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Modern bikes are amazing, but they kinda suck

Shinyribs

Shinyribs

Is my bike ok?
Joined
Mar 12, 2022
Member Number
849
Posts
1,163
Location
VA
I'm not really in the market for a new bike, but you know how it is. Always fun to look at the new stuff and get to ride something new and different.

I'm currently on a '16 FZ 09. I like the slick , new style removable factory luggage options that some bikes offer. It looks good on the bike and sleek when it's off. I thought that would be handy, and I hear great things about Triumph's T Plane triples, so I decided to start shopping.

Basically, let's replace my FZ 09 with something similar ( 117hp, 417lbs, minimal electronics) but maybe more practical. Really wanting to try a T Plane

Long story short....

Speed Triple 1200 RS has good performance, but even with trading the clipons for bars I'm not sure the ergos are fixable. Luggage mounting would be a hassle and the $20 otd price tag ain't for me. Riddled with electronics.

Tiger Sport 660 is exactly what I'm looking for (don't care about windshields, but love the styling), but not with a 80hp 660. For some reason Triumph don't have that with their 900 triple engine in it.

Tiger 900 is down about 20hp and about 50-60 lbs heavier. Styling is great, but the seats are so low feeling even in the highest position. Factory luggage is just the standard adv style panniers that resembles microwaves mounted to your bike, so can't get excited about that. 19" front doesn't thrill me either. Riddled with electronics.

Got excited when I spotted a Tiger 850 Sport across the showroom in a beautiful orange color. Ooh, a Sport model. Nope, still has a 19" front. It's less riddled with electronics, which is a plus for me ...but for some reason they neutered the bike from 94hp down to 80, or something like that.

Street Triple headlights are kinda hard to swallow and the Speed Twin styling doesn't do much for me. Triumph doesn't make a nice, modern upright naked bike on 17's and that kinda shocked me.

Harley got nothing to offer. Still. Sadly.

Love what Royal Enfield has been up to lately, but nothing with the power:weight ratio to get me excited.

BMW F900R or XR looks amazing and the handling gets rave reviews from everyone. Great! Nice, stylized factory luggage is an option. Even better! Riddled with electronics. Meh, if they hold up I can live with them. BMW claims 94hp, but dyno reports are showing low 80's to the tire. Don't really want to take a 30+ hp loss while picking up an extra 50lbs of weight, so that idea is fizzling out.

My buddy's 890 Duke is super cool, but doesn't offer anything my Yamaha can't, and the engine is so dang noisy. 1290 Duke looks cool with it's factory bags, but the price for the GT bikes starts getting crazy. Riddled with electronics.

Honda won't give us a naked Africa Twin on 17's.

FTR1200 is wicked cool, but rather pricey and they kinda look dorky on 17's vs the original rim sizes. Riddled with electronics.

Kawasaki intent to build only four cylinders and 180° twins. Can't get excited there.

Suzuki kinda stuck on the four cylinders as well.

Honda Hornet 750 is extremely interesting to me, but not sure it'll ever make it to The States. Looks like it'll also be riddled with electronics.

Are Yamaha MT bikes really that special? I just can't really find much that compares on power output and weight, even putting price aside. But most importantly, EVERYTHING is absolutely RIDDLED with electronics!

I totally get that some folks want all the "electronics suites" and I'm glad it exists. But I hate it. Why do bikes need to rival sedan prices because of electronic packages? You can't sell a mechanical version and just let the tech lovers pay more for their desired "upgraded" version? It has to be shoved on to everyone?

Why does everything need LED lights? I don't want to be stuck having to spend $2k if my headlight goes out, or $700 if my tail light pops. It seems like gone are the days of swinging in Walmart at 1am to grab a $12 H4 when your low beam burns out.

I absolutely love the tech and performance of modern engine and chassis designs. Bikes are amazing and so much better then 20 years ago. But it really feels like the electronics are killing them. I guess it'd be ok if you plan to swap bikes every year and just always have a warranty to fall back on. Maybe that's the goal. But it makes me sad to see so many impressive machines and realize that they are a fleeting thing. Once the electronics start dying that the rest of the machine is designed to rely on...they're headed to the scrap yard.

We've got some of the best engines and chassis ever, but they're gonna fade away when replacement parts aren't available. That seems like such an incredible, avoidable waste.

Can we make motorcycles machines again?
 
Go ride a Street Triple! You can’t see the lights from behind the bars.
 
