These are on my shortlist of bikes for 2024-for one reason alone-leg room.

I’ve got a few issues with the two I test rode last year, the chassis setup and gearing are holding the engine back a lot when the electronics kick in. Part of it is that they didn’t go with an IMU based system for the rider aids. What you end up with are electronics like on my wife’s Street Triple 765RS that totally kill the fun and all of your acceleration every time they kick in. On a bike like the 765 it doesn’t happen very often because the power is less but with the Speed making so much more power (it really IS a fast bike) you are getting into the electronics any time you are hard on the throttle in 1st and 2nd or 3rd over any kind of elevation change.  I did my test ride around Mid Ohio during AMA Vintage Days and with everything turned down I had to ride a gear higher to stop the electronics from spoiling the fun.

The good news is that they put a 6 axis IMU on the street triple this year so maybe they will update the Speed Triple too? I’ll be honest, if I could get a Street Triple with a variable cam head and legroom and I would not want to ride anything else. I can go as fast as I want and it doesn’t destroy tires or have tank range problems. Hell, I’d take it with a standard engine… it’s just such a good all around motorcycle that ridden back to back with the Speed Triple you wonder if they really came from the same company. Says a lot about how important the Street Triples are to Triumph….

The new KTM 1390 Super Duke R has me interested but they have always had high pegs…. Really hoping that changed so I have another option. My only other options are big dollar adventure bikes.

I rode a 1982 GPz750 from 1983 to 1996. It was fast, comfortable, and indestructible. Wish I still had it.

I went from there to a 1956 BMW R50 and a 1983 BMW R80G/S-PD, so I missed out on the 1990s superbikes.

My experience owning an ‘88 Hawk GT says to listen to this guy…

10x faster. It was a dealer special order.

Still have a boner for one. It's lasted so long that I should consult a physician.

Move quick… they are getting collectible. The good news is that they generally get taken care of by their owners.

Knew a guy with a Hurricane. CBR600. No idea if the name was a package or whatever. It was just a good looking and running bike. A little older though.

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My Kawasaki burned out the right rear turn signal bulb. But I had 35,000 miles on it, so I didn't get too upset over it.

That bike was the most desirable non-liter bike of the 90's for me. Rode with a guy who had one, just dripped Tamburini. Bike is only if OP is a man of taste . I remember they announced them mid 90's *everywhere* - and then you didn't see them until 99? Still - it counts and has 2 headlights

I had that exact bike.  Put 50,000 miles on it before I totaled it.

These came out when I was that pimply kid working at MacDonalds in highschool…. I wanted one soo bad, and this one was the color I had to have. That, or one of the first gen ZX-7’s…. We had a local guy (lived in Seattle suburb of Kent at the time) who bought one after a trip to Alaska on a crab boat, he was a fucking God to this 16 year old… til he high-sided it and got fucked up.

Spent a lot of time wishing my YSR-50 was a Hurricane.

I had a Bimota, an SB8R… it had a TL1000R motor and was a great bike for a 3k I put on it. It was fast and the first bike I owned that really handled well…. As long as the tires were inflated properly-if not it had a hinge in the middle. Really wish I still had it.

I had a ‘96 in blue/wite. It was really something when it came out-made the CBR900 instantly slow like they had a plug wire loose. I had come off of a ZX-11 at the time and the GSXR scared me a little because it was so fast from corner to corner… I’d love to have another go at one today and see how I relate to it. I did the Team Suzuki Advance Riding School at Mid-Ohio on this one and got my WERA novice license.

There was a recall on these because of rod stretch and mine was affected. Didn’t run right after I got it back (cam timing was off) and once the dealer made it right I traded it for a ‘99 R1 and never looked back-the R1 was that amazing.

This^^^^^

Cool story!  I ended up going to a CBR929 after the GSXR.  I thought the CBR was a good bike but it was a bit sleepy and a little boring.

I tell ya, if I had the money and the time, I’d totally do a Restomod 1996 GSXR.


