If you had one other bike....

[tomm]

Originally Posted by skeeter

Cool! I have an '81 GS850L in the shed. Needs some TLC along with a stator and gasket replacement. Got it for a project bike and had it on the road for a year. Little enough time to ride, much less to work on the other bike.

I certainly understand the time dilemma. I spent about two years re-building mine. Pretty much everything except the bottom end. But they are legendary bikes and worth the effort. The 850 in particular is definitely a sweet bike.

If you aren't aware, there is an excellent forum on the old GS's at http://www.thegsresources.com/ . Lots of very knowledgeable folks on that forum that can help with just about anything you may come across.

[justbob]

Originally Posted by ponch

Nice selection of bikes. Tell me about them.

The Suzuki SV1000 is a fun sporty V-Twin,its is my day bike for those hooligan days.

The 1250 Suzuki Bandit has probably the smoothest real world usable power of any bike that I have owned. I use it for 2 or 3 day weekend trips in good weather.

The BMW R1200RT was purchased as a replacement for my totaled FJR1300 that got rearended on I-75 in Chattanooga.
The RT has been the best motorcycle that I have ever owned and it has also been the worst. I love the ride, the handling, the fuel mileage, all the bells and whistles. It has also been the only bike that has left me stranded on the side of the road, twice. The routine maintenance is very user friendly but the potential cost of
repairs for final drives, ABS computers and dry clutches is totally unacceptable to me. Appromimately 1500 to $2000 to replace any one of those. I put 80,000 miles on it and do love the bike but its time for it to go to its next owner, which will happen in 2 weeks .

The Concours 1400 did not interest me until Kawasaki made all the changes to the 2010 model. It is probably one of the highest technology bikes available on the market today. 156 HP and capable of 50 MPG. 2 stage ABS, traction control, heated grips,Electric windshield w 4 preset positions and selectable fuel economy mode that provides a 15 to 20% increase in mileage.
I bought it in March and have 16,000 miles on it now.

The 2007 1600 Nomad, well, I guess you are familiar with it.
I'm trying to make myself slow down and smell the roses a little and maybe my wife will ride with me some on it.

[trip]

I'm kinda like Jim Dooley... the Screaming Eagle Road Glide catches my eye. But, if I'm going to buy a second bike for the stable, I'd look hard and heavy at either the new Kawasaki Voyager or a new Gold Wing. I might even get a Valkyrie if I could find an Interstate with low miles.

[ponch]

How did the RT leave you stranded? Just wondering. I think yours has the servo brakes, which are higher maintenance. The newer ones don't. Doing a clutch is a trip...Split the bike in half.

I considered the C14, but I'd have to change the ergos just to ride it. It's a little too cramped stock, at least for me, otherwise I think it's a great bike. The RT has more storage space too and I got the 49L topcase.

Originally Posted by justbob

The Suzuki SV1000 is a fun sporty V-Twin,its is my day bike for those hooligan days.

The 1250 Suzuki Bandit has probably the smoothest real world usable power of any bike that I have owned. I use it for 2 or 3 day weekend trips in good weather.

The BMW R1200RT was purchased as a replacement for my totaled FJR1300 that got rearended on I-75 in Chattanooga.
The RT has been the best motorcycle that I have ever owned and it has also been the worst. I love the ride, the handling, the fuel mileage, all the bells and whistles. It has also been the only bike that has left me stranded on the side of the road, twice. The routine maintenance is very user friendly but the potential cost of
repairs for final drives, ABS computers and dry clutches is totally unacceptable to me. Appromimately 1500 to $2000 to replace any one of those. I put 80,000 miles on it and do love the bike but its time for it to go to its next owner, which will happen in 2 weeks .

The Concours 1400 did not interest me until Kawasaki made all the changes to the 2010 model. It is probably one of the highest technology bikes available on the market today. 156 HP and capable of 50 MPG. 2 stage ABS, traction control, heated grips,Electric windshield w 4 preset positions and selectable fuel economy mode that provides a 15 to 20% increase in mileage.
I bought it in March and have 16,000 miles on it now.

The 2007 1600 Nomad, well, I guess you are familiar with it.
I'm trying to make myself slow down and smell the roses a little and maybe my wife will ride with me some on it.

[rewindgy]

Why just one spare bike? Bikes are like tools - you can never have too many!
2006 Nomad
1999 800 Drifter
1981 Honda Passport
1986 Yamaha SRX 600
1982 Yamaha Vision
1981 Suzuki GS650E
1976 Honda GL1000
1967 Yamaha Bonanza 180

[rflnomad]

Simple; KLR650. I am looking for one now. Torn between the pre 08 and 08 to current design. But they are reliable, able to traverse dirt roads very well, great small, back road adventure bikes.
Another of Kawasakis best ideas. I can't wait until I get mine.....

[fatrat45]

+1 on the KLR 650 that was the bike i was looking at when the wife decided she wanted to go on rides with me, so thats the story.
KLR 650 is the next one for me.

[timebandit]

A good deal just came up for a KAWASAKI KZ 1300!!

