Total Motorcycle Community Forums

What a great site -- particularly for news about the future.

Looking forward to the Yamaha 2007 announcement 9pm PST tonight (see
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/produ ... /home.aspx
and click the 2007 New Model Intro Box)

Relatively new rider, have a '98 Honda Magna, live in New England. Get a kick out of boating and sailing, as well as riding. Commuting (70 mi r/t) and coastal cruising/touring are the specific riding interests.

Regarding bikes, I'm pretty much all over the map. Just like boating vs. sailing -- I have a reasonably badass 500hp deep V powerpoat and slick 33' one-design racing sailboat -- most people will tell you powerboaters and sailors pretty much detest each other -- but for me, if it MOVES I like it...

So, strange as this list may seem, I like following and researching all of these (as "next" or "add-on" or just "dream" bikes):

HD --
Night Rod (wow, what a clean mean look -- really shows what HD can do with VRSC styling and I expect this is just the beginning)

Honda --
DN-01 (can you imagine what it's like in the curves with that tranny, plus the integrated GPS and sound system is just *right there* for you -- also the "thing from the deep" styling is very cool)
E4-01 (hey, this auto tranny stuff is the future... why not have fun with bigger engine = 900cc, plus more "thing from the deep" styling which I do like)
Silverwing (best commute scoot today?!)
PC800 (niche bike but I really like it, on the heavy side, but definitely a "lost art" when it comes to a commuter -- Concourse is close)
Magna (of course, I own one -- gotta love the stealth personality of the VFR-derived V4, and the way the 4 into 4 pipes wrap around the side in kind of a diamond shape)

Kawi --
Ninja 650R (interesting product = sport + comfortable!, great looks)
KLR 650 (classic -- and I like the new 2007 silver grey color)
Vulcan 750 (retro low maintenance)
Concourse (for the commute, but on the heavy side, black factory saddle cases only look good to me on certain color bikes)
Sherpa (fire road out back, see if I can find a nice used one)
KE100 (ditto used, be a hoot to try something that light)

Suzuki --
SV650 (classic -- my alternative for the Ninja 650R)
WeeStrom (ditto on the classic part -- option vs. KLR650 for better street ride)
Boulevard S50 (lean retro look)
Burgman 650 (pretty sophisticated commute scoot)

Yamaha --
VMax (big brother to the Magna)
TW200 (I've got a fire road out back, like the lower seat height)
XT225 (ditto)
Majesty (independent front/rear brakes make sense on a scoot too)

Triumph --
Bonneville (but an older one -- yes indeed an older TLC'd used Bonneville would catch my attention if I ever come across one)
Scrambler (like the look -- probably unfounded these days, but have the traditional angst about Brit bike reliability however)

BMW --
F650 GS (my alternative to a KLR650 -- accessories and options are really amazing, but the BMW culture has its own thing going and I just gotta wonder if that culture really embraces the F650 folks or merely tolerates them until they move up to liter-land, and yes you can always just do your own thing but...)

Other --
Royal Enfield (tantalizing around town ride with way-retro look, checking their forums re reliability progresss)
KTM (if I could get a reasonable seat height -- at least on KLR650 it seems ok to do a Corbin dish and lowering links for a 3-4" drop)

Hey fellow Magna owner!

No offense, but I wouldn't want to drive an automatic bike. It's like buying a porsche or high performance sport car and getting it with a slushbox. Bland...

I know what you mean... have always had manual transmissions (including cars and trucks) -- but there's supposed to be something about the way Honda engineered the DN-01 (hydraulic linkage driving a hydraulic turbine) which locks the tiansmission continuously and in theory provides the kind of throttle response continously that you can only achieve when actually fully engaged in gear on a manual transmission.

So I'm curious.

And you know what they say about the high performance cars all moving towards paddle shifters instead of manual gearboxes -- much faster.