When I first got into riding, I would go to the local drag racing spot  and there were always old dudes skulking around in the background that had obviously built GSXR1100s and it was just known not to mess with them. I’d love to be that guy, on a 20 year old GSXR750 with a supercharged ‘05 motor, top shelf suspension, full IMU based rider aids, good brakes etc. and about 50lb lighter than stock…. It would be a breathtaking thing to ride, I just can’t see where it fits between now and retirement.

What's the market like in the Netherlands for used 90's era sportbikes?
I know that a lot of 70's and 80's sportbikes were bought and shipped to Europe in the 90's.
I lived in San Diego and I knew a couple of guys that bought and shipped 70's and 80's era sportbikes to Europe and Japan.
I don't see any of those type bikes selling at the local bike shops as trade-in's or being bought outright.
I do see them in Cycle Trader or the other on-line bike sellers, they are usually clapped out piles of junk.
https://www.theparking-motorcycle.com/used-motorcycles/netherlands.html#!/used-motorcycles/netherlands.html%3Fid_categorie%3D1

There are some nice looking bikes for sale on the book of face market place for Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/amsterdam/motorcycles/
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/rotterdam/motorcycles/

Hah. I had an 88 Ninja 600 I wished was a Hurricane. Lots of Kawasakis in town but very few Hondas. I think it looked the best from the front but it was very cool all over. Even sounded better than mine.

CBR F2/F3 or 900RR
VFR 750 (if you can live without a supersport)
Kawasaki ZX7 (mid-late 90's) or late 90's ZX6R or ZX9R
Yamaha R6 or R1 (they are so much better I don't see the point in an older Yamaha)
SRAD Suzuki GSXR (600, 750), or TL1000S or R if you want to funk it up a bit.

The F2/F3/900RR and ZX bikes were the final iterations of the "old school" designs.  Mostly evolutions of the late 80's / early '90's bike design.  The F3, ZX7, and 900RR are legends though.  To this day I'd like to own a Smokin' Joes F3 and a clean ZX7.  The SRAD GSXR's and the R6/R1 were revolutionary at the time (particularly the R1).  They were without a doubt the performance machines once they hit the scene.

Having purchased my first streetbike in '98 or so I lived the Sportbike heyday in the late 90's early 2000's.  These are the A-tier bikes (Japanese) everyone wanted (in the midwest USA).  If you want to really enjoy the "90's bike vibe", I'd go with one of these.

There are all kinds of B tier bikes as well (FZR, Katana, most of the older versions of the bikes mentioned above) but I wouldn't mess with them.  The bike listed above were the rock stars.  If you want to relive the glory days, relive the peak glory days, no?  In addition the bikes listed above were prevalent during the explosion of "sportbike golden years".  Meaning parts for these bikes will -probably- be easier to find than older bikes.  

If you're getting away from Japanese you've got the exotics.  Ducati 916/996/998, Bimota, Laverda, etc.  Aside from the 916 family I don't feel they really convey the feel of the era though.  They were outliers at the time.

I’m old enough school to consider anything with an aluminum frame and a water cooled motor to be Modern, because they haven’t changed much mechanically since then. The 4 cylinder bike they sell today are rehashes of engines made 15+ years ago with additional headwork to get the horsepower and electronics to make them safe. Not much else has changed but suspension and brakes.

But yeah, the 96+ GSXR750 is the bad boy and the R1 is the nice one to ride. Both are still really fast by modern standards, amd you buy them for different reasons. The GSXR has a top end heavy power band that forces you to ride flat out to get good performance and the R1 was just good at everything AND fast AND had midrange. My ‘99 steered really heavy at speed though, it was a bit on the stable side.

Today the 750 would be easier to support.

I feel exactly this way.  It's a large part of the reason why new bikes don't interest me at all.  I view the proliferation of electronics as a negative, as I like to keep them a long time and work on them myself.  I feel a K5 GSXR1k is about 95% of a new GSXR 1k, without the future headache of the electronics failing (and at a much better pricepoint).

IMO, ~2010 was essentially the end of mechanical development on bikes.  It then shifted to electronics.

