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Gotta admit, I saw this topic on another forum, but I thought it would be more appropriate here, since I think the folks on this forum ride a broader variety of bikes.

I had to shorten the question due to character limit, but are there any bikes you thought you'd love but . . . didn't necessarily end up hating, but more got annoyed and/or disappointed after test riding (or heck, even owning) them?



In my case, it's a whole category; cruisers. I generally like their classic looks, as well as the laid back, cruising attitude. I haven't ridden a lot of them, but have been let down by the riding position and handling of the ones I've tried so far. I guess it's a combination of two things; a) I need to ride more bikes. There must be more than a few nimble handling cruisers out there and b) Cruisers evolved and were designed for the wide, expansive roads of the US, and just aren't the most appropriate bikes for where I live (lots of curvy, mountainous, often narrow, roads).



So which bikes did you want to love but got disappointed with after trying them out?

Large adventure touring bikes. I figured the KTM Adventure 990 I rode would have a decently low first gear to get through the rougher stuff. Nope, idles along at 10 MPH or so. Good way to kill a clutch really quick if you need to get it through anything that requires slow riding.

Triumph Thruxton
I traded a buddy not long ago for awhile and the machine is much heavier and sluggish than I thought. The engine was also quite anemic as far as power and the braking was pretty bad. I think though I rode it in comparison to my CR which I really should not have done they are truly 2 different animals but it just kind of happened that way not by choice.

BRUMBEAR wrote:Triumph Thruxton
I traded a buddy not long ago for awhile and the machine is much heavier and sluggish than I thought.

Interesting. I love the way these things look, but I've never ridden one (or even thrown a leg over). Riding position looks really uncomfortable though, I'm surprised it didn't seem to bug you (well, enough to mention it).

My first bike, 1971 Kawasaki H-1 500cc 2 stroke triple.
Faster than a speeding whatever and a killer in the corners. No, not killer in a good way, this bike was literally a killer bike, nicknamed the widow maker, it was a real poorly designed bike. Sold it after I realized that it was the bike or my life, one was going soon...

Grey Thumper wrote:

BRUMBEAR wrote:Triumph Thruxton
I traded a buddy not long ago for awhile and the machine is much heavier and sluggish than I thought.

Interesting. I love the way these things look, but I've never ridden one (or even thrown a leg over). Riding position looks really uncomfortable though, I'm surprised it didn't seem to bug you (well, enough to mention it).

I am used to the aggressive riding position of a sportier style machine. I had clubmans on my cr originally and I really wasn't on it long enough for that to be an issue I don't mind clubmans or clipons when I am carving. BTW the leg room on the trumpet (distance from the seat to the pegs) isn't bad.The seat is a 2x4 and the low tank is a bit of a nut cruncher but again tolerable.
I also looked at the price and there are so many other machines out there that easily rival or surpass this machine for quite a bit less.
It is however a beautiful bike so I can't hate it much

BRUMBEAR wrote:

Grey Thumper wrote:

BRUMBEAR wrote:Triumph Thruxton
I traded a buddy not long ago for awhile and the machine is much heavier and sluggish than I thought.

Interesting. I love the way these things look, but I've never ridden one (or even thrown a leg over). Riding position looks really uncomfortable though, I'm surprised it didn't seem to bug you (well, enough to mention it).

I am used to the aggressive riding position of a sportier style machine. I had clubmans on my cr originally and I really wasn't on it long enough for that to be an issue I don't mind clubmans or clipons when I am carving. BTW the leg room on the trumpet (distance from the seat to the pegs) isn't bad.The seat is a 2x4 and the low tank is a bit of a nut cruncher but again tolerable.
I also looked at the price and there are so many other machines out there that easily rival or surpass this machine for quite a bit less.
It is however a beautiful bike so I can't hate it much

Older Thruxtons had clip-ons and a more sport riding position. More recent ones have a "milder" riding position. Frankly to me the new ones don't feel very different from Bonnevilles - I could get the same effect by putting low bars and rearsets on a Bonne.

The Triumph vertical twins wake up a bit when you put on less restrictive pipes and remap/rejet. But most everything on that bike is made of steel, they are heavy little chunkers. The engine is overbuild and understressed, it can be bored quite a bit without losing its integrity. Big bore kits are common.

Thanks I didn't know that I am not even sure what year the thruxton was.

My old 1978 Suzuki GS550E. I bought it when Andrea didn't yet ride as she was starting to ride of the back of my CB400T. I thought the extra power of the inline-4 and +150cc would make a difference for two up but it didn't; in fact, the bike was slower then the CB400T and didn't handle as good. I did love the kick start on it, unfortunately with the reliability of 1970's Suzuki electronics I had to use it more often than I would have liked.

Mike

Really thought I would like the new 1600 BMW's, but I don't. Too boring, too sedate, no soul