Given these choices of next bike, what would you choose?

[tt_four]

You mentioned the hotbutt on the Striple I wrote about.

People talk about exhaust heat on my bike. The rear cylinder is right between your legs and the rear header is right behind the frame. The right side of the frame and seat get pretty toasty, but it's usually not an issue unless you're sitting still for way too long. Either way, every time it warms up in summer, I just think 'this will feel really good on a cold fall day'. It's a little easier on my bike though because when the frame warms up, I can just pull my leg out a little bit. You obviously have to be more dedicated to want to ride around on a sportbike standing up just because the seat is hot.

[Twisted]

Good write up, Twisted.

I'd say my legs might fit if I drop ten or so kilos 



GS, Honda 919, Ducati Monster. Hoped it would have turned out better than this. Oh well.

I gotta say... after spending some time around the Monster and a bit of time at Ducati in Brissy and hearing/seeing some of the owners coming/going with their bikes, the overall sound - engine and dry clutch - has kinda grown on me. Maybe sitting on a new Monster helped 

GS and Honda 919 (CB900 Hornet) for Comparison...



I've been offered a spin on an SV1000. Might be a while before I can take up this offer as I don't see the rider on rides too often. But it's on the table so...

Michael

geesh that monster looks sexy. A 93 model as opposed to the 2009 GS and the monster somehow looks more modern lol.

[mister]

Well... it really is a 93 monster compared to an 89 GS - cause they haven't changed much since then 

But I know what you mean.

Oddly, I think the only change on the new Monster is the headlight - says me not being a monster connoisseur. 

Michael

[madjak30]

@Mister: I think you nailed it with your emotional purchase theory...for me though it isn't really the look (although the simple ruggedness of the MT-01 is appealing now, I really didn't like the look when I first saw it  )...it was the sound and feel of the bike that sold me...to me it is all about the rawness of the bike...I like the shaking at idle and the "Kodo" or the soul beat of the bike, that's what puts the smile on my face...the handling and the braking is a very nice bonus...the look of the bike has grown on me, I don't know if it would have if I didn't like the sound but now the more modern and sleek looking bikes are too generic I guess...like you said, they all look the same...and it has never really been about performance...0-60mph times, 1/4 mile, top speed...I don't care, if it is fast great but not a big deal either way...I like the fact that wind won't slow you down, or a steep hill...or god forbid both...with the MT-01, none are an issue...is it the fastest bike, definately not...does it accellerate the fastest, nope...but it does okay on both fronts, since I don't speed and I just want to be able to beat most cars off the lights (had an SUV beat me on my GS off the light, wouldn't care if it was a sporty car but a truck?)

I sat on the MT-01 in the show room and it was comfortable (similar to the Bandit) and I always liked the look of the under seat exhaust of the Honda 919 or the Yamaha FZ6...so that was a plus, but I did some research on the net and checked out the sound of the bike on YouTube...I liked the sound of cruisers and decided to take it for a ride...then I was sold...if I'd had the money in October, it would be in my garage right now...I even told the salesman I would be back on Monday to buy the bike...I'm glad I waited since they will be hungrier for a sale now, but I have to wait until the snow clears from the street since I don't want to pay storage for the bike and I want to ride it home...I also have another bike to consider...an '07 MT-01 with 8000kms from a private owner...we'll see how things shape up in Feb...

Later.

[tt_four]

Oddly, I think the only change on the new Monster is the headlight - says me not being a monster connoisseur.  

The new ones look pretty similar, but they changed the exhaust, put those air vents through the gas tank cover, and then like you said the headlight. Most of it looks a little gimmicky in my opinion, and I think the older bike looks a little more..... serious? not sure what the right word is. The subframe and seat on the newer bike just aren't doing it for me. It looks like they made changes just for the sake of making changes.





and no matter how much manufactures think they're making the tail lines cleaner by not mounting the passenger pegs on the subframe, those massive double rearsets are just an abortion and need to be stopped. If you need to mount the passenger pegs off of the rider pegs, make the whole setup out of steel so it matches the frame. Old Buell tubers were like that and they were much less of an eyesore.

