Thinking about life after GZ..already..

[vikz250]

Hello guys! I just wanted to get some feed back from our veteran riders about what would you guys think would be a good "final bike" after let say 3 or 4 years practicing with GZ?? My plan is someday go for a long trip to California from washington state, I have been looking at the HD sportster 1200 lately and man I LIKE IT!! its not too expensive but not cheap either :skeptical: , I like it because its not too heavy but heavy enough to go for a long drive ( i think). Are HD reliable like the suzuki's?? I'm not very mechanically inclined so I want something "trouble" free like GZ..thanks in advance..

[Dupo]

HD accessories will run your wallet dry if you are looking to do some 'stuff' to it after you get it. That is the biggest problem with HD (Hundred Dollar accessories). I'm not a fan of sportsters at all, but to each his own.

I had a choice of a HD and a Honda when i was upgrading. While new HDs are much better than they used to be, i went with the Honda Shadow. A huge deal breaker for me was the price, and then the price of the accessories. Both of which Honda beat HD by a lot of money. After owning my shadow for 6 years and a buddy of mine owning his HD the same amount of time .... i don't think i'll ever own a HD. Again, to each their own!

If you are looking to travel state to state, a sporty probably wouldnt be a good choice mainly for comfort. Might want to look in to a slightly more touring type bike. Vstar, newer hondas are a few mentions. I really like the VTX series myself.

[Water Warrior 2]

There are a couple good reasons to ride a H-D. They are a far better bike than they used to be a few years ago and there is great dealer support with shops all over the place. A Sportster will need a lot of cash infused into it to make a touring bike. Go bigger with a larger tank, better seating and more options for bags, windshields and other creature comforts.
Or look at the Japanese cruisers with an equivalent price tag just for fun and knowledge. There are many choices from 750 and up that will fill the bill very well. Many have drive shafts or belts so there is no chain maintenance involved. Most are liquid cooled and fuel injected.
Yamaha's old standard 1100 is a rock of a bike. Air cooled I think, has carbs but is a very popular cruiser with a good reputation.
Don't know what kind of budget you may be operating with so here are a couple ideas. Go to the various websites for Japanese bikes and look for new old stock. Noncurrent bikes can be a saving and if a dealer has one on hand he may want to get it out the door with a good price or a bunch of farkles to make traveling a lot better. Or maybe riding gear for that long trip.
Take your time and look a lot, there is something out there for everyone. Craigs list has a lot of well maintained bikes that may do the deed too. Looking is free and you may also learn what not to buy.
A good way to learn about bikes that interst you is to lurk on various forums. Look for bikes that are being ridden and not worked on. You may find some bikes that are ridden and not wrenched on every nice weekend. Forums will give a general theme about the bikes and their good and bad points in short order.

[Water Warrior 2]

Just realized you are not too far away from us. Just across the border. How about a Suzuki 800 V-twin. It is for sale.

[fatoldfool]

Wow, you are sure to get a lot of different opinions on this one. While I love Harleys and they have an appeal no other bike has, I still think if I were going on trips over 300 miles I would want a japanese tourer. After I put a $400 Mustang seat on my 07 1200C, I could stay on it for two hours, take a break, and do two more hours, but I hated the suspension (can you say crunched vertebrae). It did hurt my back when I hit bad spots in the road. The 97 1200 had custom suspension (close to $400 extra) front and back and was much better, but the vibes in the pegs and bars lit up my arthritis. I had an 06 FatBoy and it was great, but the additional weight backing it off my patio made my bad knees hurt bad. Right now I am considering a 1981 Honda Goldwing Interstate, but I will have to find another place to keep it it if I get it...All I can say is repeat what was said above, look and do research, sit on them and hope for a good friend might let you swap bikes for part of a ride...good luck!!

[mole2]

Having owned my V-Star 650 Classic for two years now I can highly recommend them as they are as maintenance free (other than your normal items such as oil, etc) as your GZ. Yamaha has discontinued the 650 Classic as well as the 1100 Classic/Custom. They replaced them with the V-Star 950(T). The "T" would be the tourer model with the bags, windscreen, etc. On the Yamaha forums they are highly touted and "if" I ever move up that would be on my short list. I say "if" because I'm not planning any long multi state trips and the 650 is a great about town and short to medium trip bike. It fills all my needs. If I want to go further than one state away I'll trailer it. Take a look at the Yamaha dealers close to you as some still have the 1100 on the showroom floor at great deals. Go sit one and see what you think. I lean towards the Classic/Silverado models as the seat is better and I like the looks better than the Customs.

[vikz250]

Thanks guys for all the input and yes I have been "lurking" in some forums and reading up on the bikes that interest me and also been looking at craigslist just to look. We don't have a lot of motorcycle dealer here in out town, The HD dealer is also the Suzuki and Yamaha dealer and they don't have any other model besides ninja's and vstorms, I like the feel of the GZ thats why I'm looking at other "GZ" looking bikes, there is a honda dealer but they only have a few selection and they all seemed too big for me..I do like Suzuki's line of 650's but again the dealer sold the last Suzuki 650 they had, Anyway I still have several years (hopefully not too long) on the GZ so for now I wil enjoy my GZ and who knows I might hit the lotto or something and I will have my dream bike next week!!LOL.. This is what I like in Suzuki line..

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Product%20L ... aspx#Specs

[alantf]

Originally Posted by vikz250

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Product%20L ... aspx#Specs

So they're wanting $1500 for backrest, saddlebags, & screen? Or is there something else that warrants the extra, such as gold plated pipes.

[jonathan180iq]

Wouldn't know. I've never owned anything larger than 500cc and never felt like I needed more.

I'm not sure that "upgrading" is an actual thing. There is no such thing as a beginner bike. That would require training wheels.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by alantf

So they're wanting $1500 for backrest, saddlebags, & screen? Or is there something else that warrants the extra, such as gold plated pipes.

That is pretty much it. The factory options are a wallet killer compared to aftermarket stuff of equal or better quality.