Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Any suggestions for a second bike?

I am new rider with about a year and half of experience a bike. I have about 20 years of car driving experience and about 4 years of commercial vehicle (26,000lb moving van) experience.

My current bike is a 1982 Yamaha Virago XV920. I take this bike to and from work every day (28 miles one way) through heavy traffic and some rural roads. I have added about 12,000 miles to the odometer of this trusty bike. I want to purchase a brand new bike. The Suzuki SV650 (non-S) seems practical and cool looking. My main concern is that these bikes are very light; the area I live in can get some fairly substantial wind gusts. The 920 is about 500lbs and I get pushed around on that. I am a fan of the standard (or close to it) riding position. I also prefer sport bikes to cruisers. The SV1000 looks nice, but I am not ready for the torque those things throw out. The Yamaha FZ6 was recommended by a local dealer (Suzuki dealer strangely enough), but I just plain don’t like how they look. I am 5'8" 175lbs and have a 30" inseam.

I am only interested in new model years.

You might want to check out the BMW R1150R Rockster...

http://forum.motorcycle-usa.com/attach. ... BMWR80.jpg

The photo is of the 80th anniversary edition (mine).

Also comes in this: http://www.wolfbmw.com/graphics/r1150r/rockcm.jpg

and this: http://www.wolfbmw.com/graphics/r1150r/rockom.jpg

Its got enough weight to feel secure on the highway even in heavy winds and plenty of style... A new one will set you back a bit, but you can find a new/used from many dealers as folks are trading up to the newer BMW models coming out.

You can TEST RIDE the bike you want at most BMW dealers.

Pam

Which Country are you in Randy.As this makes a difference to whats availble.

Whoops, sorry was bred, born and currently reside in the USA.

I hate to tell you this Randy, but almost any new standard or sportbike will be lighter than your Virago 920, and therefore likely more susceptible to the wind. One bit of advice concerning the wind - Go with a "naked" style bike. They allow more air to pass through and around them, since they don't have the fairings that kind of act like sails in a side-wind.

I could be wrong, maybe there's something out there in that category that will be wind friendly, but you might be better off considering a heavier alternative. A Honda Valkrie would be darn near impervious, but also a LOT more bike than your Virago. Can't buy them brand new anymore, either.

Late model standards with some measure of weight/wind resistance would be SV 1000 (You already mentioned that, and your concerns about it) Or A Honda CB 1000, but it's even faster than the SV. They pretty much just get faster from there.

Your current experience level should put you in the bigger bike arena, from what I understand a 920 Virago is no slouch, but only you can make that determination. If you're not comfortable, don't do it.

Let's see...How about one of the newer dual-sports that are more street-oriented? Like a Triumph Tiger 900, or a KTM 950? Even a BMW R 1100, 1150 0r 1200 GS? That might be just the ticket - not much body work to catch the wind, heavy enough to be fairly stable and not tuned with the kind of power that might overwhelm you. (Well, okay - the Tiger is pretty feisty, and the KTM has enough torque to pull Nebraska.)

If you can swing the cash though, I'd vote for The BMW GS series. Don't be afraid to get a used one a couple years old, either. They run forever.

There. That settles it then. You need to start looking for a BMW GS immediately.

I'll throw in a recommendation from the Italian side of the house -

The ducati multistrada.



http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2 ... 000SDS.htm

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_P ... icleID=387

http://www.moto.it/provemoto/4505/01.mpg

http://www.moto.it/provemoto/4505/04.mpg

These things handle like top sportbikes but have the seating position and attitude of a dual-sport or standard. And the 2005 models are apparently much improved over the previous models in terms of seating and suspension.

Costs about 4k less than a new GS as well.

Is it me, or are those some tiny looking tires?

Telesque wrote:Is it me, or are those some tiny looking tires?

No ... they're 17's ... the bike is just that far off the ground ...

Which reminds me, our friend Randy only has a 30" inseam ... the Multistrada (and the Beemers, and v-strom) may be a little too tall for him without seat modification

Hey what do you mean ONLY 30" inseam? Just kidding, I know being a shrimp limits me somewhat.

Lion_Lady suggested the BMW R1150R Rockster , it looks very interesting. I will definitely test ride one of those.
http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/machine/m ... r_rockster

Also, being somewhat of a minimalist, I was looking at the Buell Lightning CityX http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes_gear/c ... /index.asp I don’t know much about them, reliability etc.

I appreciate all of everyone’s comments so far.

Thanks for the help guys. I test rode a Kawasaki Z1000, more bike than I wanted, but I was able to keep my stupid gene in check. Have you ever sat on a bike and realized, "this is it"? That happened the moment I got on that thing.

Unfortunately I have to wait until this June 15th to buy it. Darn wife insists on us being able to actually pay for it.