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What to buy, what to buy???
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I'm getting rid of my stable and starting over. The dilemma is
excruciatring. I don't know what to get.
The choices are:
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Want to buy my K1200GT? 7600 miles, never dropped, perfectly maintained,
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I've done the BMW thing already, thank you. One reason I'm ditching
the Honda is I'm tired of getting ripped off by car
engineers/accountants.
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lots of upgrades and goodies. Still under warrany.
It'll be the biggest, fastest, best handling bike you've ever ridden.
Sigh, it looks like I've succumbed to being a Harley guy.
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Oh, no. Seek therapy NOW!
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Yamaha FJR1300
The new Kawasaki Concours
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A nice shiny new Kwak 1400 GTR. (or whatever it's called over there).
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Suzuki VStrom 1000
Buell Ulysses
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Buel have a new 1125 V-twin (Aprilia motor from Rotax?) which FINALLY
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It's *NOT* the Aprilia motor. Aprilias use a 60 degree twin, VS the
Buells 72 degree. There isn't anything interchangeable between the two V
twins at all. The only thing they share in common is they are both
manufactured by Rotax.
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ditches the Harley motor. Tice the power of the Harley and smooth too.
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It's not twice the power either. It's about 45% more HP. Same torque.
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KTM 990 AdventureS
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Nice, but a tad too tall for me. Now the new SuperDke with the bigger fuel
tank... another thing altogether.
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You know what's weird. The V-Rod is metric.
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everything or just the motor?
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Thumper
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Aprillia Caponard
The new Kawasaki KLR650
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Yep, that looks like a good list. How large is your garage?
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KTM's will be easier than Aprilia for parts. I've got a friend who traded
in his Ducati Multistrada for an Adventure 950 last year 'cuz twice he had
to wait over a month for parts from Italy whereas KTM had a warehouse near
his home in the Bay area.
Dave S.
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If I get the FJR or the new Conny, I'd probably also get another KLR.
I'm leery of buying the first year of any model ,ie - the Connie and
the new KLR. My riding needs vary. I commute every day in the city,
and I do weekend county rides in the twisties. I do yearly tours of
~4000 miles to get to fun mountain roads, and occasionally, I'll head
out to the desert or south to Baja to ride dirt roads.
Feel free to kibbitz.
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Gee, I think I'd wait a year and then buy the new Connie and the new KLR if
they turn out to be as good as they look right now.
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If the Connie is really as wide as mentioned here, that's a problem.
It's funny how such a small thing can be such a deal breaker.
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I was planning to grow old together with my VFR, but that Connie looks
awfully good from a comfortable, fast, long-distance-covering point of
view...
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New Connie has some serious engine heat issues for the rider. Something
they should have addressed since the FJR also got hammered for it.
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They did address it. There are optional hot-air-exhaust deflectors available
for exactly that reason.
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I'd call that a kludge.
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Shrug. So what would *you* do about the radiator hot-air exhausts? Where do
you locate them so that they won't fry the rider? After all, ya gotta direct
all that hot air *somewhere*, and 1352 cc of highly-tuned engine will
produce a lot of it, particularly when you're stopped in traffic in hot
weather and there's no slipstream to carry it away!
Even my relatively small VFR800 puts out a leg-cooking number of calories
under those conditions, and it's hardly alone.
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My K100 sent a goodly amount of heat my way at a stop too,
Performance and engine size cause heat. There's no getting around it.
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Funny, I have no heat problems with the water cooled, K1200GT. And it's
fully faired, as well.
Thumper
Thumper
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Maybe if you two put your heads together you can tell us what BMW does
differently to control the heat problem?
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My $.02:
Thumpers K bike and a Dual Sport. If you get a KLR, don't delay in
replacing the "Doohickey" (search web-search for "Kawasaki Doohickey" for
more info.)
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I've heard about that for years, but never bothered to replace it on
my '98 KLR. It now has ~37,000 miles on it. So far, so good.
Any idea if the problem is fixed on the new '08s?
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Jim
'95 BMW R100GSPD
'88 BMW R100RS
'73 BMW R75/5
'92 KLR650
'74 Bonnie
'78 Speed Astir (not a scooter, but my favorite toy)
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They vent it out the side just below the tank. Works perfectly on the
'98 K1200RS. No unsealed breaks in the fairing to vent hot air up
your crotch. That's why I have not looked too hard at the newer
transverse 4 models. There's large areas of exposed engine block around
the leg area.
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Well your top three also head up my hit parade.
After one more cross country ride it will be time to pass the Venture
along to another rider. I will be looking for something a little
smaller, lighter and sportier. My natural inclination leads me to
another cruiser but I am thinking it's time for a change.
All the recent talk around here has me wanting to go look at one of
those new Connies. The FJR has long been on my list, as has the
V-Stroms.
I am not sure there is a bad choice among the three.
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