looking for a new motorcycle

jason41987 said:
so.. i buy a power box, install it in place of the battery and it uses capacitors to balance out the flow of electricity to the onboard electronics?..i wonder though, how many amps would this system allow me to have, can i run it with an onboard GPS, or heated gear?
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The Powerbox includes a capacitor, so you don't need a separate one. It's just a moderately large (little shorter and wider than a pack of cigarettes) reg/rect unit to all appearances. The capacitors store a small amount of charge which helps get the bike running when you kick it, and keep the flow of current relatively constant. I'm running one, and it works well on my old Enfield in a pinch. (Blown fuse, battery gone bad)

But you can, far more cheaply, just wire a big capacitor into your system to eliminate the battery. Or so I've read.

If you're running anything beyond the barest essentials of lighting, I am guessing you'll want a battery. Wanting minimalism combined with running a GPS and heated gear isn't generally a path to happiness.

On the plus side, a Shorai battery or the like is really light and small. I think running batteryless these days is more of an aesthetic desire than a practical one for a street bike. For me, I like the ability to start and run the engine if I have a battery shit the bed, but also enjoy having the benefits of the battery at low RPM and when I need my bright headlight around town.
 
agent, youve said what i was thinking.. that although it would be cool to not need the battery, i want a brighter light and the ability to use a GPS.. but i read these things only put out about 12amps from the alternator.. seems like adding anything would drain the battery
 
so tell me.. since im really growing on the idea of a thumper, what do you guys think of the suzuki savage/S40? under 400lbs wet, 650cc, about 40hp, great fuel economy, and probably a better charging system.. unfortunately, no kicker, but cafes made on the S40 look very nice
 
Suzuki savage...Ugh... everyone I've ridden just felt cheap and gutless. Ryca puts out a decent café kit for it, but I remember you wanting to stay at 500cc's. If you're going 650, why not go 700 and get a Suzuki intruder, the 50cc's is all the difference in the world. I have several friends who ride them and they are great bikes. I don't really like the looks of them, but are twice the bike a savage is. Later on they took it to 800 and it looked pretty cool.
http://databikes.com/imgs/a/c/a/s/p/suzuki__vx_800_1986_1_lgw.jpg
Also if you can find one, they are usually fairly cheap is the Yamaha 550 vision. I owned one, it was a great commuter and very comfortable..
http://www.motorcycle-specs.com/general/Yamaha-XZ_550_Vision-1982.jpg
 
If you're looking at the 700 Intruder, you may as well look at the 1400. Kinda getting off topic now ;)

Savage is a bit of an oddball orphan bike - apart from the Ryca kit there's not much aftermarket.

Other than the SR/XT, you could look at the Honda Ascot - they are a better performing engine in stock trim....but the looks are subjective. Yamaha also did the SRX600 - which was a road version of the XT600. Probably getting out of your price range now though (and I'm not even sure they were sold in the US??).
 
my 500cc limit was mostly for weight.. above 500cc many bikes tend to get pretty heavy pretty fast, but the S40 still weighs very little which is why i was willing to consider it.. and since relatively new ones can be found, most are in pretty good condition

so displacement doesnt matter really.. but its the weight i want to keep low, i want something lighter and more nimble with decent acceleration for city riding... so id like to remain under 400lbs if possible.. thats all im really concerned with

to be completely honest.. the lack of the ability to install a kickstarter is more of a deal-breaker than stock performance.. heh.. maybe i should put a DR650 engine in one

but anyway.. i have some of the adventure riders whispering in my ear to get an XT500, and some people on here suggesting the SR500... seems these are very sought after motorcycles... its too bad yamaha doesnt make them anymore..

ive never given the ascot much thought though... what about the ascot warrants consideration?..
 
