Motorcycle dilemma

[El Karacho1647545492]

So I'm currently facing a little bit of a dilemma. I love and dislike my current bike, which I've not even had for a year. 2004 BMW R1200C, a small-medium cruiser. I like it because it's unique, it's easy to ride, it's comfortable (for the most part), and it was cheap. There's the rub; it was a gift from my uncle. He can't ride any more so instead of selling it, he gave it to me. It's not been his baby or anything, he switched bikes somewhat often, but he really did love this bike. Prior to this I had a money pit Triumph Trophy 1200 which I enjoyed riding more than this, but it wasn't as comfortable, wasn't as good on longer rides, and always was broken.

 

So I'm trying to come up with a solution to my conflicted feelings about this bike, and whether or not I should sell/trade. My basic pros/cons are as follows:

 

pro:

- I own it

- sentimental value

- comfy

- funky style, unique

- it was the James Bond bike from Tomorrow Never Dies and I'm super into Bond movies

- my fiancée can fit on the back

- nice features (heated grips, integral ABS, fuel injected)

 

cons:

- it's too small for me and the fiancée to ride comfortably together

- it might even be too small for me...i'm a big guy so I feel like I look silly at times

- woefully underpowered. I know what you're thinking, how could a 1200 be underpowered? 61hp, that's how.

- 5-speed, shaft drive. less maintenance but also kinda jerky. wish it had 6 gears

- miss the sportier feel of my Triumph, lack the comfort of a big tourer

 

What would CR do? My ultimate goal, money a minor factor, would be to have 2 bikes, keep this for solo riding and have something else for me and the lady to tool around on, but while saving for a wedding that's not realistic. Here's my other likes:

 

- comfort; my Triumph was uncomfortable and I rode it less than I should have as a result

- low cost of ownership (says the guy with the BMW)

- light-ish. I can handle a larger bike but I'd rather not have a 900lb monster, I like something that can handle well and I don't mind some bumps

- reasonably comfy seating for 2

- power! goddamn I hate having this slow-ass bike

- stylewise, I don't like anything overdone with graphics, lights, etc. I prefer simple, elegant style, but at the same time I'm not totally turned off by the sportbike styling. I just don't want a HD covered in skulls and iron crosses. absolutely no fancy boy leather either

 

Any advice or directions to look? A friend who sells at Iron Pony suggested I check out the Yamaha Super Tenere, and I'm intrigued by the idea of adventure riding. Still, I'm not the guy that's Mr. ATGATT nor am I going to plan tons of offroad trips with my pals; it'd be more of a curiosity that I'd satisfy once in a while.

 

My current thought is to ride this season with my BMW and if I still hate it, I'll have given it the ole' college try and uncle won't give a damn if i trade it off for something else. At the same time, I don't want to not ride it because I don't like it.

[Geeto67]

 

My current thought is to ride this season with my BMW and if I still hate it, I'll have given it the ole' college try and uncle won't give a damn if i trade it off for something else. At the same time, I don't want to not ride it because I don't like it.

 

your current thought is the correct thought - go a season really racking up some miles on the thing and figure out what you can live with and what's a deal breaker.

 

how often do you ride two up? If it is maybe once or twice a year not worth getting a different bike for the both of you. If it is once a month, suck it up and go buy a concours14.

[El Karacho1647545492]

your current thought is the correct thought - go a season really racking up some miles on the thing and figure out what you can live with and what's a deal breaker.

 

how often do you ride two up? If it is maybe once or twice a year not worth getting a different bike for the both of you. If it is once a month, suck it up and go buy a concours14.

 

Honestly? I think if I had a more suitable bike I'd be riding 2up at least once a week if not more often. I try to go out every Sunday that weather allows with my friends and she wants to come along. I have Tuesdays off so I tend to go for a 2-3 hour ride every Tuesday by myself when I can.

 

Never looked at a Concours14 but just having a peek on their website, that's kinda the type of bike I like. I really liked my Triumphs forward riding position but I want to sit "in" the bike, not "on" it like a supersport. You definitely understand what I'm saying based on that recommendation.

 

EDIT: I should also mention that she has a bike, but it's in poor condition and we need to do some work to get it running. 1993 Yamaha virago 535 (I think). It was her late father's, hasn't been started since he died about 4.5 years ago. definitely will need new fluids, battery, tires, etc. Problem is it's up in Mansfield so I gotta figure out a way to get it down here. If we can get that running without a ton of money, we'll be able to ride together and this will be a less immediate issue.

