Choices choices... which one to go for?!?

rymus

I've been presented with a truly unique possibility. Some of ye may remember that I was going to trade in my 02 Drag Star 650 Classic for a mid 80's goldwing with a view to finally getting into the tourer class. What I really wanted was a Yamaha Venture but with only a few of them in Ireland it wasn't likely that I was going to get my hands on one.

Well, not only have I found one for sale... I've err.. found two!

Candidate 1:

around 10k miles on the clock, it's a 00 limited edition. (only 1500 were made). It's an imported US model so it has the CB radio intact. Few accessories installed, passing lamps, highway pegs, trunk rack, front fender protector and a few more bits. I haven't had a chance to fully inspect this one yet but from pics I was sent, it seems to be completely spotless.

Candidate 2:

around 20k miles on the clock, it's a 99 bog standard model. It's imported from France so no CB. Passing lamps are installed & that's about it. I took a good close look at it a few weeks ago and it's in good nick, few light scratches around the front fender & tank and theres a chip in the paint on the front fender about the size of a 2c piece. Looks perfect otherwise.

Both of them are running perfectly and have been serviced recently. They're both in the same price range, give or take a thousand or two. Theyre both 1300cc V4's too btw, the two-tone white one has Harley Davidson Road King mufflers on it, should make a noticably more throaty sound than the silver.


So what d'ya think? Needless to say, the thought of changing to a goldwing has long gone out the window

mike65

Very nice but they've only got two wheels! :ninja:

I was only on a bike once - did no more than about 35-40 mph as a passenger around top end of Tramore in 1981. It put me off bikes for life

Mike

Stephen

Ah, being a passanger on a bike is no comparison to driving one.

Eye

rymus .... me is drooling ~~

both are very nice machines indeed and at some point i would like to go for something of a similar machine of maybe a totalyl dressed up harley fatboy but they would be a big price jump between a goldwing/royal star and a Hog :-\

very curious about the 2 machines you have pics of there, what kinda price would you be looking at for them, and do you know what insurance category they are in?not that i can afford to change my dragstar 650 this year but maybe next year i'd like to.

if i had to choose between those 2 bikes i would definetly go for the white machine, much nicer looking machine, and being a limited edition is probably gonna hold it's value alot better over the years.

also before i go you probably aint interested but my brother is looking to sell his bike which is the yamaha dragstar 1100 classic, black with the passing lights, backrest, saddle bags and slash cut exhausts for a hell of a grunt from it
he is looking to go to more of a sports tourer or maybe a pan european :-\ if your intested let me know and i'll post up pics and give you all the details i can

rymus

theyre in insurance group 7 eye, same as an 1100cc drag star. I was actually thinking of one of those for a while but the itch to get into the luxury touring range was too great...

pricewise I'd say theyre both roughly the same, round about 10k or so, give or take a couple of thousand as I said before.

Anyway I'm off to Limerick now to take a spin on the white one.. t'ra

Aidanm

For that kind of money I'd be looking at a vfr 800 or a pan?

rymus

yeah but I dont want a vfr or a pan...

Anyway, just back from Limerick.. bought the white one

Gotta go butter up the bank manager now I guess

Krusty_Clown

Nice one Rymus...

For the lower mileage and exclusivity, I'd go for the two-tone white one.
Does the owner still have the original exhaust?

CB radio's not much use to you over here, is it?

Do these bikes have a reverse gear? They look mighty heavy..

rymus

I think the HD Roadking is the original exhaust?!? Apparently it's a copy of some variant of roadking. Sounds gorgeous, I really wouldnt want the original mufflers... if they exist that is.

CB's not much use no... But it's nice to have the symmetry of a second aerial I suppose (I could always get the CB aerial tuned and listen in to truckers/bus drivers/etc I suppose..)

No reverse gear on the venture I'm afraid. the trick apparently is to always park it facing outward. That said, the guy pulled into the space and was facing inward and I had absolutely no problem pushing it out while sitting on it. It's a world apart from trying to push my Drag Star 650 out of a space.. but it's not exactly a struggle.

Eye

well congrats on getting the bike you wanted anyway hope you have many happy years of driving on it

must try and see if i can get a quote for a group 7 bike and see what it'd be like for me coz i know the 1600cc yamaha royal star is also a group 7 insurance mmmmm killer for me is only being 23 and still on a prov A license would mean restricting the bike for a few years really gotta do that damn test.

rymus

if it's a 1600cc wild star you're on about.. that's a group 6, same as a 650cc drag star. Something about the power to weight ratio of the wild star. The 1100cc drag star is a group 7, just like my 1300cc royal star venture.

I'm looking at the bones of €1400-1600 for a group 7 I'd say. 23 year old male, living in Cork with a full A license and 3 years NCB.

Do the test eye.... do it! dooo ittttttt!

(Hoorah, my motorloan was just approved.. Not too shabby seeing as I only applied for it half an hour ago)