Thanks for the info. I suppose I can ask the dealer but I'm not going to hold my breath. -- TD 1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red) 1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged) Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer
Not that it was suggested for me, but let me say that I'm 5'9 and 10 stone-ish, have back problems[1], and I ride in town a lot as well. So it ain't happening. Plus it looks like my arse. Having said all that, I'm probably destined to get one at some point *shudder*. [1] It can stay on its fucking centre stand forever for all I care. -- TD 1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red) 1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged) Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer
They're nowhere near as awkward to handle as the looks and statistics suggest - the flat engine keeps the weight nice and low. I know I bottled it and went for a Boxer in the end, but that's still around 230kgs, but it is much, much easier to handle at low speeds than the 750SS, on account of the weight being carried low down and the turning circle which rivals a CG125. Try one, or try a Boxer, you may actually like it - IMHO a shite old R100RT makes a great commuter bike - I just wish I'd realised this when I actually used a bike for commuting.
And that one has only had superficial cleaning, recently - look at the shaft, r/w hub, crashbars, etc... Even I'd clean it better than that before putting it up for sale.
Good god, if 38,000 miles is considered 'leggy' now (especially on a 9 yo bike) there's no hope for any of us ... Paul.
On a sports bike I might agree, but it really shouldn't on a tourer. My 9R had 37k on it when I got rid of it at just over 9 years old. I am by no means a high mileage rider. I only ride for about eight months of the year for starters.
OIC. However, there are going to be far fewer 'non-leggy' tourers available, by virtue of the fact of the type of bike, so the mileage at which they become 'leggy' should be higher, IWHT. And whatever happened to "only just run in, surely"? )
You're not wrong, perhaps, if you were actually talking about a tourer, but really, to describe the Sprint ST as such is missing its point by a counntry mile. Sure, you could get hard luggage for it, but other than that, and a better pillion position, it was in no way a better tourer that the Gixxer thou I replaced mine with. Not_quite_sports bike with touring ability would about sum it up. And as such, most examples won't have the sorts of mileage we're seeing here. Heh. My Sprint ST needed a new gearbox (& case) after about 15k, as well as various other bits like radiator, exhaust (the Triumph carbon one having fallen apart, so refit of the original steel one, around 9k miles, IIRC), chain adjuster (hub-centred on the single-sided swingarm model), middle cylinder coil, and a few other bits I can't recall. So at 38k miles, not so much "only just run in" as "not quite run out", I'd have thought.
True, but even though it may be true for some examples, a Sprint ST is *generally* less likely to be a weekend plaything than a Gixer Thou or the like. And even so, the point I was really trying to make was that 38k miles for a 9 year old bike isn't that bad. It's only about 4200/year. True, seeing as my Sprint ST is coming up two years old and has done <6000 miles / heh.
I've never ridden a Thou, but are you saying that it was as comfortable for long distances as as ST? What vintage was yours? -- TD 1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red) 1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged) Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer
1999 Sprint ST followed by 2003 (K3) gixxer. And yes, it was at least as comfortable over long distances, for me at 6'2", and with a dodgy neck that doesn't like a prone position or a fixed right arm angle. Somehow the angles just worked better for me, and it was just less overall effort to ride. It was a brief HAGM on Neal's K1 that made me realise that it might actually work for me too, then the next purchase decision was made. Comfort-wise, there didn't seem to be much in it between the K1/2 and the K3/4. I did more mileage on the trumpet, as I was actually using it daily for a work commuting for the first 18 months, as well as a few cross-continent rides, so it had done 25k miles in three years, whereas the gixxer, IIRC, had done only around ten, but that included several hoon/tours around France, a couple of TOG/clique runs and a Chimay. I had no intention of replacing it with anything else for a long time, so good was it at eveything it did.
This is very interesting. I had half-heartedly been including them in my search, but I assumed that they would be too uncomfortable. I was also considering another 9R, but that would be a bit boring as I've had one before, although I thought it handled like shit, which turned out to be an ancient front tyre, replaced a week before I sold it. *sigh* I'm short, so I'm not likely to be cramped on it, but will it stretch me into uncomfortable positions? I suppose I'd better go and sit on one... -- TD 1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red) 1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged) Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer
I was absolutely astonished at just how slow people were riding at the weekend. I passed countless sports bikes (blades and recent gixers seem inordinately popular, don't think I saw a single Kwak) being ridden at or under the speed limit. Or sitting in queues of traffic. Useless cunts. And don't even get me started on fucking cretins on scooters and their inability to filter through heavy traffic. When pointedly blipping the throttle didn't work I got rather shouty again. Gah!
Oddly, I find the K4 thou consirably less comfortable than the 750 of similar vintage. The seat on the thou is far more arse-in-the-air.
How odd. I never noticed this at all, but perhaps it's due to being a little taller than you, hence sitting more upright. I always favoured an upright position anyway, for reasons of my dodgy neck, and this, coupled with the higher seat position, is probably what made it so comfy for me.
I saw a new shape 6/10R on the M25. He was bimbling briskly so I tucked in behind him for a bit, then I went past him for my exit, and he duly came off behind me at the same exit. Considering I was laden down and had a dirty great rucksack on I dusted him completely around the M3 junction. I wonder if the newer Kawasakis can't corner as well as the old ones P.
Cheers, but I've had one and you're at the wrong end of the country AFAICT. Out of idle curiosity, what's it like and how much do you want? -- TD 1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red) 1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged) Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer
