My return to motorcycling.
After around 20 years, I am riding motorcycles once more. Being apprehensive
about riding again and not being licensed, I chose a Yamaha 650 V-Star
Silverado cruiser as my return cycle.
I put 7,500 miles on the bike this summer and I quickly decided that this was not the
type of bike that I needed long term. I began my search for a touring
bike.
Harley Davidson: I quickly eliminated the
Harley Davidson Ultra because HD owners are crazy! They think their
damn cycles are made of gold (sorry little brother)! Saw it, rode it,
just wasn't impressed enough to want to spend 30% to 40% more money.
Honda: Honda had a couple of cycles that
intrigued me. The Goldwing, of course, and the Valkyrie Interstate. I test drove the
Goldwing and was impressed
by every aspect of the ride except one... I could
not get my big feet into the shifter past the Goldwing's monster engine casing.
I had similar issues on the brake side. I constantly found myself
looking down to get my feet in position.
So
what about the Valkyrie? I liked the novelty of the Valkyrie.
The Valkyrie has a unique look and feel, a sizable engine without the foot
placement issues,
but frankly the bike just looked like it was put together as an after thought.
The passenger seating was not impressive either and a large part of what I
was looking for was passenger comfort.
Yamaha: This was one of my top contenders...
the Yamaha Venture. I liked the way the bike looked, I liked the
seating position and I liked the engine size. I was not real impressed
with the passenger seating and I wasn't able to find one to test drive.
In the end I wasn't willing to make a purchase without the test drive.
BMW: Who would have thought when I started this
search that I would even have considered a BMW. I had seen their
touring cycle in a local dealership but they were even more expensive than
Harley's. It wasn't until after
seeing an ad in
Cycletrader.com that I considered
buying one. So... on October 18th I purchased a 1999 BMW K1200LT Icon. The ride is amazing!
Surprisingly so even with foot positioning similar to that of a
"crouch-rocket". I have all the amenities... radio, cruise, cassette,
6 CD changer, adjustable wind shield and heated hand grips. The wife
is happy with the passenger amenities and we are planning a couple of trips
for next summer. Life is good.
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This site was last updated
08/27/03