CBR

If I remember correctly, they dropped the Hurricane name to just CBR 600/1000 after the first 2yrs to make them more insurance friendly. I called them Ninja copies with extra plastic to hide the roughly finished engine and felt they were a step down in looks from the gorgeous, exposed engine V4 Interceptors they replaced. The inline 4 bikes were faster, simpler, and more reliable which is what the market demanded so I can't fault Honda.

IMO, you’re a little right and a little wrong. The electronic aids are so good now they let you ride the bikes-all bikes-faster than you used to becuase they aren’t safety aids anymore. I used to think like you, but when I got my R1M it changed my mind.

I thought I made a BIG mistake pulling away from the dealership after buying the R1M and was pissed at the world as I rode it home, but the first time I rode it in anger I was like “ oh, alright” until I started getting into the electronics a bit and seeing how hard I had to ride to get them to intervene at all. And that’s the thing about rider aids today-it takes a LOT to get them to kick in, more than you would ever believe as a street rider once the tires are warm-now I ride EVERY bike a lot faster and now even a Street Triple is enough bike for me.

10 years ago I would have laughed at you if you told me that I could lead a ride with my buddies on an SV650 with sport touring tires on it against the Tuono v4’s and ducatis in our group…. Having electronics on a bike let’s you creep up on “the edge” and peek over it regularly enough that you are more comfortable knowing where it is so even the slow bikes can be ridden fast enough to be fast on.

In truth, these newer bikes really do need the electronics because the delivery is pretty violent up top and the ride by wire throttles needed for the safety aids are usually shit with on/off power on corner exits. My R1M was a fucking handful when it was stock because in picked up 60hp in 2,000rpm as it revved thru the midrange-you couldn’t ride it without the wheelie control. It’s much better now with reflash, delete, exhaust etc but still only goes hard in the upper half of the power….. my GSXR is a lot more enjoyable to ride because the Yamaha doesn’t really work under 100mph-too stiff and rigid, gearing is too tall. The GSXR, despite how fast it is, can’t hope to stay with the Yamaha down a twisty road once the Yamaha has a little chance to stretch it’s legs…. It’s a natural consequence of street bikes becoming track bikes as they get better engineered to live on a racetrack. I never thought my GSXR would be “the sensible option” in my garage, but here we are..

Having the R1M taught me that you can go fast on anything, and I mostly just want to go fast on something I can ride lazy and in some comfort. Something with midrange and handlebars and a bit of legroom. I’m tired of popping aspirin after a ride, I’m only 51…

I’ll tell you what has changed though-tires. They are incredibly good, even the touring based tires are better than the rubber my GSXR came with. And that’s another thing traction control helps with-I don’t flat spot tires in the center anymore, they get a lot more wear on the sides and stay round because I’m more comfortable pinning it out of corners. It’s also worth mentioning that my GSXR has traction control but It’s a crude system and I never trusted it until I got the Yamaha. I get into a bit of intervention here and there now and it is useful in saving me from the odd slide.

I’m not a great rider, but electronic rider aids have taught me a lot and saved my ass twice when I wasn’t caning the tits off of the bike…  i’m much better with them in my life and won’t buy a new bike without them now. One missed trip to the ER really changes your opinion when they work.

Seen 3 of them for sale over the years.

I have its daddy though, YZF750R. Unfortunately it hasnt run in 10yrs. Bunch of maintanance parts for it are now unobtanium. I have the kit manual for it also. After getting hit by a hit and run driver in 2014 of the g/f's HD, street riding has lost lots of its fun so just dont have the want to work on it. Most likely be selling my racebike after this coming season. 25th yr racing bikes this year. Thinking of picking up a short track car and try my hand at 3/8 mile ovals.

I'm 71, 6'1", 33-inch inseam, 35-inch sleeve.  More than a little beat up and creaky.  I need a fair-sized bike to be comfortable for long rides for a day or weeks.  A sport bike is too small and uncomfortable.  

I bought a dinosaur of a bike this past September.  Got rid of the unsatisfying to ride 2018 Goldwing in my avatar and bought a 2016 FJR1300 with 5700 miles.  2016 was the last year the FJR was updated.  Gen 3 of the bike.    

