said:
triumph tiger 955 would be pretty decent i reckon

Good call. I lust after the Tiger 1050, but it's clearly over budget. Reckon they are around for <£2k in half decent nick?

Sagalout · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:50

They tend to hold their values so I doubt you find a nice one in budget to be honest. You might find an older steamer, but they are almost collectable now! The 955 is a great bike - I had one for a while and the engine and build quality was superb.

As another recomendation, I did see a mint looking TDM850 on eBay a couple days ago with a BIN of £1700ish

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-TDM-85...Motorcycles?hash=item414d03b9ce#ht_1316wt_948

hotdog · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:52

anything KTM

fish · 18 Feb 2010 at 20:57

Bat said:
Good call. I lust after the Tiger 1050, but it's clearly over budget. Reckon they are around for <£2k in half decent nick?

I lust after the sprint 1050. if you look around enough you may find one within budget which has not been beaten about. I saw a couple of sprint Rses which were in good nick when i was searching last year. It is a buyers market in the cold months for bikes so some haggling can be done.

And to the above post you missed out the will blow up at any given moment off the end

Bat · 18 Feb 2010 at 21:16

Thanks guys. TDM 850 is a good suggestion too. The Triumphs definitely seem to hold their value really well so Japanese is probably where I'll stick.

I might run the XT through the summer as I've recently put tyres on it and treat myself in the autumn as I suspect prices are creeping up already.

VFR_KID · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:05

Had a small fall yesterday. was in the local retail park.

To say this place is a free for all is an understatement. Crazyest place around here.

IM turning out the car park to one of the little roads and some clown walks out. im only doing enough to keep feet on pegs. Clown keeps walking so i have to jam brakes on not to hit him. Had my new race boots on and my feet were not budging from the peg then stalled so down i went. Was shouting at the guy calling him everything. he just kept going watch me fall and walked off.

Managed to get the old beast back up first time and no damage thank god. was ready to smash him one with my lid

Bat · 22 Feb 2010 at 12:45

DavieCramb01 said:
Had a small fall yesterday. was in the local retail park.

To say this place is a free for all is an understatement. Crazyest place around here.

IM turning out the car park to one of the little roads and some clown walks out. im only doing enough to keep feet on pegs. Clown keeps walking so i have to jam brakes on not to hit him. Had my new race boots on and my feet were not budging from the peg then stalled so down i went. Was shouting at the guy calling him everything. he just kept going watch me fall and walked off.

Managed to get the old beast back up first time and no damage thank god. was ready to smash him one with my lid

Glad to hear you and the bike are in one piece mate!

VFR_KID · 22 Feb 2010 at 13:55

yea was just a slow fall was more my pride that got it.

Just amazes me how people walk by and look.

Bat · 22 Feb 2010 at 13:56

It's because bikers are baby killing savages

bakes0310 · 22 Feb 2010 at 16:38

I went out to look at the new Honda VFR1200F what a nice bike, i guess it has to at £11000 :eek:

Heres a link to the bike:
http://www.feelvfr.com/en_GB/pages/mainpage

Draeger · 22 Feb 2010 at 16:53

God!!!! That is one ugly looking hunk of metal!!. :eek:

VFR_KID · 22 Feb 2010 at 16:56

BLEUCH cannot stand new VFR.

Looks concept

bakes0310 · 22 Feb 2010 at 17:08

Draeger said:
God!!!! That is one ugly looking hunk of metal!!.

The front looks horrible, but the back looks nice along with the engine, but its whats inside that counts

Draeger · 22 Feb 2010 at 17:14

Each to his own.

For me personally I have to say that looks and aesthetics play a big part in choosing a bike so no matter how good the engine is I just couldn't bring myself to part with the cash for something like the new VFR 12. Nothing against Honda's but they can sometimes look a wee bit bland.

bakes0310 · 22 Feb 2010 at 17:59

Draeger said:
Each to his own.

For me personally I have to say that looks and aesthetics play a big part in choosing a bike so no matter how good the engine is I just couldn't bring myself to part with the cash for something like the new VFR 12. Nothing against Honda's but they can sometimes look a wee bit bland.

Thinking about it your right looks are quite important for picking bikes, out of curiosity what do you think of the Hornet CB600FA....careful how you answer as ive just bought one two weeks ago :mad:

Luke · 22 Feb 2010 at 19:40

Bat said:
Can any of you guys recommend some bikes for me to consider? I currently have a 1989 Yammy XT600 Tenere which is fine, but old and slow. Before that I had a Hornet 900 which was great in all respects except the size. I'm 6' 3" with very long legs and the first time I did a long journey on the Hornet I completely went off it due to feeling so cramped.

I've had a Diversion and a CB450 in the past as well, both served a purpose. What I really want is something with the grunt of the Hornet 9 combined with the size and comfort of the XT and ideally for less than £2k. I've considered the TDM900 but they appear to be pretty rare!

Any other suggestions?

Cheers,

Try a Suzuki DL650/1000 (V-Strom). Upright traillie but with the same engines as the SV650/1000. I had the 1000 and it was brilliant, but from what I've heard it's not much more powerful than the far cheaper DL650.
I'm 6'1" and quite 'robust' and I found it very comfortable and quick enough for me.

Draeger · 22 Feb 2010 at 20:33

Bat said:
Can any of you guys recommend some bikes for me to consider?

Stretch a tiny bit more cash out and you could have a Multistrada :-

I have a hankering for one myself. Mate has one and it's a cracking ride, I've had a few goes on it. Seriously quick bit of kit and it handles a whole lot better than you would think. As far as reliability goes, mate has had no issues at all with it, covered around 30k miles on his and gets it serviced at reasonable cost by a local specialist. Plus they look the dogs danglies.

That said, I have been recently harking back to my youth and I'm thinking of grabbing something like this for a weekend toy :-

Even if it is just for the smell of 2 Stroke.

***Biker's Lounge Thread***

Biker's Lounge Thread