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RE-RIDER!

Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Messages
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Location
Atascocita, TX
Not sure If I'm double posting my intro here. Having some issues completing my registration. I see my username above, got an activation code. But I think I'm waiting for final activation/acceptance? Not sure?

Ok, well, I just stopped typing and previewed my post here, looks to be working.

So, I'm 59 yr old, retired living in Humble/Atascocita area. A buddy with a 800 Vulcan keeps asking me to get a bike so we can ride the backroads up NE of our area. Just 2 lane blacktops in the Piney woods area near us. I'll be one up riding for a good while at first. I've not owned/ridden a bike in over 10yrs. Last bike was a 90's KLR 650.

I'm now looking at 650/1000 V Stroms, Honda 919 and 650 Versys. From all I've read on several bike sites, the 650 will do most everything I need it to do. I tested a '08 DL1000 V Strom nearby. Very nice bike, didn't feel too powerful for me. But it did feel kinda big n bulky. And it was out of my budget range, trying to stick to that. So I want to try a 650 Versys to see if I can live with a smaller bike. And this one's in my budget.

But dammit, I like the looks of the Honda 919. And I've read its' not that bad-*** a bike for a re-learner to re-start on. I've kept my M-license all these years, since I got it at 16. And I've bought/sold a few bikes over those years. So I feel I can get my riding-chops back pretty quick. Just been awhile on the sidelines.

I narrowed down this '08 Versys 650 and a '06 919 in my area based on my budget too from many other bikes I see on Houston CL. Just weekend riding, no touring/traveling or even much highways for awhile. I see alot of Cruiser style bikes well within my budget, just don't love that style of bike. I prefera more upright-riding stance. The Suzi M50 is pretty cool looking; to me. I'm trying to stay from 650-1100cc or so.

So Howdy Y'all. I'll keep researching on a few of these sites to learn even more of the bikes I'm window-shopping. After about a month of researching, learned alot already And I'll keep shopping used bikes, within my budget, on Houston CL and classifieds here and there. I'm sure I'll soon find my used-new-to-me re-rider bike. peace, e.
 
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From the looks of you post, you don't appear to a certain type of bike in mind. Now, admittedly, I'm a huge Yamaha fan. The Tenere, in my opinion, is the best of both worlds. Like a bigger/updated KLR or a cheaper, more reliable GS-A. But the FZ09 is one of the best bangs for the buck. Good luck shopping.
 
Welocme. I owned a 07 919 and I gotta say, it was probably my most favorite bike I ever owned. As long as you are careful with your throttle hand, you'd be fine. The on/off of the throttle is a bit snatchy though but you get use to it. It also is a very nice looking bike. Suspension was fine for me but I am a lightweight. Some have complained but that is an easy fix. If you do get a 919, head to wristtwisters.com.
 
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Welcome to the site! :wave:

I've not owned/ridden a bike in over 10yrs. Last bike was a 90's KLR 650.

:tab Other than minor cosmetic changes, it is pretty much the same bike today as it was when it was introduced in 1986. The last change came in 2008. They made small changes to the suspension to give it slightly better street handling, added more plastic, and introduced new color schemes. The motor is the same. So if you remember your last bike, you know pretty much what you can expect if you bought a newer version.

:tab If you want to explore the back woods of East Texas, the KLR 650 is ideal. It gets great gas mileage. It can handle pretty much any road, paved or unpaved, that you might find. It will handle dirt/sand better than something like a V-Strom or Versys. If you drop it, no big deal. Guards are cheap and work well. You can load it down with camping gear if you like. It is cheap to acquire and if you shop around, you can usually find a nice used one pretty much decked out with low miles.
 
Well, maybe I mislead on what I'm wanting to ride now. I just mentioned the KLR as the last bike I owned. I won't be doing any dirt riding anymore. When I spoke of the Piney woods area, more meant the 2 lane roads that flow thru those backwoods and not off-roading.