I have the opposite problem. I see a lot of great bikes out there that I would love to own. The only issue is high prices and the fact that my garage is already has 5 bikes in it and no room for more. Last fall the Kawasaki Demo truck came to a local dealer and I had the chance to ride nearly every bike they brought. I rode several bikes that I thought were a blast to ride and would love to own. Lets see, Z900RS, Z400, Ninja400, Versys650 and Ninja 1000 come to mind.

A friend has a Tiger660 and I got to ride it. I thought it was a great bike with all the power I would need on the types of roads I ride. Yeah, the electronics on that bike are a bit too much. Service warning lights come on and are hard to reset without going to the dealer. I think I'd take the Versys 650 over the Tiger even if it is a bit slower. Since I am the biggest factor limiting the speed I ride at, not the bike, I doubt I'd be any faster on the Tiger.

I think just about any bike is fun to ride. For me the roads I ride are what makes the ride exciting much more than the bike I am on. Some of my favorites are so twisty that anything over around 30 hp is overkill anyway.
 
klaviator said:
hink just about any bike is fun to ride. For me the roads I ride are what makes the ride exciting much more than the bike I am on. Some of my favorites are so twisty that anything over around 30 hp is overkill anyway.
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And.....I don’t see a reason for 160hp with VA’s zealous speed enforcement tactics.
 
Most of the fun roads I ride have very little law enforcement on them. Maximum speed is enforced by the rider skill and the laws of physics. Horsepower just isn't that important.

P5240037-XL.jpg
 
I'm the curmudgeon in this situation, there are very few new bikes that I even like and with most of them loaded with electronics, that weeds out some of the few as well. It doesn't help that I am not a fan of the typical modern style (jacked up rear ends with the look of motocross suspension travel, along with half the bike covered with plastic parts) but then let's add in the stupid prices as well combined with the current level of dealer greed.

Even if I COULD afford one - which I can't, nor could I afford a new car or truck either - there are just too many negatives for me to even be enthusiastic anymore. I haven't been in a showroom in over 5 years and it was a Honda dealership in Crystal River (35 miles from me, closest to my rural area) and I found nothing that even enticed me to want to sit on it, much less go deep into debt for it.
 
Shinyribs & oldschool - Take a look at the Yamaha XSR 900. If you don't want LED headlight, older than '22. And LED headlights don't burn out in your lifetime and don't cost $2000 either. My '22 XSR700's headlight is under $500, not that I'll need one ever, barring crash damage. LINK

Ride the bike, don't spend so much time looking at it. It's a tool to take you places, not a piece of art. Some will argue, some will say both. That's all fine, but for the love of doG, go for a ride already.
 
EricV said:
Shinyribs & oldschool - Take a look at the Yamaha XSR 900. If you don't want LED headlight, older than '22. And LED headlights don't burn out in your lifetime and don't cost $2000 either. My '22 XSR700's headlight is under $500, not that I'll need one ever, barring crash damage. LINK

Ride the bike, don't spend so much time looking at it. It's a tool to take you places, not a piece of art. Some will argue, some will say both. That's all fine, but for the love of doG, go for a ride already.
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My '16 FZ09 ( same bones as a XSR) runs a standard bulb.

A friend's Super Tenere has a few dead spots in his tail light where some of the LEDs stopped working. The $2000 number I mentioned for a LED headlight was the price the Triumph salesman gave me. I actually think he said $2,209, but I'm not sure.
 
klaviator said:
60 HP will get you up to go to jail speeds easily enough.
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Correct!

Since any bike will get me in trouble, go ahead and give me all the power to play with, please 😁

Joking aside, I obviously don't use the full power of my bike constantly. However, having an overabundance of power on tap means you always have power everywhere. And that's the kind of machine I want. Anytime I open the throttle I want to feel like the hand of God is pushing me down the road. I don't want to wait for things to wind up. I'm a big bore torque addict, and I don't want help 😁
 
EricV said:
Ride the bike, don't spend so much time looking at it. It's a tool to take you places, not a piece of art. Some will argue, some will say both. That's all fine, but for the love of doG, go for a ride already.
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100% on just ride the thing. The ride is ultimately more important to me than looks, but I want a certain level of performance when I ride. I guess my main takeaway was the realization that, even though Triumph does offer a few nice sporty bikes, there's a bit of Harley'ish "heritage stuff going on over there that I didn't expect. Regardless

God bless the Japanese. Let's wear out some more rubber ✌️

IMG_20220920_155658091_HDR.jpg
 
Shinyribs said:
Correct!

