What cheap first-time bike for big bloke?

[NNH]

Felters said:

Did they sell the Honda ST1100 in the US? Worth a look... 1150GS is also a good call. I'm a similar size to you and wandered all over Europe on one some years ago.

This is the only one I've found on the market (sort of) but there are some tempting prices from time to time: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/mcy/d/corte-mader...

[Felters]

Yep. Actually looks quite tidy. Bullet proof build quality and a doddle to service at home.

[airsafari87]

I havent seen this suggested on here yet, but from your OP I gather you intend to use the bike quite a lot with your Mrs on the back?

If she is going to be riding pillion with you and you intend to do half decent mileage I would suggest getting her involved with the buying process too. Even if it means that riding newer and out of budget models of the same model of bike you are considering.
Ultimately you are going to want her to feel comfortable and safe on the back of the bike, if she doesn't feel comfortable on there she isnt going to enjoy the ride and as it's a shared experience neither will you.

Riding alone is amazing, but riding with your partner on the back and you both sharing that same level of e enjoyment is something else altogether and makes for a great experience.

[NNH]

airsafari87 said:

I havent seen this suggested on here yet, but from your OP I gather you intend to use the bike quite a lot with your Mrs on the back?

If she is going to be riding pillion with you and you intend to do half decent mileage I would suggest getting her involved with the buying process too. Even if it means that riding newer and out of budget models of the same model of bike you are considering.
Ultimately you are going to want her to feel comfortable and safe on the back of the bike, if she doesn't feel comfortable on there she isnt going to enjoy the ride and as it's a shared experience neither will you.

Riding alone is amazing, but riding with your partner on the back and you both sharing that same level of e enjoyment is something else altogether and makes for a great experience.

You're absolutely right. On the rental bikes so far, she's liked the R1200RT and the Electra Glide, and thought the V-Strom was OK. The three Yamahas didn't appeal to her. A backrest or topbox is an absolute requirement for her to feel comfortable, and at 5'10", she isn't going to fit on the back of anything too sporty.
There's an opportunity to rent a Tiger 1050 through Riders Share, so I'll try to set that up

[NNH]

NITO said:

Aprilia Caponord ETV 1000...



Plenty of Rotax V-Twin grunt, excellent handling and stability, loads of space and can be loaded up like a mule and would also ferry the missus in comfort!

Edited by NITO on Tuesday 18th February 08:28

Well this is certainly good value at $1500! Whether I'm brave enough to ride 425 miles home on a $1500 bike is still open to question.

[Speed addicted]

NNH said:

Well this is certainly good value at $1500! Whether I'm brave enough to ride 425 miles home on a $1500 bike is still open to question.

Either way it'd be a story!

[SteelerSE]

87,800 miles! Who said Aprilias are unreliable.

[NITO]

NNH said:

NITO said:

Aprilia Caponord ETV 1000...



Plenty of Rotax V-Twin grunt, excellent handling and stability, loads of space and can be loaded up like a mule and would also ferry the missus in comfort!

Edited by NITO on Tuesday 18th February 08:28

Well this is certainly good value at $1500! Whether I'm brave enough to ride 425 miles home on a $1500 bike is still open to question.

Nice spot. There are many high milers about knocking on 150k miles. These things really are superb. The Rotax engines are bullet proof. In the US, there is a dealer AF1 that can supply many parts etc for this and they also own the owners forum which I'll link below.

Basically there are 3-4 items to address to ensure a reliable bike, at the mileage this one has done there's a good chance that they may have already been done. These are;

1.Plastic fuel connectors. (effects many italian bikes), these need to be replaced with metal ones as they em-brittle with age. (Aprilia offer a revised factory high pressure line in metal, the tank outlet was a factory recall replacing the plastic with metal (so should already be done) and the return line quick disconnect should also be replaced for metal)
2,Replace Shunt rectifier with a MOSFET one.
3.Upgrade the two crappy brown connectors in the rectifier loom with Metripack 630 waterproof or similar.Usually done at the same time as above item 2.
4. Replace the clutch slave cylinder with an Oberon or similar. The original one is a poor design and will eventually fail. Mine did at about 18k from memory.

