Imitation, flattery and all that

[Deadpool2]

Some history,

I know, I know I really should learn to make my own mind up, but after the amount of orange love on the forum, I went and got a 790. Proved to be great fun and after the warranty expired so did my love affair. The bike was way more than I will ever be a rider, and all the electronic aids were fun. I did miss cruise control but in the back of my mind, it was always when is something going to go wrong not if something is going to go wrong.

For some reason I have a back issue, which to be fair, has only ever been resolved on adventure bikes (the 390 Adv being the case in point). So armed with this knowledge, I decided that the next bike should be such but with an added dose of Japanese reliability. This produced some decent options - vstrom 650, Tracer 700 and Tracer 900. My favourite is the Tracer 900, as I wanted the toys - cruise, heated grips etc. Unfortunately toys and my budget did not go hand in hand and to be honest none of the aforementioned list were aesthetically pleasing to me. However all of the 3 have really, really good engines. I like the v-twin of the sv series - a mini Harley in my mind, the CP2 unit in the 700 is just like a young playful child and the bigger CP3 a more boisterous child, even a teenager, with a smattering of restraint.

Although life is short, I currently work in an industry potentially subject to some ferocious cuts, thanks to our esteemed Treasury minister. Armed with only generalist skills and a lack of naked ambition, fused with not being adept at corporate politics, I found it difficult to play lose and fast with the man-maths. I did end up spending more than I had allocated, but not enough that it would cause me sleepless nights. It will play havoc with my naps though. I still can't reconcile how or why a 3 year older bike has cost me more than my 2019 KTM.

So, skirting on the back of Tricky's post on the 890 and the fact that the 790 was so much fun, I decided that I would just have to live with the back issues and not get an adventure bike, because my adventures are really only tarmac based and I really like the look of naked bikes (although I do have a secret fetish for small fairings a la z900 cafe). There were also some 790s around in warranty secondhand, and Steve's post on his non-KTM love had me thinking as well.

So off I went, in the direction of a naked bike that would be aesthetically pleasing and at least in warranty, if not Japanese.

So tomorrow, with hopefully dry days, I will pick a bike again after a break of nearly 2 months. It does not have the toys I really wanted, nor the simple things that make life better for me - heated grips, handguards, centre-stand, cruise control etc, but for the sake of my mental health (unbelievable but true) and sanity I bit the bullet. Not least from a little prompting from a couple of people (you know who you are).

Ta da, oops, I can't post pics, so you lot may have to wait awhile.........

tbc

[Rockburner]

Is it an Enfield Himalayan?

[KungFooBob]

Lets have a look at the clues...

Still in Warranty at three years old, or have I misunderstood?

Not Japanese?

More expensive than a new KTM at three years old?

Not a KTM for fear of it going wrong?

So is it a BMW or an MV?

[Count Steer]

Lets have a look at the clues...

Still in Warranty at three years old, or have I misunderstood?

Not Japanese?

More expensive than a new KTM at three years old?

Not a KTM for fear of it going wrong?

So is it a BMW or an MV?

A BMW with no heated grips or centre stand

[KungFooBob]

A BMW with no heated grips or centre stand

Good point, Watson.

[Ditchfinder]

Multistrada ?

[Ditchfinder]

Scratch that - it must have a centre stand - maybe a triumph - street triple or something ....

[Cousin Jack]

Multistrada ?

Reliability? Not a Ducati then.

[Deadpool2]

Scratch that - it must have a centre stand - maybe a triumph - street triple or something ....

Actually it does not have one, but can have one fitted lol. Also I must have been the only person in the world who Street Triple gearbox imploded but I suspect that was the MOT place who wrecked and as the bike went in storage for 6 months, I never figured it out sigh

Everything costs more than a 2019 KTM lol.

But I am copying others, who have had similar bikes

[Ditchfinder]

Apprillia?

[KungFooBob]

for some reason I've ignored the thread title.

So its something that others on this very forum have/had?

But not Japanese?

[Count Steer]

Griso? Does anyone on here have one?

[Ditchfinder]

I do but mine is a ditchpump engined 1100 - some of the 1200's fetch silly money but surely none will have a warranty on them.

And nobody in their right mind with a back problem would buy one

[Count Steer]

I do but mine is a ditchpump engined 1100 - some of the 1200's fetch silly money but surely none will have a warranty on them.

And nobody in their right mind with a back problem would buy one

I think they stopped them in 2015 too? Back to t'drawing board....

[Ditchfinder]

Has he actually ruled out Japanese?

[KungFooBob]

Has he actually ruled out Japanese?

So off I went, in the direction of a naked bike that would be aesthetically pleasing and at least in warranty, if not Japanese.

Cos it he hadn't ruled out Japanese i'd have gone XSR900.

[Ditchfinder]

Has he actually ruled out Japanese?

So off I went, in the direction of a naked bike that would be aesthetically pleasing and at least in warranty, if not Japanese.

Cos it he hadn't ruled out Japanese i'd have gone XSR900.

Aesthetically pleasing ?

[KungFooBob]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

...and in Dungeons and Dragons a 'Beholder' is like a giant killer floating eye ball.

[Count Steer]

I'm still leaning towards Moto Guzzi.

[Ditchfinder]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

...and in Dungeons and Dragons a 'Beholder' is like a giant killer floating eye ball.

Always thought it was "...in the eye of the beerholder" given the depths my standards used to drop to whilst out on the shandy