I know, I know - heavy, underpowered, crap front and rubbish rotary steering damper to name a few issues. But for some reason I have a soft spot for these and they are getting a bit rare (yeah cos they didn't sell well). However they sound awesome, the issues can be fixed and one has come up locally with 15000 miles on it for $4500. So, with some trepidation, opinions?
I owned one , it was abysmal , the rear shock is so horrible that it sends the whole bike into tank slappers at random moments , you have to clean the chain almost every mile or the clutch slave gets full of goo and seizes and the vee twin takes so much battery juice starting that it flattens the battery at random moments , having said that it is quite a good looker in a weird way but ill admire other peoples .... At the side of the road with a breakdown truck or an ambulance in attendance.
My first twin, many years ago. I will agree a tad on the heavy side and it didn’t like bends but under powered ? No way, it is first bike I ever exceeded 150 mph on. Admittedly after a local specialist got at it with a Pop Yosh box and added a free flowing exhaust Andy
Had a tl1000s and found that was a better bike than the r, a friend had the r and we used to swap all the time. bikes of that era now will struggle in so many ways but isn't that the point, it is about how different and fun they are rather than who is a track day god? View it as a bike you are buying to flip then you shouldn't pay too much
That suzi vee twin is a sweet motor. In the r it has Ti rods as well. Detuned in the V Strom but will go forever, no belts, no drama, I did the valve clearances on mine at 70,000+km and they were still spot on.
Thanks guys. Maybe I will go and have a look in person, it's not as if that inevitably leads to you bringing it home
That one didn't pass the test. Many indicators of fairly poorly repaired crash damage. Not to be deterred, this one is getting a PPI on Friday ...
Unless you are specifically after a sports bike, don’t forget the Cagiva Raptor with virtually the same engine in it. I had a very low mileage thousand version with a round headlight and was great fun, wish I’d never sold it.
They’re are a bit like miley Cyrus!! You know you shouldn’t like it and want to ride it hard but you do and you can’t help yourself as to why.
