Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I love my Honda Helix 250. It does everything I need it to do. I've looked at bigger bikes. I like the Honda Shadow but this has so little maintenance. I put 6th on it this summer.
I've had another Honda Helix, an elite, and two smaller bike in grad school. I've ridden on and off most of my life.
I have a mountain bike, don't ride it much. At least with the Helix I'm not pumping up the hills!
I just sold my small Craig Cat pontoon boat
Part of me wants a Honda Shadow. I'm short and with bad knees and I don't ever feel like I am holding up the scooter.
I belong to a retired scooter group called, SOS-Seniors on Scooters in Richmond, IN. The average age is probably mid to late 70's. I'm the only women. It is fun for me to see older guys who are fun and adventuresome!!!
In the spirit of the What Are You Driving thread...
What year/model/make of street motorcycle(s) do you currently ride?
What type of bicycle do you have?
What is your history of motorcycle ownership?
What ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, boats, off-road bikes, etc. do you have?
What are you looking to buy in the next year or so? (cars, bikes, whatever)
What would you have if money were no object?
Or any other information/categories/whatever you want to throw in. Meant to encourage discussion only so don't feel you have to stick to these questions, I'm not a thread-nazi.
# none
# none
# learned to ride at age 10 stopped at 48, had a Honda 90, 305,750, 1100, Yamaha DT250, XT500, last 05 HD Ultra Classic
Vespa 250, nice. 250 is decent size for a scooter, it can pretty much do everything except long freeway jaunts, but it's still got the smaller and lighter feel of the 150s.
You would be surprised. It actually is pretty comfortable for long rides. I love the look on people's faces when they look out their car window and see a Vespa doing 85 mph down the Garden State Parkway. lol.
My last vespa was a 150, and I think the 250 is the best of both worlds. It is almost as agile as the 150 was, yet the fuel injection gives it a different type of ride altogether. More substantial and less moped-like.
I enjoy looking at motorcycles, but I'll never own one because I see how hard they are for car, bus & truck drivers to see and avoid...
Understood. I like to get away from the normal traffic and get out of town when I can. When I ride with cars and trucks around, I ride as if I am completely invisible, which helps to anticipate problems. My riding gear is brightly colored to try to get driver attention. But I know what you're saying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crew Chief
If money were no object, I'd be retired so I could finally have the time to ride the damn things!
1974 Olmo, hand built frame with Campi Record/Mavic Wheels (sew-ups) custom for me road racer
Have owned just about every English make, including Tri, BSA, RE, Norton, Matchless, AJS, Velocette, Panther, Greeves, Ariel ... singles & twins 250cc to 850cc. A few Thruxton's, and two Matchless G15CSR's that had been warmed over with Dunstall equipment. Bultaco 200cc Metralla, bicycle kitted. RE Continental 250 GT Clipper. Had several R-50 & R-60 BMW's, and an R-27, before switching my interest to Italian bikes. MVAugusta, Gilera, Benelli, Ducati, MotoGuzzi ... singles, twins 100cc through 850cc. Wanted a Vincent, but never connected on price/quality.
1996 Polaris "Big Boss 6x6" 400cc, 2001 Polaris Sportsman 6x6 500cc, two Laser sailboats, a Southcoast 22, a 1964 Eichenlaub built Lightning #8529 "Shazam", and a 1964 Cessna 182. We've got two Schwinn folding mountain bikes in the airplane.
I should add that a lot of those motorcycles were not anything to get excited about. I generally bought them on the cheap from distressed owners (mostly college students needing immediate cash money for various reasons), and fixed them up. I rode the bikes around town and inevitably ran into an admirer who thought it was a better ride than what they had.
My outlook has always been that stuff like this is always "for sale" at the right price. So, make me an offer and let's see if we can do business. If the offer is anywhere near what I need to get, we can make a deal if you've got the money and/or a bike to trade. I don't fall in love with equipment ....
