Looking for new wheels...2 of them that is...

[Blade]

So yeah looking to buy a motorcycle for myself. Just something to drive within the city and back and forth to work, which is about 15 mins city driving.

I have been looking at used Rebels and Shadows, seem like cool bikes. But the Harley 883s and Sportsters keep popping up in the back of my head.

I figure there have to be some riders on the forum here, and was wondering what you guys recommend. I am looking at a decent 400-600cc bike, enough to ride around the city and back forth to work.

[Blade]

Really no riders on this forum?

[2ndgenz28]

250-535-700 Virago if your trying to get great mileage, with style and handling. [some reason 750+, not always 50+ mpg]

[is also a 500 but wasn't made but 1 year, 125 n 400 even rarer imports]

But Im Biased as I own a Virago site

viragotech.com
viragotechforum.com

But background, I spent my youth on Kaw triple 2 stroke bikes, anyone who knows, knows they are rockets, wern't called widow makers cause it was slow. Went from a 9sec one to my Virago [when I had no intrest in going any faster without a cage.]

Loved em so much I started a website.

So you know they gotta have something special about em.

[Stingr69]

I used to ride. I had a new '84 Honda Magna 700 that was a lot of fun and always relaible. I sold that after 9 years to order a new '94 FXLR Low Rider Custom that was cool but never reliable. I only had it for 2 years or so.

The Honda sold 9 years after I bought it for $300 less than I paid for it. I got all my money back on the Harley when I sold it. How could you not like that? Great investments in fun.

My advice is find a new Honda you like the feel of, and buy it. More cylinders equals more SMOOTH. If you get a 700cc or bigger you will not be as likely to want to upsize in 2 years or so.

Oh and...Watch out for loose gravel in corners !!!

-Mark.

[Shifty 6]

Honda just came out with a 250 sport bike. The Kawasaki 650 looks realy good, I have heard good things about it. Personally, I would love to find a Triumph Bonneville. I think that would be perfect for me. I totally agree about finding something relatively small to just bomb around town on.

[springerpete]

The used bike market is a buyer's market now. I would pick out something you like and wouldn't mind owning for a while. Mostly get what YOU want because you are the one paying for it and the one riding it.

I'm a Harley guy but I'm not one of those 1%ers that hates everything else. I was raised around them and love them, just like I'm a GM guy. Harleys have a wonderful and vast array of aftermarket goodies. Many of those parts can be had for used at a very fair price.

A lot can be said for Metric cruisers. Many of the guys I ride with ride them. Most of them are very reliable. The sftermarket for those are getting larger by the day.

FYI, Don't believe the stories of how unreliable Harleys are. Many of those stories are spread by guys that don't know how to work on them and tried to anyway. Harley that have been built since about 1990 have mostly been trouble free because of their manufacturing changes and new higher quality parts that the factory uses.

My advice if you want a bike is to find one that is basically untouched mechanically. You dont want someones' self created problems. Cosmetics are easy to fix. Some of the best bikes that I bought were ugly "old man" bikes.

[bob vogel]

what kind of money are you looking at. you can get a great deal on victory?

[springerpete]

Victorys are very well engineered bikes. I have a friend that has over 60K on his and has rode in 49 of the 50 states. He rode it to Alaska and back on those terrible roads.

They can be had for a fraction of the new cost.