Police presence on test rides

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by ogden

*points at sig*

The future is orange. Really. I've just spent ten days belting it round twisty roads in the Pyrenees and the south of France, and even with full luggage it was absolutely staggering.

Yeah I'd love one, but everyone I talk to seems to have similar fuel consumption to an offshore powerboat, fine for fun but not justifiable day to day.

(not even mentioning the purchase price in first place!)

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

But I say again find me something that's as good that is anywhere near as good all round.

No, you don't say again, because that's not what you said first time.

You said 'twisty road' not 'all round'.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

No, you don't say again, because that's not what you said first time.

You said 'twisty road' not 'all round'.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

anywhere near as good and fun round a twisty back road than an SV with surprisingly few pounds thrown at the suspension and still being near perfect to ride to work on as well.

Really?

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I keep looking for a replacement for it and failing.

Tuono?

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Really?

Yep, I don't see the words 'all round' in there anywhere.

Whether or not a bike is perfect to ride to work is entirely subjective, depending upon where you live and where you work. What if your commute is all twisty roads? Then the SV is not the best bike.

[Nobbylad]

I thought this thread was about police on test rides?

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Tuono?

Brilliant bike, but too big, being a thou means you can never thrash it. At least I don't have the skills to, without either having to find big open twisties (with the police presence 'cos that's where all the other thou type people are ), or getting banned. And I enjoy wringing the neck off my bikes.

Also got the same hilarious fuel consumption that means I couldn't use it except for fun.

Something like a triumph street triple seems to fit the bill but they let some poncy art school faggot design it with no thought to bungeeing a load of kit to the back...

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Yep, I don't see the words 'all round' in there anywhere.

Whether or not a bike is perfect to ride to work is entirely subjective, depending upon where you live and where you work. What if your commute is all twisty roads? Then the SV is not the best bike.

Not many people happen to work on the other end of a road they ride for fun. Lucky swines.
Anyway I am sure you can take the intended meaning of my previous post rather than the literal...

So what is the best bike for that? I wouldn't want to spend a fortune every day getting to work. Or destroy a chain and set of tyres every week like on tuono!

I don't know what the best bike is because I haven't ridden them all, what I'm debating is that the SV is far from being unbeatable.

The reason you are struggling to replace your SV IMO is because that's what you had, so you have modded the hell out of it to make it the best bike for you, new suspension, new brakes, corbin seat, top end power mods, etc. If you were prepared to mod another bike to the same extent to iron out all it's faults, you could have achieved the same.

The SV is a budget all rounder. It's not the best at any one thing, including being an all rounder! (though it is with a few mods perhaps the best you can buy on a limited budget)

[ogden]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Yeah I'd love one, but everyone I talk to seems to have similar fuel consumption to an offshore powerboat, fine for fun but not justifiable day to day.

(not even mentioning the purchase price in first place!)

Mine does about 120 to reserve normally, 150 if I ride like a nun and 80 if I'm solely doing stop-go cross-town commuting. About the same distance as my gixer, albeit with a couple of extra litres.

Crunching that numbers those come out at 35mpg, 42mpg and 23mpg respectively.

As to the price, it's about on a par with a Triumph Tiger, which is £6k less than a Multistrada and £2k less than a 1200GS, and the SMT comes with all the flash bits (WP, Marchesini and Brembo) as standard so there's no need to throw the entire Busters catalogue at it to see what sticks. They seem to hold their value too - I bought a new one because it was almost cheaper than buying a used one.

Now, reliability, that's another matter...

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Personally I think you're short sighted with that.

Plenty "test pilot tossers" have said to their mates "wow that GSZXYZ1034ccRR went like bloody stink" and that's got them a sale. Maybe not as directly as you like but maybe some people on here have been inspired to go look at something new they wouldn't otherwise have done.

I don't think so. You could think that bike A is a rocketship and handles like it's on rails and yet Ogden could get on it and say it goes like a misfiring SV handles like a Dutch barge. A seat that feels like you're having your ar5e cheeks stroked by hordes of nubile teenagers could feel like a bed of nails to me. I had one bloke wanted to send his mate to test ride an ER6N because he was busy, I said no but I'll wait until the prospective buyer had time to do it himself. He came down eventually, tested and bought the bike because it was just what he needed - later on his mate rode it once he'd taken delivery and hated it.

What's good for one is not good for all, which is why I take absolutely no notice of what's written in the press or by any other reviewer about any bike, I'd much rather ride one myself and make my own judgement.