There is a huge pool of resources and advice available for this, most owners work on their own, workshop manuals available etc. The above work may be carried out to different standards as a result.

This is the documented approach taken on my own one;
https://nitosport.com/blog/category/aprilia-capono...

The owners club here, very friendly, accessible and international.
https://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...

This site is a mine of information;
https://www.moto-abruzzo.net/

I have nothing but praise for this bike. There is such a wealth of info out there that you have better support than just about any bike. It's a close knit community.That example may even be owned by an AF1 member and known to the club. There have been a couple of recent US sales usually driven by advancing age of the owners requiring lighter bikes.

Cheers
Nito

[Pat H]

NNH said:

Any thoughts or advice on buying and owning a 10-20 year old bike, and have I missed any good optionsfor a big lump like me?

Do you like older stuff?

I am 6"2 and over 16 stone and have quite comfortably toured two up with luggage on a 1981 R100. The monolever bikes from the late 1980s are cheaper and even more comfortable.

Most of them seem to come with hard luggage and they are absurdly simple and dependable old things if you aren't in too much of a hurry. Going up in value these days, as most have been cocked about with and turned into café racers.

A while back I was given this scruffy R80. It was a fantastic old thing and I should never have sold it.

[NNH]

Pat H said:

Do you like older stuff?

I am 6"2 and over 16 stone and have quite comfortably toured two up with luggage on a 1981 R100. The monolever bikes from the late 1980s are cheaper and even more comfortable.

Most of them seem to come with hard luggage and they are absurdly simple and dependable old things if you aren't in too much of a hurry. Going up in value these days, as most have been cocked about with and turned into café racers.

A while back I was given this scruffy R80. It was a fantastic old thing and I should never have sold it.

I love your garage! The older R-bikes have a certain appeal. For no rational reason, I'm also attracted to the K75, mainly for its intriguing engineering.

[Speed addicted]

NNH said:

I love your garage! The older R-bikes have a certain appeal. For no rational reason, I'm also attracted to the K75, mainly for its intriguing engineering.

As the owner of a troublesome K100 I’d recommend the R80/100. They’re far simpler bikes, probably similarly tough but loads easier to diagnose if something goes wrong.

The K bikes are fuel injected adding complexity to an already old bike.

Having said that, the K’s are properly tough, if you found a tidy one the do tend to go forever. Quite a few bikes seem to be owned by the sort of people that look after them nicely for years too.

Edited by Speed addicted on Friday 21st February 18:25

[Pat H]

NNH said:

I love your garage! The older R-bikes have a certain appeal. For no rational reason, I'm also attracted to the K75, mainly for its intriguing engineering.

Can’t take any credit for the garage. Photo was taken at the in law’s.

I too have a lot of time for the K75. Nice 3 cylinder sound. Pleasant ride, too.

Better than the lumpen K100.

Mind you, the R80 is a much smoother and more free revving engine than the R100.

I’m drawn to the hammer and mole grips simplicity of the R series. Even like the queer R65LS.

[NNH]

NITO said:

This is the documented approach taken on my own one;
https://nitosport.com/blog/category/aprilia-capono...

Great site!

[NITO]

Thanks, It’s the best way to keep all the maintenance history in one place. If I ever sell, the buyer can see exactly what’s been done with a full photographic history. I have lots of catching up to do on older history.

I used to keep all the history on a single thread for each bike on the relevant bike forum, but since photobucket’s spaz and the consequent demise of forums, I just decided to keep my own log and photos in one place so that all that hard work couldn't be undone by an external event and I’d have somewhere to host pics!

Cheers
Nito

[NNH]

Thanks for all the good advice. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to San Francisco before the $1500 Aprilia sold, but someone has just drastically reduced their asking price for a Tiger 1050.

When it comes to the Tiger 1050, speed addicted has already made some good points about checking brakes, chain and suspension, but if anybody has any other advice, I'd appreciate it.

[CousinDupree]

NNH said:

Thanks for all the good advice. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to San Francisco before the $1500 Aprilia sold, but someone has just drastically reduced their asking price for a Tiger 1050.

