What bike is most tempting you?

[Derventio]

At the moment, I am saving all my spare cash in order to buy myself a new car. I rally need a new car as my current CLK is getting a bit long in the tooth and leggy. Plus, I am unfortunately still playing "Dad Taxi" and a 2 door coupe just isn't practical anymore. The parting shot of my fully grown 6' plus son, or his girlfriend ungraciously exiting my car is not something I would recommend!

The particular car I have set my heart on starts at about £13k for a good one. I am not far off my target, but....

There is a massive temptation to say bugger it and buy myself something mid eighties and two stroke. An NSR400 perhaps. In Rothmans colours.

My savings at the moment would by a very nice 350LC or something of that ilk.

I. Must. Not. Give. In. To. Temptation!

So what bike is very nearly causing you to blow your savings, despite it being a totally irrational purchase?

[Derventio]

It's not just two stroke stuff that is tempting me, though. Every time I see a tidy ZXR750H2 or 1000 EXUP come up for sale I have to reign myself in.

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Krikkit said:

Life's too short to want but not buy, a decent reliable car can easily be had for 5 grand.

Buy a bike, enjoy it.

I've really set my heart on a CLS Shooting Brake and I already have a Bonneville.

Once the Merc is sat on the drive then I will probably sell the Bonnie and get something I lusted after when I was a youth but couldn't afford to buy/insure.I've already worked my way through an '88 VFR, an '86 GPZ600 and a Transalp. I had posters of all these when I was younger.

[Derventio]

BigGingerBob said:

I want a Royal Enfield Himalayan.
To go with my penchant for crap cars, it seems like I also have a thing for crap bikes. Any experience in here of them?

In dreamland I desperately want a Benelli Tornado in Silver and Green, preferably with a less crap looking exhaust

I went for a test ride on a Himalayan a while back with a view to running one as a winter hack, mainly because it was cheap used. It was actually OK as a package. The fit and finish was a bit sketchy in places but overall it was....just OK. the thing that stopped me buying it was the complete lack of performance. Anything approaching motorway speeds worked the engine a bit too hard for my liking. It was fine if you don't mind pottering around at sub 60mph but not really powerful enough for anything over that. it did sound quite nice though.

I ended up actually buying a Honda Transalp 650, instead. Older but better performance.

[Derventio]

Do you mean one of these without the fairing? If so. Super easy things to ride with good comfort and handling but a little lacking in performance.


or do you mean one of these without the fairing? If so, as above but with more go and a super sweet screamer of an engine that sounds great, even on standard pipes. They need to revved to get any decent progress but it really is no hardship. They really sing along in a most satisfying manner.

This is one of the bikes I sometimes regret getting rid of.

[Derventio]

A500leroy said:

Thats the puppy! For those of you that dont my history im coming from a 125 after having a horrible time with my first 'big'bike a xsr700, so im hoping this is somewhere in the middle

The Divvie 600 is an excellent "big bike" choice after stepping off a 125. They are totally non intimidating to just hop on and ride,. I found that Bridgstone Battleax BT45s worked best when it came to tyre choice. The pipe you see on mine is a Delkevic item. They sound great and won't break the bank.

As with any bike you buy, it is well worth joining the owners forums.