Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Megadora Impacta 980 I think.

Must remind myself this is a bad idea

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just over two years off the road, many tearing-hair-out hours of problem solving, but now MOT'd and back on the road. Took it for a little shakedown ride on my way to the MOT garage this morning, but the way home will be a little more fun

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Megadora Impacta 980

Lots on ebay from UK sellers, e.g. this one for £15.99 inc postage https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/294852231839 Also on amazon for £12.90

Sick bike. Thunderbird?

Adventurer (Thunderbird variant) - the ugly duckling of the family, even the Haynes manual takes the piss but I love it. Owes me a pretty big parts and labour debt now, but i took the engine-out stuff as an opportunity to replace and upgrade a few bits so its now in much much better shape than when I bought it.

I think it looks better than the Thunderbird. Odd name though. It should have something American or cruisery.

Yeah, given it was intended to compete with Harleys. These days it just sounds like I ride a Tiger but cant remember what it’s called

You don't know yet if you'll prefer twins, v twins, inline 4, v4 etc. They all have different qualities and most riders settle on a favourite or have a few bikes.

Bit late to the what-bike chat, but this is roughly what I was going to say. Plus the standard reminder that most decent size branded dealers will let you take a bike out for a decent test ride, so do that a lot to work out what you want.

Do dealers still allow test rides? I thought with such low stock (among other factors) that test rides are limited these days.

Made a couple F3 stickers

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Bit late to the what-bike chat, but this is roughly what I was going to say. Plus the standard reminder that most decent size branded dealers will let you take a bike out for a decent test ride, so do that a lot to work out what you want.

I'm all but settled on twin for the lower reving throaty behavior. One thing I am certain of is that I do not want a high reving sport bike.

It's going to come down to a speed twin, thruxton RS and maybe even a Bonneville bobber. Shop also has a z900rs Cafe but that's a 4 and I don't want that. I'm going to test the rninet as well, but I doubt I want that bike in my life.

One thing I am certain of is that I do not want a high reving sport bike.

Having spent a couple hours at 7-10k, and nowhere close to the red line... you're missing out.

Having the option to rag the shit out of a bike is great.
Having to rag the shit out of a bike is not.

You might want to do some projections on the cost of insurance and repairs. The risk of binning your first bike is very high. The risk of it falling over because car drivers nudge park, or you don't park it optimally, is very very very high. If you have fully comp insurance you'll want to replace every scratched part with a new one. The insurance company will pay but your premium will double and it will remain high for 5 years. Lots of people give up biking because their insurance becomes unaffordable or they simply can't get a quote for the bike they want.

Another strategy is to buy a bike which is already a little scruffy, get TPFT insurance and pay for repairs yourself, perhaps with second hand parts. You don't report crashes and you build up a precious NCD.

When choosing a bike, find out the price of the parts you'll need after binning it - bars, tank, levers, exhaust, headlight, clocks, seat and tail unit...

What about theft? If you park a nice new bike pretty much anywhere it's likely to be nicked. So you need a Bike Trac tracker.

P.S. If you claim on your bike insurance, maybe you lose your car NCD? Worth checking.

Not a BMW fan at all but I have two mates with both R9T and Thruxton and I found the bimmer way more charming to ride.

15k rev limit on a 4 stroke 250 is soo much fun.

I appreciate the input everyone has put my way. A few key points.

First, i live in a very spacious place. Middle of the Midwest in the USA. It's a nice place and very pleasant. No one is going to steal my bike. I have a garage to park it in that is attached to my house. It locks. I live on the end of a cul de sac. I've lived in LA, Atlanta, Cleveland, DC and would worry about theft there, but here much less so.

Insurance. Diddly. I'm 40 years old, haven't been in a wreck or had a ticket in about two decades. I couldn't care enough to even ask.

As for the inherent risk to dropping the bike or otherwise, I've accepted that risk. In fact the only risk i'm really putting a lot of thought into is that to my own health and safety.

Finally, i want something nice. there are used options availble at that shop also (i.e. s1000rr (no thanks), street triple (maybe), a couple honda naked (i forget which), an MT-10 (too much), etc. When i gop there to write the check i'll see whats available and weigh my options.

i really appreciate this discussion though.

If the right used bike shows up the I'll definitely go for that.

Ah, you're golden then!

Throw a Ducati or two in there as well, they're usually good for a decent test ride out here - Scrambler, Desert X, Hypermotard, V2 Multistrada, Monster, Supersport, all pretty sweet as far as twins go....

haha I love your relentless support.

Ducati dealership a bit far away (2.5 hours). I would get a duc scrambler if one came up in a heartbeat.

Oh shit you’re US based. That’s makes it easier in terms of theft and shit like that. Insurance, no idea.

Get summat fun. Street triples are superb bikes and are a proper hoon.
Easy for first time but can really set the pace. Speed triple for bling and grunt?
You have space, and as much risk there is there, I’m gonna make an uneducated guess and say it’s not as crowded as the roads here.

You don’t want something sports touring? Multistrada 950 was most excellent. I had a 1200 which was fucking mental and a magnet to thieves, but rented a 950 for a while and it was very memorable. Sounded banging with a standard pipe too.

Crowded? I live in a "city" of 80,000 people with a downtown that I can ride a bike across in 5 minutes and I'm surrounded by endless farmland outside of that. I'm 3 hours from Chicago. Rush hour is from 5pm-515pm. There's no morning rush hour.

Multistrada is wonderful, but I don't want this thing to be utilitarian in the least. It's a toy.

The mid West and no insurance or theft worries! Well, that changes everything. I'd get a Rocket 3. The latest model sounds fantastic. I'd love one. https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/triumph/rocket-iii/2020/

I hope you get a good airbag vest/jacket. On hot days you could wear an evaporative cooling vest underneath. I haven't tried this yet, but I intend to. I have the BMW Cool Down Vest. Other brands available. BMW makes lots of high quality bike clothing.

I really hope you live near some mountains. A common problem in the US is that bikers do a lot of straight line miles. This squares off their tyres and they don't get much cornering practice. It's such a terrible combo that it makes you want to weep. I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway on my bicycle, and there were groups of bikers who'd come on a pilgrimage to one of 'the best roads in America'. Some were struggling so much on the corners that they were in danger of holding me up. And they were having a miserable time. I reckon the lack of corners is one reason why so many bikers in the US get their kicks attending the local bikers' weekly meet in a mall parking lot. If you check the speedos of the most exotic bikes, which will include the rarest limited edition Ducatis and MV Agustas, the mileage is tiny. It takes real dedication to get a lot out of motorcycling in the US.