Sort of a hybrid ride by wire with throttle cables leading down to the electronic bits rather than the RBW in the throttle grip.  The fueling is the best I've ever ridden by far.  Plenty of mid-range.  No sudden high-end hit but certainly adequate.  Handles as well as can be expected for a large and heavy bike (after an ST1300 and a Goldwing it feels lightish to me).  Doesn't stand up, fall into turns, or run wide on braking or acceleration.  It had a new set of Pilot Road 6 GT tires on it which are superb sport touring tires.   The ride is decent.  Creature comforts like cruise, heated grips, and electric windshield.  Shaft drive.  Minimal rider aids but has traction control, ABS, slipper and shift assist clutch, and ride modes.  All in all, it is a great bike for covering ground rapidly for days on twisty two-lane roads that are somewhat more relaxed than a place like Deals Gap.  

A large displacement ADV bike would probably do the job for me but I'm not feeling them at this time.

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You die when you stop living….. many people die old with a glass of warm milk before bed, but a lot more people die when they are young. I get that having a bad crash with a car can be a turn off, try getting out on Sunday mornings while cell phone girl is sleeping off her hangover. That’s where I put in 90% of my miles.

Yeah, I’m headed toward an adventure bike I’m afraid. I want a streetfighter of some kind but I don’t think there is room for two bikes between now amd retirement and my wife will need a 2-up bike sooner than later when she can’t ride anymore. She has an R1200R that would be good for that but it doesn’t have leg room and putting a back rest on it is a $1k proposition whether I put a seat on it or a top box with a pillion rest.

Speaking of Pilot Road 6’s and BMW’s, I took hers to Deal’s Gap last spring for the Arfcom bike meetup and led the street guys. I was shocked how much the tires improved that bike and how fast/fun it was. No problem hanging with the squids thru the tight stuff on the tail, I could pretty much go as fast as I wanted.

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Yeah.  Get an early start and head out to the boonies.  I honestly would give up riding if I could only ride in urban/suburban crowded stoplight hell.  Or buy a Harley and ride TT - Tavern to Tavern.

Damn that RC51 is nice

I’ve been thinking about a grown up bike, and I wonder if maybe the new GSX-S1000GX with classic Gixxer engine mods and better suspension and I would be set!

JFC man - those photos don't cost that much.

I'm headed down there in May staying completely off the interstate.  East of I75 going down and West of I75 coming back.  Foothills Parkway, Deals Gap, and Cherahola Skyway.  Lots of other roads in the area.  Right after I got the FJR my wife asked when I was going to go get a new photo.

The first two pictures were rentals in 2006 and cemented the decision to get a 2007 ST1300.  The day of the ST1300 was wet.  No speed records were set.  Silver ST1300 I was really young - 60.  2018 Oldwing was two years ago right after my 69th birthday.  I am handsome as long as my helmet is on.

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I like the idea behind the GXS1000GX but it’s a swing and a miss for me. First off, it’s too expensive to buy and make it right with mods, second, everything is too integrated to change much-especially the suspension. It’s a fly by wire bike so even if you put better cams in the heads you would still be stuck with small throttle bodies.

You don’t have to do any of that with an S1000XR……

I’ve ridden two of these K5 “based” bikes. They had good midrange push but the top end just isn’t there. This GX should have had the VVT engine from the GSXR IMO. Everyone who wanted a k5 based bike has one by now, and the people that buy them KNOW what they are supposed to feel like.

You’re totally right. I was looking forward to the GSX GX but for that money I’d rather get the 1000XR, and for what it’s take to get the GSX GX up to par you’re in M territory on the Beemer anyway

Well, at the time those pics were taken I wouldn’t have even had a place to put them or a computer to store them-I had a house fire some months prior and the only thing that made it out were the bikes, thanks to a help from the neighbors and the wiring for the garage door melting together, The pic from the garage with all the bikes is recent, I just got back into my house after 17 months the week before Christmas. I had two large threads here about the do’s and don’ts….. definitely don’t have a fire.

