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What's the reasoning behind this? Riding around in traffic on something that can barely go the speed limit doesn't sound very safe to me.
They're great around town if you live someplace more urban. The Tomos mopeds, not as refined as a Zuma or Metropolitan, are only like $1200-1500 new, get 100+ in the city, easy to ride. Just depends what you want. It's an urban run-about and great for that. Not sure why you'd get one to learn how to ride a motorcycle, however. Might as well just get an old 10-speed.
You could forget the Mopeds and get a 500 to 650 cc scooter like a Burgan. It should keep up with traffic and let you avoid learning how to use a clutch.
The Sportsters do, to me, still look better even though I love the way the Bonnie looks which not everyone does. The Sportster also sounds better. In most other way, the Bonneville's a better bike. But there really are no "bad" bikes. The 883 has a lot of things that I would consider flaws, but other people love in them. For example, it's near to hardtail. You can swap in the rear shocks off a RK, however, for pretty cheap which helps the ride out a lot.
When you get tired of riding around with something that's not much faster than a EX300, it's really easy to punch the 883 out and convert them to a 1200. Fuel injection makes it a bit harder than it used to be, but still right around $1,000. It's cheaper than what Harley charges for the 1200, plus you get the shorter 883 gearing..
We're talking about a first bike here though.
A Sportster with factory pipes sounds like a hair dryer....no one leaves them on.
A Bonneville actually sounds better with it's stock pipes, but many also switch them out for something throatier.
Instead of highly modding a Sporty, I'd move to a bigger bike after you learn the basics. But learning the basics on an all round standard which does everything well will help the newbie in the long run and future.
A Sportster with factory pipes sounds like a hair dryer....no one leaves them on.
A Bonneville actually sounds better with it's stock pipes, but many also switch them out for something throatier.
Instead of highly modding a Sporty, I'd move to a bigger bike after you learn the basics. But learning the basics on an all round standard which does everything well will help the newbie in the long run and future.
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Not really a fan of bigger bikes, the exception would be if I wanted to do some touring with a pillion. So for me, having a bike that out performs the 1200 Sportster handily while costing less, plus you get to keep all the little stuff you always end up setting up how you like (luggage racks, seats, grips, etc.) is about as good as Harley offers.
But yeah, if you just want to learn to ride on something a little lighter and easier to handle before going up to a big twin whatever, I suppose that makes sense.
So a Bonneville 900 is probably better compared with a Sportster 1200 than the 883 ......and probably quicker than the 1200:
The older 790cc Bonnie in stock form was good for 13.57 sec @ 96.4 mph in the quarter mile.
I think it is fair to assume the 865cc Bonnie would do better. I couldn't find number for the 900 in the 1/4 mile.
2004 XL1200C
1/4 mi: 12.99 @ 100.11 mph
0-60: 4.58 sec.
Top speed: 124 mph
Quote:
But yeah, if you just want to learn to ride on something a little lighter and easier to handle before going up to a big twin whatever, I suppose that makes sense.
That's all I was posting about was a good beginner bike that has great resale value when you choose to go bigger, is rock solid in dependability, and can be nice on short or long trips.
UPDATE: Here's a comparison of the Bonneville, 883 Iron, and Honda 750
Heck, the 79' Honda CM400T I purchased in 05' as a first bike made 44 horsepower, revved to 10,000 RPM and happily commuted on the highway at 80 mph and 8,000 RPM. Rode that little bike for 8,000 miles before I decided to trade it, and considering it cost a mere $300 to purchase I think it worked out as a much better "investment" (if you could ever call a depreciating object an investment) than a Harley Davidson that simply depreciates "slowly". I put $600 in the bike I ditched it for a $1200 value in a trade for a different bike.
The 96' Magna I just traded was a 750cc V4 powered motorcycle that would outrun a 883 or 1200 Sportster any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The bike cost me $1500 in moderately running state (aka, the automatic fuel shutoff was broken and the Regulator Rectifier didn't allow the battery to charge)...less than $75 in parts and I had a fully functioning motorcycle...rode it till it needed tires, replaced those, before ditching it.
The bonneville is another great option, but for me, it's more the Thruxton...The America and Speedmaster both give a more traditional cruiser look and would be a great comparison to the sportster...while the Thunderbird would give some great inline twin performance!
I will again highly recommend the Triumph Bonneville for an outstanding first bike. The price is nice, the resale is strong, they are bulletproof, and they basically do everything well (handling, engine performance, braking, short hops & distance riding). If you like a sportier look, there's the Thruxton version too.
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I know where there is 3 real and old brand new bonnies just out of the crate...... These are not cheap though.
Real and have the torque of the old real ones because they are the old real ones. I think someone like you may know the real difference.
I used to have the real 650's and even had a trident once.
later came a 850 Yammi XS 850 Sh and it hasn't got 1/2 the torque of any of the triumphs.
However that 850 yammi will run circles around most any HD, and beat the Sportster at Daytona in 1981. One of the last old bikes that has enough power to launch both wheels off the ground.
So much is detuned and under cammed these days it's silly.
Last edited by Mac_Muz; 06-11-2013 at 07:00 AM..
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