Noggy, we love these threads cos we get to talk about what we love - bikes. Better than all the poxy political threads that have been appearing lately
I dunno mate. It's like the SV650. A cracking little bike really. Put some better suspension on, and a nice can (they sound lovely with a good can) and you'd have a half decent bike. But they run out of puff very quickly up the top end. Now that may not be a problem if you've got more than one bike, and you say you only want something for shorter fun blasts. But think what mileage you're actually covering on your rides. Aberystwyth, North Wales - not really short blats are they? And yes, Wales has a lot of nice B roads, mountain roads etc. But it's also got a wealth of brilliant, fast A roads, and I just think that middleweight twins and singles will be a bit lacking when you hit those kinds of road. But it's all personal opinion and preference at the end of the day. I've said it loads of times; bikes are affairs of the heart, and you gotta go with that. Just remember that you're considering something as an only bike. My search is for a second bike, so the Fazer will always be there.
Had a sit on a Striple today. Well, even though my knee is still a bit stiff, I could get my feet on the pegs easy enough. It's a bit more cramped than the Fazer, but didn't seem that bad. Next thing is to get a test ride.
I may well try a single SM at some point, but not ready for that yet. There are several bikes that come before any singles. These include KTM 990 SD, Aprilia Tuono, and possibly Ducati Hypermotard. All twins. The only twin I've ridden (Wet Dreams don't count) was an SV650, which quickly became boring as definitely lacking in the grunt department.
What I have realised, since pondering what more modern bikes than the Fazer I want to try, is that actually, the choice isn't that huge. Some of the ones I would like to try haven't been around long enough for there to be some nicely priced 2nd hand examples about. I don't know if it's just that the bikes aren't popping into my mind right now, maybe I'm missing some?
Foc me, that Akra can on the XT looks foccin huge!