The weight is a huge factor imo. If you overbalance in traffic/ standstill a little the weight of the bike must be swiftly taken on the riders legs and repositioned into balance. Maneuvering a hugely heavy 200Kg bike around the garage/ driveway/ carpark without a high level of physical fitness is impossible for most. Forget picking the damn thing up! Diavel weigh 236Kg & Multistrada 243Kg.
How the weight is carried is often more important than the amount of weight. It's the bike isn't too tall and has a low centre of gravity 250 kg can feel 50 kgs less than it really is. I've had a Harley Low Rider S and a Rocket 3, both monstrously heavy bikes. The Harley was actually about 10 kgs heavier than the Triumph but it didn't feel it because the V twin engine and the massive gearbox and primary drive meant the weight was carried much lower down. And it had a low seat height it was actually very easy to move around even for the shortest person. I plan to get a BMW R9T soon. That's a heavyish bike too but again with a low centre of gravity. The other option was a Triumph Speed Twin which is lighter than the R9T but feels heavier because the weight is higher. I think rather than imposing a rigid weight limit it pays to look at weight distribution which can open up more options. Try before you buy and some bikes might turn out to be more manageable than you might think. I have a 1260 Diavel and that doesn't feel as heavy as it is. It's easy to wheel about and doesn't seem excessively top heavy even with a full tank of fuel. But the peg position makes low speed manoeuvres on the bike less easy than when your feet are tucked under you more. It's not difficult and once up and to speed it's a doddle of a thing to ride, but again it's a case of try before you buy.
Nothing is simple. I got the KTM because it is light, but being tall, I just don't get on with it. On top of all of that, there has been a wholesale lack of confidence since my accident. Even since I got mobile again, I had a car pull right out of me again. Fortunately, I was in my car. The car was wrecked, but repaired well, and her Range Rover got some damage. I don't wanna be sexist here, but I seem to attract women so much, that they forget the rules of the road and just pull out on me! I think that I need to get something that I feel very comfortable on. I always avoid travelling at busy times, but I do need a bike that I would be quite comfortable with in a traffic queue with lots of stating and stopping, where my foot is going up and down all the time. It's not really kerb weight. but just ease of starting and stopping, as well as getting on and off.
I completely agree with you, most things -that are complicated- are not simple. All I know of your situation is from what you have told us all. When I buy a bike, the seat height, bike weight, ease of getting on and off are all important to me and I am fortunate not to have suffered major physical damage/ impairment in an accident. All of these factors must work together to suit. Lightweight with a high seat is just as bad as lower but wide seat and heavy as hell. Its all a compromise. I admire you for sticking with it, many wouldn't have ridden again. Of those that did, I imagine very few would still be open to buying a second new bike post accident. Glad to hear you are still attracting the womenfolk. Though their tendency to ram you could to with some revision!
I will go and physically evaluste I don't understand the bike issue and why I didn't just knock it on the head after such a serious accident. B, B, B, But there was some brain damage going on and so maybe I don't make the right decisions! As things stand, I accept that I made the wrong bike choice but I know why. Now, I'm going to recognise my injuries and get something according to comfort. That will be the only criterion. Luggage carrying, range and speed are unimportant. Now, what worries me is that Harley seems to fit the requirement, so maybe add in price and looks and anything else that would rule out Harley Davidson!
I think you’re speaking for the entire Forum there Perry . But then we’d all miss the threads of indecision.
Why rule it out? If you try one and it works for you, do it. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Other than a low seat I'm not sure any HD model fits your criteria though. The old air cooled Sportsters are the smallest and lightest but they're not that light and they're not modern retro, they're real retro. Like buying an American Enfield. The latest M8 big ones are actually very good bikes but they weigh as much as a house and cost about the same. And if you buy new and find you can't live with it they drop a shit load of money. Harley depreciation follows a bathtub curve. They drop very steeply from new and then level out. If you keep one for years and put loads of miles on it, it'll owe you very little. Or if you buy a nearly new one that's already taken the hit, aftet a couple of years you'll pretty much get your money back. If you buy a brand spanker and flog it after six months the money you lose would have bought almost any of the other bikes on your list.
Not sure if I will. I just don't know But . . . . . For reasons that nobody knows, some shots of Santander. Just across the road from my room at the hotel, there was a store exactly like a Co-op here. It was called a LUPA, I think, but to me, it was a Dua Lipa!
If you mean the Mazda, then done it. Good car, but now I could not get in and out. I did a contract at Kingston-on-Thames council, probably twenty five years ago and drove it back a hundred-odd miles home, along the M4 on a Friday evening with the top down. It wasn't a mad-warm evening, but with the car heater on, set on pointing down, it was absolutely fine.
Sorry to piss on your chips, but “Lipa” means “pot belly” in Spanish. I used to have a Hispanic girlfriend and that was her pet name for her dad. It might not apply to the Spanish they speak in Spain though, as the Spanish spoken in South America can be quite different, a bit like British English v. American English
I know that I just would not be happy with a Harley. I'd rather have nothing. My anticipated use is to just to piss about. Plenty of other, bikes miles cheaper and not so agricultural, fit my needs. When I bought the KTM, I bought it with factory panniers, coz the idea was to ride to Auschwitz, where I think that a grandmother, or possibly great-grandmother was killed. Now, I realise that I could not do it. I recognise now that I would just get too tired. I like travel, but have to select easy ways of doing it. That is why, if I go to Bologna next year, I will fly there from Heathrow.
That makes perfect sense for a food shop, so I think that you are correct, but it is "LUPA" for the name of the shop.
I can wholesale apologies for tits being bored off. BUT I have just spoken to Frasers Motorcycles about Royal Enfield (https://www.frasersmotorcycles.co.uk/royal-enfield). It was just because I am drawn towards Royal Enfield (a brand dropped by Fowlers but still done at Frasers) because they might suit, but ages ago they told me that they would not take in a KTM. Not the case now and they would take it in against a new Royal Enfield. This is good, as Frasers are my closest proper bike dealer, just up the A38 and my history with them is that they drop every brand when I've been interested in them - Yamaha,Kawasaki and KTM, so far, I think. The New Zealander that I spoke to on the boat back from Spain, had one at home and he reckoned on them as good for just pottling about on. There is a few in the range that could possibly suit: Actually, it is most of the range!
Here's the low down in numbers from a site thats not paid to promote sales. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Royal_Enfield/royal-enfield-shotgun-650-2024.html
