Time to get a newer bike
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:47 am
I'm ready to move on from my newbie bike, a suzuki savage. If money wasn't an object, I'd be getting a super glide without question, but money is short. So, I've narrowed the list down to Honda VTX1300C, Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom, V Star 1100 Custom and Suzuki Boulevard M50.
Does anyone have comments on these bikes either good or bad? Any well known problems with any of these? Which bike will provide the best bang for the buck under $5000? I'm ignorant of what's best for me in terms of shaft, belt or chain drive and air/water cooled so right now it's mainly the look of the bike. One thing I would prefer is not too loud pipes. Can I assume that stock pipes on these bikes would be about the quietest you'll find? In the spring I'll try riding a couple of each to get feel for them. If I know beforehand some of the likes and dislikes of others, it'll help me narrow my focus further.
I have done searches on these bikes on these forums and have gleaned some insight, but haven't seen real head to head matchups. The post below is from 3/14/2007, is it still valid?
"Honda is the highest quality and the most reliable of the metric bike bunch. Honda doesn't come out with much changes or new models every year like everybody else does, Honda improves their existing models by updating them every new year, yes Honda costs more but for that price you pay for better quality, Honda is the type of bike that you plan to own for 10 years, other brands are 2 or 3 year throw-away bikes. A Honda is a bike for a serious rider that plans to ride his bike almost every day, to commute, to take on long road trips, other bikes are designed for the casual rider that takes a short joy ride maybe one day a week. If you own a Honda no other metric biker will tell you that you made a mistake buying a Honda, HD guys will, but they don't know any better. Yamaha is moving up with the Star line of bikes, but Yamaha still has some quality control issues, Kawasaki and Suzuki have the reputation as the cheaper, generic bikes, and Suzuki has yet to earn any respect building a serious street bike. Buy what you want, what bike feels right, trust ur gut, make sure ur dealer supports you after the sale cause you will need his help."
So like the post above most posts are long in the tooth, can I get a fresh perspective?
In case it matters, my riding is daily about 30 miles with 2 or 3 100 mile plus rides a week. I don't know if that's considered a long ride or not.
Thanks in advance.
Does anyone have comments on these bikes either good or bad? Any well known problems with any of these? Which bike will provide the best bang for the buck under $5000? I'm ignorant of what's best for me in terms of shaft, belt or chain drive and air/water cooled so right now it's mainly the look of the bike. One thing I would prefer is not too loud pipes. Can I assume that stock pipes on these bikes would be about the quietest you'll find? In the spring I'll try riding a couple of each to get feel for them. If I know beforehand some of the likes and dislikes of others, it'll help me narrow my focus further.
I have done searches on these bikes on these forums and have gleaned some insight, but haven't seen real head to head matchups. The post below is from 3/14/2007, is it still valid?
"Honda is the highest quality and the most reliable of the metric bike bunch. Honda doesn't come out with much changes or new models every year like everybody else does, Honda improves their existing models by updating them every new year, yes Honda costs more but for that price you pay for better quality, Honda is the type of bike that you plan to own for 10 years, other brands are 2 or 3 year throw-away bikes. A Honda is a bike for a serious rider that plans to ride his bike almost every day, to commute, to take on long road trips, other bikes are designed for the casual rider that takes a short joy ride maybe one day a week. If you own a Honda no other metric biker will tell you that you made a mistake buying a Honda, HD guys will, but they don't know any better. Yamaha is moving up with the Star line of bikes, but Yamaha still has some quality control issues, Kawasaki and Suzuki have the reputation as the cheaper, generic bikes, and Suzuki has yet to earn any respect building a serious street bike. Buy what you want, what bike feels right, trust ur gut, make sure ur dealer supports you after the sale cause you will need his help."
So like the post above most posts are long in the tooth, can I get a fresh perspective?
In case it matters, my riding is daily about 30 miles with 2 or 3 100 mile plus rides a week. I don't know if that's considered a long ride or not.
Thanks in advance.