I'm not locked into a certain style of bike i want to buy. It's more dictated by my budget. First, I was certain I'd be getting a 800cc Cruiser style bike. Just from the lower prices and the amount of these bikes selling in my area. But after online shopping alot more, I noticed the Adv style bikes and really like the looks and feature of some of them. But again, not planning to ride off road, maybe a Adv bike is the wrong choice for me. THey do seem to offer a good street/hiway rid from all I've read. I just like like the upright stance and look of them.

@sharkey. Yes, I'm familiar with your work, lol. I've seen a couple bike sites where you always mention the 919 as a fave of yours. Your comments keep that bike high on my shopping list.

I've narrowed it down to two test drives soon. A '08 Versys 650 and '06 HOnda 919. I know two totally different bikes. But they're withing my budget and I don't NEED a bike for any occasion, I just want a bike again to ride weekends now and then with a buddy who owns a 800 Vulcan.

So we'll see how my first test rides go soon. Unfortunately, weather looks nasty in the Houston area this weekend. So may happen next week now. Peace, e.
 
I think it will boil down to which bike fits you so you are comfortable and confident with it.

For all day cruising, i think the adv type bikes are mo comfy. Even tho the Honda CB is not a crotch rocket, it appears it would put more weight on your hands.

Naturally, i vote for a Wee Strom. ;-)

Welcome to the forum and Let us know how the hunt goes!
 
@sharkey. Yes, I'm familiar with your work, lol. I've seen a couple bike sites where you always mention the 919 as a fave of yours. Your comments keep that bike high on my shopping list.

Well now I am worried, I didn't know I was that infamous. :rofl:

Test ride both and I think you will see two different throttle responses off the line. :trust: I never got assimilated to the VStrom cuz I am vertically challenged. Did I mention Honda Quality and not having a bike a lot of other people have? My wife did complain of smelling like gas from riding on the back just FYI.
 
Well, thanks for the encouraging words and helpful replies here. So many folks ready to give helpful suggestions. I get it, they've been here before. Being helpful to other riders and potential riders. What a great community.

Believe me, I've been doing my research on several bikes and on several bike sites. I think I'm a new member of at least 4 bike sites in last couple weeks. There is so much helpful info to be found on them. And I'm looking forward to making one of them, pie runs, after I get used to my new to me bike. Who doesn't like pie. :eat:

Unfortunately, as with most of these forums, the complainers of issues are far more prevalent than folks who come on to say, my bike is great, no issues. Well, I suppose that can happen, so good, hope I get one of those.

I play bass guitar in a few Houston area blues and variety bands. I am a long time member of Talkbass.com. All us lowenders from around the world get on there and do the same thing about bass gear. I get it, folks get passionate about the stuff they own. I like the frequent reply on TB.com of 'thank goodness we don't all have to play the same gear..life would be boring then'.

I'd say the same thing def applies to bikes, so many varieties to choose from. There's something out there for everyone to enjoy. I'm sure I'll find the one that suits me best with time and patience.....not that I have alot of patience. But I'm learning so much more than I knew about motorcycle ownership by hanging out at all these sites.

My dad tells me his father was a motorcycle police officer in Mexico City many years ago. Never met the man but it must be in my blood.

At 59, I'm not looking to be a redlining-speed-demon out there. For now, just a weekend rider re-learning something I've always loved. With the best and most comfortable, trouble free bike for me....uh within my budget that is. I promised wifey that. :rofl:

She's been eyeing my 12 bass guitars, 10 bass amp rigs like, ok, you go over budget and some of that unused gear is leaving this house. Ouch!
 
Welcome to the site! :wave:



:tab Other than minor cosmetic changes, it is pretty much the same bike today as it was when it was introduced in 1986. The last change came in 2008. They made small changes to the suspension to give it slightly better street handling, added more plastic, and introduced new color schemes. The motor is the same. So if you remember your last bike, you know pretty much what you can expect if you bought a newer version.

