Moto Guzzi: Not recommended.
I had one. Loved it! I drove it head on into an F150.
Well, I guess I can only add a question and a comment:
QUESTION: Marty - if you liked your Moto Guzzi so much -
why did you drive it into an F150?
COMMENT: I assume that
"Not recommended" refers to Marty's action described above.
I have had two modern bikes since I got back into riding about 8 years ago after a 25-year hiatus:
1.
2007 Honda ST1300 - like ThatXS650Guy's
Yamaha FJR - awesome power, great handling, amazing brakes and all-day comfort, coupled with Honda build quality and granite-like reliability, despite the unrelenting complexity -
BUT - ST1300s (aka
Pan Europeans outside of North America) are big, heavy (720lbs+) and with no reverse, a bit of a pig to muscle around a parking lot. This was definitely NOT the ideal first bike for a guy who was essentially, a novice rider (I had bought it in 2015 and at the time, I hadn't been on a bike since about 1990).
The ST1300 is sort of like a slightly lighter, much faster and better handling Gold Wing with some great extras like EFI, ABS, linked brakes, an adjustable height seat and an electrically actuated (
up-down) windscreen and no less than 30 litres of fuel (enough for about 500 km / 300 miles of riding). The saying was that an ST rider
"ran out of @ss before he ran out of gas". On the downside, the ST1300 had just or two features
too few (specifically the lack of reverse).
To sum it up, it was the best long-distance tourer since my 1979 Suzuki GS850G, but riding my ST1300 to work was like using a Boeing B52 to drop off the dry cleaning - it
will certainly do the job, but it could be viewed by some as perhaps....a tad too much.
In 2019, I replaced my ST1300 with a 1983 BMW R100RS - which has many of the same attributes (although no ABS), but weighs over 200 lbs less than the Honda and gets better fuel economy with about the same range on 7 litres less on-board fuel.
2.
2017 Suzuki SV650 - the liquid-cooled vee-twin Suzuki SV650 was in production from 1999 to 2022 (so, that, lemme see...23 years) and has just been replaced in their production lineup by a 270-degree vertical twin. As far as I am aware, it has no known weaknesses or vices and still stacks up very well against competitor bikes that cost a lot more. It is powerful (75 hp) and fast and it has safe, steady and agile handling. It has terrific features like a decent seat, good fuel capacity (nearly 16 litres), sensible footpeg placement and handlebar geometry and triple-disc brakes with ABS. It is easy to maintain, parts are cheap and there are a ton of aftermarket farkles available, plus it is
dead-nuts reliable and virtually unkillable. Suzuki has sold an absolute
crap-load of SV650s over the years to the point where there are "boy-racer" classes for them at almost every track. It is big and powerful enough for touring, yet small and economical enough for commuting - and it is a ball to ride.
I bought my SV650 new in the fall of 2017 and it came with a 5-year unlimited mileage warranty and a $500 pre-paid gas card for fuel - such a deal! I
really liked it, but for some reason, I always chose the XS650 when I went riding and didn't need the size and range of the ST1300....so in 2019, I sold the SV to a riding buddy whose bike had died. He still has it and has enjoyed it for nearly 50,000 km with no issues at all. He rides it regularly two-up with his wife and they love it.
IMO, the SV650 will be the
next practical, universal classic motorcycle - just as the XS650 is now. The SV650's combination of availability, performance, simplicity, durability and reliability, coupled with its affordability is what will keep lots of them around in 30-50 years - just as was the case with the XS650 of the 1970-83 period. When I had the SV, I contemplated doing a side-by-side comparison of it and the XS650 - but work kept intruding.
Pete
