Comments on: New bike deliberations…

By: Steve B.

Steve B. — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:48:16 +0000

I know someone *cough*me*cough* who has a ‘99 SV for sale all track ready with bodywork, penske shock and everything.

By: Drew

Drew — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 23:42:38 +0000

This is going to be fun…
Ditch the Ascot, you haven’t ridden it on the track for too long. While you’re at it, ditch the GSXR too, you’ve only ridden it once in the last 3 years (?) as well. Get a sport bike! - You need it, you want it… You’ve got the 2-up/commute bike as well as an enduro bike (that needs more exercise, by the way), so you have a gapping hole in the sport category. As for what TO get, I have no idea, but I’ll bet you DO!

By: Alanf

Alanf — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 00:12:52 +0000

Hey Dean and Doug. Thanks for the bike advice. I doubt I can convince my wife that I should get two bikes in the same year. As for the Mille,
I thought it was the most beautiful bike at last year’s Int’l Motorcycle Show. If the price is right (IE close to that of the new Japanese liter bikes) then it is definitely something I’ll look at. Otherwise, its hard to beat the GSXR, ZX or R1 at the cost/performance ratio.

As for the old Beemer, I like the RS but my main focus for the new bike is track and sport riding. I doubt I could ride a R100RS harder than I can ride my current GS. Still, if I had a Jay Leno sized garage, an old airhead RS would be in the collection!

Again, thanks for the ideas.

By: Doug K.

Doug K. — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 22:56:43 +0000

Alan, Just found your blog. Lots of good reading here. I’ll add a link at my place.

As for adding another bike to your stable, how about a classic BMW like the R100RS? Covers the vintage/sportbike/tourer thing all in one machine.

Doug

By: Dean W

Dean W — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:32:41 +0000

You’re not going to like this…

Keep the R1150GS. The new DRZ has you covered off-road.

Ditch the Ascot. Sorry, but as you said yourself, you never ride it anyway.

Also ditch the GSXR. Yes, you’ve got a lot of emotional ties to it. I had the same feelings for my FJ1100, and the last two years I had it, I rode it almost as much as you’ve been riding your Gixxer of late.

So, sell both the GSX-R *and* the Ascot. Use those accumulated funds to replace the Ascot with a used SV for track use, and any one of a number of liter-class bikes for street riding. Net bike count remains unchanged, you’ll be out of pocket the price of one good bike and wind up with a monstrously tough choice to make every time you suit up, esp. if you leave the lights on the SV except for those track days.

Bikes to consider to replace the Gixxer: A brand-spankin’ new R1, CBR1000RR, GSXR-1000, or ZX-10R. You’ll get to go straight to the top of Poseur Mountain, at least for a few months. More performance than you’ll ever be able to use on the street. You’ll have the chance to become reacquainted with all those sheriff’s deputies you lost track of a few years back.

Or, a used Aprilia Mille, or even more pedestrian, Fireblade (CBR900/929/954RR). The Mille is possibly one of the most under-appreciated bikes in the US. If there was a right way to combine Italian and German (Austrian, actually) engineering, The Mille is it. (Get the -R version and you can sample some of what they can do in the Netherlands, too- and you can do worse than Ohlins boingers.)

The Fireblade isn’t to be sneered at, either. Honda’s been developing that motor, and chassis, for so long they don’t just work to stiffen the frame blindly- they know it well enough to *tune* chassis flex for real world conditions.