Of all the bikes, my fondest memories of trouble-free and reliable daily use would be the 1960's vintage R50/R60 BMW's, 1960's Ducati 250/350 singles, and the various loop-frame 1960's/1970's 750 and 850 Moto Guzzi twins or the 125 cc single. None of these would be categorized as the "quickest, most stylish, best handling or braking" of their era; functionality, serviceability, reliability, overall good balance, and durability were their hallmarks. But a pleasure to ride, with the confidence that I was going to get where I intended to go without hassles or mechanical failures ... a real virtue compared to the Brit bikes.
Every one of the Brit bikes ... no matter what it's charms and strong points might have been (handling, nice power curve/performance, decent gearbox, styling) was always a maintenance hog and rarely reliable (or durable) without frequent "tinkering" to keep it on the road. Lucas electrical system components were forever failing just because the sun rose on a given day. Some of the bikes ... Tri's, BSA's, Ariel's, Velo's ... could rarely make a day's ride of a couple hundred miles without needing minor adjustments, lubrication, tightening up, etc., after the ride. Failing to do a thorough check over after a ride could result in a road-side repair session on the next ride or so. Enfield's, Norton's, Matchless ... were by far and away the most durable and reliable of the lot, with the old plodding machines (ES-2's, G-80's, and other singles, or mildly tuned 500-750 cc twins single carb'd the best of their products. Many of the bikes were flat-out real POS's .... Tri singles, Tri & BSA highly tuned twins (twin carb models, especially), RE's small singles, and a host of others ... now regarded as "collectable" by some who don't know any better about actually riding and maintaining these bikes for transportation.
Even the really nice high end stuff they built ... Velo's 350 singles and bikes like the BSA 500 Goldstar .... were tricky to keep running and all functional. Sweet rides when all went together for a day, but very rare to have those days except at the cost of a lot of maintenance. I owned two Velo Thruxton's ... one I bought for cheap on a bet that I could even start it on one kick from an owner who could exhaust himself trying to start it without resorting to "run and bump". I got it fired up on the first kick ... to his amazement and disgust ... and he figured it was going to a better home then his. It sat in my shop for months before someone else decided it would be a great ride for a Brit bike club ride; far better him than me getting the service life out of it and I made a few bucks, too, without having to clean and polish all the finished parts on it.
SV650s 2005. Been riding for two years now and have fallen in love with the track. This bike has been just great for track duty and then running errands the day after. I really love the V twin torque coming out of a corner. Although, I rode my friends gsxr 750 and his brakes make mine look like toys. And that is after I upgraded the pads and brake lines! Anyways, it gets 55+mpg tooling around the highways so can't complain about that!
What year/model/make of street motorcycle(s) do you currently ride? 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050
What is your history of motorcycle ownership? Started at 12 on a Honda XR100, then took 12 years off. Started Street on a Suzuki SV650 6 years ago. Now Commute daily on the Tiger.
What ATVs, snowmobiles, personal watercraft, boats, off-road bikes, etc. do you have? Boat: 1976 Donzi 18 2+3
PWC: (All Stand-ups) 1991 Yamaha Superjet, 1993 Kawasaki 750SX, 2005 Kawasaki 800SXR
What are you looking to buy in the next year or so? (cars, bikes, whatever) A smaller higher mileage bike I can commute on and park in the city without worry, leaving the Tiger for touring duty. Thinking an older DR/KLR type Dual sport.
What would you have if money were no object? 38 Cigarette Top Gun
Ducati Desmo RR
I have a 98 YZF600R, it's my first and only motorcycle so far. Once I'm done with school I'd really like to get an MV Agusta F4 and a Brutale for a naked bike. Also I'd like some sort of trail bike. And one of the little 110cc minibikes to do wheelies in my neighborhood with. Also I'd like a houseboat for parties, and a jet ski. And maybe throw in a Ferrari or 2.
Wow, the 1200S, is it the silver one? My friend had a 2000 silver (the second generation with the larger fairing though) and it was a torque monster!
Yeah, it's silver. It's a fun ride.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