[madjak30]

I found another used MT-01...the guy wants to get the Super Tenere...it's an '07 Black with 8000kms...he sent me a few pics...






He says it has a corbin seat and aftermarket slip ons...and a Power Commander that has been dyno tuned...asking $8000 for the works...that's only $650 more than the asking price for the '06 with over 14000kms on the clock...sounds like a decent deal to me....me likey!!   

Later.

[mister]

Plus, if he's riding with cruisers he ain't flogging it. I think the tires give away a Lot. Are there melted like bits on the side on zero chicken strips? Is the tire looking a little square-ish from commuting? Any guess which bike's been ridden hard?

Michael

[Twisted]

Like the tyres on that speed triple Mister? You could tell the previous owner was not scared of leaning the bike over there. And you could tell that 900 Hornet was a commuter for sure.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Honestly im not to fond of any of those choices, so id respectfully have to say that none of tehm would be my choice. ( ergos mainly)

[Twisted]

Honestly im not to fond of any of those choices, so id respectfully have to say that none of tehm would be my choice. ( ergos mainly)

Madjaks choices or all the bikes mentioned in thread?

[Twisted]

Oddly, I think the only change on the new Monster is the headlight - says me not being a monster connoisseur.  

The new ones look pretty similar, but they changed the exhaust, put those air vents through the gas tank cover, and then like you said the headlight. Most of it looks a little gimmicky in my opinion, and I think the older bike looks a little more..... serious? not sure what the right word is. The subframe and seat on the newer bike just aren't doing it for me. It looks like they made changes just for the sake of making changes.





and no matter how much manufactures think they're making the tail lines cleaner by not mounting the passenger pegs on the subframe, those massive double rearsets are just an abortion and need to be stopped. If you need to mount the passenger pegs off of the rider pegs, make the whole setup out of steel so it matches the frame. Old Buell tubers were like that and they were much less of an eyesore.

Yes the later model Ducati Monsters seem to be a bit gimmicky as you say. The earlier models are the ones I like. It seems they got there mojo on where as the later ones have lost it even though they out class them performance wise.

[mister]

Like the tyres on that speed triple Mister? You could tell the previous owner was not scared of leaning the bike over there. And you could tell that 900 Hornet was a commuter for sure.

Yeah, that's what made me think of it. The tires on the S3 were hammered, abused, an indication the bike has been run hard, on the edge.

Funny, you see some ads for bikes and they say "Only ridden on weekend" or "Not used as commuter" as if being used as a Commuter is a bad thing. I actually prefer it used as a commuter cause it tells me the bike has been treated more gently.

Michael

[tt_four]

I actually prefer it used as a commuter cause it tells me the bike has been treated more gently.

That's a tough judgment call. I used my triumph as a commuter and that bike got beat on pretty hard. Keep in mind that even though it was my commuter/transportation, it still got out for just as many fun/weekend rides too(technically double duty, unless you see he has another motorcycle in his garage for fun rides), and the commuting meant that it was out in rain and on salty roads, sat out in the rain for hours at a time when I was in work, sat idling in a lot of traffic, and didn't get cleaned as much as a weekend bike would, because it's tough to keep up with a bike that gets filthy from riding in the rain every few days. When I first had that ninja 250 and I used it for transportation all it took was one year of riding because I had to replace everything, brakes, sprockets, chain. It cost me $1000 in work just for it to pass inspection.