When it comes to the Tiger 1050, speed addicted has already made some good points about checking brakes, chain and suspension, but if anybody has any other advice, I'd appreciate it.

Sure, watch out for any problems starting. The sprag starter clutch is one of the few weaknesses.

Great bikes and would be my pick of those listed here. Excellent for taller folk too!

Not sure about the US, but in the UK, the first gen Mutistrada's are only a few grand and are a great, if quirky, ride. Amazing value and it couldn't be easier to replace the cam belts, so don't let that put you off..

[Speed addicted]

CousinDupree said:

NNH said:

Thanks for all the good advice. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to San Francisco before the $1500 Aprilia sold, but someone has just drastically reduced their asking price for a Tiger 1050.

When it comes to the Tiger 1050, speed addicted has already made some good points about checking brakes, chain and suspension, but if anybody has any other advice, I'd appreciate it.

Sure, watch out for any problems starting. The sprag starter clutch is one of the few weaknesses.

Great bikes and would be my pick of those listed here. Excellent for taller folk too!

Not sure about the US, but in the UK, the first gen Mutistrada's are only a few grand and are a great, if quirky, ride. Amazing value and it couldn't be easier to replace the cam belts, so don't let that put you off..

Does the 1050 have sprag clutch issues? I thought that was only the 955?

My 1050 Tiger was one of the best all round bikes I’ve had, it was good at everything from commuting to honking across countries to play in the alps.

Multistrada is also a good shout, I have the same engine in my ST2 and it’s a lovely grunty thing, not much top end power but the low and mid range makes it feel fast enough. Belt changes are simple as mentioned above.
The ST2 had issues on certain years with regulators burning out (early ones before 1999 I think) and there is a problem with the nut on the end of the crank coming loose on some models.

The electrics can also be a bit fickle, my fuel gauge worked until I emptied the tank then died. Rev counter was iffy until I sorted the loose connections etc.

[Olas]

Something boring and comfortable like a Goldwing when she wants to ride pillion
Ronax 500 for when you want to have fun

[Pothole]

Speed addicted said:

CousinDupree said:

NNH said:

Thanks for all the good advice. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to San Francisco before the $1500 Aprilia sold, but someone has just drastically reduced their asking price for a Tiger 1050.

When it comes to the Tiger 1050, speed addicted has already made some good points about checking brakes, chain and suspension, but if anybody has any other advice, I'd appreciate it.

Sure, watch out for any problems starting. The sprag starter clutch is one of the few weaknesses.

Great bikes and would be my pick of those listed here. Excellent for taller folk too!

Not sure about the US, but in the UK, the first gen Mutistrada's are only a few grand and are a great, if quirky, ride. Amazing value and it couldn't be easier to replace the cam belts, so don't let that put you off..

Does the 1050 have sprag clutch issues? I thought that was only the 955?

My 1050 Tiger was one of the best all round bikes I’ve had, it was good at everything from commuting to honking across countries to play in the alps.

Multistrada is also a good shout, I have the same engine in my ST2 and it’s a lovely grunty thing, not much top end power but the low and mid range makes it feel fast enough. Belt changes are simple as mentioned above.
The ST2 had issues on certain years with regulators burning out (early ones before 1999 I think) and there is a problem with the nut on the end of the crank coming loose on some models.

The electrics can also be a bit fickle, my fuel gauge worked until I emptied the tank then died. Rev counter was iffy until I sorted the loose connections etc.

There's a good Facebook page for 1050s and Sports. half an hour will have you fully clued up about issues. Some have experienced hot starting problems but these, and potential sprag clutch issues can be sorted with a set of heavier duty battery cables from a bloke called Geoff Halford who makes them up himself and sells them through the page. They make the starter spin up much better. That and paying attention to battery condition seems to fix all the issues. Seats are the usual Triumph plank/park bench but gel pads or a sheepskin fix that.

[CousinDupree]

The later 1050s had bigger batteries, which obviously helps the starter issue.

I put a Motobatt AGM battery in mine, which transformed the starting compared to the usual Yuasa batteries I had been using. Turned the starter much faster.