[SRTurbo04]

Ok then buy her a bike and deal with yours for the summer bam.

[Geeto67]

 

Never looked at a Concours14 but just having a peek on their website, that's kinda the type of bike I like. I really liked my Triumphs forward riding position but I want to sit "in" the bike, not "on" it like a supersport. You definitely understand what I'm saying based on that recommendation.

 

I rode to VMD at mid ohio from NY in 2008 with a guy who had a brand new one at the time. He was able to sit at 100+ mph for long stretches of time really comfortably. back seat passenger has a ton of room as well, esp if you have a top box for a back rest. I rode it and the size of the fairings in front took a little getting used to from the types of bikes I normally ride but still it was pretty fun.

 

Used ones are pretty cheap with older models being about $2K http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/5508923668.html , and more recent ones being closer to $6K http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/5521696228.html

 

They have always used the superbike engine in a sport tourer chassis - the 14 uses the zx14 engine, where as older ones are zx10. Other bikes to look at in this area are the Yamaha FJ series and the Honda VFRs. I have ridden a VFR as well and to be honest, if I was going to be selfish about the bike I would go with the VFR, but I didn't feel like it had good rear passenger room and the concours has that for sure. make sure you take your girlfriend and have her try out the rear set before you buy any bike.

 

 

 

EDIT: I should also mention that she has a bike, but it's in poor condition and we need to do some work to get it running. 1993 Yamaha virago 535 (I think). It was her late father's, hasn't been started since he died about 4.5 years ago. definitely will need new fluids, battery, tires, etc. Problem is it's up in Mansfield so I gotta figure out a way to get it down here. If we can get that running without a ton of money, we'll be able to ride together and this will be a less immediate issue.

 

The standard answer I give anybody concerning old motorcycles that have been standing is that it takes about $1000 in service items to make them safe, ride-able, and reliable again. It also takes about a month of riding to work out any hiding issues. If you are wondering where that money goes it is in:

- tires

- cables

- carb rebuild parts (do not use cheap kits!!! OEM only)

- brakes

- fluids

- battery

- surprise deferred maintenance

 

you can save some money based on the condition of some things and how much work it takes to bring it back, but this is assuming you do all your own work. Don't forget the value of the bike is around $1500 if it is cherry so it pays to be careful on how you spend.

 

There is something to think about...if it is virago 535 it's a pretty low powered bike. If you ride with fast company she might take offense with you leaving her behind all the time. If it is just you and her and you are on the beemer it's not really an issue.

[Green Bastard]

Another bike I would suggest would be the Yamaha FZ1200 (or 1300 now I think, not sure it is called a FZ these days either). Kind of a sport touring bike and should be about double the power your BMW has now. Also, of you manage to get the other bike for your girl, definately have the carbs rebuilt (or cleaned at the very least), everything inside them is likely gunked up.

[El Karacho1647545492]

I rode to VMD at mid ohio from NY in 2008 with a guy who had a brand new one at the time. He was able to sit at 100+ mph for long stretches of time really comfortably. back seat passenger has a ton of room as well, esp if you have a top box for a back rest. I rode it and the size of the fairings in front took a little getting used to from the types of bikes I normally ride but still it was pretty fun.

 

Used ones are pretty cheap with older models being about $2K http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/5508923668.html , and more recent ones being closer to $6K http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/5521696228.html

 

They have always used the superbike engine in a sport tourer chassis - the 14 uses the zx14 engine, where as older ones are zx10. Other bikes to look at in this area are the Yamaha FJ series and the Honda VFRs. I have ridden a VFR as well and to be honest, if I was going to be selfish about the bike I would go with the VFR, but I didn't feel like it had good rear passenger room and the concours has that for sure. make sure you take your girlfriend and have her try out the rear set before you buy any bike.

 

 

 

 

 

The standard answer I give anybody concerning old motorcycles that have been standing is that it takes about $1000 in service items to make them safe, ride-able, and reliable again. It also takes about a month of riding to work out any hiding issues. If you are wondering where that money goes it is in:

- tires

- cables

- carb rebuild parts (do not use cheap kits!!! OEM only)

- brakes

- fluids

- battery

- surprise deferred maintenance

 

you can save some money based on the condition of some things and how much work it takes to bring it back, but this is assuming you do all your own work. Don't forget the value of the bike is around $1500 if it is cherry so it pays to be careful on how you spend.

