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I'm vaguely musing about getting one, but can't think of many options off the top of my head.

HD Sportster (well, some models are more like standards)
Bonneville
The fairly unaffordable Ducati Sport Classics (especially the GT).
W650. Any other Japanese options? (even cruisers with fairly standard riding positions?)

How about the Honda CB1100F.

i think all are good choices. it pretty much comes down to personal preference.

Just a bit outside the box perhaps, but if you look at the rider, in this case a female rider, you can see that this machine qualifies as a standard. No longer in production, but lots of choice used units available. Ride one of these and you will see why they have an enthusiastic group of owners.

Grey Thumper wrote:I'm vaguely musing about getting one, but can't think of many options off the top of my head.

HD Sportster (well, some models are more like standards)
Bonneville
The fairly unaffordable Ducati Sport Classics (especially the GT).

A couple of issues ago (December?), Cycleworld did a 3-way comparison of the Sportster, Bonneville, and Sport Classic. FWIW.

Grey Thumper wrote: W650. Any other Japanese options? (even cruisers with fairly standard riding positions?)

Depends on what is available in the Philipines. It looked to me like most of the Japanese manufacturers were only selling small bikes (under 200cc) in your country.

In the U.S., we have a very limited choice of standards, but the rest of the world still seems to get some good ones. Kawasaki's ER-5 and ER-6 are very popular with the standard crowd in Europe and the Pacific markets. If you're considering used and want a truly retro (air cooled inline 4) standard, Kawasaki built the ZR series of standards up to 1999 and Honda's CB750 was built until 2003.

jstark47 wrote:A couple of issues ago (December?), Cycleworld did a 3-way comparison of the Sportster, Bonneville, and Sport Classic. FWIW.

Yep, actually bought that issue for exactly that article. Would prefer the Bonnie, but hard to come by where I'm from (the Philippines). Oddly, the HD and the Duc would be more available.

paul246 wrote:Just a bit outside the box perhaps, but if you look at the rider, in this case a female rider, you can see that this machine qualifies as a standard. No longer in production, but lots of choice used units available. Ride one of these and you will see why they have an enthusiastic group of owners.

Yeah, I'd love a Japanese cruiser with a standard riding position and some degree of handling designed in. The Honda seems a bit too big and heavy for my experience level though, but thanks for the suggestion. Any other Japanese possibilities out there?

Grey Thumper wrote:

jstark47 wrote:A couple of issues ago (December?), Cycleworld did a 3-way comparison of the Sportster, Bonneville, and Sport Classic. FWIW.

Yep, actually bought that issue for exactly that article. Would prefer the Bonnie, but hard to come by where I'm from (the Philippines). Oddly, the HD and the Duc would be more available.

That is kind of odd, considering Triumph moved assembly of that model to their Thai factory.

paul246 wrote:Just a bit outside the box perhaps, but if you look at the rider, in this case a female rider, you can see that this machine qualifies as a standard. No longer in production, but lots of choice used units available. Ride one of these and you will see why they have an enthusiastic group of owners.

Gee, I just happen to have one for sale....