:tab If you want to explore the back woods of East Texas, the KLR 650 is ideal. It gets great gas mileage. It can handle pretty much any road, paved or unpaved, that you might find. It will handle dirt/sand better than something like a V-Strom or Versys. If you drop it, no big deal. Guards are cheap and work well. You can load it down with camping gear if you like. It is cheap to acquire and if you shop around, you can usually find a nice used one pretty much decked out with low miles.



So true. Make sure, if interested, to get one '08 or newer. Big motor improvements. (more reliable.) It is the same motor, but they did away with the "doohickey" which apparently made a big difference. I've only ridden the '11, so I don't know from personal experience. Just what the techs have told me. Very easy to handle, and comfortable for an hour or so at a time. Feels like a bicycle compared to my work bike. After getting the TENERE, I will likely be selling the KLR. The KLR hauls my 300lbs around fine, so a normal sized person will like it even more. Saddle up!!
 
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My dad tells me his father was a motorcycle police officer in Mexico City many years ago. Never met the man but it must be in my blood. [/QUOTE said:
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Both of my sons have bikes. So, it likely is a genetic thing. I've been a motorcop for 19 of my 25 years. And in 32 days I will be retired with a brand new bike. The boys and I are planning on heading to south TX for a guycation. I've been reading about all the road ya'll have, and can't wait.
 
@Sierra1...hahaha, guycation, I like that....I need that. :rider:

Congrats on the upcoming retirement. I retired from City of Houston, Traffic Signals/Sign Division, about 12 yrs ago now. I always envied the work of those traffic cycle cops. What a great gig, I thought. I made friends with quite a few as we worked close with them in some of our daily duties. And great that you get to ride with your sons.

Have a great ride when you head this way. Safe travels and pls come back and post pics of your journey if you care to. Ride On!
 
Ok finally got out and test rode, rid, rided? the '08 Versys 650 yesterday. What a great day it was here in H-town. Wished I coulda seen a couple different bikes, nasty day today and getting worse soon.

So anyway, the bike rode ok. I scared seller when I asked to ride it. I said, here and I let him hold the envelope of money I brought. I told, not a final sale yet but if I drop it; I buy it.

Again, not been on a bike in over 10+ yrs, maybe telling him this up front was bad idea. So I told him, get your bike and ride with me. He has a V Strom 650, Grrr, that's the bike I hope to find in my budget. But while he went inside I just fired up the V, slipped the clutch, rode down his street to end of block, made a U turn, kept feet up, rolled back to his house, he was not out yet, so I rode on up the block.

Got it into 2nd, 3rd after a right turn. Yeow-Ming, this is not my 90's KLR 650. This thing gets up there quick and darn torquey. Didn't want to scare seller, I mean he had my '15 Toy Highlander front of his house. Not gona leave that behind.

But in that short ride, I got first to realize I can still slip the clutch w/o killing it. GOOD. And that I expected it to feel like this, kinda scary but FUN. I know I could be up and riding more sooner than I expected just after that short, few blocks ride. It came back to me. So I rolled up to him and said that's fine, I'm good. Just wanted to get a feel for it. He jumped on it and ran hard up n down the block. Yeah, I get the idea its' in very good running shape. He spoke of recent chain, sprocket, tires after his last long trip. Good.

But the bike had alot of elec tape, thin wires, holding things in place. He explained that he just did the installs quickly and plan to make em neater if he kept the bike. There were, nicks, scratches, more thin wire holding things. Just enough for me to ask for abit of a discount off his pretty good asking price. He wouldn't budge. And he couldn't seem to answer some of my questions to my liking about history of the bike. So I left.

So I have a '06 919 to look at this Sat. After the way that 650 felt to me, REALLY not sure I'm gona be ready for the 919's power first ride. But at least I got my feet wet and recall what it feels like to be back "on" again. I slipped the clutch first time in over 10yrs and didnt kill it, that's big in my book.

So maybe I won't be so wide-eyed my next mount this Sat. But to be safe I'm going to ask him to bring to the nearby hi school for me test ride first.

That Versys is still top of my list but let's see how it goes next few shopping days. Peace y'all, e
 
Cool. You gunna find the perfect bike soon, I bet.

