Why did i do it to myself?!

[jakeharvey63]

So last Saturday my local motorcycle dealership (Lagunas Maidstone) were running a demo day. I sold my street triple a couple of months ago to by the ex out of our house and have been wanting another one ever since.

I want to go back to a 1000cc and preferably a super naked. I booked to ride the speed triple RS and the bobber. I took the speed out first and thought it was nice, very similar to what I had been used to but just a lot more torque, lovely ohlins suspension etc.

I got back from an hour out on this and saw a superduke GT ready to go, so I ditched the bobber and took this out. I instantly felt at home, the first corner I took, it felt lovely, dropped in nicely and felt super agile like my old street. I missed the sound of a big twin and when I got to the nearest bypass, I opened her up and wow. The quickshifter just banging through the gears and the blipper on the way down. I felt it was a do it all bike, but looking back at it, I wasn't sure it was a bike that I would turn back and look at everytime I walked away.

I then got back and thought I might try something else. So knowing it would be my only chance to ride one, I took out the Ducati Streetfighter V4S. Words cant describe how good this bike felt and made me feel. I get it the attraction of owning a Ducati now. That noise, them looks. Even with the standard can, it sounded incredible and the comfort level defied how it looked.

So back into the real word now, I would be looking at something like a superduke, MT10, S1000R, or a tuono V4 in the new year.

If anyone can offer any alternatives to these bikes, then Im all ears!

[Steve Bass]

Yes.

It's the V4 Ducati as you only live once.

[vonhosen]

Not your only chance to ride one if you buy it

[WarnieV6GT]

Try em all.

Start with the Tuono V4 though as there's some great deals on them.

[jakeharvey63]

Steve Bass said:

Yes.

It's the V4 Ducati as you only live once.

It's all I've been able to think about since! I just cant justify that amount on a play thing, especially when I have a mortgage etc to pay for. And I can imagine my license not lasting long on the V4

Although I could be swayed by a decent finance deal...

[Jazoli]

I think the Ducati is the ugliest bike that has been released for a long time, i was parked next to one on Sunday and I thought it looked silly, the wings in particular are just cheap bits of plastic, I'd say an MT10 is more resolved design, but that's just me

[MrGman]

You’ve got all the main contenders on your list, get out and ride them all and go from there, I’ve ridden them all now and currently ride a MT10, for me it’s the most fun though all the others do have the edge on the handling front. The tuono is by far the best bike but for me it’s a little too focussed.

[jakeharvey63]

Jazoli said:

I think the Ducati is the ugliest bike that has been released for a long time, i was parked next to one on Sunday and I thought it looked silly, the wings in particular are just cheap bits of plastic, I'd say an MT10 is more resolved design, but that's just me

It’s funny that you say that as that is normally the general opinion of the MT10! It’s the way the Ducati felt, it felt special, the quickshifter and blipped were lovely to use and just made me want to bang it up and down the gearbox constantly for the sound. I felt like everyone was looking at it when I was riding it. For me, it’s not all about speed, it’s the way the bike makes me feel and most of that comes down to the sound.

The only worry with the Aprilia and KTM is reliability, especially buying second hand. And I’ve heard that it’s a big expensive job for serving the Aprilia when getting the valves checked too?

The speed triple was nice, ridden in isolation. When ridden next to the above bikes, it just didn’t compare.

The MT10 I’ve yet to ride but the poor fuel economy is a little off putting, and I have a love/hate relationship with its looks.

The S1000R can be picked up relatively cheaply, but will I get bored of the sound of an in-line 4, plus reviews say they are a little clinical , and don’t give that emotional feeling that I’m after with a bike.

A wild card is the monster 1200, would love to know what people think of these...

My budget is gonna be around £10000 and I’d be looking at buying early next year.

[StreetDragster]

I have only ridden the MT10SP and the S1000R in your list above.

I'm not a hugely experienced rider, its more about the feeling for me, i don't get my knee down or anything.

I rode the MT10 first, it was a giggle, 2hrs i had it for and i took it back after 3, i could have ridden it all day, it was awesome.