$1000

only 42,000km with all safety inspection done. Thinking of taking it apart and transforming into a "bobber" of some kind.

will go see later this week

[jmax5105]

I'd have to go for the Kawasaki Concours 14. I had an earlier model Concours prior to my '08 Nomad and really enjoyed it. I miss the available power that it always had available. I've ridden the newer one and WOW! I'd need the handlebar risers, but that would DEFINITELY be in my garage (if I could afford it).

[ponch]

The C14 isn't too bad price wise. If you are willing to settle for a leftover, a good deal could be made.

Originally Posted by jmax5105

I'd have to go for the Kawasaki Concours 14. I had an earlier model Concours prior to my '08 Nomad and really enjoyed it. I miss the available power that it always had available. I've ridden the newer one and WOW! I'd need the handlebar risers, but that would DEFINITELY be in my garage (if I could afford it).

[rewindgy]

Had an 1984 KLR 600 and then up until 2 months ago a1991 KLR 650. The right wrist goes numb like my brain so it was getting too dangerous out in the mountains! If I could still do it I would go for the new version - I rode one last spring and the new version is much smoother - more power - way ( and I mean way) better lighting - and the brakes seemed better also. The new seat still sucks but a Corbin is not that expensive!

[kowboy]

i would probably go with some kind of trike if i could afford it,some really nice goldwing or ect.

[justbob]

[quote author=ponch board=general thread=21022 post=315130 time=1291033954]How did the RT leave you stranded? Just wondering. I think yours has the servo brakes, which are higher maintenance. The newer ones don't. Doing a clutch is a trip...Split the bike in half.



[quote author=justbob board=general thread=21022 post=315124 time=1291030996]

At 36,000 miles it developed an oil leak from a rear main seal, the oil contaminated the clutch, so I got that repaired under warranty. Good thing because that would have been $1500 to $2000 also. The servo brakes have been absolutely great , no problems at all. I wish the Concours brakes were as good.
I had a lower left throttle cable break at 50,000 miles while riding on the Cherohala Skyway. BMW said: we've never seen that before, well they have now. You have to remove all the bodywork and the fuel tank to get to the junction box that houses the cables and the cruise control cable and all of them have to be synchronized, not an easy task.
I was riding in the Everglades on my way to Keywest when my final drive failed. Fortunately I had already purchased a used unit from a crashed bike because I have seen way too many final drive failures with all models of BMW's. I called the closest dealer in Florida and they quoted me $1900 to replace the final drive, he knew exactly how much it would be because he was finishing the paperwork on another one at that very moment.
I called home and had my son ship my spare to me overnight at a cost of $137 for the shipping. I repaired the bike the next day and continued on my way. I paid $250 for the spare and have already purchased another spare final drive that goes with the bike to its new owner.
I have never had a Japanese bike leave me stranded . Those crafty Germans did it to me twice but they wont get the opportunity again.

[ponch]

I've read that the failure rate is around 4%. That is actually pretty high. It seems like a lot of bikes have some sort of issues. The thing is, you'd expect such a bike not to as it isn't cheap. I have already heard of issues with 2010/2011 RTs as they changed some things. In a way I am glad I got a leftover 2009 as it's mature tech in a sense. I guess you should never buy the first year of any vehicle.

That said my Nomad was very good. The only warranty issue I had was a coolant pipe o-ring that went after 6 months. Lots of people have issues with the clutch and cam chains, but I never did, although I didn't have a lot of mileage on it, 18K.

If the FD goes under warranty or not, the bike will go. I won't have it.

Originally Posted by justbob

[quote author=ponch board=general thread=21022 post=315130 time=1291033954]How did the RT leave you stranded? Just wondering. I think yours has the servo brakes, which are higher maintenance. The newer ones don't. Doing a clutch is a trip...Split the bike in half.



[quote author=justbob board=general thread=21022 post=315124 time=1291030996]

At 36,000 miles it developed an oil leak from a rear main seal, the oil contaminated the clutch, so I got that repaired under warranty. Good thing because that would have been $1500 to $2000 also. The servo brakes have been absolutely great , no problems at all. I wish the Concours brakes were as good.
I had a lower left throttle cable break at 50,000 miles while riding on the Cherohala Skyway. BMW said: we've never seen that before, well they have now. You have to remove all the bodywork and the fuel tank to get to the junction box that houses the cables and the cruise control cable and all of them have to be synchronized, not an easy task.
I was riding in the Everglades on my way to Keywest when my final drive failed. Fortunately I had already purchased a used unit from a crashed bike because I have seen way too many final drive failures with all models of BMW's. I called the closest dealer in Florida and they quoted me $1900 to replace the final drive, he knew exactly how much it would be because he was finishing the paperwork on another one at that very moment.
I called home and had my son ship my spare to me overnight at a cost of $137 for the shipping. I repaired the bike the next day and continued on my way. I paid $250 for the spare and have already purchased another spare final drive that goes with the bike to its new owner.
I have never had a Japanese bike leave me stranded . Those crafty Germans did it to me twice but they wont get the opportunity again.

[glwilson]

Among many bikes...

I would look at getting something just to rip-around town and the country back-roads without caring if it needed to be cleaned.

As a matter of fact... the more it started to look ridden-hard and put away wet... the better!!