Dang SpiritAtBay; you summed up my entire day yesterday using so few words than I used in my manifesto above. :lol2:

I should try that more often here. Yeah, I can get kinda QWERTY at times.

Funny thing, 2-3 sellers of bikes on my list own or just bought a V Strom 650 as their main bike. Kinda says something doesn't it?

See, just too dang QWERTY sometimes. ;>) Peace y'all. e.
 
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Test rode the '06 DL650 today, blue. Fun ride thru a county park.

5 miles down the road, rain stopped me from test riding the very nice,'daring red', 2014 Glee 650, dang it. Spoke with 70yr old owner, nice guy, he's got stories to tell.

So, the plot thickens; yet the hunt continues for my elusive Wee/Glee/V.....:trust:
 
:tab Well, if you plan to stay on the pavement, I think most any of the 650 sized adventure bikes would be a good choice, particularly the Vstrom 650 and the Versys 650. They are both great bang for the buck type bikes. With normal maintenance, they will go forever. They have plenty of power and handle well. They are good for day trips or even long extended trips. If you can wait, March, April, and May are usually good times to buy because people start looking for nicer/newer bikes as the weather gets better.
 
Hey thanks for that Tmeister.

I have now ridden a '08 Versys 650 and a '07 DL650. It's been long time since I mounted a bike so they both felt very tall, quick and powerful to me.

I rode the Versys first last week. That was the first time on any bike in over 10+yrs, so little scary. Kept the ride short just a few blocks in sellers neighborhood, only went thru 3 gears @ about 35mph.

I rode the '07 Wee yesterday. Seller met me in a local park in Friendswood. So I had no traffic, asphalted streets and big parking lots to try tight circle turns, stops and take offs and up to 5th gear @ 45mph. And with no other traffic or narrow residential streets to deal with, was a nice little ride. And I thought bike prices went up more in spring due to the nicer weather? Figured now, while it's colder, used bikes might go for less? Oh well, I'm sticking close to my budget as possible either way.

Maybe riding that Versys first very briefly last week gave me the confidence to ride more comfortably/loosely this time. But this Wee ride was so much more relaxed and I didn't feel scared of the bike at all. Of course, only low speed ride still but it just felt like my old riding skills came to me more readily on this bike. There nice long curves/bends in the park roads and I did a little lean into em. Was alota fun.

And it was now the second time on a bike in many years, so maybe just that little ice breaker last week helped. But the Wee felt so much better to me than the Versys last week. Plus, I just like the looks and feel of the Wee vs the Versys.

I'm still considering other year model Wee 650's. But maybe this dirty, older, thumpy, '07 Wee is for Me? Sure felt natural to me. Peace y'all, e.
 
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I usually see more bikes offered in the Spring, so more to choose from. Prices really depend more on circumstances of the individual sellers. If you are patient, you can usually get great deals on bikes that are already nicely set up with after market goodies.
 
Hmm, well, patience not always my virtue. But I have been online shopping for well over a month now and I've only ridden 2 bikes so far. I've seen about 4 up close but not ridden all. So I am pacing myself.

Seller of a '08 DL1000 just down the street from me gave me a ride on his over a month ago. Real clean bike, all stock, 13K miles and priced very well. Priced less than a few older Wee 650's. AND he just dropped the price on it some more. He just bought a BMW so this one, not ridden as much now. Hard not to take a second look at it.

But I keep reading where this may not be the best re-starter bike for a re-rider like me. I did sit on it and was almost flat footed on the pavement. Bike is big and heavy but didn't feel too bad to me. I was going to actually test drive it this morning but things got in the way. I really want to see how this bike feels to me while I ride it. If it scares **** outta me, I'll know to give it up.
Its the first bike I saw when I began shopping as it was only 9 mins from my home and still on my list. Just trying to listen to calmer, more experienced voices here and not choose something I may soon regret buying.

But I still plan to at least test ride it anyway....I got's to know. :rider:

Peace y'all, e.
 
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