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No bike till next summer?
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October 18, 2009 at 3:37 am #3513Bob HarleyParticipant
Since June when I got my M1 lic. I’ve been studying the bikes available and debating the merits of 500cc’s vs. going with a 650 twin, fairings vs. naked bikes, used vs. new. The glory of window shopping! It is one of my great loves when it comes to cars and now motorcycles. As my debate unraveled in my mind my choices unfolded as follows:
Bikes I like (a lot):
4th place: Buell Blast. Buy used and enjoy it for is simple primative simplicity. If I drop it in a parking lot, I now have justification to start turning wrenches.
3rd place: Suzuki gs500, with or without fairing. Sat on this bike and found it quite comfortable and spacious. I figured I’d buy used and many can be found. But not quite in smitten yet.
2nd place: Ninja 650R! New, Used, whatever, both look great! What a beautiful bike (unlike it’s brother the ER-n6). This bike seats nicely and all is well laid out on the cockpit. But something is just slight off? So, my crush on this bike last about 6 weeks.
1st place: Suzuki Gladius. I liked the bike the first time I saw it online, but was shocked by the fashion hate it received. Every time I sit on one, I kid you not, I wonder if they (Yes, agents from Suzuki R&D!) snuck into my room while I slept and cast a mold of my saddle area! And I love the handlebars too, not too far or too narrow. And those gauges are so easy to read. AHH, it’s love which I can no longer deny. And not one person has anything bad to say about the engine and trans.Bikes that dissappointed me (but maybe not you):
2nd: Ninja 500. Great reviews. Must be made for people under 5’7″. I felt crampt and perched on it. My first impression after sitting was, “meh…”
1st: SV650S. I know, everyone has told me already, that it’s not a full on sport bike stance. But it’s far to aggressive for me to feel comfortable and safe on. Now I am familar with the, “If you ride it, it will come to you…” arguement. If you have a spare one that you can lend to me for a few weeks I”ll try, but I am a strong believer in first impressions and trusting my instincts when my money is involved.Bikes I’d still like to sit on (but probably never will):
2nd: Honda 599. I first saw this one in the saftey films in the MSF class. BRIGHT Yellow with a hot blonde riding it! Now that was a good first impression! Honda has really abandoned the market. It’s so sad. A used 599 will still comand $5-6K, and that’s in boring flat black if you can find one. Since it’s an inline four, I crossed it off my list just for insurance reasons, but it was worthy of honorable mention.
1st: SV650N:. A bike that is supposedly common as dirt itself, is infact coveted so greatly that they are far and few between. Lately I’ve seen a few pop up on craigslist or cycletrader, with things like, “Added clip on bars for racer stance,” or “Only been dropped once, tank damage is only cosmetic!” Or my favorite, “Never dropped and many add ons, including custom paint. Only want $5k for 2001 model” It would seem that finding Santa Claus would be easier than finding a stock and undamaged SV650N just to look at and sit on, much less buy. The nearest dealership that I have confirmed has a new 08 is in San Diego, but I really don’t have time to drive 110 miles to sit on bike when they want the same price that I can get a gladius for locally.Anyways I decided to collect these thoughts here online for posterity and just to share . After considering our finances, right now is not a good time for me to buy a bike. At a point when I’m trying to pay off debt, I can not bring myself to take out another loan for a toy I can’t really afford. Plus, the wife is fearful of another round of lay offs at her work. So that leaves us sharing our suzuki S40. If I have to wait till next year I think that S40 is gonna need a windshield, maybe a givi hard case for the rear and I really want to take the handlebars off and remount them. I paid a mechanic to straighten them (It got dropped) and last night (almost three months later) I confirmed that they are slightly crooked. I thought I was imagining it and tried to ignore it. But curiosity finally got me, so I measured. It’s probably 1 degree off, but it’s like wrinkle in my underwear, I can’t seem to ignore it…
October 18, 2009 at 3:51 am #22923briderdtParticipantWith Buell getting the axe, a lot of H-D dealers are slashing the prices on them. And I think if I found a local 1125r under $5K out the door, I’d be hard-pressed to pass it up, in spint of the fact that I JUST paid off my SVs, I’m going through a divorce and will have to carry the house moortgage on my own… If my house refinance had gone through already, I’d be still better than even if I got the bike at $8K… And I called a local dealer who has them on sale for $7095 before TTL.
