Hi folks. I’m still recovering from a motorcycle accident last November, and although my right shoulder and upper arm remain paralysed, the rest of my injuries are more or less resolved. I’m presently awaiting a final operation, which will hopefully help me regain some use of my arm. Get the burning torches ready, as I’ve decided I want to go back to riding motorbikes – I know only too well the risks involved, but to be honest, it’s too important an aspect of my life to let go. I’ve already invested in some worryingly expensive new riding gear, I just can’t seem to decide which bike to get. My three most likely are: Ducati Diavel, Harley Night Rod special or Triumph Speed Triple.
Anyone on here owned or ridden any of these? I’m planning, of course, on test rides once I’m able, but in the meantime would appreciate any tips, advice or piss taking. Cheers, Mitch.

Ducati – I had a Monster 1100 S , with ohlins as standard.

Lovely bike, but be prepared for servicing costs to be high.

Didn’t want to ride around town, its not that type of bike.
Glad I had a Ducati, but can become a little tiresome to ride unless you are committed ..

Personally, I wouldn’t have a Ducati again.
Regards

Denis

Have fun trying them out, they are so different it will just come down to what grabs you. Don’t really fancy the Diavel as I think either go proper gay cruiser with the Harley or naked roadster with the Speed Triple not somewhere in between. A test ride could change my mind in an instant though.

If you get a Harley it has the advantage that you can join HOGS and dress like a pirate 🙂

Hope the op speeds up the recovery for you.

3 very different bikes. If it was my choice I’d go for the speed triple. I’ve got a 1050 sprint & it’s a stonking engine & of the three the triumph has got to be the most practical, usable, cheapest to buy & run etc.

Mate has a Diavel and we swapped bikes up in mid-Wales last summer (he had a go on my S1000R).

I was very impressed, comfy (he came from a Speed Triple but found the riding position too much for his ageing wrists), very, very fast, and handles far better than something long enough to span two post codes has any right to. My boots were touching down on slower tighter stuff, but on most roads it’d keep up with pretty much anything. Highly recommended and a bike I will consider one day.

Speed Triple – great bikes but showing their age now.

Harley – only real redeeming feature is they sound great on open pipes. I couldn’t own a bike that doesn’t corner well.

Diaval – I haven’t ridden, but I discounted it as it seemed a lot smaller in the metal and had a teeny tank.

The other two I have ridden….

Night Rod… loads of fun in the posing stakes, but bloody terrible to ride! I may just not have “got” it at that stage so am willing to try another Harley or similar sometime, but it just didn’t really do it for me (I tried to do a U Turn… that was… erm… fun!)

Speed Triple – had a 955i for a while with a good level of fettle about it. Seriously rapid and an absolute hoot to ride. It was in no way sensible, which is where my love of entirely impractical motorcycles came from.

If it were me… the Speedy, every day of the week!

Triumph. End of thread. Enjoy. Motorcycles are wonderful things…

I’ve not ridden a Diavel but I love how it looks. Striple is probably the smart option though if you like how the engine feels

I tried an older night rod, it was ****. All of the bad stuff about a sporster, with none of the redeeming features, and stupid pretensions of performance.

barnsleymitch – Member
…I just can’t seem to decide which bike to get. My three most likely are: Ducati Diavel, Harley Night Rod special or Triumph Speed Triple…

After I recovered from my arm paralysis I had much the same problem. First I bought a BMW K1, followed by a Ducati Monster.

The big problem was that the recovery wasn’t full, and so it was possible to overtax the weakened arm. This usually became apparent when cranked over at full chat on a bumpy bend. This put me on the wrong side of the road with flapping bars a few times on both bikes.

I put it down to the weight which is why I dumped the K1 for the Ducati, but that just meant it happened at higher speeds on tighter corners. Pucker time.

In the end I replaced the Monster with a big trail bike (DR650SE) with an upright position and less weight on my arms. I rode that happily for a few years until I had recovered the equilibrium in my arms. Surprisingly I got most places in much the same time. 🙂

I now have no problem with a heavy bike.

Don’t know if your circumstances will be the same, but you may save a swag of money by analysing your actual current (temporary) capabilities rather than your wants.

Considering your injury, something light and upright.

I’d suggest a KTM 690 Duke or the Supermoto model.

Another triumph spring 1050 owner here, the engine is amazing, would be te triple for that reason alone.

