Motorcycle Advice Needed

[amadera]

A little background :
Took up riding when I turned 50. Bought a new Road King as first bike and loved it. Sold it to buy a Heritage Springer 2 years later because I LOVED the look. Sold it in 07 and haven't ridden since. Now retired(62) and wanting to ride some. Never ridden a small bike (except in the cycle safety course(hated it). I'm a big guy 6 ft 250 lbs but don't want another Harley(can't afford it) so am considering a used metric. Don't want anything heavier than a Road King and preferably lighter...but need some storage room and comfort . Looking for recommendations as to what to look at. Always loved the Goldwing look but that's even heavier than a HD.
Help!

 

[Mr.Glock]

I recently picked up a Honda ST1300, put a set of Heli Bars to keep from having to lean over onto the bars. I love it. I bought it to go on one up rides when the wife does not go, and to keep the local miles off our Touring Goldwing. Another good choice for you, beings you came off a cruiser style is the VTX1300, it is a nice, easy to maintain bike, big enough to haul you anywhere. Now if you want new, then the New Honda CTX1300 is something else! Buddy bought one to use as I am using the ST1300 and he is liking it more and more each time he rides it, and is considering adding a rear trunk to it and selling his Touring Bike.

If your wanting to ride long distances one up, either of the bikes I mentioned will suffice very well. If your wanting to ride long distances two up, don't rule out a good used Gl1800 Goldwing. You cannot beat them for dependability, comfort and they will surprise you on the weight of them, the weight is down low on them and they are remarkably balanced. Go ride one. I have owned and wore out 4 of them and am on my 5th 1800 wing. Just cannot beat tem for long distance riding and touring. We have been all through Canada, Alaska, and every state in the lower 48 on one, except the four states up in the corner, Rhode Island, New Hamp, Conn, etc. Been riding since I was 5 years old.

 

[montesa]

What do you think of the Kawasaki concours? I think if you rode one you would love it. Especially if you enjoy some acccelaration. I prefer the feel of metric bikes.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Kawasaki Concours is another nice smooth riding bike, it and Yamaha FJR, Honda St1300, they are all three comparable, comfortable for one up touring/riding.

 

[excat]

'00-'08 Honda Sabre (stopped making them in '08) - lightweight, good seat height for an older fella to make it easier to get on and off, 1100cc has plenty of umph, and lots of soft or hard bag options.

Honda VTX 1800 - they are nice, powerful, same low seat height, but are a much more "sportier" cruiser style.

Victory has a few in the cruiser lines that are nice, light, and affordable, very well balanced, and ride really well. Probably one of the best balanced bikes I've ever ridden. They feel really light when standing them up, and very easy to control, you don't even feel the weight of them when throwing them into a corner like other bikes.

I really like older Kawasaki Vulcan's, the 1500 classics, a bit on the heavy side though. They are nice bikes. The 900 Vulcan's don't ride as well in my opinion. The newer Vulcan's are ok, I don't like the look of them as well as the older one's, but never got to ride one, so I can't comment on the ride quality. I believe the newer Vulcans go all the way up to 2000cc.

Suzuki Boulevard line is nice. They are lighter than a Vulcan, if I remember correctly a little lower seat height like the Honda I mentioned, and they ride smooth.

With your size, I would stick in the 1100 cc minimum, if not stick to the 1500-2000cc range, but that will all depend on your budget, and how heavy of a bike you are wanting.

(I own a Honda Sabre right now)

 

[Jack T.]

I'm a big fan of BMW. . .been riding them for years.

Their 1600 is probably heavier than you want, but their older 1200LT might fit the bill for you. You can pick up one in the $10K range. . .

 

[bettingpython]

Since you didn't mention a budget ...
The HD 15's are hitting the showroom floors right now. Haggle for a deal on a 14 if you want to try for new they want the 2014 inventory to move, that's a lot of money tied up when the new model year is out on the floor side by side.

How much saddle bag do you need? Weekend trips or just around town and need to stuff a few things in the bag?

See about snapping up a used FLD Dyna Switchback, they are hitting the secondary market now.

VTX has been mentioned it will have the RK style leg room. I don't believe they have a bagger version, you'll need to add bags.

Don't count the gold wing out as has been mentioned they have a very low cg and excellent weight distribution and you would be surprised by the actual minimal weight difference.

Someones already mentioned the top 3 for sport tourers, but if your looking for Road King type legroom you won't get it on those.

My uncle rides one of the 2 liter vulcans, I thought it was heavy and unwieldy and poorly balanced.

That's the limit of big bikes bikes I have any personal experience with. Everything else I have ridden through the years has been standards, cafe converted standards and sport bikes.

Used Harley Davidson bikes are getting to be a little more reasonable, people are waking up to the fact that it's not the 90's anymore there's not a 6 month wait list at the dealer to buy a new one so the used market prices have gotten better, unless you want a CVO... and even then they aren't bringing what they used too

 

[Cowboy2000]

I bought a 2007 Suzuki boulevard practically brand new, used 5k$, it has a big bike feel and rides like a dream, people always ask me all the time if it's a Harley.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

I'm a big fan of BMW. . .been riding them for years.

Me too...there's a decent looking 1982 RT100 for sale in Broken Arrow for $3250 on CL.

 

[amadera]

Me too...there's a decent looking 1982 RT100 for sale in Broken Arrow for $3250 on CL.

What's an rt 100?