you know.. in a lot of ways the XS400/XS500 remains a fairly attractive option as well.. two cylinders isnt bad, the XS500 being DOHC seems to have a ton of power for its size.. but theyre not nearly as difficult to find or as expensive as a good SR500, it leaves more money in my pocket that i could use on the bike itself... and from my understanding the yamaha XS bikes arent unpopular and they have a decent following.. and you have to admit.. this bike is pretty nice looking http://www.bike-maniac.de/uploaded_images/XS400_Cafe_Opener_gross.jpg

my criteria is this...

things i wont budge on..

no more than 400lbs DRY weight
no more than $1500
no more than two cylinders
not a honda (ive owned nothing but hondas, and i want to try something else now)

things i merely prefer, but arent deal breakers..

something with a kickstarter
something with a decent charging system for optional accessories
something with a decent backing community and third party support
something old enough to not require any sort of emissions or other newer regulations
 
so here are the offers i have so far.. let me know what you think.. some may be cafe-worthy, others i like for other reasons

a 77, or 78 SR500 that runs, has a title, but is pretty rough around the edges, needing new wheel bearings, a tank cleaning, possibly a carb rebuild... for $1000

a 1985 harley sportster in very great condition, no problems, not modified in any way that i believe i can get for $2,000 (which is $500 above my budget, so it had better be worth it)

a 2000 suzuki DR650 that i might be able to get for $1,500 in really good condition as well

and lastly, a 1989 yamaha XT600 dual sport for $1,000 which seems to be in running and ridable condition
 
I know there is a lot of Harley haters on here, but an 85 for 2k is a pretty sweet deal. It might be quite a bit heavier than you want, but they are a better bike than people give them credit for. I've been riding for over 40 years and always have at least one Sportster in the garage. Currently that is an 06 883R model. Sporsters are very versatile bikes. Bing search Sportsters http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=modified+Sportster&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=modified+sportster&sc=6-18&sp=-1&sk= almost no two are a like. Parts are plentiful, they are easy to work on, single carb. 85 has electronic ignition. Even after the decades of hearing what awful bikes they are, I've never been able to break one, or have one strand me anywhere. My last one took 55,000 miles in two years with out a hiccup. Are they the best of the best? No, but a solid utilitarian bike that is pretty bullet proof. A little heavy and slow, but a solid commuter that will get you 45 m.p.g. all day long....
 
i wonder what could be done to save weight on these..most harley parts tend to be bigger, more robust, and solid steel... i think weight was the last thing in the mind of the people that designed it as many parts seem to be chromed for appearance... so theres probably a lot of room to cut down on weight with these things as well... but also, these engines can be relatively easily modified to 1200cc so, it would be rediculous to try to match them to the weight of a 500cc bike

but reguardless, i might go with this bike for a commuter for the next couple years until i can find a good, solid, great condition SR500 to make a trade for as the sportster isnt going to depreciate in value and i can still get my money back

also.. i get the impression people here really dont like XS400s or XS500s, as those are also options for me
 
Ryca makes a neat café kit for Sportster's http://shop.rycamotors.com/sportster_cafe_racer_preorder.html. I don't have the talent that most of these guys have, and have been running into decent deals on Sportsters and thinking of doing one of the kits. Sportsters do a pretty good job of holding their value. I think an 85 ran about $5k and around here are still bringing $3.5k. So when I saw you could get one for 2, I thought you'd be out buying it. You really don't have to go 1200, a ignition module and a Mikuni HSR42 carb, they run just fine. JP cycles has a pretty good Sportster site I used to belong to with people willing to share their expertise to make them run well...
 
well, the guy with the sportster agreed to it.. and i see no problems with it in the photos, it looks close to stock.. runs fine, and i believe 85 was the last year for the ironhead so i should be able to add a kickstarter to it?... i like the versatility these offer.. cafe racers, cruisers, even dual sport offroad bikes that look really beautiful.. id like to know how much weight id save if i started replacing some of the heavy metal parts with lighter components.. new front end, lighter wheels, fiberglass fenders, etc?.. how much could i bring the dry weight of an 85 sportster down to?.. any ideas?

anyway.. heres a photo of it for $2k

2usvf4j.jpg
 
Jeez - you're all over the shop. From XT thumpers to Sportsters? ;D

Anyway, you could probably reduce the weight of a Sportster with the mods you've suggested - but your budget will be history. And you'll never get it anywhere near as light as a single.