Since any bike will get me in trouble, go ahead and give me all the power to play with, please 😁

Joking aside, I obviously don't use the full power of my bike constantly. However, having an overabundance of power on tap means you always have power everywhere. And that's the kind of machine I want. Anytime I open the throttle I want to feel like the hand of God is pushing me down the road. I don't want to wait for things to wind up. I'm a big bore torque addict, and I don't want help 😁
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Yeah I don't need my 135-ish hp all the time but there are those moments in the highway dance-of-death where it comes in handy. I have a nice old XS400 rocking its approx 40hp- its a fine old bike and runs well but no f'ing way I would take it on the highway.
 
The 40hp part or the no f'ing way part? Mid-atlantic I95 Baltimore/DC Metro commuting is pretty intense.... and it is something like 40hp peak, mediocre brakes and suspension. It'd be fine on the fun back roads for sure 😁
 
gpounce said:
The 40hp part or the no f'ing way part? Mid-atlantic I95 Baltimore/DC Metro commuting is pretty intense.... and it is something like 40hp peak, mediocre brakes and suspension. It'd be fine on the fun back roads for sure 😁
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The no way part. I’ve ridden the beltway many times on my Vespa and never experienced what y’all keep seeing.
 
This thread is why I chose a gen3 klr. Modern for 1980s technology. There should be a decent parts supply. The bike is boring but very enjoyable. I still have too many bikes to think about any more. And there are too many used bikes out there that are adequate for my style of riding.
 
EricV said:
Shinyribs & oldschool - Take a look at the Yamaha XSR 900. If you don't want LED headlight, older than '22. And LED headlights don't burn out in your lifetime and don't cost $2000 either. My '22 XSR700's headlight is under $500, not that I'll need one ever, barring crash damage. LINK

Ride the bike, don't spend so much time looking at it. It's a tool to take you places, not a piece of art. Some will argue, some will say both. That's all fine, but for the love of doG, go for a ride already.
Click to expand...
Shinyribs said:
God bless the Japanese
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EricV, I guess you could afford an $11,000 bike and I'm sincerely happy for you. But I can't, nor could I afford the payments on one of that price either (or really, any price that would require financing especially in these times), I didn't retire that well. Even if I could, the Yamaha you mentioned does not appeal to me but I appreciate the suggestion. It suffers most of the visuals I don't care for and while I agree that when riding it you don't see those visuals, I have to want to own something to ride, not settle for something affordable to ride even if it was affordable for me. I already have a CB900F, a pretty badass restomod CL450, a CB350 waiting to be brought back to life and a CB450 drag bike project for eventually going to the track. Having a modern bike that you can just ride with little to no upkeep would be awesome if only there was something out there other than the CB1100 that appealed to me. And yes, that leaves out all the modern styles. I was this close to buying a leftover 2014 Speed Triple in 2016 for about the same money as the Yamaha as it mostly appealed to me, but I couldn't pull the trigger because I didn't have cash and I can't afford a payment. And a headlight that costs $500... wow, not sure it matters how long it lasts, someone will have to replace it.

Shinyribs, absolutely agree, particularly the late Soichiro Honda.
 
oldschool said:
Shinyribs, absolutely agree, particularly the late Soichiro Honda.
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I want the Honda of the '90's back. Seems like Honda runs in cycles. They produce deadly reliable appliance bikes year after year, then boom, they drop a killer bike by surprise.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed they're gonna give us a fully unrestricted naked Africa Twin on 17's. Would make my UJM loving heart throb. 😁
 
gpounce said:
Yeah I don't need my 135-ish hp all the time but there are those moments in the highway dance-of-death where it comes in handy. I have a nice old XS400 rocking its approx 40hp- its a fine old bike and runs well but no f'ing way I would take it on the highway.
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I know what you mean. I've done 250's and XR400's on the street. They'll get the job done, but their tongue is hanging out the whole time. Much more comfortable when my bike can loaf along effortlessly at interstate speeds. Not just peace of mind comfort for passing ability ( I don't need to pass anyone THAT bad) but actual physical comfort from cruising on a bike that's not stressed out. Sure, my XR survived cruising on the highway, but it was killing me. It's just not enjoyable.
 
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