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Seriously Considering An 03 Triumph Sprint St


Gixxus Christ!

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I call front in the caterpillar.

 

The FZ is a fantastic bike.  It will do anything you need it to, and the Gen1 models are getting very reasonably priced.

i told you not to eat the cuttlefish

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One thing I need to keep in mind is this will be replacing the shadow, that my fiance has to be comfortable on the back. I can get a top box/backrest for the sprint and that should make her happy, what about the fz? She's not a skinny girl, she's got curves and hips like a woman and has never felt comfortable on the back of a sport bike.

 

You "probably" won't find passenger comfort on any sport tour platform this side of an FJR or C14 without a seat swap and drop pegs.  Of course this probably depends on your wife2be and how long legged/flexible/iron-butted she is :dunno:

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My wife has ridden several thousand miles on the back of my FZ and says that it's not too bad.  I've got a Corbin seat and a Givi rear box with a backrest that makes things much nicer for her, and we've done some 4+ hour stints loaded with camping gear that have been ok.

 

My image is that the Gen 1 bikes are a bit more comfortable than the Gen 2 but either one is going to be miles above what you'd find on a supersport bike.

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My wife and I do some decent day trips via fz1. It's great. There's a ton more room , for the passenger. On the sprint we could only do 100 miles or so, and she constantly smashed me into the tank.

One thing I will say about my sprint was that the fit and finish was outstanding. The paint was awesome, the fairing fit was great. It was a joy to wrench on in that aspect.

I.P is exactly right. If your willing to spend the wrench time , it can be very rewarding. I loved it until i waited forever for some parts and that's when Trudy and I parted ways.

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Sorry I can't afford a bike new or nice enough to meet your approval. Pitch in a few grand and maybe I can.

All bikes have issues eventually. I havent heard of any specific failure areas outside of the starter sprag gear and the wheel and suspension linkage bearings. Im a professional mechanic and don't mind putting in the maintenance hours. I need a bike I can ride right now and I don't want to drive across the state to shop for it. If I don't like the sprint I'll sell it.

 

Sorry Sam, wasn't meaning or my intentions to come across as an asshole. What is your price-range, and the FZ1 as mentioned would be a hard ride to beat, even if you had to pay just a little bit more than you wanted to. Good luck, I am sure you will find something that makes you smile.

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Its cool pokey. My budget is going to be around $3500 I'm guessing. The only thing that scares me about the fz1 is 2nd gear going out. I remember that being a problem for the old fzr....figured they would have solved it by now....

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You probably won't go wrong with any of these sport touring bikes. They are by nature fun to ride, and they are set up for long distance touring. No one of them is perfect for everyone. When I was looking for one, I would occasionally come across some reasonably priced FJRs. I saw a couple in the 4k to 5k price range. The FJR has been around since 2003. Good Luck on finding one that fits your needs.

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I would love an fjr but they are hard to find and slightly out of my price range. Going to give the fz1 a serious look along with the sprint and maybe the zrx. The wifey would probably like the magna the most, comfy seat and backrest but I have my suspicions about the first gen vf motor, they suffer from cam bearing wear from poor head oiling and if its anything like the vf700 magna, any minor repair involves taking half the motor apart. Still, its on the cheap end of my budget and would leave me lots of money for bookers and blow....

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I'd still take an FZ all things being equal, but damn that Bandit is nice, especially with all the hard bags.  It's been a long time since I've ridden one, but those things are torque monsters for sure and dead reliable if I remember correctly.

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Going to give the fz1 a serious look along with the sprint and maybe the zrx.

 

 

Ah, yes, three bikes I've either seriously considered buying or I've bought something very similar. You, sir, are clearly a man of impeccable taste. My $0.02: In my experience, the 955 engine is underrated. My Speed Triple has 92k on it and is now in semi-retirement, has needed basically no work at all and I'm a lousy mechanic, so no credit goes to me. Just ask anyone who knows me. So clearly it lasts and it's a fun and torquey motor. Very nearly pulled the trigger on both an FZ1 and a ZRX and rode lots of miles on borrowed versions of both. I might give the ZRX a slight nod for 2-up riding, but you can't go wrong with a gen-one FZ1. I am a little less enamored of the Bandit. I did a 1,000-mile day on one once and my opinion is probably colored by the fact that I was riding one of the infamous early oil-burning models. 

 

Really, the ONLY hesitation I'd have about the Sprint, for your purposes, is 2-up comfort.

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Yeah, and if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. I love the idea of the sprint, and maybe I'd replace my TL with one, but I'm leaning more towards a sport-standard to replace the cruiser for 2-up riding. Ideally I would buy a swiss army bike that did it all: commuting, weekend zips through the twisties and comfy 2-up cruising but idk if such a beast exists, let alone in my price range. If the fz1 has enough seat and I can put on a baackrest or top box relatively cheap and easily then I would probably go with it vs the circa 1986 designed engine of the bandit. I must ride them all I guess.

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I loves these so much, and those hard cases can come off if you like. These are damn rockets and dead reliable!!!!

 

 

http://motorcycles.smartcarguide.com/listing/19750320/

 

http://motorcycles.smartcarguide.com/listing/19839797/

 

http://motorcycles.smartcarguide.com/listing/20164597/

Edited by Pokey
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