Sad story, bought a Street 750, loved it, but no amount of suspension upgrades got it good enough for my aging back. Sadly, I could ride cruisers 10 years ago, but no more.
Even my 500's suspension which is decent, is making me want to stand up over big bumps as my spinal health deteriorates.
So, in the spirit of finding the most cushy adv bike ever (see previous threads) with a low seat, I test rode a Tiger 800 XR and a BMW F700GS. The BMW stood out as the smoothest riding bike I have ever been on, sold on first test ride. I didn't even bother going over to the Honda dealer, I knew an NC700DCT was not likely to inspire me, and the Africa Twin's seat height is out of my range.
Live and learn, I can ride any bike I want as long as it is an adv bike with 7+" of travel and pretty high-end suspension.
Mini review of some bikes I have been on recently:
- Tiger 800, wonderful engine, wide broad torque curve, not quite an inline 4, but puts out 100 hp and has a nearly flat torque curve, fantastic for an 800, and fly-by-wire gives amazing throttle control, sweet bike seems to do it all, just a wee bit too stiff a ride for me, seems like canyon carvers would love that bike, maybe some Ohlins would help it a bit.
- Street 750, torque monster, a 750 shouldn't put out that much but it does. Looks great. But suspension is a medieval torture device. And we don't talk about handling on a cruiser.
- F700GS, the least of the three engines from a power perspective, but also fly-by-wire, the same incredibly smooth feel on the throttle. But most importantly, it is *the* smoothest ride I have ever had on a motorcycle, better than my car. Feels great.
A silver lining is I got most of the money back from the Harley, but not all. It helped the BMW was used with 1000 miles on it, also a distress sale. Some guys girlfriend decided she didn't like it after 1000 miles. He had it decked out perfectly, saved me the trouble and quite a few $k. If you're on here, the bike found a good home, I'll take good care of it and put it to good use.
I seem to have suddenly developed a taste for bigger bikes, after 10 years of riding mostly 500's (one 650), and being scared of having too much power, my riding skills seem to have developed enough to where more power feels like it gives more control rather than less.
So, first real ride, took it to Santa Cruz over 17 today. I miss the power of the triumph, but other than that it was pretty good. Full throttle in 5th gear left me wanting more, but 4th was decent. Compare that to my 500 where even 3rd leaves you wanting more (both bikes are geared tall).
It leans well, really inspires confidence, I had to remind myself to slow down: I was on a mountain road with no shoulders and a death cliff drop-off to my right.
It seemed to like being guided through turns, it didn't quite want to hold a line on its own below 55 mph, not sure what that is about. But with a gentle hand on the bars to hold the line, it corners better than any other bike I have ever had. That smooth plush suspension seems to hold the road magically well in turns. I've never had a bike that could corner like that before.
And of course, for my mods, I built the same bike again, you know my bikes by now, they all look the same, light triangle front and back, extra set of mirrors, ready to commute. A lot of the stuff just transferred over from the Harley.
Here are the pics:
First one is how it came from the dealer, love the Vario removable cases, I will use the side-cases when I need to carry extra stuff to work.
Even my 500's suspension which is decent, is making me want to stand up over big bumps as my spinal health deteriorates.
So, in the spirit of finding the most cushy adv bike ever (see previous threads) with a low seat, I test rode a Tiger 800 XR and a BMW F700GS. The BMW stood out as the smoothest riding bike I have ever been on, sold on first test ride. I didn't even bother going over to the Honda dealer, I knew an NC700DCT was not likely to inspire me, and the Africa Twin's seat height is out of my range.
Live and learn, I can ride any bike I want as long as it is an adv bike with 7+" of travel and pretty high-end suspension.
Mini review of some bikes I have been on recently:
- Tiger 800, wonderful engine, wide broad torque curve, not quite an inline 4, but puts out 100 hp and has a nearly flat torque curve, fantastic for an 800, and fly-by-wire gives amazing throttle control, sweet bike seems to do it all, just a wee bit too stiff a ride for me, seems like canyon carvers would love that bike, maybe some Ohlins would help it a bit.
- Street 750, torque monster, a 750 shouldn't put out that much but it does. Looks great. But suspension is a medieval torture device. And we don't talk about handling on a cruiser.
- F700GS, the least of the three engines from a power perspective, but also fly-by-wire, the same incredibly smooth feel on the throttle. But most importantly, it is *the* smoothest ride I have ever had on a motorcycle, better than my car. Feels great.
A silver lining is I got most of the money back from the Harley, but not all. It helped the BMW was used with 1000 miles on it, also a distress sale. Some guys girlfriend decided she didn't like it after 1000 miles. He had it decked out perfectly, saved me the trouble and quite a few $k. If you're on here, the bike found a good home, I'll take good care of it and put it to good use.
I seem to have suddenly developed a taste for bigger bikes, after 10 years of riding mostly 500's (one 650), and being scared of having too much power, my riding skills seem to have developed enough to where more power feels like it gives more control rather than less.
So, first real ride, took it to Santa Cruz over 17 today. I miss the power of the triumph, but other than that it was pretty good. Full throttle in 5th gear left me wanting more, but 4th was decent. Compare that to my 500 where even 3rd leaves you wanting more (both bikes are geared tall).
It leans well, really inspires confidence, I had to remind myself to slow down: I was on a mountain road with no shoulders and a death cliff drop-off to my right.
It seemed to like being guided through turns, it didn't quite want to hold a line on its own below 55 mph, not sure what that is about. But with a gentle hand on the bars to hold the line, it corners better than any other bike I have ever had. That smooth plush suspension seems to hold the road magically well in turns. I've never had a bike that could corner like that before.
And of course, for my mods, I built the same bike again, you know my bikes by now, they all look the same, light triangle front and back, extra set of mirrors, ready to commute. A lot of the stuff just transferred over from the Harley.
Here are the pics:
First one is how it came from the dealer, love the Vario removable cases, I will use the side-cases when I need to carry extra stuff to work.
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