How much bike do you need?

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Or stated another way, is bigger always better?

I'm a pretty big guy at 6'-4" and 225 pounds but my '07 BMW R1200GSA can really be a handful in parking lots and when moving it around the garage. I'm not getting any younger and my hooligan riding days are mostly behind me. I will never sell my BMW and the KLR is a fun beater that my son uses to commute to school and work.

So the Suzuki DL650 V-strom has a long history and a large following although I have never ridden one. I like the looks of the new Kawasaki 650 Versys too.

I am just kicking this around but do you guys have any other suggestions?
 
From what you describe, the V-Strom is a good idea.

My 2012 DL 650 was been cheap to buy, inexpensive to maintain and insure, totally reliable, I get 57 - 63 mpg - with the 5.3 gal tank I've gone as far as 280 miles, and it's one of the most customisable metric bikes in terms of available luggage, racks, saddles, gaurds, stands, lighting, suspension, tires, pipes, etc. It weighs in about 470 lb with oil, gas & coolant, so it's a midweight bike. If it's needed, there's a good support network in the USA, but if you can do fairly minimal maintenance work, you'll only have to worry about valve checks every 14k miles anyways.

It also does have a very mild off road capability, but stay away from any technical riding on single track, mud, sugar sand, deep water crossing, etc. Other than requiring taller riders (should have at least a 30 inch inseam as the saddle is elevated 32.5 inches), it honestly seems to lack idiosyncrasies, and with enough street riding time it kind of disappears from underneath you - what a good adventure touring bike should do IMO.

For a more broad spectrum of responses, I would suggest asking questions at either stromtrooper.com, advrider.com or vsri.com.
 
Motorcycle preference is highly personal. If a bike seems right for you and your wants and needs, it probably is.

I just put down a deposit for a 2015 model, but it doesn't appear to be the type of bike you're looking for. So my suggestions are probably pointless for what you seem to want.

I can say that I've had great service from several Suzuki's. I haven't heard of any issues with the V-stroms.
 
I had a BMW G650GS for a few years, I am 6'3, 220 or so (five pounds either way). Loved it, it was plenty of bike, very comfortable, great mileage. I had a VStar 650 also. You arent going to want to do 85mph on that bike, but it was fine. Much depends on how you want to ride. The G650 was comfortable for long rides, curvy roads, everything. I went two teeth down in the back to get a little better highway performance. In short- 650 is plenty.
 
You can never have too much horsepower... or firepower.
smile.gif
 
Best friend bought a Versys. It is a love it or hate it bike. I rode it once, and that was plenty enough for me. I'm 6'3" and 210. He is shorter than I am.
 
I need about 70hp. Allows me to do what I want withing the law.

Also try to keep the bike below 600lbs. My Triumph, with a little work, does all that.
 
The not here yet Yamaha FJ-09 might just work......A taller version of the FZ, with more suspension and a bigger tank. More horses than the DL650 or the Versys, but not much more weight.
 
Buy it for what you will use it for, not for what the posters show. Should help you decide the bigger or not problem.

When I bought my '83 R100RT (in 1993) I thought I was going to do a lot more pleasure riding, but it's been almost all commuting. I had to do several mods to make it a tolerable commuter.

My feeling at this point it I'd like another bike, but there's a large advantage to knowing this bike so intimately, especially with the narrowing of the lanes Caltrans has been doing the last several years and their never-ending road construction.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be murder going through the learning process on my commute. I like being able to do feet-on-pegs getting around stopped cars who've pinched off the split lane, but have left plenty of room to pass on their other side. I do it using only throttle, brakes, and clutch, and some knees into the tank.

It's 60HP, 60lb-ft torque. Probably not fast by anybody's standards. But, if I take it up to Angeles Crest Hwy or Upper Big Tijunga Cyn Rd, it has a very pleasant 2nd and 3rd gear torque band where I can just roll on and off the throttle from corner to corner, almost no shifting needed.
 
I'm not as big as you, but I'm 200 pounds plus or minus. I can handle a motorcycle well, since I've been riding since I was 7 years old (now 51) .

Here is what I know works for me. I don't like heavy bikes. While heavy bikes can be incredibly fast, stable, comfortable and capable, they are less responsive in my riding environment (back roads). I also don't like wide motorcycles. So, V-Twins are often a favorite. My legs are not designed to be 3 feet apart.

