Topic: The Motorcycling Thread

[Brig]

Time to sign on the line which is dotted.

Always Be Closing.

[Bubba]

Z650 feels very manageable.  Tied with the Trident for "this feels facking perfect when sat upon".  Lower seat, and just as light as the Trident.

Looks like a great fit.  DO IT!

[Brig]

Yeah, looks good on you, Roger!  DO IT!

[Arthur Dent]

Looks good on you. 

[dkaz]

We're a forum full of enablers. Do it.

[Jaeger]

I know if I buy that bike tomorrow, 3 Tridents will suddenly become available on Saturday. 

[Triple Bob]

I know if I buy that bike tomorrow, 3 Tridents will suddenly become available on Saturday. 

Then you'll have the right number of bikes. N+1.

[Bubba]

I know if I buy that bike tomorrow, 3 Tridents will suddenly become available on Saturday. 

Then you'll have the right number of bikes. N+1.

Algebra?  No one said there'd be algebra!

[Jaeger]

I know if I buy that bike tomorrow, 3 Tridents will suddenly become available on Saturday. 

Then you'll have the right number of bikes. N+1.

Algebra?  No one said there'd be algebra!

  Or I just say @$#% it, buy the big brother Z900 for cash, take a loan to pay the insurance and put the n + 1 bit to bed. 

[Arthur Dent]

Multiple bikes don't take that much space to store. Just saying.

[rrocket]

They make a Z400 with similar styling that's much cheaper.

While nothing (mainly) wrong with the Z650, I'd spend the extra and get the Honda 650 for the sweeter sounds of the I4. And I prefer the styling too (but understand why some would prefer the Kawi styling).

If you're now considering parallel twins, the Yamaha MT-07 sounds far better and is well loved by owners. Cheap, too.

[Jaeger]

They make a Z400 with similar styling that's much cheaper.

While nothing (mainly) wrong with the Z650, I'd spend the extra and get the Honda 650 for the sweeter sounds of the I4. And I prefer the styling too (but understand why some would prefer the Kawi styling).

If you're now considering parallel twins, the Yamaha MT-07 sounds far better and is well loved by owners. Cheap, too.

The CB650 is a tough sell - it's much more costly than the Z650 and I just don't like the look of it as well (though they had a Nardo grey version at the store that was nicer than I expected).  It's $10.6 k versus $8.4k for the Z650.  Even more problematic, it is just $500 less than the Z900 ($11.1k) - which also has an I4 and pretty much blows the CB into the weeds in terms of my desire to own one. It would also be a destination bike for me rather than a stepping stone.  Heck, a new Z900 doesn't cost much more than a used Duke 790.

I accept the popularity of the Yahama MT range but a) don't love the looks and b) they are uniformly described as having a high hooligan element to their DNA whereas something more smooth and refined better suits my preferences.

At present it looks like if I'm going for a short stepping stone, Duke 390 is an absolute no-brainer.  If I'm looking for something I would likely keep and enjoy longer that won't break the bank - Z650 looks like the bike to beat.  And of course, if Trident availability concides with my M2 (if that even facking happens this summer), then that is the one I would get. 

But the whole licensing uncetainty is a killer.  Grabbing something now and sitting on it until later this summer is fine ASSUMING I actually get to take the course this summer.  There is about a 2 month backlog for them to re-schedule, and having been bumped I have absolutely NO idea if I will even be slotted back in this summer.  We are almost facking done with June.

When I started this whole quest for motorcycle ridership, it really never dawned on me that getting licensed and actually finding a bike to purchase would be huge variables. 

[dkaz]

I have not ridden the Kawasaki 650 but I think it's similar to the MT-07 and SV650 which I have tested and they are all tame easy to ride engines producing the high 60s to mid 70s HP. The torque is all down low so you don't have to wring it to high RPMs to get decent acceleration and top speed is about 200 km/h.

[Fobroader]

Excited for my motorcycle street skills course this weekend. The beginners course I took from this place helped me so much, I'm really looking forward to getting a lot out of this course.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Street Skills?

[PJungnitsch]

Those are good courses, I really enjoyed the one I took and I'd been riding for a long time by then

[Jaeger]

I know if I buy that bike tomorrow, 3 Tridents will suddenly become available on Saturday. 

Can you ride it with the temporary license or is insurance the issue?  Apologies if I missed it earlier in the thread.

Yes I can ride with an M1, but getting insurance is a different story. The one place I called for a quote said they won't insure anyone without an M2.

[rrocket]

They make a Z400 with similar styling that's much cheaper.

While nothing (mainly) wrong with the Z650, I'd spend the extra and get the Honda 650 for the sweeter sounds of the I4. And I prefer the styling too (but understand why some would prefer the Kawi styling).

If you're now considering parallel twins, the Yamaha MT-07 sounds far better and is well loved by owners. Cheap, too.

The CB650 is a tough sell - it's much more costly than the Z650 and I just don't like the look of it as well (though they had a Nardo grey version at the store that was nicer than I expected).  It's $10.6 k versus $8.4k for the Z650.  Even more problematic, it is just $500 less than the Z900 ($11.1k) - which also has an I4 and pretty much blows the CB into the weeds in terms of my desire to own one. It would also be a destination bike for me rather than a stepping stone.  Heck, a new Z900 doesn't cost much more than a used Duke 790.

I accept the popularity of the Yahama MT range but a) don't love the looks and b) they are uniformly described as having a high hooligan element to their DNA whereas something more smooth and refined better suits my preferences.

At present it looks like if I'm going for a short stepping stone, Duke 390 is an absolute no-brainer.  If I'm looking for something I would likely keep and enjoy longer that won't break the bank - Z650 looks like the bike to beat.  And of course, if Trident availability concides with my M2 (if that even facking happens this summer), then that is the one I would get. 

But the whole licensing uncetainty is a killer.  Grabbing something now and sitting on it until later this summer is fine ASSUMING I actually get to take the course this summer.  There is about a 2 month backlog for them to re-schedule, and having been bumped I have absolutely NO idea if I will even be slotted back in this summer.  We are almost facking done with June.

When I started this whole quest for motorcycle ridership, it really never dawned on me that getting licensed and actually finding a bike to purchase would be huge variables. 

Not sure if your aware, but MT gets a make over for 2021. Looks better IMO. I've always found the engine to be very tractable, easy to ride.

I was also trying to point out you were looking at one of the most interesting, dynamic sounding engines (Trident triple) to the least interesting sounds ("normal" parallel twin Z650).

I find parallel twins with a normal firing order to be the dullest, least interesting character engines on the market.

YMMV and you may not care for a learner bike. But I thought it worth mentioning.

[Jaeger]

Yep - the place where I checked out the Kawasakis had Yamaha and Honda as well. They had the 2021 models from all those manufacturers.

Judging from the vids I have watched, I like the sound of the Kawasaki parallel twin just fine. Triple is my fave overall for sound.  Engine sound is not a determinative factor for me, though.

[rrocket]

Yep - the place where I checked out the Kawasakis had Yamaha and Honda as well. They had the 2021 models from all those manufacturers.

Judging from the vids I have watched, I like the sound of the Kawasaki parallel twin just fine. Triple is my fave overall for sound.  Engine sound is not a determinative factor for me, though.

Ok!

Thought it was important enough to mention.