Put it this way - I can lift up the front end of my bog stock XT by hand and kick a milk crate underneath the motor so I can balance it with both wheels off the ground. Try doing that with a Sportster.

Now, put in a 90mm piston and a VM34 carb and the XT/SR will leave a Sportster standing at the lights all day.
 
Ok, there are lots of stuff to sell off that ride. Get rid of all the brass crap. Get a Solo or Gunfighter seat and dump the current seat and back rest, get all the leather crap off of it, at this point you've probably dumped bout 20 easy pounds. Get rid of that gawd awful tank and replace with a peanut and a set of lower bars or drop the front through the triple trees a few inches and get some clip ons, bob the rear fender and shorten the front fender. One of the things people like old Harley's for is they are steel and not plastic. Shorter rear shocks. My idea of a sportster is this http://www.ironhead-bobbers.com/ironhead_1976/images-hd0329/1976_Sportster_Bobber_Project_468x333.jpg or this http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eWZEGXsyx2Y/TWLWhOPHMiI/AAAAAAAAAWw/-xLNsbF3Ung/s1600/harley-davidson-sportster-a.jpg
I think you got a real decent deal and will be happy bobing that thing out... Or maybe something crazy http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F9aYR8v6ZYM/T5ENfEPUn2I/AAAAAAAAKVI/xEP2861AnzY/s1600/Harley_cafe_racer7.jpg
 
im all over the place because as i said, im pretty flexible and im not really set on one thing.. my criteria leaves a lot of options, but i think im going to turn down the sportster because yeah.. it is an ironhead which vibrate probably worse than a thumper and because of reliability issues... for luxury it would be fine, for daily riding id rather have something i can rely on

the sportster is very attractive of an offer.. but is it what i NEED and not just something i want?.. i dont think so, i dont think itll be comfortable enough or reliable enough for daily use and dont want to get

so the XSs ive found here are pretty much sold.. no SR500s locally.. really now im left with a hawk 450, or the suzuki savage/S40s
 
I thought you had an SR in your to buy list?

Anyway, a stock bike is going to be worth more at resale time than a modified one (especially a badly modified, or "cut up" bike), so if you're are going to get a Savage to re-sell sometime later on you won't want to start cutting it up or you're just throwing cash away.
 
Also, I wouldn't rule out an XS650 - there's a ton of aftermarket hot up parts for them and they are not that heavy, relatively speaking.
 
the SR500 i had lined up was in rough shape.. im not 100% sure i want to rebuild it as id most likely spend a lot of my summer on it.. but, i guess if it just needed new bearings, a cleaning, etc it might not be so bad or take that long to rough out the edges... and i have a set of unused tires i just purchased for my other bike that i got very angry at and want nothing to do with anymore... these are a 3.50x19 front and a 4.00x18 rear set of sport-touring tires... so these would go right onto that old SR500

and no, the XS650 isnt nearly as heavy as the sportster, or a virago or something like that.. about 500lbs wet.. my last heavy bike was a CX500, which specs show weigh about 25lbs less than that and i didnt really care for it much.. im glad its gone
 
Dont take this the wrong way - but if you got pissed at your last project and gave up on it you probably don't want to be taking on another project bike.

Find something running, titled and on the road. You might just have to bite the bullet and pay more, but it will probably be cheaper in the long run than buying a project bike where the total cost is unknown.

Have you seen this?

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=49295.0

Not sure if that's anywhere near you, but it looks pretty good value for money.
 
ive seen some nice rd350s near me for a decent price, ive just decided not to go with one because the fuel economy with suffer and they dont seem very practical for a commuter
 
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