I also don't like small engines, or engines that need to be over 10,000 RPM to make any power. Sure the ZX-6 is fun, for a few minutes.... Then it gets old, or more likely, I'm old...

The bike I really like is the original Aprilia Tuono. It's light, agile, smooth, you sit upright, it has gobs of mid range torque and an incredibly satisfying top end. Of course, it is an absolute blast to ride.

Since I've never been able to afford one, I purchased a Suzuki SV1000s and put much taller, superbike bars on it. It's no Tuono, but it does satisfy my needs for mid range grunt and it's skinny+light.

I'd guess the FJ-09 might be a hit with guys like me.
 
In 1960 an article was written in the UK about the Triumph Bonneville 650cc motorcycle. It weighed 385 pounds and had 40 horsepower. This bike was a very fast bike in its day and the author concluded that 650 cc's was big enough and that 40 horsepower was plenty enough.

Today a 600cc motorcycle can have close to 100 horsepower and owners still modify them for more power. Also today's motorcycle is more reliable, has better brakes and suspension and above all better tires. It's difficult to imagine what this size bike will be like in another 50 years.
 
I was gettin' the itch to get back in after a couple decades of raising kids and had settled on a KTM Super Duke 1290. Females in the house went nuts. The consolation prize was a 2SS/RS Camaro convertible. It killed the two wheel deal pretty quick.
 
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
I was gettin' the itch to get back in after a couple decades of raising kids and had settled on a KTM Super Duke 1290. Females in the house went nuts. The consolation prize was a 2SS/RS Camaro convertible. It killed the two wheel deal pretty quick.

Thats a neat Jedi mind trick. Teach me o wise one!
 
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
I was gettin' the itch to get back in after a couple decades of raising kids and had settled on a KTM Super Duke 1290. Females in the house went nuts. The consolation prize was a 2SS/RS Camaro convertible. It killed the two wheel deal pretty quick.


My household females said no to me getting a bike also. But I got one anyways. They got over it.
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
You can never have too much horsepower... or firepower.
smile.gif



Agreed... you want as much power as possible??? 0w30 oil is for you...
 
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I've always been in the push a slow bike fast camp. On a fast bike I always seem to be on the brakes, I'd rather spend more time on the throttle even if I'm going a lot slower. I learned this when I put an M20 engine into my 1954 BSA 650 - 13hp pushing a 425lb bike meant I never ever backed off, maintaining speed was paramount. I have spent most of my 45 years on motorcycles on 2 valve 650 twins, so my BMW R65 is familiar ground. For my use it's all I need or want for power and speed.
 
That's it exactly.

How much bike do you need?

I have found for me personally that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

I've said it before out of 550s, 600s, a 750, and an 1100, my 400 4 cylinder was my favorite.

Most riders would find a machine that runs at 7000rpm at 70mph and uses its 4 cylinder as a stressed member to not be a suitable machine. It did take some experimentation with bar end weights and bars, but it did everything else so well.

and this ridiculous rubber band drive/longer than a Harley bagger/industrial engine powered thing I'm riding now? I grow a little more fond of it everytime I ride it. The displacement is actually too small. I would prefer a little more roll on power at freeway speed. But around town, stoplight to stoplight, it accelerates very well. If the national speed limit was still 55mph (like it was when it was made) it would be fine.
 
I owned a V-Strom 650 when they first came out - 2004 I think? Traded a 12 month old GSX-R 600 on it. Didn't miss the power of the GSX-R one little bit. I even did a couple of track days on the Strom! Sure, it topped out at about 190m/h, but meh, that was fast enough anyway. Two up, with the (aftermarket) panniers stuffed full of junk, it still had more than enough legs on the highway. Only "performance" mod was a Staintune pipe. I kept it a couple of years, put 25,000km on it, never a single problem. Still on the original brakes, chain and sprockets when I sold it. Agree with others who said it definitely ain't a hardcore off-roader.

An R1200GS is not on overly quick or powerful bike, I don't think you'd notice a massive difference between the two. Ride one and see what YOU think.
 
I used to ride a little bit. Did it off and on for about two decades.

I've had bikes as small as a 450....and as large as an 1800.

I would have to say that for ME.....my favorite bike and style...was my Triumph Bonneville T100. It was an 865cc twin.

I loved that bike. Just about every other ride I had didn't compare. Bigger and more HP definitely wasn't better.
 
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