I then rode the BMW, as on paper, it was a better bike. And i will say in my opinion in actual use its a much better bike too. Everything was more refined, it felt screwed together better, all good.
But, it lacked emotion, it wasn't as fun to ride, i wasn't too sad to hand it back.


I would say you definitely need to test ride them all, because on paper comparisons lack the critical details.

Matt

[airsafari87]

jakeharvey63 said:

It's all I've been able to think about since!.

That says it all.
I've been there myself and bought something different to the thing I really wanted.

I still couldn't stop thinking about it despite loving the bike so I sold it and bought the one that was in my head all the time.

[Ho Lee Kau]

StreetDragster said:

I have only ridden the MT10SP and the S1000R in your list above.

I'm not a hugely experienced rider, its more about the feeling for me, i don't get my knee down or anything.

I rode the MT10 first, it was a giggle, 2hrs i had it for and i took it back after 3, i could have ridden it all day, it was awesome.

I then rode the BMW, as on paper, it was a better bike. And i will say in my opinion in actual use its a much better bike too. Everything was more refined, it felt screwed together better, all good.
But, it lacked emotion, it wasn't as fun to ride, i wasn't too sad to hand it back.


I would say you definitely need to test ride them all, because on paper comparisons lack the critical details.

Matt

IMHO, BMW is a tool, in good sense of the word, a tool to go fast and practice technique.
I rode it back-to-back against MT10 and against 1200S Monster.

I am looking at Speed Triple RS, the tool for gentlemen. :-)
I like the looks of Speed RS and I do not need craziness a-la-KTM or MT10.

[WarnieV6GT]

Ho Lee Kau said:

IMHO, BMW is a tool, in good sense of the word, a tool to go fast and practice technique.
I rode it back-to-back against MT10 and against 1200S Monster.

I am looking at Speed Triple RS, the tool for gentlemen. :-)
I like the looks of Speed RS and I do not need craziness a-la-KTM or MT10.

The speed is a wierd beast in that on paper it's down a lot on power compared to the 170bhp nakeds, but it always seems to hold it's own in speed tests. For example the monster 1200 is a much more powerful bike but the speed still out performs it in some areas.

I also think that on the road a lot more of it's power is accessible which probably makes it easier to extract the most from it's available performance.

It's ok having 200bhp on tap but I wonder how much is actually used by owners..

That said when i sell my speed I'll be having the tuono !

[obscene]

I rode a mate's S1000R and couldn't believe how much torque the engine had and how savage the brakes were. My god. I'd lose my licence if I had one. Utterly mental bike.

[airsafari87]

obscene said:

I rode a mate's S1000R and couldn't believe how much torque the engine had and how savage the brakes were. My god. I'd lose my licence if I had one. Utterly mental bike.

But bland and soulless apparently. According to the Internet anyway.

[ddom]

I’d be looking at the Tuono, loads of deals and it’s still (as far as I can see) the best blend of superduke/Ducati/all. A 765 will get very boring very quickly, they are great but I tried both Superduke and Tuono after and whilst I wouldn’t travel much quicker they were just so much more of everything. Speak to Dave Wood about servicing, you’ll likely have more grief with the BMW, although they have much nicer dealerships etc.

[poo at Paul's]

jakeharvey63 said:

So last Saturday my local motorcycle dealership (Lagunas Maidstone) were running a demo day. I sold my street triple a couple of months ago to by the ex out of our house and have been wanting another one ever since.

I want to go back to a 1000cc and preferably a super naked. I booked to ride the speed triple RS and the bobber. I took the speed out first and thought it was nice, very similar to what I had been used to but just a lot more torque, lovely ohlins suspension etc.

I got back from an hour out on this and saw a superduke GT ready to go, so I ditched the bobber and took this out. I instantly felt at home, the first corner I took, it felt lovely, dropped in nicely and felt super agile like my old street. I missed the sound of a big twin and when I got to the nearest bypass, I opened her up and wow. The quickshifter just banging through the gears and the blipper on the way down. I felt it was a do it all bike, but looking back at it, I wasn't sure it was a bike that I would turn back and look at everytime I walked away.

