It's been a long time

[JHart]

Hello all,

I am posting this with the hopes of getting some feedback on choices for a new bike. Little history, I sold my fourth and last bike in '87, an '85 GSXR750 that I put around 50,000 km on. Since then, I've only ridden friends bikes (very infrequently) until recently where I have wound up owning an '84 XL600R. So I insured it and have been bombing around on it for a couple months now and all the feelings I had many years ago have come back and I'm totally hooked. So, I'm looking for a little feedback as to help determine what direction to go in terms of picking up my next bike. Wife's on side and kids are now old enough that I'm starting to buy back all of the stuff I've had to sell

I'm debating cruiser vs. sport touring probably in the 650 - 800 range and was really just looking to get a sense of opinion as to what bikes have a good reputation in the market place.

Any suggestions/advice are appreciated.

[blues2cruise]

I don't doubt you will get lots of opinions so I will just stick to saying....

[green meenie]

Deciding what kind of bike you get really needs to be your decision based on what knid of riding you like/want to do. For the longer-haul type of riding you'll probably be better off with something more comfortable for cruising but if you just want one for shorter rides around town or short haul cruising; something more sporty may suit you better. Go to lots of bike shops & sit on some, talk to as many people there as you can. You'll soon develope a focus that's right for you.

One thing I can say is that bikes have come a long way from your '85 Suzuki. Power delivery and handling have improved immensly and I doubt you'll find many bikes around that anyone will warn you away from in terms of reliability. With proper maintenance, they're all pretty bullit proof these days.

Good luck with your search & ride safe