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From: animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr)
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Subject: Re: Which motorcycle to purchase?
Message-ID: <1719@ihlpa.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Aug-86 14:54:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlpa.1719
Posted: Fri Aug 22 14:54:15 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Aug-86 02:54:50 EDT
References: <2339@voder.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 77

> 
>      First I want to thank all of you that responded to my recent 
> questions concerning time of year to make a purchase and insurance.
> Now let me fill you in on some other elements that go into the 
> equation that determines which motorcycle I finally purchase.
> 
>      As you saw in the 'Keywords' heading above I'll be doing about 
> 120 miles a day round trip from my home to work. Given the minimum 
> number weeks as 40, or 200 days, the total miles per year is 24,000.
> 50 weeks brings the total to 30,000. None of this takes into account 
> trips to the gas station (there will be MANY) or fun rides in the 
> hills/mountains that surround the area where I live. 
> 
>      Is this still a good idea? I mean am I still operating in something
> that resembles rational cognitive processes? Can a modern motorcycle engine 
> (or the whole motorcycle for that matter) hold up to that kind of 
> high mileage and last for three years or longer? 
> 
>      Another item that concerns me very much is that to make this 
> purchase I probably will have to sell one of our cars. That leaves us 
> with one car and the (newly purchased) motorcycle. Well that's okay 
> between April and September when it's not raining. But when it IS 
> raining I might have to take the car, which leaves the rest of my
> family without transportation. That may not be to good. And if I don't
> drive the car, should I even be trying to ride in the rain?  
> 
>      I have gone to some of the dealers in my area (all four major Japanese
> manufactures were represented). First to fall from the list of possible choices were the 'did-I-make-a-wrong-turn-trying-to-get-to-the-pits-boy-racer-
> eat-up-the-canyon-road' type of vehicle (which I do like). But I cannot 
> quite see myself sitting in that bent-over position for over an hour while
> I travel to work. So that, unfortunately, seems to remove them from 
> my list.
> 
>      Most of the dealers seem to be in agreement with the suggestion that
> I purchase a large displacement machine (1 litre or >). The large engine 
> will not have to work as hard as .75 litre and therefore should last 
> much longer. These seems reasonable.
> 
>      After all the above verbage my question is simple: (and assuming
> that you answered yes to my question about "...rational cognitive...")
> what motorcycle would you recommend that I consider purchasing that will
> give me very good reliability and VERY long mileage?
> 
>      Thank you! 
> 
> 
> P.S. I have placed the 1985 Honda V65 Sabre on my possibility list. There
> are still some new non-current models available.

Virtually anything you buy from US, Japan or Germany will last over 100K
miles without needing major work (over 750cc, at least).  Since you are
talking about selling one of your cars, I somehow suspect that you'll also
be doing your own maintenance to save money.  I would recommend that you
quiz your local dealer about exactly how much work it is to change oil&filter,
adjust valves (if needed), change coolant, adjust chain (if needed),
change fork oil (something few people remember to do), R&R wheels (you
can save big bucks on new tires by removing wheels yourself), etc.  The
origninal Interceptor, for instance, required draining and removing the
lower radiator to change the oil filter (or required a mechanic with very
small hands); the bike was not designed with ease of maintenance as a
priority.  Also consider the relative virtues of chain vs. belt vs. shaft;
when you put on over 20K miles a year the expenses of chain replacement
add up.

As for the V65 Sabre, you might be interested to know that Road Rider rated
this machine one of the best all-around motorcycles made.  It is very fast
in a straight line, handles very well (probably as well as an Interceptor
unless you are a very exceptional rider), is remarkable comfortable for
long distance touring and looks pretty good.  (The only thing that kept
it from being a total "all-purpose" bike was that it lacked the necessary
ground clearance to do serious off-road riding!)  Honda also sells a very
attractive (at least to me) sport-touring fairing for this bike, which
makes it a very nice package.

Dan Starr

"But are we THERE yet?"