I owned a 1050 Speed Triple for a while, great bike (although mine had a few issues). To be honest I thought the Street Triple was a nicer bike to ride, I preferred the bigger physical dimensions of the 1050 so bought that instead. I’ve ridden plenty of Harleys, can’t say I liked them enough to part with the cash though. I’ve not ridden a Ducati since I crashed a 996 on a demo ride, so can’t really comment on the modern stuff 😀

If you crashed in November I take it you’re a year round rider. If that is the case I’d get plenty of opinion as to how well they clean up after use on salty winter roads. If you’re not fastidious with cleaning then buy a Honda.

With your injury? none of them.
Look seriously at something a lot lighter, with parts that WHEN you do drop it its daft cheap to repair.
KTM are really good on the Supermoto stuff, Honda CRF’s, etc.
Really cheap to buy too, great resale value and with something like the CRF – it’s £70 for a full set of Acerbis bodywork in any colour you want.

Cheers for the response folks. Just to clarify, I’ve owned all sorts of bikes in the past, though over the past 15 years have owned (in order), Harley sportster, Triumph speed four, Buell m2, Harley Dyna streetbob. I owned the Dyna for seven years prior to it being written off, and as much as I love Harley’s, I’d like something with better brakes and handling now.

this? mines on order 🙂

I have a Diavel ….
Great bikes – very underrated …
But nothing like a Night Rod or a Speed Triple ….

They’re really nice jo, just a bit small for me. I think, to be honest, I’ll probably end up with a Diavel and pretend I’m in a Batman film!

I’m a short arse so perfect for me. There’s a few 6 footers on the forums who say they are fine for them but I bet they look like mugs

smokey_jo – Member
this? mines on order

You shouldn’t wave that in front of weak minded susceptible people. 🙂

Speed is a great bike, can be sensible can be a hooligan, pick of that bunch in my opinion.

Aged motorcyclist skewed thoughts 🙂

Wouldn’t touch a H-D on principle.

I’ve had Ducati’s, fine for Sunday bikes but no more.

Also had 2 1050 Triumphs, brilliant all-round bikes and fantastic normal-road engines – I was doing 20k pa on them.

I’d wait on your shoulder been repaired, as I struggled for the first few weeks when back on my m/c after smashing my wrist on my MTB – although it was only 4 weeks after… 🙄

Heart would say Ducati but as stated above expensive to keep. HD are much cheaper to own as dealers really know how to dig deep into your pockets. With HD you buy into the brand and the bikes hold their value.
Triumph have some cool bikes and dealers who don’t rip you off at every opportunity. If you still want a cruiser that’s not Japanese, not that there’s anything wrong with them, then have at Victory who in my opinion do the the whole cruiser thing better than HD who have gone a bit stale.

Triumph Rocket. 🙂

I’d like the tourer but with the full fat roadster engine.
And a supercharger.

How about a Ural combo?
Dave Angel at F2 bikes is a very decent bloke.
F2.

Those new Indian Scouts look good too – a great modern design, love it.
Lighter and smaller than your Dyna as well.

So how much of a problem is the shoulder and arm? The first thing I thought about was lifting it up if you dropped it but yeah, it’s a what if scenario. I can only imagine how locked out you’ll be feeling on one side, kind of like completely overdressed in the winter. I would probably feel better on a street triple over the others. It’s something like 165kg and the diavel must be 200+. I rode a 2014 street triple last month and counter steering seems to just happen compared to my zx9. I never feel like I counter steer on my own bike. Would this be a problem with the street/speed layout? I’m not sure if they all need the same amount of input. One things for sure,the front wheel on a street triple is surely a lively enough combo for a locked out shoulder!

Found the street too tiny, felt very perched on, whereas the speed was a lot better, loads more solid feeling.

The Street Triple is a girl’s bike …

Anything but a KTM- they’re riddled with fuelling issues.

Out of your list the Triumph or Go custom route if wanting to take things easy.

Personally for me nothing handles better than a supermoto but can get you into trouble, thankfully I didn’t!
SM’s seem to be logical way these days for road conditions. I had a couple of big single cylinder SM’s oh and a poxy 400 drz but we won’t talk about that lol

Rusty Spanner – I keep having that same Rocket III/Stage II Supercharger argument with myself.

It may happen someday!

😉

The Street Triple is a girl’s bike …

Have you actually ridden one?i owned one for 4 yrs after years on sports bikes,tested one back to back with a speed triple preferred the little street,great bikes!