[64185]

Hello everyone, my name's Matt, i'm 29 from London, England. I've been riding scooters for a few years now, but have recently been bitten by the bug to move on to something a little more serious. My girlfriend has offered to pay for a five day Direct Access course so that i can get my full license. I'll be doing that next month. I can't wait. The freedom of riding really appeals to me, i just hope i don't get scraped off the road by a putty knife at some stage!

I've already started looking at bikes, but i'm a bit confused, because nothing seems to completely suit my requirements. I'm going to buy 2nd hand, in case i break it! Basically i want something that isn't so massive and cumbersome that i can't use it in London traffic easily. It's got to be able to perform well, but at the same time be comfortable enough to do some long-distance travelling as well. I have a dream to ride down to the south of France with my girlfriend on the back! Or just weekend trips to the seaside. I heard that really i need quite a powerful bike to tour with a pillion passenger comfortably - but i'm quite nervous about getting a very powerful bike too soon.

I quite like the look of cruisers, but are they any good at long-distance, are they a hassle to maintain, and do they handle like crap?!

The bikes i've been looking at so far are:

Ducati Monster 600/620
Suzuki gs500e
Suzuki Bandit 650
Honda CBF500 ABS
Triumph Thunderbird
Honda vt750c shadow

I'd very much appreciate all your expert advice to a fledgling biker. Thanks for your time, Matt.

 

[64185]

600cc a must?

Many thanks, gentlemen, for you advice. Sorry for being so green around the gills... Do you reckon that i'm going to need over 600cc for comfortable touring with a pillion? I don't know if build has anything to do with it. I'm 6'1'' and weigh about 180 pounds. My lady is pretty small... Also, am i really going to regret having no fairings if i go for a naked bike?

 

[64185]

You live in London, which my English friend tells me has weather just like Portland. In which case you're probably soggy while you were typing your post. Some kind of weather protection is pretty critical in the way of a windscreen you can get behind, whether it's aftermarket or not.

You've got that right... the weather here is woeful. I can't wait for the roads around Monte Carlo this June!

Hey, does anyone here have any experience with a Suzuki SV650? I thought that perhaps a naked one with a small screen attached might serve my purposes.

I'd just like to thank you all for being so responsive. This is definitely the friendliest and most helpful biker forum, and I joined a few. They were weak.

 

[64185]

SV650 is a great bike, but your pillion may not care for it.

Why? What's wrong with the pillion position?

 

[64185]

Yeah, great call, you're right, the Suzuki DL650 V-Strom does do everything i need it to.... BUT IT'S JUST SO UGLY!! No? Am i wrong? Maybe i'm talking out of turn here, with little or no mid-big size bike experience, maybe i should show it some respect... (sorry if i've offended anyone who loves its styling) but it does look a little gawky! I don't want to be all style and no substance... but a little bit of style would be nice!!

 

[64185]

I thought I read someplace that you had to stay under a certain cc size in England for the first year or so. 250cc's comes to mind. Am I wrong on that?

Not if you're over 21 and do your full Direct Access license...

 

[64185]

Being the proud owner of a VStrom 1000, I'm deeply offended by your callous remark. By way of comparison, I invite you to consider the vagina. It's hardly one of the most elegant of God's creations, yet it provides endless entertainment, invaluable productivity, and surely, we would all be lost without them.

Something to think about.

Sure, sure... but a vagina doesn't require you to pour endless amounts of your hard-earned cash into its maintenance - not just due to daily wear-and-tear, but also due to the simple need of keep it running smoothly so that you can get proper use out of it... Hang on, what am i saying? My mistake... (sorry Sachi)