30K today

Today the v-strom recorded its 30,000th mile. That's in slightly less
than 3 years since I bought it brand new. The only problems to date have
been a loose connection to the fan and a partially seized gear linkage
(grit and snow). Both problems quickly and easily remedied. Otherwise
its been faultless despite being thrashed mercilessly all year-round.

I am now mulling over whether or not to replace it with another new bike
but I can't make my mind up. I need weather protection, good range and
the ability to cruise at 90mph (on autobahns of course) whilst being light
and nimble enough for filtering in heavy traffic. Another 'strom?
Versys? F800ST? Tiger 800? or perhaps something like a Shiver with the
addition of a decent screen. The trouble is I really like the 'strom.
It doesn't do anything spectacularly well but it does everything that I
need it to and does it well and fairly cheaply. Its not that I gaze on it
with pride or anything but I am wary of moving to something else and then
finding that it doesn't feel as "right" for the kind of long-distance
commuting that I currently do. On the other hand it would feel like a
missed opportunity to own a different kind of bike if I just bought
another 'strom. Decisions, decisions...

 

keep the 'strom. Won't it do another 3 years & 30k? It's not like you
haven't go another bike for long distance work, or does that just sit in
the lounge?

 

When I was looking, Geo Whites had a decent deal on the 650 V-strom with
luggage & ABS (GT model, not XP) @ £6k OTR, making it cheaper than the
base & ABS models and about £1,500 cheaper than the XP

 

You can go for an extended play on my Versys at the BOSM if you like.
I'll even pull the lowering block out and pull the forks down the yokes
so you can try it at normal, not stumpy legged, height.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Inter-Continental Hyperbolistic Missile , CBR600F-W racebike
in the making, TS250C, RD400F (somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

I might get a 'Puig' screen for my Shiver before the French Run.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I might do that - but then I'm depriving myself of the excuse to get a new
bike! The ST3 is used for touring and I do a couple of thousand a year on
that but its not quite ideal for commuting. My commutes vary from highish
speed motorway work to slow filtering in dense traffic - usually over 200
miles a week. The ST3 doesn't like slow-speed work in heavy traffic cos
its a bit lumpy at low revs. Also, it emits quite a lot of heat when
stationary, which is fine in winter but gets a bit much on really hot
summer days.

 

TMax, Silverwing or Burgman then.

 

I may well take you up on the offer. I had a quick go on it at last
year's BOSM (I think it was then) and I liked it but it wasn't really long
enough to get to know it properly.

 

In many ways the Shiver looks right for me in terms of price, performance
and usability for my kind of commuting. The only obvious drawback is the
lack of weather protection. The main thing would be to get a decent-sized
screen on it as a longish run at 90mph on a naked in the middle of winter
would be a bit too chilly. Someting like this would probably do the trick
http://www.bikescreen.com/proddetail.asp?prod=ApriliaShiverSL750
However, it's a bit fugly

 

All around £8K new, which is too much money for not enough fun. If I
were to buy new then I would want a proper bike.

 

I doubt my Tiger will be at the BOSM, so there'll be no CIHAGM on
that. Not sure about the Tiger 800, but the 955 isn't that good at
filtering, [1] you need a nice V twin for that ..

Paul.

[1] heh, just mis-typed that as 'filleting'

 

Hard to disagree. The Puig seems between that and the OEM screen that
came with mine. They *look* like they should reduce wind blast a bit for
motorway work, but middle of winter use isn't an issue for me. No
problem with lumpy running in traffic on the Shiver - just flick the
starter button when idling to temporarily switch the 'tri-map' to
'Touring'.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I've test ridden the Tiger 800, it's a bit meh. It doesn't do anything
any better than my Versys and has odd wheel/tyre sizes for a road bike.
The only real plus it has is the complete lack of any vibes - it's very
smooth but that also makes it seem a little bland.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Inter-Continental Hyperbolistic Missile , CBR600F-W racebike
in the making, TS250C, RD400F (somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

Sounds like my mental processes when offer a cheap BMW R1200RT to
replace the K.

First thought: "Ooh, shiny! Bargain."

Second thought: "Why bother? The K does the same job."

 

heh. You and that TOG. He called my Blackbird bland, the little
tinker. As if you can call a 170MPH bike 'bland' ...

Paul.

 

Have you ridden a CBR1000F...

 

Yupp. I test-rode one whil I had the 955 Sprint ST, and yes, I thought
it was bland, with a very indifferent power delivery. Up till about
10k[1] rpm. But all the power came on way too high for me, and in more
normal riding was distinctly underpowered, heavy and, well yes, bland.


[1] Or whatever.

 

Not ridden a Blackbird but I can entirely believe that. Power delivery
is everything for the grin factor, hence a 60bhp 2-stroke will always
be more exciting than a 160bhp 4-stroke.

 

That's odd - isn't it the same engine as a street triple?

 

No - Street Triple's 675cc.