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Motorcycle Thread: Cheap cruiser to travel multiple states?

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BZeto

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I'm starting my preliminary planning for a multi-state motorcycle trip. I will be either be going up California PCH or eastward to Florida. My problem at the moment is finding a bike a bit more ideal than my supersport for the trip. I'd like to find a cheap fixer-upper on craigslist or something. What would you recommend I look for? I want something with enough power to handle cruising speeds with ease, so no 250's. I see quite a few V-star 650's and stuff, but most of them are out of my price range. I'll still need to think about carrying bags for clothes/supplies.

Just looking for some suggestions.
 
vstar 650 is a horrible bike IMHO. Extremely underpowered, horrible handling, etc etc etc.


I'd recommend looking for an Intruder 800 / Boulevard S50. 800cc, water cooled, shaft drive, easy to work on, reliable.


For what you're doing I'd sort by price then narrow down by condition rather than searching for a particular model.


Personally..... I'd do it on a harley. I'm not a fan of their bikes but I'd look for something a bit older and fix it up - then take it on the trip (making sure to mark out the HD dealers in my path, lol..)
 
Suzuki V-Strom 650 or 1000. Shouldn't be too hard to find a good used one cheap with bags setup for touring.

Nice review with pic:

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/DL6502.html

VStrom2.jpg
 
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+2 for V-Strom

I don't regret trading mine for a Speed Triple, but I do miss the awesome all-day touring comfort. There is no better bang for your buck if you want to chew up miles.
 
I've heard the same things about the V-star's actually.
The V-Strom's look like great bikes, I just don't see me getting one for a decent price. I'll keep my eye's open though.
 
You say cruiser but you're talking about long trips. Do you mean cruiser or are you looking for a full dress bike? Do you want hard bags and a trunk or are you just going to sling a bag on the bag?

800 is the absolute minimum you should go. If you're serious about doing a lot of miles, I wouldn't even recommend an 800. Look for 1100 or 1300. 800s are great for around town but doing 75mph for 10 hours a day most 800s will vibrate your hands to pieces, they're just not generally geared for that.


SpatiallyAware said:
I'd recommend looking for an Intruder 800 / Boulevard S50. 800cc, water cooled, shaft drive, easy to work on, reliable.
Click to expand...

I love my Volusia (now called the C50) but it's not the best choice for long trips. It suffers from the vibration I was talking about. It's a great bike, and more than capable of doing it (mechanically speaking). I've done 700 miles a day a couple times on mine, but there are better choices.

Personally..... I'd do it on a harley. I'm not a fan of their bikes but I'd look for something a bit older and fix it up - then take it on the trip (making sure to mark out the HD dealers in my path, lol..)
Click to expand...

Not a chance in hell you'd find me fixing up an old Harley for trips. Those are bar hoppers. Unless you get an Evo Harley, it WILL leave you on the side of the road. You're better off with a Japanese bike.


Personally I'm waiting to find the right deal on a black Valkyrie Interstate. I love the look of those bikes, and they have a ton of quiet, smooth power in the opposed six 1500. With the Interstate package you get the fairing, hard bags and trunk, and it's just an awesome bike. It's a shame they discontinued it. The only comparable bike right now is the Royal Star Venture, which is also pretty damn powerful. I just don't like the looks as much as the Valkyrie.
 
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SpatiallyAware said:
vstar 650 is a horrible bike IMHO. Extremely underpowered, horrible handling, etc etc etc.


I'd recommend looking for an Intruder 800 / Boulevard S50. 800cc, water cooled, shaft drive, easy to work on, reliable.


For what you're doing I'd sort by price then narrow down by condition rather than searching for a particular model.


Personally..... I'd do it on a harley. I'm not a fan of their bikes but I'd look for something a bit older and fix it up - then take it on the trip (making sure to mark out the HD dealers in my path, lol..)
Click to expand...

The problem is that there are no old cheap Harleys. Those things really hold there value. He could pick up a V-Rod for cheap, but it would cost $2500 to make it into a touring bike.
I think he's going to end up with a Japanese bike, cheap to buy, and cheap to setup.
 
BoberFett said:
Personally I'm waiting to find the right deal on a black Valkyrie Interstate. I love the look of those bikes, and they have a ton of quiet, smooth power in the opposed six 1500. With the Interstate package you get the fairing, hard bags and trunk, and it's just an awesome bike. It's a shame they discontinued it. The only comparable bike right now is the Royal Star Venture, which is also pretty damn powerful. I just don't like the looks as much as the Valkyrie.
Click to expand...

I just googled the interstate, that's a damn good looking bike.
 
In your shoes I'd be looking for a Shadow. Damn near bulletproof, accessories are easy to come by and fair priced. They are not partiicularly fast or exciting but they are reliable and comfortable. The tanks on the mid 80's stuff were kinda small so you had to stop every 120-150 miles to fill up. I don't know about the mid 90's tho and thats what years look at IMO.
 
BoberFett said:
You say cruiser but you're talking about long trips. Do you mean cruiser or are you looking for a full dress bike? Do you want hard bags and a trunk or are you just going to sling a bag on the bag?
Click to expand...

Bags would be nice but strapping a bag on the bike is fine.

800 is the absolute minimum you should go. If you're serious about doing a lot of miles, I wouldn't even recommend an 800. Look for 1100 or 1300. 800s are great for around town but doing 75mph for 10 hours a day most 800s will vibrate your hands to pieces, they're just not generally geared for that.

I love my Volusia (now called the C50) but it's not the best choice for long trips. It suffers from the vibration I was talking about. It's a great bike, and more than capable of doing it (mechanically speaking). I've done 700 miles a day a couple times on mine, but there are better choices.
Click to expand...

I owned a suzuki M50 for a few months and I know the problems you are talking about. However, I honestly don't mind roughing it for a good 5-7 day trip. I'll probably upgrade the seat before anything else depending on what I get.
 
Greenman said:
The problem is that there are no old cheap Harleys. Those things really hold there value. He could pick up a V-Rod for cheap, but it would cost $2500 to make it into a touring bike.
I think he's going to end up with a Japanese bike, cheap to buy, and cheap to setup.
Click to expand...

I said personally... Not giving him advice, I'm saying how I'd do it.
 
Just poking around on Craigslist and saw lots of Honda VTXs for pretty good prices. Fantastic bikes with lots of aftermarket support, and I've heard the 1300 has plenty of pull..
 
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