Another "bought the wrong bike" thread

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

The other thing to decide is what type of bike you are ultimately going for , I never would have thought Lone Wolf would get an Adventure and it changed the guys life . There are people out there that love their V-stroms or Varaderos . There are others that love their Single Cylinder mid sized Trailies , I reckon you should really hammer the dealers , be a total pain and try absolutely tons of bikes , that will then boil down to what you are after and what suits the bill ..... then adjust wallet accordingly

+10000

What you want to get out of it is the first port of call for choosing a bike. My brief for my XT was something with ability to go pretty much anywhere (albeit I accepted it would be heavy to handle), but also the ability and comfort to do days on end of 80mph motorway to get to 'anywhere' whilst carrying tents and luggage. I also wanted it to be cheap enough to be continuously dropped without me crying about it. Simple enough to be fixed by any mechanic anywhere, using parts you can get anywhere, and with reliability, nothing complicated to go wrong.

The XT600E was actually the only bike that fitted the bill.

The thing is, I always was looking at faster bikes with the Versys, something with a bit more go and a bit more finesse. I have however, found that even on the Street Triple, its very easy to get into licence losing territory despite the wind being there to hold me back. When trying to keep it on the boil, I'm only in the middle of its range rather than wringing its neck like the Kawasaki. I think there's a lot to be said for middleweights and I dont necessarily agree with this bigger is better anymore. Of the people I ride or have ridden with, I think there's only a handful of those who have been genuinely a fair bit quicker including a couple off here. I tend to find that when I was on the Versys, I felt the bike was almost at its limits when I was riding it but I now find that I've found my limit on the Street Triple and the bike is still significantly better and faster than I'll ever be.

A 950ADV is tempting but think that would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The 950SM would probably be too much of a Hooligan tool and have me in the same predicament as I am now.

1200GS isnt my bag, tested one and found the engine not to my liking. Ive ridden it for about 4-5hours and couldnt get away with it. Mini Beemers dont appeal whatsoever

800XC is tempting but I dont want to stretch the budget further so wont be testing to avoid wanting one.

DRZ/CCM 400s - bit concerned these will be a bit too legless and short on power/ability/versatility

KTM 690 - heard a lot of issues with reliability on electrics with these. Apparently for a single theyre pretty peaky engines too although I've yet to ride one. Look fun and well positioned BHP wise for the weight.

DL/Transalp - neither inspire me in the looks department

Versys - Been there before and would like to find something else but finding it hard not to look back. Test ride required to see how much the Street has spoiled me.

I have me eye on the Enduro version of the 950 SM

Might be a bit old but ........ Africa Twin ?
Or KTM SM-T ?

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by Berlin

harshness is compression damping so two clicks less. Yoyo-ing is rebound. leave as it is it or increase if still doing it.

You should be able to get it handling really well over the bumps.

C

If your bike doesn't have clicks, and will allow ~2 turns adjustment, how much would you say 2 clicks is? 1/4, 1/2 of a turn?

Originally Posted by robchester

The thing is, I always was looking at faster bikes with the Versys, something with a bit more go and a bit more finesse. I have however, found that even on the Street Triple, its very easy to get into licence losing territory despite the wind being there to hold me back. When trying to keep it on the boil, I'm only in the middle of its range rather than wringing its neck like the Kawasaki. I think there's a lot to be said for middleweights and I dont necessarily agree with this bigger is better anymore. Of the people I ride or have ridden with, I think there's only a handful of those who have been genuinely a fair bit quicker including a couple off here. I tend to find that when I was on the Versys, I felt the bike was almost at its limits when I was riding it but I now find that I've found my limit on the Street Triple and the bike is still significantly better and faster than I'll ever be.

A 950ADV is tempting but think that would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The 950SM would probably be too much of a Hooligan tool and have me in the same predicament as I am now.

1200GS isnt my bag, tested one and found the engine not to my liking. Ive ridden it for about 4-5hours and couldnt get away with it. Mini Beemers dont appeal whatsoever

800XC is tempting but I dont want to stretch the budget further so wont be testing to avoid wanting one.

DRZ/CCM 400s - bit concerned these will be a bit too legless and short on power/ability/versatility

KTM 690 - heard a lot of issues with reliability on electrics with these. Apparently for a single theyre pretty peaky engines too although I've yet to ride one. Look fun and well positioned BHP wise for the weight.

DL/Transalp - neither inspire me in the looks department

Versys - Been there before and would like to find something else but finding it hard not to look back. Test ride required to see how much the Street has spoiled me.

sounds like you want one of those vtwins that suzuki do, you know the 650 versions... i cant for the life in me remember the name of them tho.

No Owen I fancy something with long suspenders and a lofty position

[Paul the 6th]

v strom?

Aye v strom thou. Canny bike. I put gsxr brakes on mine and road attack tyres. Also got rid of the dreaded fuel issues then it was a lovely bike.

Originally Posted by robchester

No Owen I fancy something with long suspenders and a lofty position

yeah ya do

Or what about one of the new Triumph Tigers ?