I think practically I’ll wait till I move before I get another bike. It’s a bit of hassle to sort it all out before I move, and practically easier when I’m down there. The fireblade will get moved by the house movers. It would be rubbish to have a new bike and then not ride it for a few weeks.

So all being well aiming for April ish

@Bazzer – I’m heading for Rowlands Castle, pretty close to you

@benp1 That really is just down the road 🙂 Message me if you fancy a ride or to chat bikes anytime. Me and a few of my mates do a fair bit of touring and Euro Trackdays. Do the odd local ride and trip to Wales etc.

@bazzer – yep, defo game for that. Will ping you a message when I’m down (and have a bike on the road!)

@ TheFlyingOx… That’s my old bike! Congrats, it’s a beauty, still not replaced it 🙁

Ducati Monster 821 Stripe. I had a 2016 821 and it was great. Perfect for knocking about on in a commute and enough power to get you to move on when you want. You can easily scrape the pegs and get your kneedown and the Stripe gives you adjustable forks.

Service intervals are massive, especially for the valve services.

Fuel economy is very good, I got a solid 150mile per tank.

Not as hardcore and always on it as a Hypermotard or Duke, but just as quick and you can use it for everything. Got mine out on the track, went on 3 day bike trips and used it for commuting for a year in all weathers.

With a pair of Termi’s on it, it sounds awesome too.

I only chopped it in for a Monster 1200S.

So I’m looking to swap to something else. It will be a toy, needs to be B road focussed rather than track focussed

Must haves:
– smaller engine – or not superbike engine. I want to rev and change gear but still do normal speeds
– involving – I don’t want a cruiser, I want something chuckable and fun. Rode a Triumph Bonneville and found it boring
– not boring – I want to look at it and like it, doesn’t have to be pretty, but a Hornet or Bandit is boring even though they’re quite good
– road toy, not track toy

In true STW style people are recommending 100bhp+ bikes

IMO around 60hp is a good spot. You can thrash it at legalish speeds and thrashing a bike is the fun bit.

No they’re not. Mt07, 690 Duke, 821 monster, just 3 off the top of my head on here

not all are but many are

60bhp would bore the arse off me (unless on a super moto) and I’m hardly what you’d call a fast rider – maybe that’s the issue, dunno. I fully support something you can ring the neck of, but I’ve had quite a few 600’s and find the lack of torque frustrating.

I’d be looking at a twin or triple of some sort, plenty of push out the corners but not crazy fast. In fairness an older Tuono is a decent bike but they’re a bit long in the tooth now..

Ktm 950sm.
Comfy, reliable(ish) and nice wave of torque from the big V.

I had an mt10 before and that was a laugh, but forever double guessing what had been caught on dash cams or speed cameras every outing.

I had an old sv650 and that was also great fun.

@hugoagogo like your actual bike? Are you the guy I bought from?
Either way it’s absolutely superb in every way. Everything I could want in a bike.
Why not just replace it with another one 😄

Yes, it used to be my actual bike, I sold it in 2018 to a lad in Stoke.

@brads

Not one single thing ever broke on it.
I now have a Husqvarna FE350, the build quality is something else.

I bought one last year and I love it. Does seem pretty well built and east to work on etc.

@tjagain No one has recommended a superbike, all have recommended mid sized fun bikes.

Ah, that’s the guy I bought it from. Think he was worried about losing his license on it 😅
Bought it in Feb last year, back up to Scotland in the back of a transit cos I’d done my back in, then coronavirus happened and I got stuck at work until end of May, didn’t properly ride it until mid-June. Talk about frustrating…

🙂 i find myself back on this thread having a browse for inspiration

Still my got Blade. Serviced it myself and MOT’d it. Have been out on it a few times now, still fantastic but it’s probably too much bike for these roads. Rarely get out of 4th on a fun loop, spend most of the time in 2nd or 3rd, it’s just so capable and so fast!

Have a fun car coming in the autumn and will be spending time on that so not sure if I’ll just keep the Blade for a bit longer or switch now. Can’t find a Duke 690 in a spec/price/colour I like that reasonably close enough to ride over to have a look at. Also not sure where the bike is going to go when the car comes – running out of room

First world problems… it’s a nice problem to have! Worst case scenario is I’ll keep the bike for a bit longer

Speaking of 690s, mine arrives Wed

New bike day. Not a mullet

It’s a no from me,that looks like it hit all the branches on the ugly tree 🙂

Bit smaller maybe but how about a Fantic Cabellero?

So what’s it like weeksy? What happened to the XSR900?

I saw a few Duke 690s with many owners over a short span, that worries me. My blade is 14 years old now and I’m the third owner, there were Dukes that had that many owners in 3 years!

Dunno till it arrives mate, I’ve had a few demo rides over the years.

Xsr900 went, bought a 690 Duke from a dealer unseen, which it later transpired had lived in the sea. So it went back. I bought an mt07 which was nice, functional, great, but doesn’t inspire me. Hence, the smcr arrives.

Dukes take a certain mindset to fully appreciate, some buy them thinking they want a nice single, a slower bike, then find out they actually don’t

It’s a no from me,that looks like it hit all the branches on the ugly tree 🙂

Ditto – sorry weeksy pal

Lol no need to apologise, there’s many things I like but others may not.

a 400.

A VFR400, RVF400, CBR400. Maybe a ZXR400 even.

Ok, they are 20 odd year old bikes. Absolute hoot, not so much licence bashers, slay bigger bikes on the twisties and get lots of attention from other bikers.

Bonus points, they are going up in value too. 😀

Maybe a ZXR400 even

Was just talking about those yesterday – such a sweet looking little bike. (goes off to search BikeTrader…)

https://postimg.cc/ns622ZnH

https://i.postimg.cc/zBfQJXMR/67-FD0023-9-D9-A-4937-AF81-E921-DCAD7-CDA.jpg

Triumph 900. Great on the A & B Roads

edit* – i have no idea how to get the image to show – sorry

It’s a no from me,that looks like it hit all the branches on the ugly tree

I like it!!

Niiiiiice Weeksy! GolfChick on here’s fella has one… We did a 200 odd mile loop round the Yorkshire Dales together last year the 3 of us, he was having the time of his life on his 690 SMCR! 👌🏻

I’ve had a busy 2022 so far motorbike wise… Both of these have been added to the stable so far, albeit my 1290 Superduke GT made way…

Oh and I’ve put my RC8 back on the road now too after more than 2yrs off… 👌🏻

No Guzzi fans? How about a V11? Maybe a Nero or Rosso Corsa? Simple to service, characterful and sounds glorious. I’ve got a Tenni. Or maybe a Griso?

No Guzzi fans?

Meh. Italian Harley’s for the most part… Sound great for sure, but mostly little substance… The short lived MGS-01 (which a friend is actually hoping to buy soon, with a serious price tag!) however… 😍

I have a Griso and whilst I love it I’m not sure it’s what Benp wants. It’s long, heavy (mines the 1100 so not very quick) and the suspension has no travel so beats you up on the bumpy stuff.

On smooth sweepers it’s a peach but the state of the roads these days…

A neighbour is about to sell his Ducati Monster, last of the air-cooled ones, black with lots a carbon fibre if thats up anybody’s street. Its done 11,000 gentle miles with proper Ducati history. No idea on price but he isn’t desperate.

He bought an Africa Twin and hasn’t used the Duke since.