Now if you get someone who only commutes in decent weather, and doesn't do much with the bike aside from that, it's probably in good condition. I'm just pointing out that someone saying they commuted on a bike, in no way needs to mean that all they did was commute on it. My ideal situation would be finding a bike that was owned by a 45 year old guy with 2 kids that just took it for weekend rides. I don't mind a bike that's been ridden hard. You're not gonna hurt a bike by revving it and leaning it over in turns. I just don't need someone careless who's gonna be abusing the clutch, skipping oil changes, and starving the engine of oil from too many long wheelies. My other idea situation is a an 18 year old kid who bought the bike 3 months ago and already crashed trying to do something stupid. He's completely given up on riding because he watched too many starboyz videos on youtube and crashed trying to pick up his back wheel. Yes I know the bike is gonna be abused, but I'd be willing to put up with 1-2k miles of abuse and some cracked/scratched/broken plastic to pick up his brand new bike for half of what it's worth.

I'm always curious too, when I go on geicos website and fill out the info to get a quote on a bike it always asks me if it's going to be used for commuting, joyrides, and the other choices, which one they consider to be better than the others.

[mister]

I agree it's a judgement call. Based on Where they live, Where they work, the amount of traffic such a commute would see, the type of bike, the condition of the tires, etc. But I never see ads that say "Only used for commuting". I only see commuting referenced in an ad if it says "never used as a commuter". The implication is that is must, therefore, be like the other ads which say "only ridden on weekends".

Of course, my opinion is based upon the city in which I live, the general amount of traffic seen in the mornings and how badly I view a commuting run. In this city you can be from just about anywhere in the suburbs to the city center in around half an hour thanks to the motorways, highways, and long stretches of faster paced roads that criss cross the place. So I don't see commuting as a burden on the bike.

I love the ads that say "mature aged rider" or "retired rider" or "female rider" cause they try to imply, without actually stating it, that the bike has not been thrashed. But just cause it is ridden by a mature aged retired female, or any combination of, doesn't mean it hasn't been thrashed and spent its life at redline. I know some Mature Age riders I'd never buy a bike from, and some women who have babied their bike to the point of being detrimental to it.

I guess we all want the previous owner to have had some Mechanical Sympathy for the bike. And we use the wording in the ads as a pre-screen to that Before we go see the bike. So an ad that reads, "mature age rider, sole owner, bought from new" tell us we won't get nasty surprises from an unknown previous owner we are unable to ask questions of, was ridden by someone other than a learner and has most probably been looked after. If it has low mileage for its age and we combine the above, we can be pretty sure it was only ridden on weekends, occasionally. And as an occasional bike, not likely flogged during the ride.

But if we see an ad for an R6, with carbon fiber exhaust, ohlins everywhere, allow levers, blah blah blah, we don't think "Hey, he's just doping it up nice" we think "squid, probably had the guts flogged out of it."

So yeah, overall it's a judgement call based on a whole range of factors including the Type of bike.

(When I say, mature doesn't mean learner, that's not always the case but a made assumption. Guy at work picked up a Kawasaki Nomad for cheap after the Mature Age Rider had, got his bike license, got the Nomad when he was able, rode it for around 1500 clicks before having an off, which scared him and caused him to park up the bike for a couple years before selling it. But even still we tend to think Mature Age means Mature Riding Style = Mechanical Sympathy.  )

But now that you mention Commute vs Weekend Riding, I'll visit an online quote system and come back with the result...

Later...

Ok. Details I put in were: XJR 1300, 2005. 35yr rider with 10+yr riding experience, rating 1, garaged at night with immobilizer fitted.

Commute Premium = $238.51
Weekend Premium = $203.61
Less  4 days prem = $215.24

Interestingly, when I changed the Experience to only 3yrs, it gave me the same prem for "less than 4 days". When I changed to Daily, it gave me the same premium. So going by This insurer there is no diff between a fully licensed rider with 3yr experience and one with more then 10. BUT, when I changed the Age of the rider to 42 (picked 42 cause that's the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything - plus - I wasn't sure if it would make a difference at 40 or 41, but figured at 42 it would certainly figure a new category), the premium dropped from $238.51 to $216.33 for daily riding, even though the 42 year rider had the same 3 yr experience.

So it seems this insurer is more about Days on the bike and Age rather than years riding. Interesting.

Michael

[Twisted]

Don't forget "Highway miles only". "No stop, start riding". "Country bike"

All this tells me is the brakes had wanna be bloody good on it then.

Oh and I have seen ads that say " Used as a daily commuter". "Great/perfect commuter!". Why? Maybe they're implying to the intentional buyer that you can ride it to work. I have seen these ads mainly on SV650's. So I doubt you would see the same thing written in an ad for say a Ducati Monster.

http://www.bikesales.com.au/all-bikes/private/details.aspx?Cr=4&R=9655599&keywords=&trecs=24&__sid=12CB27B73E2E&__Ns=p_IsPoa_Int32|0||p_RankSort_Int32|1||p_HasPhotos_Int32|1||p_Make_String|0||p_Model_String|0||p_YearMade_Int32|1||p_PriceSort_Decimal|1||p_PhotoCount_Int32|1&__Qpb=true&__Nne=15&__No=15&seot=1&__N=1432%20604%201430%201429%201428%204294967268%204294966919%2079&silo=1400


http://www.bikesales.com.au/all-bikes/private/details.aspx?Cr=0&R=9652198&keywords=&trecs=24&__sid=12CB27B73E2E&__Ns=p_IsPoa_Int32|0||p_RankSort_Int32|1||p_HasPhotos_Int32|1||p_Make_String|0||p_Model_String|0||p_YearMade_Int32|1||p_PriceSort_Decimal|1||p_PhotoCount_Int32|1&__Qpb=true&__Nne=15&__No=15&seot=1&__N=1432%20604%201430%201429%201428%204294967268%204294966919%2079&silo=1400

[tt_four]

I think I put the most emphasis on the actual ad itself, and not the way the person tries to describe it. If they can't write a complete sentence, if they don't understand what punctuation is for, if something fishy is going on in the pictures, I tend to stay away. I'm not talking about a typo or two, but if it's the person who you can tell decided they've made enough progress in english class once they hit 4th grade, then I'm not gonna trust them to take care of my potential next motorcycle. Even after that once I went to check out a bike I would put a lot of emphasis on the conversation with the owner. I'm not gonna be too worried about scratches or anything like that. Anyone can make a mistake, and motorcycles are made for having fun on. As much as we pick on HD riders for spending more time waxing than riding, I'm not gonna give someone a hard time for selling a bike that looks well used. If you can show me you have common sense I'll probably see comfortable enough. If I show up and you're wearing a wife beater and your pants are a foot too low, with your poor dog chained up in the yard, I'm out of there.

Over the top are the kids who post pictures of their bike while it still has the stunt/crash cage on it. Give you credit for being honest, but that's just lazy, haha.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Honestly im not to fond of any of those choices, so id respectfully have to say that none of tehm would be my choice. ( ergos mainly)

Madjaks choices or all the bikes mentioned in thread?

mainly teh original 4 choices. i am fond of the gs tho. ( why im still here ) i am a harley guy by heart. BUTi dont hate on anything. looked at an m109? a largish cruiser type bike, low seat height. But i cannot flatfoot it. cause of my skinny ass, and the wide seat. but it is mega comfy. but teh seat issue killed it for me

[Twisted]

No way you could lower it? Seems a shame to give it up if it can be easily rectified?
Largish cruiser?
Wow, just had a look at a few pictures of one and its a pretty damn big bike. Hate to replace rears on it lol.

[madjak30]

Yup, big bike...and I'm not small...the M90 is very similar...725lbs curb weight...the main thing about that bike that is a PITA (pain in the a$$) is adjusting the preload, you have to remove the rear tire to adjust it......seems kinda stupid to me...you would think that if it is that hidden they would put a remote adjuster on it, similar to the V-Stroms...I think the M109R is another 40-50lbs though...

I am pretty much sold on the MT-01 now...the bike show is in a couple of weeks, and I will be going to check out that '07 that I mentioned...might just rent a trailer and bring me a new toy home...or park it in my parents garage until I can get it in spring...

Later.

[Twisted]

Would look great as a centre piece in the living room if you are pressed for storage. The wife would "love" that