Motorcycles

[OlongJohnson]

The KTM or Husky 500s are getting down close to what a YZ250 from 20 years ago weighed. Would be an awesome sumo. Not 200 lb less than 600, but 350 lb less than 600. Would be a different world.

On the other hand, if you're going to do a lot of miles on pavement, you need a cush drive rear wheel or your bike will eat transmission parts. I don't care what they say, they're wrong if they say you don't. The KTM 690 and variants have it. Can't think of a non-KTM-family high performance single that does.

Unfortunately, the company that was building cush-drive rear hubs for any dirt bike you wanted seems to be out of business.

[DDTSGM]

My 2 cents: Naked bikes are fun for about an hour in nice weather. If you like going on longer trips you'll get really tired of the constant wind pushing on large parts of your upper body. Bugs (beetles, crickets, and the like) will hit your legs and everything else and at 70-80 mph (speed limit many places) it's unpleasant. You won't believe how much wetter you get on a naked bike than a faired bike if you're caught in a surprise rain storm.

Don't get me wrong, if you just want a bike for tootling around then naked bikes are fun, and arguably give you a more intense experience. For travel etc. they are not great at all.
(Had an R1200R, got tired of the above and traded up to an R1200GSA)

I agree, crawl behind a fairing and you're hooked for life. I have a 2016 Street Glide that I absolutely love - everyplace but in town and of course, on dirt. So you have to keep a Sportster, and a KLR650 around, also.

[DDTSGM]

Not that anyone around here needs convincing, but KTM just announced 1.99% APR for 60-months on select 2019 KTM models.

Just sayin'...

A Duke 390 would be nice, what for I don't know, maybe smearing myself along some curve in Arkansas. A guy in our club has one and he let me ride it, didn't want to five it back.

[randyho]

Except that it weighs almost 600lbs.

591 vs. 575. They are both, uh, big boned.

[randyho]

My 2 cents: Naked bikes are fun for about an hour in nice weather. If you like going on longer trips you'll get really tired of the constant wind pushing on large parts of your upper body. Bugs (beetles, crickets, and the like) will hit your legs and everything else and at 70-80 mph (speed limit many places) it's unpleasant. You won't believe how much wetter you get on a naked bike than a faired bike if you're caught in a surprise rain storm.

Don't get me wrong, if you just want a bike for tootling around then naked bikes are fun, and arguably give you a more intense experience. For travel etc. they are not great at all.
(Had an R1200R, got tired of the above and traded up to an R1200GSA)

+1 I put a fairing on my r1100r about 2 months after purchase because I actually rode the thing.

[mmc45414]

Getting back in the mood a bit. Currently have a 2005 FZ-1 that I tweaked a bit prior to a ride out west in 2013. When I have not been riding it I do a lot of looking at newer bikes on the www, when I go ride it I wonder why I am looking at other bikes. At this point part of the appeal is that it is not worth much, but can still do a lot. I bought a different Givi box (GIVI 30 Liter Dolomiti) and will probably get some stainless brake lines. Was big enough to haul home thirteen pounds of gunpowder last Friday

[Welder]

On the naked bike thing, they're not for everybody but it really depends on what experience you want. One of my bikes is a Concours C10 and I only ride it two-up or long distance; way too heavy and *top*-heavy for what I want on just a day trip, and it drastically changes the experience. My whole motorcycling life has been spent on standards / naked bikes with the exception of a V-Strom 650 which was still basically naked with the exception of a windscreen. I mainly do day trips; dawn to dusk sorts of things, and when I get behind the handlebars I don't enjoy looking through a windscreen or at the extra bulk of fairings and junk in front of me.

For me personally, the push of the wind is part of the experience; yes, some days at 80 mph plus. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but riding is a feeling of blending with a machine *against* the elements -- the road, the weather, the temperature, etc. I don't want to feel like I'm comfortably knocking down the miles in a cage; I want to fight a little bit for them and really be *out there.* No fairings or windscreen for just a few hundred miles at a time for me, please.

In the same vein, I want real power and response from my bikes, and so the heavy stuff is out. The '09 Aprilia Tuono hanging from my engine crane right now while I replace both tires and rebuild the forks is, for my needs, the ultimate riding experience. (It's a naked version of the Rotax v-twin-powered RSV...no nannies, around 130+ hp, more upright seating position.) The only way it could be better would be a way to attach small but real luggage to go further than on day trips; I currently wear a backpack, but that gets old. One of these days I'll weld something up with Givi attachment points for it.

[orionz06]

The wind against you is something I need. My S1000R is great for lots of stuff, except staying dry in a light sprinkle. My first ride home on the R1250 was intersting as it was through a storm. I hadn't gone below 35 until the rain was over and didn't realize until days later that I never got wet. It was THAT different. I still had to drop a shorty screen to get some wind back though, even it it's just a little around the helmet.

[jandbj]

My now 15 yr old V-Strom continues to cover so many bases for me that I only occasionally look at a small bikes for a bombing around solo option... it’s a disease.

[OlongJohnson]

The One-Stroke Engine

Not super-profound for most of us, but a fun read.