suggest me a bike

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#16 Post by **Kwackerz** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:35 pm

Lings have some good secondhand options around your 5 grand

http://www.lingsusedbikes.com/ucapp/use ... p?val_01=2

Cheap kitted out VStrom in amongst the VFR800's and others

Willopotomas · #17 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:38 pm

Falcopops wrote:Didn't BMW come up with a cruiser built around the 1150 motor, in fact they used it in one of the James Bond movies IIRC, prolly a bit pricey though.

Willopotomas wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-BMW-R120 ... 27c7cd3cca

Nice plodders and really easy to ride. Saddle bags rather than a top box though. They also seem to hold their value quite well.

Aladinsaneuk · #18 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:44 pm

hardly moving son?

sorry - we thought you wanted a bike, not a ditch pump

flatlander · #19 Post by **flatlander** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:49 pm

Victory they are puirddy

BikerGran · #20 Post by **BikerGran** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:01 pm

They're also ridiculously heavy. There are better looking bikes!

The retro-looking Guzzis are rather nice (from my retro POV). And the W650 but the seat is a plank and needs a gel pad.

Willopotomas · #21 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:24 pm

flatlander wrote:Victory they are puirddy

mmmmm. Yes.. Also kin' expensive..lol.

blinkey501 · #22 Post by **blinkey501** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:11 pm

I have held back on this topic has i was curious to see what was posted.
The pegaso that pete wrote about i rode the same bike on the same day.
It was very nice to ride, with a comfy seating position and a relaxed and easy riding positon.
These bikes are fetching just above 3 grand for a 59 plate through to an even newer bike for simular money on evilbay.
Which will allow a few funds for luggage etc.
One of the best bikes i ever had was a 57 plate cbf 600 naked and i fitted a fly screen.
On a steady run 60 mpg was accomplished.
Low down grunt was good
And it had honda reliability.
A lot of riding schools have used these bikes but don't be decieved they really do zip on.
140 mph was the top speed i had out of mine, on a track day of course.
Would i have another.... Yes. nice bike
I only part exchanged it for something i thought was better...Not a falco.
But what i part exchanged it for was crap in comparison

#23 Post by **Kwackerz** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:34 pm

HisNibbs wrote:Enfield?

Great for pottering and can put a smile on the strangest of faces.

If you need more than 70mph then I'd be another vote for a BMW or Guzzi twin.

Was looking in Haywards of Cambridge Website Link at their Guzzis today. Nice selection and look quite well made. A few older preowned ones outside that had took age well with little that you'd suck thru teeth at.. bolts seemed ok, etc. Very nice bikes if you can handle cruising along at sub warp speed.

and then there were the Enfields...

o..m..g.. yes nice to look at, thin looking chrome (on par with triumph's later efforts) but nice if youre going to fair weather ride it and polish it every weekend. One outside for sale that had been ridden by a 'normal' biker. an 03 plate and looked rustier than my 30 year old Z440. not the chrome as such but the steelwork was rusting in places where youd expect oils and lubes to have protected it well, such as wheel spindle spacers, etc I'd been round the shop first and had said to shaz that maybe one of those would slow me down.. and was warming to the idea of a bit of laid back chilled riding. Once i'd seem the 'honest' bike sat outside, i'd be more inclined to buy an aging kwack w650 instead. Wide berth on the Enfields.

randomsquid · #24 Post by **randomsquid** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:49 pm

MartDude wrote:
But that was your arse cheeks . . .

Nothing wrong with my arse cheeks. My old Guzzi never tried to hide up there. It's these fancy new things they make.

Also, Indian Enfields are pretty but I know a man who bought one recently and he spends more time bolting it back together than riding it.

D-Rider · #25 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:07 pm

Bob (Woodbutcher) popped over to see me late this afternoon. He's just got a Triumph Sprint ST - very few miles on the clock.
In a fit of insanity he offered me a go and it would have been the height of bad manners not to take him up on it.
I can say that it is a thoroughly nice bike - very smooth, very predictable but turns well. Engine seems nice - very linear, pulls from low down and keeps going. Didn't seem to have quite the arm-stretching capability of the Falco but I'm not sure whether that was because I'm more familiar with winding it on on the Falco than a shortish ride on the Sprint,
I really am not so used to an upright riding position so that took a bit of getting used to and in the short time I rode it I wasn't entirely sure what the tyres were telling me (typical unfamiliarity rather than a shortcoming of the bike). As my little ride continued I felt more at home.
The upright riding position was a nice relief for my neck - I could see that becoming a bit of a winner for me at some point in the future. The seat was very comfy.
As for luggage, Bob has a Huge top-box that I believe houses an AWACS radar system. I think panniers are readily available.

Yes - a nice bike to ride. Bob tells me he's put about 1100 miles on it in 4 weeks and that it's returned 47 / 48mpg (and he doesn't hang about).

lazarus · #26 Post by **lazarus** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:51 pm

Thanks for all the above suggestions - I had forgotten asking the question and so have only just seen the last few answers.

Was all set today to buy a private R1150R which was absolutely immac, but then the local BMW dealer explained to me that the ABS pump is prone to failure particularly if the bike hasnt done many miles and the hydrauklic flkuid has not been regularly changed and the cost of dealing with that is about £1700 !!!!!

So back to the searching which at least can now be done with some determination, the sailing season having just about finished.

flatlander · #27 Post by **flatlander** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:09 pm

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0982271047

XJR Jason · #28 Post by **XJR Jason** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:34 pm

XJR1300

BikerGran · #29 Post by **BikerGran** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:17 pm

lazarus wrote:the local BMW dealer explained to me that the ABS pump is prone to failure ....... and the cost of dealing with that is about £1700 !!!!!

Mate of mine decided to buy a BMW for touring reliability, joined the Owners' club for ease of getting spares etc, and discovered that most of them have two - one on the road and one being repaired.........

lazarus · #30 Post by **lazarus** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:35 pm

Doesnt surprise me BG. Quality took a nosedive with the intro of the 1200 so BM are a company living off the days when they were twice the price and twice the quality of their Brit competitors.