| Motorcycle rides and riders in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia | |||||||
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10-18-2012, 03:29 AM
| #1 |
| Retired   Joined: Jul 2007 From: Washington DC I Ride: Speed Triple | Most bulletproof bike What bike do you think is the most bulletproof bike? The kind you can ride every day, in all weather, over various terrain, leave outside in the rain and snow, drop it, crash it, and generally just beat it all to hell, and never have any serious problems. The kind than only asks for oil every 3,000 miles, gas, and to be spanked every day. The kind that may not be the most comfortable, fast, good looking or have the most features, but will never leave you stranded. What do you think? Last edited by mfrankpdx; 10-18-2012 at 03:34 AM.. |
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10-18-2012, 04:25 AM
| #3 |
| Race Qualifier  | Sv650. It has done all those. It's been ridden, crashed, ridden, left outside, and I have admittedly lacked on even the most basic maintenance for it when I had it at college. Yet it always starts, doesn't miss a beat, still pulls hard. I would ride it across the country leaving today and wouldn't even worry about doing maintenance first. I've said it before. I think I could replace the oil with water, plug the airbox and pull the spark plugs and I bet it would still run great. |
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10-18-2012, 04:28 AM
| #4 | |
| Chicken Strips  Joined: Dec 2010 From: puyallup I Ride: 07 sv650s | 
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10-18-2012, 04:40 AM
| #6 | |
| Race Qualifier |
 Plus they were half the price of a SS bike new, far cheaper insurance. At this point, it's all paid for so I don't think I'll let mine go either. It is my first bike. | |
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10-18-2012, 05:06 AM
| #7 |
| Endorsed  Joined: Jul 2006 From: Kitsap I Ride: Speed Triple (when it isn't broken) | Suzuki 82 & 83 GS1100E and 84 & 85 GS1150 engines are the definition of bullet-proof. Probably why so many of them were stolen only to show up on the drag strip. |
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10-18-2012, 05:06 AM
| #8 |
   Joined: Sep 2005 From: Bremerton I Ride: 05 KTM 625smc, 03 Are See fiddy one, 05 DRZ470SM, 95 FZR1040, 69 Combat Commando Roadster, 73 Commando Interstate, 67 BSA B44, 71 BSA B50 | I've riden bikes in some pretty ugly places. What I've found is you want a stone simple bike. No fuel injection. Carb. No electronic ignition. Points... I rode my 62 Bonnie to Patagonia in the mid 60s. Ran fine. I rode a Royal Enfield around India in 1998. Ran just fine. I rode across Russia on the same 62 Bonnie. Ran just fine. My good freind Doug Walthke rode his 54 Indian. Ran just fine. Stuff did break along the way but the thing is, it was simple enough stuff to fix with a rock and a gas welder. We didn't EVER have to wait for parts to arrive from somewhere on the other side of the world or worry about them beign held hostage by customs. Simple is always better when you really get down to it. |
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10-18-2012, 05:33 AM
| #10 |
| Peg Dragger  Joined: May 2009 From: On a hill over looking a valley. I Ride: one with 116whp/liter | For something post 2005, the second gen SV650 K5+ is one of the tougher street bikes out there. Mine has been through a lot.. |
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10-18-2012, 05:33 AM
| #11 |
| Joined: Sep 2005 From: Bremerton I Ride: 05 KTM 625smc, 03 Are See fiddy one, 05 DRZ470SM, 95 FZR1040, 69 Combat Commando Roadster, 73 Commando Interstate, 67 BSA B44, 71 BSA B50 | I do know Doug. Known him for about 20 years. He would Club a Seal to make a Deal |
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10-18-2012, 07:00 AM
| #15 |
| Railer  Joined: Nov 2008 From: Myrtle Creek, OR I Ride: A big silver one | Since it was asked, I'll toss mine into the hat... Those with uninformed and negative bias, have a field day. This is based upon my experiences since 2008: On April Fools day in 2008, I purchased a 2005 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom (skinny front tire and forward pegs). It had 25,000 miles on it when I brought it home. It also had a short in the wiring in the instrument cluster. Possibly why it was traded in? I don't know, but I am told that it had "High" mileage when I bought it. Since then, I have put another 31,000 miles on it. Other than changing the oil every 3,000 and tires every 10,000 miles, and a few little modifications, the only thing I've had to fix due to failure was a drive belt. They have problems with sprouting holes when you drive any distance on gravel. The bike itself has been rock solid, even with several unexpected naps taken on it's side. Could I have lucked out and gotten one that is much better than the average? Possibly. Could Harley have changed things to make more dependable bikes? More than likely. Are there still lemons out there in this brand, well of course. I don't have one, but I'm sure there are. When I bought this bike, I had ridden for a while, but I wouldn't consider myself to be a confident rider. Sure, I rode, but not much, and not by myself that much. Since having this bike, and a bunch more training, I have no qualms about jumping on and doing 8 hr runs, by my self. It has served it's purpose. It runs great on the slab, does very well running spiritedly on the two lane back roads. I've finally managed to reach it's limitations, and those are mostly in cornering. If I could, I'd gladly keep it in the garage and get another bike, one with better cornering clearance. If I could, I'd sell this one and get another with better cornering clearance. If I can't sell it, or get it a friend, then I'm actually ok with just riding the rubber off of this one until it refuses to budge. I wonder, how many miles will it take to make a Sporty break? |
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10-18-2012, 07:46 AM
| #17 |
| Pit Crew  Joined: Jun 2012 From: Everett, WA I Ride: Wearing ears. | Honda Pacific Coast. They don't make them anymore, but there are a lot still out there, some with over 300k miles on them. The VFR is also fantastic, especially the 800. The jury's still out on the 1200. The V-strom or SV650 are both going to run forever as well. GS500E/F (what my wife rides), or the 650 version...probably outlive you if you get one. Any of the Honda cruisers that have been around for a while, like the Shadow (the 750 in particular, seems to just keep going and going). |
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10-18-2012, 08:16 AM
| #19 |
| Je Fa Fa  | any modern, street oriented, but not a race replica, motorcycle will do that. Yes, you'll find bad apples in every bunch, but as a whole, motorcycles are reliable machines. Will they last as long as a car? Likely not, but to see 50-70k miles on damn near most motorcycles is pretty much what I would expect with any modern, street oriented, but not a race replica, motorcycle |
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