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Kind of new to riding

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So I used to ride about 10 years ago when I lived in New Hampshire. Then I moved to Texas and all about lost interest in it. Lately all of my friends have been getting bikes and riding.

I borrowed my friends 07 250 ninja that had sat in a garage for 4 years, removed and cleaned the carbs, did the oil change, flushed fluids, got it back in running shape.

I’ve been riding that around with them, they have Harley 883’s. So while the ninja 250 is pretty peppy it can’t keep up with my 230LB butt on it.

So now I am looking into a new bike. Now I’m used to sport bikes as I used to have an 08 Honda CBR 600RR. I have looked into a lot of style of bikes, I like how you sit on the ninja as it’s more of a neutral position. So I’ve leaned away from sport bikes, and I’m not a big fan of Harley’s either. So that leaves me in the middle with touring/adventure bikes. I’ve watched tons of videos on YouTube, went to dealers and sat on bikes and seeing how I liked them. I’ve fallen in love with the Kawasaki Versys 650, most comfortable bike I’ve sat on to date. But now I’m thinking I should just go with the 1000. I read that it has a low power mode, so that allows me to adjust to a big not massive increase of power then what I’m ridding now. And when I get comfortable I can go to the full power. My friends are split 50/50 on whether to get 650 or 1000. But I lean towards my 1000 friends as I will want more once I get used to it. But I’m still not really sure. So I am looking for advice on this matter.

The riding we do is mostly country roads, a little bit of city but I wanna ride out of state and go exploring. Like drawing a line on a map and finding stuff along the way. I couldn’t find any groups on Facebook for adventure bikes, but my good old friend referred me to this page, so I’m hoping to make some long adventures.
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Welcome aboard.

Did I miss where you are from?

Versys seems to be a nice bike. Biggest complaint I've heard and experienced between a 650 vs 1L+ bikes is heat. while now may not be too noticeable, in heat of the summer it is much more noticeable.

Be sure to look in the upcoming ride section. Lots of impromptu, routine and planned rides posted.
 
Oh I guess I missed that, I am from Denton Texas.

Heat doesn’t really bother my, I have a canal maverick and the engine is in the middle, so it gets quite hot in the summer.
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Well, by heat, I mean a 400* exhaust pipe routed 3" from your leg or foot ... Or the saddle a few inches or so away from the exhaust outlet of the back cylinder.


Denton, huh?

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118493

Pie run saturday in Ponder.

Good opportunity to meet a gaggle of inmates and check out the wide variety of bikes.
 
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Would an exhaust wrap or something along those lines help with that?


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Im selling my 09 Yamaha FZ1 if your interested.
 

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650 Versys. Save the weight and gas mileage and complexity of 2 extra cylinders. ;)

Come out to Ponder on Sat. I'll be there on my Strom. Yiy can ride it but it's not the best example cause it's been beat to **** on the Mountains of SoCal ha.



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Would an exhaust wrap or something along those lines help with that?


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It will help, but doesn't last very long exposed to the weather and road debris.
 
Lots of choices out there. You could go of course with something in the sport touring category like a Honda ST1300, Kawasaki Concours, or the Yamaha FJR1300. Those are good for trips out of town, neutral sitting and still moderately sporty in the twisty stuff. My FJR is a good do it all kind of bike.

You could also go for a sport standard like the FZ1 pictured above. I had an FZ1 and currently have a GSX-S1000 and love the neutral seating position combined with the performance. You can tour on them but not as well as the Sport Touring bikes.

ADV bikes will give you a bit of both and won't let you be scared of unpaved roads (though both of the above will do more than you'd think) There's big ones and smaller ones and both will probably suit you well depending on what you are looking for. Downs recommendation of the 650 Versys is a good option. Pretty certain we have a member who took one to the top of Alaska and back.

Plenty of other options out there. Narrowing down your intended use and budget could help us get you pointed in the right direction. The good news is there's plenty of selection and it's almost buyers season. Bad news is there's a lot of selection to narrow down to that one perfect bike. Good luck and enjoy!
 
It will help, but doesn't last very long exposed to the weather and road debris.
If you ride in a lot of wet areas it tends to rot the exhaust faster than no wrap as well.

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My budget was about 10k. But I moved it up to $12,000. I lean more towards Kawasaki just cause of my history on them. I’ve been able to bring back every Kawasaki from the dead with usually nothing more then a carb cleaning.


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About halfway through your initial post, I found myself thinking Versys 650. I see you got there first. Very versatile bike, and you'll find a nice assortment of used ones out there. If you're riding with big cruisers, you'll spend a lot of time at the next town down the road, waiting for them to catch up. Let us know what you land on.
 
Quick is relative. But yeah, I think it is. Great acceleration and very sharp handling. An excellent choice for carving the curvies. But the more neutral sitting position also makes it a better choice than a sport bike if you see yourself doing some touring.
 
My budget was about 10k. But I moved it up to $12,000. I lean more towards Kawasaki just cause of my history on them. I’ve been able to bring back every Kawasaki from the dead with usually nothing more then a carb cleaning.


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With that budget you can get a left over 16 17 or 18 brand new with 5 to 6 grand left over for farkling and gas.

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With that budget you can get a left over 16 17 or 18 brand new with 5 to 6 grand left over for farkling and gas.

Or buy a cheap used one, ride it, come to some pie runs and talk to other riders, see other bikes, ride with other riders, and in a year or so know what you really really want and then go buy that.
 
Welcome along, nice bike choice, you should be able to get an old stock new or very lightly used for that budget. Enjoy and remember we love pictures of bikes around here and ride reports too. no pressure.
 
Welcome along, nice bike choice, you should be able to get an old stock new or very lightly used for that budget. Enjoy and remember we love pictures of bikes around here and ride reports too. no pressure.



I got all sorts of riding picture. But a little different then y’all might be used to lol


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I have a 2008 Versys 650 and love it. Plenty of power ,handles very nice and routinely gives me 50 mpg on regular gas. The newer ones are supposed to be even better. Get a used one and save the money for farkels B-)

Randy
 
After the meet up today, I’m interested in the Suzuki tenere(SP?). Learned a lot


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After the meet up today, I’m interested in the Suzuki tenere(SP?). Learned a lot

There you go, good choice, execpt you'll have to decide between the Suzuki VStrom and the Yamaha Super Tenere. Still some more to learn. ;)
 
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