 

There is something to think about...if it is virago 535 it's a pretty low powered bike. If you ride with fast company she might take offense with you leaving her behind all the time. If it is just you and her and you are on the beemer it's not really an issue.

 

Another bike I would suggest would be the Yamaha FZ1200 (or 1300 now I think, not sure it is called a FZ these days either). Kind of a sport touring bike and should be about double the power your BMW has now. Also, of you manage to get the other bike for your girl, definately have the carbs rebuilt (or cleaned at the very least), everything inside them is likely gunked up.

 

Great suggestions both of you. Kerry, that Concours is looking more and more like a winner. I'd looked at a Triumph Sprint GT at Motohio and liked it, and there's actually a couple decent straight-up comparisons out there between those 2 bikes. I prefer the idea of a Japanese bike over another Euro bike, but each has a bit of charisma.

[88lx5oh]

Ducati Multistrada. Best all arounder of all time

[El Karacho1647545492]

Ducati Multistrada. Best all arounder of all time

 

Buddy of mine who works at Pony Powersports has one. Sat on it, it felt kinda small for me, but the door's not shut on that idea.

[Geeto67]

FWIW I have hated every single multistrada I have ridden. Also, having been the direct recipient of massive anal gang-bang sans lube that was ducati's plastic tank issue I would not buy any ducati with a plastic tank, of which the multistrada is one. I ended up putting a liner in my tank and it has fixed the issue but it wasn't cheap and I only did it once my tank warranty had run out.

 

Having a friend at a ducati dealer may change your outlook because I usually rate the whole experience on par with masturbating with a cheese grater.

[El Karacho1647545492]

FWIW I have hated every single multistrada I have ridden. Also, having been the direct recipient of massive anal gang-bang sans lube that was ducati's plastic tank issue I would not buy any ducati with a plastic tank, of which the multistrada is one. I ended up putting a liner in my tank and it has fixed the issue but it wasn't cheap and I only did it once my tank warranty had run out.

 

Having a friend at a ducati dealer may change your outlook because I usually rate the whole experience on par with masturbating with a cheese grater.

 

Why don't you tell us how you really feel? :lolguy::lolguy:

 

Was not aware of such issues. I always kinda kept Ducati off my map due to ownership costs.

[Geeto67]

Why don't you tell us how you really feel? :lolguy::lolguy:

 

There are not enough swear words in existence for me to adequately describe the ducati support experience. Esp when dealing with something where the manufacturer chose to not stand by their customers for a product defect they were directly responsible for and have as of right now still not provided a solution.

 

 

Was not aware of such issues. I always kinda kept Ducati off my map due to ownership costs.

 

It's funny, but depending on the bike the ownership costs are not as severe as people think. I have a 2 valve aircooled powered ducati and my biggest expense (not related to fixing defective parts) is a belt every 3 years at around $300 to pay a tech (I do them myself now that the bike is out of warranty but when it was that was the bill). Even the tank issue was not back breaking to fix - costing me less than $500 to have a professional liner installed in the tank.

 

If you owned one of the old sensitive superbikes like a 916/996/998 the service interval was very short for things like valve adjustments and required significant dis-assembly to perform and therefore high service costs. To make you feel better I had a friend that was a bevel twin collector (1970's ducati twins) and he used to tell me the bikes had a 1200 mile service interval.

 

Complexity adds cost - any of the 2 valve aircooled engines are stone simple to work on and fairly cheap to run as long as you don't have a catastrophic failure.

 

With VAG's new ownership I imagine the dealer experience will probably get better, before ducati was a shoestring operation and it's customers were sometimes it's worst enemy, now they have some room to pull money from VAG to handle major fuck ups like plastic tanks expanding.

 

It's funny, I still run into plastic tank ducati owners who don't know their tanks have expanded. It affected different models differently. In my case the tank swelled so much that it could actually hold an extra gallon of gas, but was only secured to the bike by one bolt. It just wasn't well publicized because ducati used their significant pull in the motorcycle media industry to keep the thing off people's radar.