Discuss my next bike alternatives

[sdpc2]

My feeling is that everyone should have

at least one dual sport.... and there are a lot of great ones out there...

YMMV

 

[bunkyone]

Hey all: I have been giving a lot of thought lately to changing bikes. Short history; After a couple of Harleys, I began riding (and racing) English bikes. Did this for something like 15 years. Then a string of Japanese machines and finally five years ago, a airhead BMW. Two years ago, I added an R1100RT to the garage. While the RT is a very good bike, I think I will be replacing it in the near future. My reasoning is simple; These bike have become too heavy, complicated, and too expensive for me on my limited income. I like the bike, but I believe something else may be more my style. I plan on keeping the R/90, but will be replacing the RT with a Bonniville in the spring. A solid, dependable do everything sort of bike, it will be the T100 version, with the two-tone scalloped paint, and a few "farkles". Much lighter, cheaper and something I can work on myself. (I HATE having to take off all that "tuperware" to access anything on the RT!!) Vai con Dios, Dutch

 

[Walking Eagle]

Magic R's

The R1100RS takes about 3 minutes to strip "almost" buck nekkid. If you have QD's on the fuel lines, the tank removal takes about 5 minutes. . .and then she IS buck-nekkid. Even a dreaded clutch-spline lube isn't difficult - just scary, the first time you do it.

It's a subjective thing as to how difficult it is to work on your bike, but the Oilheads strike me as dead simple, and I'm no mechanic.

I admit to a strong Oilhead bias - to me, if you ride long-distance, this machine is the perfect blend of a relatively modern moto that goes/stops with reliability and comfort, yet still retains that elusive and mostly ineffable (OK, sometimes wart-y) aspect known as "character," as previously mentioned in an earlier post. You never forget that you're riding a motorcycle. The rheostatic power of a big, brand-new machine is seductive, and no question about the long-distance practicality and comfort. I've owned these kind, too, and love them all. Still, that character thing keeps coming up the older I get.

Before the end of the world, I'm adding a Full-On Character Bike to the stable. Those are generally known as Airheads.

Life is short. Whatever makes you feel good, IS good.

Walking Eagle

 

[bunkyone]

Walking Eagle: I will be the first to agree with you that the oilheads are very good bikes. (The one I have came to me with just over 70 thousand on it, and now shows over ninety) I,m just not crazy about some of the engineering aspects of the bike. Why is the battery up under the tank for instance, on my airhead, you only have to lift the seat to access the battery. Why the strange choice of tires for this bike? An 18" on the back while a seventeen on the front? Not the easiest to find if you need one right a way. (Like we did several weeks ago while on a color tour). I guess that I'm really trying to justify the change by nit-picking, and like I said, I can't complain about the fabled BMW reliability, but this bike, even with it's workman like performance just doesn't crank me up. As far as the airhead goes, I will be adding a sidecar to this bike this fall, so she's still going to have a useful life.