There is another Deal’s Gap ride with the ARFCOM crew in April and I plan to be there again, but with the GSXR and trailering down this time. I wish I could get into traditional sport touring bikes, but I just can’t-mostly for the leg room. Adventure bikes are getting so good they make them kind of redundant anyway… And a lot of them are more capable sporting implements than the legacy sport touring bikes were/are. Some of them like the Multistradas are shockingly competent at ripping around corners if you can afford to buy them…

Suzuki TL1000R

I rode a KTM 1190 Adventure back before the 1290s existed.  Liked it and I think a 1290 SuperAdventure would be a fantastic bike.  I'm cheap and don't want a chain so that puts a lot of the high-end ADVs off the table.  Stevlios are tempting but I don't fit.  BMWs are dealer-shy around here and Ducatis are even worse.  Forget finding a MotoGuzzi dealer.  FJRs are pretty bulletproof and cheap to maintain.  I do my own maintenance but like a nearby dealer for a quick parts run and a security blanket.  

The FJR has my knees fairly bent.  Both my knees are bad and the left will lock up can't walk horribly painfully if some shear is placed on it for a while.  For some reason, the angle on the FJR doesn't put that kind of stress on my knees.  The Goldwing would and I'd have to take my left foot off the peg and straighten my leg every 10 minutes or so to prevent that.

Maybe we need a new thread "Geriatrics in Motorcycling".      

Whatever you choose, I hope it has those sexy double round headlights. Nothing looks better!

I’ve had use of my BIL’s KTM 990 ADV when I go to Idaho to visit and have about 700 miles on it-I like it but in my area the Ducati and BMW dealers are accessible and the KTM dealers are farther and fewer between. The newer SA’s look good to me on paper but I wonder about reliability and having one dealer in the area-I have had problems in the past having non-mainstream brand bikes and losing a dealer before so that’s an issue. I tend to keep bikes for a long time so reliability is an issue for me as parts can go out of production before I am done riding a bike.

The strongest ADV contenders for me are the V4 Multistrada and maybe the 1300GS. Not really a huge boxer fan, so Multi or S1000XR is likely to be my next bike unless I say fuckit amd get a Speed Triple 1200 RS and worry about the two up bike later.

Yeah.  Dealer access is important.  We have a decent long-time KTM dealer maybe 30 at the most minutes from me between Xenia and Wilmingtucky.

My 18 year old grandson wants a Tuono 660.  He lives in West Central Ohio.  No Aprilia dealers anywhere near.  Columbus and Indy are closest.  I told him he'd be making a huge mistake and to get something from Kaw, Honda, Suzuki, or Yamaha.  I told him to get a 650 or so twin to start.  A used SV650 would be a good choice  He did buy a clapped out Kaw Supersport last summer, got his license, and promptly knocked a fatal hole in the bottom of the engine cases "running over something".    

The 600 Supersports I've ridden weren't much fun for me.  Gutless unless they are spun up and that isn't practical on the street in very many places.  

I do see the draw of a Tuono 660.  Sex on wheels.  Should be named the feminine Tuona so the sex on wheels wouldn't be so gay.

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When I think squid, I think Ninja.

The Bimota V Due . I used to have an ‘02 Ducati 998 (probably too big for you Super Sport prerequisite) which basically looked like a late 90’s 916 but had the 999 Testastretta motor.  They only made the 998 one year.

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998:

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Nothing like the smell of Klotz in the morning.  Smells like fuck you EPA.

lol.  I need to get this:

Klotz  Racing Scented Candle!


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My wife has an extra SV650 with Adriani cartridges, Penske shock, CBR1000 brakes, and nuclear heated grips that’s just laying around….. I could ask her if you want-it belonged to a guy in our sport touring club that passed away last year-she was going to send it to AZ so she would have something to ride when she is there.

I haven’t ridden too many middleweight twins that I would pay my own money for-they just need to much to bring them up to a standard that I would be happy-as Bill found out.

A V-Due was a dream bike for me when it came out. I wanted a Bimota, any Bimota, something terrible when I was younger…. Never thought it would happen, but I ended up with a 1999 SB-8R in 2001. It was a really good bike but little things like snapping a throttle cable and waiting a month for the importer to be about to get another one from Italy really sucked.

You can get a properly sorted V-Due for about 30k…. A former engineer bought all of them and fixed everything that was wrong with them.