I then got back and thought I might try something else. So knowing it would be my only chance to ride one, I took out the Ducati Streetfighter V4S. Words cant describe how good this bike felt and made me feel. I get it the attraction of owning a Ducati now. That noise, them looks. Even with the standard can, it sounded incredible and the comfort level defied how it looked.

So back into the real word now, I would be looking at something like a superduke, MT10, S1000R, or a tuono V4 in the new year.

If anyone can offer any alternatives to these bikes, then Im all ears!

You would only look back at a Superduke GT as you walked away, if you were about to meet someone very fking ugly and you wanted to feel a bit better about that.
But it is, IMO the best all round road bike in the world right now and it is a genuine all round road bike. It can do everything, tour, scratch trackdays etc, you dont even have to mess with the suspension and drive modes if you dont want, it does it all pretty brilliantly, (apart from look good).
Any Superduke is hillarious and a bit crazy, but the GT is hillarious, sensible, stupid and just all round well polished...if i had to sell all my other (14) bikes, and keep one, it would be my TL1000R,,,,,,,,,,, but after that, the Superduke GT! And I am no KTM fanboy, 46 years racing off roaders, never had a KTM! But if i fell off the KTM tomorrow, i would buy a new one as soon as I could walk again.
If I were you, get a low miler 17 plate from the 6k price drop time, (pre regs in Dec 17). There are 8k milers ones with luggage for £8k or so, they are a fking steal as apart from the dash and a few buttons, it is pretty much the same bike that will cost you £10k more at a dealer.

[Ho Lee Kau]

obscene said:

I rode a mate's S1000R and couldn't believe how much torque the engine had and how savage the brakes were. My god. I'd lose my licence if I had one. Utterly mental bike.

here at the bottom, compare the in-gear (5th and 6th gears) acceleration figures for Speed RS and S1000R. BMW is real fast:

https://www.roadster-magazin.de/test/dauertester+-...

Edited by Ho Lee Kau on Tuesday 8th September 21:40

[Ho Lee Kau]

airsafari87 said:

obscene said:

I rode a mate's S1000R and couldn't believe how much torque the engine had and how savage the brakes were. My god. I'd lose my licence if I had one. Utterly mental bike.

But bland and soulless apparently. According to the Internet anyway.

It is not bland. I rode all versions of S1000R.
Not bland, just, well, a tool, very serious tool for corner practice.
That is the impression I always got from that bike.

On Speed RS I always felt like I am cruising around and it is sunny lazy Sunday.
When I jumped on BMW I felt like I need to go and practice correct corner entries and time myself, felt I am out for a training practice.

S1000R is super nice.
Personally I never liked the looks of it, too techno and guts sticking out.
I prefer the "stale" looks of Speed RS, even though it is 13(!)kg heavier than S1000R.

[Scobblelotcher]

airsafari87 said:

obscene said:

I rode a mate's S1000R and couldn't believe how much torque the engine had and how savage the brakes were. My god. I'd lose my licence if I had one. Utterly mental bike.

But bland and soulless apparently. According to the Internet anyway.

People always parrot that same, it was said once and it's now written verbatim.

The S1000R is getting on a bit but its still one of the most complete bikes in its class. I own an S1000R and it's a great bike and has been completely faultless. It's fast, comfortable (heated grips, cruise control etc) but has polarising looks and my biggest gripe is its wind protection. I appreciate super nakeds aren't designed for this but the other bikes I have ridden in the class MT10, SuperDuke, Street Triple etc all do it better. I have the larger BMW screen but it still feels worse than some of the competition.

The brakes are certainly savage and it's sounds wonderful even just with the standard Akrapovic can on the Sport model.

[SAS Tom]

It’d have to be the Tuono for me. I just want the V4 noise. It’ll be more than fast enough and handle well enough so it just needs to sound nice.