But I’m exercising my discipline and NOT getting that second bike yet. It’s maybe a good thing that the refi hasn’t gone through.
By the way, you DO know you can replace the triples on the SVs with the SVn ones and install standard bars, right? It’s not a zero-dollar swap, for sure (probably run you maybe $300 including the cables and controls,much of which you could recupe in selling the S triples and clips.
October 18, 2009 at 4:05 am #22924Bob HarleyParticipantI had thought about that. But the hassle of having to change the cable and brake lines in addition the triple and bars seemed like a pain for MY first bike. Especially when my first goal was just to sit on these bikes and feel what the controls would be like. Without a SVn to compare to, I’m not sure what I’d be getting until I’ve bought the cow… although it would be a mighty and fast cow! I had also read that the SVs had higher foot pegs and a longer swing arm that also gave it a slightly different character.
I guess we all have a little financial discipline we need to share here.
Is all of Buell going bye bye? I thought Eric Buell just banished the Blast from his corp image?
October 18, 2009 at 4:14 am #22925Bob HarleyParticipantHow sad? I had hoped to buy a buell someday when I became a veteran rider.
October 18, 2009 at 4:41 am #22926briderdtParticipant…under Harley-Davidson’s direction. They own Buell, you know.
And yes, the SVs has higher footpegs, though that is an easy fix with $25 riser plates installed upside down.
I understand not wanting to start modding a bike you’ve never ridden — the changes I’ve made have been over the last year (though I went from Heli-Bars to stock clip-ons). And I’ve been riding it all along.
October 20, 2009 at 6:10 pm #22959Gary856ParticipantThat about covered all the usual suspects for a first/second bike in the standard category. The bikes are at pretty different price points and looks like your desirability ranking did not consider pricing. For example, I’d love to have a Gladius (except not that teal/white color scheme), but never considered it due to the new/near-new price (around $7k?) It just seems too much to pay for a first or second bike, when there’re so many good used bikes at much lower prices.
Below is a rough range of what they cost used:
Suzuki GS500 – about $2-2.5k used (my first bike; even less if you go with the older naked models)
Ninja 500 – about $2.5k-3k used
Ninja 650R – about $3.5k-4.5k used
SV650N – about $3k-4.5k used (my third bike)
SV650S – about $3.5-4k used
599 – about $5k used (I love the idea of a naked inline-4, but this bike seems so rare and expensive it’s a semi-exotic in my mind)
Gladius – about $6k+ used? Too new? Are people even selling these used yet?The power of the 500s are user-friendly, fool-proof, but after a while they can feel a little flat. I liken them to a Honda Civic in the car world – enough power for anything, but not much more. The 600/650s are more like an Accord/Camry with V6 – don’t “need” the extra power most of the time, but enjoyable to have it.
The SV650 is so highly touted and my expection of it was so high, I decided to buy one just to see what it’s all about. Durnig the test ride I felt a little underwhelmed, until I reminded myself that it’s almost unbelieveable that they can make a bike this good AT THIS PRICE. I think any bike on this list would be a sweet ride, so it comes down to personal preference and finding a good deal.
October 20, 2009 at 10:04 pm #22960Bob HarleyParticipantPrice was a lesser factor for me. If I went used, I wanted to keep it under $3500, as I figure that’s about the most I could save up before going stir crazy. But if I went new, I would commit to financing it, which gives me a higher ceiling spread out over a few years of payments. I found comfort of sitting on the bikes in the show rooms was the most influential, followed up by general reviews. In either case higher priorities have pushed me back to late spring or summer of next year. But that is fine, since it will give me more time to practice on the S40, which I’m really beginning to like. I was referring to it as the wife’s bike, but it is quickly becoming mine.
I hope she doesn’t read this post.. It’s ours.
October 21, 2009 at 1:08 pm #22964stuParticipantIf you lived near me you could come have a ride on my sfv650 glad
October 21, 2009 at 3:49 pm #22965Bob HarleyParticipantGoogle maps says it’s 2500 miles or 39 hours by highway. But thankyou. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want to trust your bikes in the hands of newb.
Although Texas is about halfway…
October 22, 2009 at 12:43 am #22977stuParticipantwell, if your up this way, give a holler Dont think I’ll be riding to CA or TX anytime soon.
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