Assistance Buying a New Motorcycle
The Intro:
so here is the skinny - I have enough dollars and, apparently, not enough sense to buy myself a "new to me" two wheeled DEATH MACHINE (oops, channeling Rachel and my Mum there). Sure, my riding season in the Yukon is roughly 2 and a half hours long and there are only 2 roads (north or south) and there is more debris and wildlife to crash into than on any typical ride in Downtown Construction-ville Vancouver.
But, I must have a bike again.
The Challenge:
I need some help choosing a bike. I really only have experience with my 91 Kawasaki Zephyr (FUN!) and I took a friends SV 650 for a spin up here (FUN!). I also need help *finding* the bike. If it checks out, is clean and meets the constraints I will fly down and ride it home (a 2800km test drive/torture test from Vancouver). I prefer Standards with fairings - the Suzuki SV, Kawasaki Versys, and some of the more street bike oriented dual sports appeal. I like a more upright riding position and the roads in the North would not be super friendly to sport bikes. I really am not a fan of cruisers.
The Constraints:
I want something that is
a) low maintainance & in good shape - not so many parts shops & garages up here - and a 2800km trip back to the North
b) fun to ride on bad roads - potholes, frost heaves, wildlife, RV's that need passing.
c) good to great gas mileage - not so many gas stations up here either - 225km range at a bare minimum
d) engine size of 500 to 750- to support gas mileage and what I want to ride in terms of power
e) roughly 4k$ all in
The Responses:
what you think?
As a Semi-professional rider I would suggest, either the Suzuki 650SV or the Kawasaki KLR650. The SV is more street oriented but with a bashplate installed is certainly capable of decent gravel road performance. It is NOT capable of OFFRoad riding.
The kawasaki KLR is a twenty something year old proven design(once the Dohicky is fixed). It is a true enduro, capable of half decent on road speed and good gravel road performance(with the right tires)(and it's ugly). It is also capable of some Offroad use(you can drag it out of swamps,sandpits,rivers,etc).
A decent KLR can be had for $3500 an SV is $5000.
I would go with KlR for Yukon riding and the SV if you were going to travel south for any considerable distance.They are both capable of hauling passengers with "some" degree of comfort.
Good luck, Peter
http://www.ibmwr.org/market/adlist.php?cat=abs - second one, pix starting at http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/bsa050/?action=view¤t=5thtry006.jpg
It's right at the top of your price range, and it's in Louisiana, but these don't come up for sale too often, and I think they're a good bike for you.
otherwise I would be all over that bike ;)
...I am yet again thinking about becoming a motorcycle commuter. Must be the gorgeous weather.
On one hand I think it would be extremely convenient to commute on a motorcycle. On the other hand, it is complete madness to commute on a motorcycle.
Sigh.
Take the BC Safety Council Motorcycle course. If you like riding, go for it. I took the course and got bitten by the bike bug hard. If you don't like it you have a tax deduction (the course is accredited) and don't have to sell all your gear/bike/etc.
I would not recommend riding into Vancouver as the parking, even with a motorcycle, is very hard. I did the reverse commute to Richmond for about a year and prior to that I was riding to Burnaby. I should note I was never on highways when I was commuting and I was always going against the "normal" morning traffic flow.
I'll weigh in for you here Ev. I think you want to go enduro style for your purchase. Enduro style bikes will not only handle those shitty northern roads much better, but they'll also handle off-road (with the appropriate tires). This is going to greatly expand your riding range. You can head off onto some deactivated logging roads and let 'er rip. I'll bet you can find all sorts of redneck riding buddies in the Yukon.
Enduros are also usually built a bit tougher than their roadie counterparts and have fewer cylinders making repairs much easier. Get a good shop manual and you'll be able to order in most of the parts for yourself. Plus if you're in the North then mechanics are probably more used to working with off-road style bikes anyways. As Enduro bikes have a racing pedigree they are also usually easy to do maintenance on.
Recommendations:
Honda XR650R
Kawasaki KLR650
Yamaha WR450F
I have been looking at KLRs and SV 650's. I like the SV because of the sporty options but also like the multipurpose aspect of the KLR (giant gas tank doesn't hurt either).
I will have to talk to Alex a bit more about his BMW love :P