What do you ride and what do you like/dislike about it?

[Armitage Shanks]

No it won't help. I touch him there a lot. He likes it.

Steve

Guess I hate the kick-back and the pain every time I kick one of my pretty girls over to start ...oouch ! I still have the scars from starting a 2-stroke 500 with wet shoes , yes it hurts but, the Bike does'nt give a shit ......

[Hitcher]

I ride an Aprilia SL750 Shiver.

Why do I like it? Because it's a great handling, sweetly performing piece of mechanical art. It can do almost anything.

What don't I like about it? The total disinterest in selling anything other than new bikes and complete lack of support provided by Aprilia New Zealand Ltd (Triumph New Zealand Ltd in drag). Thanks guys for doing your bit to minimise the depreciation of my ride, pfft. That is the only reason I will never own another new Aprilia. Aprilia bikes deserve much better than this and as an owner so do I.

[Dean]

My bike is too small for me, low seight height, its the size of a little cbr250 without the fairing and no rise at the back.
Other then that it gets me from A to B fine.

[centaurus]

Guess I hate the kick-back and the pain every time I kick one of my pretty girls over to start ...oouch ! I still have the scars from starting a 2-stroke 500 with wet shoes , yes it hurts but, the Bike does'nt give a shit ......

I like your thinking: You covered the stand with a cloth so it won't look out of place in the room. No matter that there's a whole dirt bike on top of it, overshadowing you desk

[sondela]

I'd never own one - I'd have no license in a minute, but your bike is one seriously horny machine. Too bloody quiet though, you need to do something about that.

Haha yes indeed, soon as I win lotto... it would be nice though....

[KwakaZM]

I ride a 2007 ZX6R (Silver).....

Love my bike awesome brakes, turn in and the best slipper clutch i've experienced in its class...

Needs a little more power but that is where the Akrapovic, K&N, Power Commander are coming in....:woohoo:

Dislike riding it at slow legal speeds.....

[Berries]

Someone with a VTR1000, SV1000 or post 2000 ZXR750 should add to this thread!.........(i'm bike shopping soon)

SV1000.

I'd go for the ZXR personally. SV is good value for money based on engine size per dollar but as standard it is a bit of a plain Jane. A bit long and lardy in the tight corners. Half fairing means your legs get wet when it rains, unlike some fully faired bikes that give you just that bit more protection. Never had any mechanical problems. Standard screen is a bit low for me at 6'1", but the reach to the bars and seat height are fine. Good points are that it can shift when you want it to and you can be lazy with the gearchanges. The other big bonus is the petrol cap is just in the right place so you don't have to get off the bike when filling it up.

[SPman]

XJR1300
Why - because I needed 2 wheels in a hurry after the 9R threw itself down the road over a kangaroo and it was handy, available and cheap.
Mods - the usual cheapies, FJ1200 inlet manifolds, airbox, 4 deg ignition advance, billet fork brace - I like the look of the standard pipes so replaced the endpipes with bigger s.s. outlets and tore out the secondary baffle for a bit more noise, but a SS collector assembly is going on, braided lines. Future mods...front fork springs and rebuilt original or Hagon shocks.
Likes - the G.L.W. calls it the Warhorse - the sort of thing you'd ride to battle on - big, comfy, more than enough stomp for most road conditions, although less than a sports 1000, handling is ..interesting...no steaming up to a corner and chucking it in...but, saying that, approach the corner right and heave it in and it'll get round well enough, pegs allowing. Good enough to embarrass local straight line speed squids on the few local twisty bits. All in all, it's a fun bike to ride - just like an 80's bruiser. (well, it is a retro bike, after all) Also, when we go away, Mst. and I can swap bikes - she won't ride a sports bike!
Dislikes - no screen/protection in the wet (it does rain here sometimes - hard) and the cold (we do get frosts..) and ..interesting fuel consumption - far worse than the FZ1

[beyond]

I have a GSX1400. Can't fault it. Does everything you want and then some.
On my second as I can't find anything better.

Dislike? The fact they aren't going to be making anymore

[Kickaha]

I have Harris pipes

So you've detuned it then

1985 Ducati MHR, the pinnacle of Ducati engineering, they went downhill from here

The only thing I dislike would be the heavy clutch

[shrub]

So you've detuned it then

Yeah, just enough to get more power at the rear wheel than it put out at the crank when it was new.

[Mikkel]

I ride an Aprilia SL750 Shiver.

Why do I like it? Because it's a great handling, sweetly performing piece of mechanical art. It can do almost anything.

What don't I like about it? The total disinterest in selling anything other than new bikes and complete lack of support provided by Aprilia New Zealand Ltd (Triumph New Zealand Ltd in drag). Thanks guys for doing your bit to minimise the depreciation of my ride, pfft. That is the only reason I will never own another new Aprilia. Aprilia bikes deserve much better than this and as an owner so do I.

Lovely bike, I have no doubt.

Sounds like they are handling with the Aprilia brand as they do Husqvarna. Been waiting over one and a half year for a replacement footpeg for my motard now...

The dealer, Don at Pitlane Christchurch, has been a good bastard through and through - and I have a lot of compassion for him as a Husqvarna dealer. Bloody difficult providing good service to your customers when the supply-train has gone missing.

The guys at Triumph NZ really need to get their backsides off the bench and start doing something about it.


Anyway, I ride a 2006 Husqvarna 610sm motard. I've had it for just over one and a half year and I've put around 12,000 km on it. Bought it as an ex-demonstrator with 1,600 km on the clock.

Pros: It's rough, loud, blackish and hoony. It's happy on both tarmac and shingle which is excellent - so many cool gravel roads around. It's a robust no-bullshit motorcycle and it looks like it came out of a USAF stealth program.
Heaps of low-down torque! Excellent brakes! Great suspension! Snappy flatslide carburetors!

Cons: It's rough, loud, blackish and hoony. It get's rather uncomfortable due to it's narrow seat and big vibrating single-cylinder engine. Power delivery can be rather chunky and you do not want to go around a corner in too high a gear - without being prepared... Get's a bit flat higher up in the rev range. Backfires excessively during engine braking (would be a pro for some I suppose). Italian electronics. Headlight has got poor adjustment options and consequently the dip-beam is too highly elevated. Oh, and as mentioned above - replacement parts can be an issue.

[Armitage Shanks]

I have a GSX1400. Can't fault it. Does everything you want and then some.
On my second as I can't find anything better.

Dislike? The fact they aren't going to be making anymore

Suggest you buy another and keep it in storage for your next Bike ?

Only a thought .........

[taff1954]

'85 GPZ 600R

Likes - 695mm seat height and a narrow waist. I am not vertically challenged, I'm SHORT
Handles beautifully
Goes well
Miserly on fuel
Dislikes - Aftermarket 4-into-1 exhaust makes oil changes a mission
Parts are getting scarce

[Subike]

Me?
I like my old XS1100 Yamaha,
Enough power to have a heap of fun with out the uneeded crazy top end speed of more modern 1100's
shaft drive so I dont have to worry about chain adjustment,
Old enough that thieves walk past her
classic enough that nearly every older rider had one, knows someone who had one,
can still show its tail to many newer high spec bikes
can e fixed on the side of the road with 2 screwdrivers and 3 spanners
electronic ignition that never need touching
At 100,000 miles and its just run in
At 300,000 miles it still starts with a touch of the starter and still blows no smoke.
Has a kick start
dislkes?
wallows in corners when agressive speeds are reachd
fucking heavy when she desides to have a sleep
eats fuel like a V8