How do you decide on which bike next ?

[weeksy]

Do you spend hours looking at reviews on MCN etc?

Do you watch videos of tests from say 44teeth or Missenden Flyer ?

Peruse owners forums ?

Or is it a bit more random of opening Ebay and something pops up and you think "oh, yeah, i wouldn't mind one of them"

[Taff]

Listing Requirements and ticking boxes.

For me a bike is transport, 1k miles a month back and forth to work. So it has to do what I want it to do, in the way that I want it to do it.
My Tiger tricks nearly all of my boxes, it really is the perfect commuting tool, but I need my next bike to tick one more box and that is to have a super light clutch, or even better no clutch at all. Thankfully Honda have made that bike, the Africa twin dct.

[dayglo jim]

Part of me has a reserve/wish list; they might be purchased quickly if they come at the right price but it is not a spur of the moment decision as, rather than search them out, I'm ready if they appear. These are often fleet additions as opposed to regular transport.

[cheb]

I'm not sure, primarily condition and price once I've decided on something. I don't like the look of modern bikes, I don't need nor want huge power, frankly I'm not good enough to use it.

There's a shortlist of engines I'd like to try, aircooled v twin Ducati, twin crank 250cc 2T and an inline 6. There's also manufacturers too.

Mostly I want something that it doesn't matter if I fiddle with it, that's my main reason for owning bikes I think.

I found myself looking at 1970s Italian 50s a couple of days ago. WTF, I weight twice as much as they do FFS and I'm not even reliving my youth as I never had a moped.

[Noggin]

In the past, I've generally seen a bike I really like the look of and then see if I can get one!

TLs - I loved from the first moment I saw it when it was released - I didn't have a licence then! And of course when I did, everyone told me it was too dangerous!! LOL Not the way to stop me getting that!

Blackbird - a friend suggested it as it suited what I needed (comfort, bigger than a 600 for me physically and also engine), and yes, it appealed cos 'girls don't ride bikes like the Blackbird' (It also pissed off a few guys the ego issues when I turned up on it! LOL

ZX10r - again - always loved it from when I first saw it. Again, people told me that it wasn't suitable - girls don't, too big/fast/dangerous

KTM - well that appealed because it was different and the people I knew that had had them blooming loved them!

Monster - only got that cos I wanted to race it - now it looks like it may well suit my physical issues quite well now, and I'd still like to race it!


So, in general it's how it looks/riding position that attracts me. Then I'd look to see what it's actually like to ride. Having spent so many years with an IL4 honda, I do like things that are a bit different. I loved the BB but damn if it wasn't very twist and go after a while!! LOL

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I think to myself "That's pretty, I want one"

[Taipan]

I see it. I like it. I buy it. Often they turn out to be crap at what I need from them, so I sell them on, but it's rare that I regret the buying or ownership decision.

[wheelnut]

Over the years I’ve had my head turned with different bikes and always regretted it and gone back to another GSA. So now I have a good look round and then go and buy another fucking GSA.

The only other bikes for me would be a multi or KTM 1190 or 1290 but I really can’t be doing with a chain.

[demographic]

Going by past buys I rock up at a mates house and someone there says theyve got a bike I might like.
I kick the tyres a bit then pay too bloody much for it.
Assuming I don't blow it up then years later I still have it and somehow its worth more than I paid for it.

[KungFooBob]

Of the current fleet...

The Vox, decided I wanted a scooter for the motorhome, didn't want to spend more than a grand, looked for a week and bought the Vox, right money, right age/mileage and reasonably local.

The Enfield, I wanted one since a trip to Goa, I looked at a few when I got home and then forgot about it for a couple of years. I had a few quid in my pocket summer 19 and spotted that a local friendly shop had one for around the right money and just bought it, wasn't really looking for a new bike at the time.

The Guzzi, I decided I was bored of the Tiger and thought I'd like a Guzzi on the Friday, bought one on the Sunday.

The Beemer, I wanted a pillion/tourer, spent maybe a month looking at bikes on Gumtree/Marketplace, had a very strict budget in mind, I watched the K12RS for maybe a week, doing research and looking at alternatives. Called the bloke, said I'm not going to spend more than £1800, is it worth me coming to look at it, he said £1850 was the lowest he'd go (it was advertised at £2k), I went that weekend and bought it.

[Gimlet]

I ride them.

[Skub]

I never buy a bike I don't totally lust after. No casual scratching of an itch for me.The last one was an 04 ZX10R,I wanted one so bad it hurt.

After finding the one for me there are no 'next' bikes,I'm completely absorbed with what I have and gradually making changes to suit my wants/needs.

This process lasted about 14 years.

I didn't want any other bike,nothing moved me like the 10,until I began to ride less and examine why this had happened. I came to the conclusion I was done with sportsbikes and wanted to try something more road biased.

I utterly loathe the looks and feel of big traily GS style bikes,so they are never going to be on my shopping list. If they were the only bikes available to buy,I'd pack in bikes before I'd buy one.
Eventually,not straying too far, I went for what is a sort of naked ZX10R and my fire was reignited.

I'm probably the wrong person to be answering this question,since my decision making process is glacial compared with most.

[Bigyin]

I bought a ZX6R G2 because i wanted a sports bike and a local shop had one at a price i could afford so i bought it.

When it was 58000 miles later in 3 years i needed to change it and saw the ZX636 B1 so test rode it and compared to the G2 was fast and flighty so again as it was in a price i could afford i bought it

40000 miles and 3 years later i was riding like a complete cock everywhere and was either going to get nicked at jailable/job losing speeds or have a really big hole in hedge moment so i needed to slow down. I saw how a few others i rode with were hustling GS1150's about without riding at "go to jail" speeds and with another knee op on the way the upright position made sense so i found one locally and bought it

The Multistrada was chosen as i liked the upright position i had got used to after 5 years on the GS but i missed the speed and handling of a sports bike ...... made complete sense to combine the 2 and as it was waaaay out of the price i would normally buy a bike at i was fortunate to know i had money coming to me to pay off the finance in full before the balloon payment. The second one made sense as i loved the first one so much before it was written off in a crash and i had the money there to buy it outright for the first time in my life even though it was second hand.

I probably buy bikes more on a feeling and a test ride rather than in-depth research and definitely not on the say so of the Missenden Flyer because all he ever loved for quite a while was GS's and dismissed the Multistrada completely although his blinkers seem to have slipped more lately

[Taff]

I'm probably the wrong person to be answering this question,since my decision making process is glacial compared with most.

You're not on your own.

We owned our last car for 12 years and it still feels like we've only just changed it... That happened nearly 3 years ago and we'll keep it for maybe another 10 years

The van is still pretty new, at nine years old, it is penciled in for replacement in sept 2024 but it will probably take us another 6 months to a year to actually pull the trigger.