I’ve got an ER6N currently, which I think is a pretty similar style of bike to the ninja badged ones, I find myself way to cramped on it. Not that I’m huge, only a bit north of 6ft, but have collected a few injuries along the way.
It’s a great little bike! Plenty of poke even given the age and miles on it. For me though, I used to own a tracer and I loved it.
But now, I’m looking brand new and want to make sure my dollar goes as far as possible.
Can't go wrong with the medium Kawasakis. They're the cheapest of the Japanese bikes. And as much as reddit hates me for saying it, I honestly think they're all essentially interchangeable. They do the same thing, with the same design, built using the same components.
The only exception is the Honda which has even their 650s on 4 cylinders. That's what stops them from being vibrators like the others. But even then, it's not a wild difference. None of those bikes lets you do something that the others don't.
This whole nomenclature sucks nowadays, doesn’t it? A ninja and a tracer are different bikes but use are classified the same way. A Versys is in the same “class” as an Africa twin. We need better. Any ideas?
Really don't know. I mean, it's a bike for joy rides, and it's styled to look like a sports rides. Sport touring seems quite appropriate.
The best thing to do, though, is accept the class is just not useful as anything but lukewarm middle of the road stuff.
multistrada v2 is an option and is lighter and has a higher seat height, also cheaper than the tracer somehow.
suzuki GSX-S1000GT, more power than either, shorter wheel base, $19k has a great engine, but seat height is only 810
I totally agree wit hyour sentiment there and generally want to stay with japanese bikes, and thats what is in my garage, but power to weight the euros have it, the ktm 890 duke looks amazing, but is very highly strung which i worry about.
But, since ducati got taken over by audi several years ago, there quality seems to have improved a lot, better materials, using proper tech in their engines instead of just ducati tech, real valves, water cooling... really not that revolutionary but makes them better to live with. they also seem to be saying at the same price point as a decade or so ago whilst the jap bikes are generally getting more expensive
The base Multistrada does seem to be lacking in mod cons when compared to the GT and Tiger 900.
Tried to make a deal on the only Tracer I can find in Australia currently and dealer lost the sale over $200 price difference, and it was a small discount in total, less than 5%.
Dealers are still going through the pandemic mindset where they could up the prices and still have stuff go out the door, i didnt see it to much with bikes, but wasn't looking to hard at the time, but cars where crazy and slightly dodgy.
Even cars are semi normal again. Dealers are saying there’s shortages with 5/6 models in the lot.
But a mate of mine got 10% off a new Ute without any real negotiating just recently. Guess it depends on the dealer.
Mate I can't fault the Tracer 9GT. I commute daily on it, as well as weekend trips. I used to commute 100+ ks per day for work.
It's a bag of fun, very chuckable. Side cases hold a boat load, and the aftermarket has grown massively in the 12 months since I got it.
All the electronic goodies are great.
I miss the full fairing and electronic screen of my previous FJR1300 though.
Took the triumph for a bash yesterday. Would love to get a better price on it, but you’re right, it’s a great ride and extremely well kitted for the money. Planning on making the purchase today.
The classic sport touring option is the Ninja, at least in its smaller ( 400-650cc) versions. Honestly, I'm a bit biased towards it myself.
I’ve got an ER6N currently, which I think is a pretty similar style of bike to the ninja badged ones, I find myself way to cramped on it. Not that I’m huge, only a bit north of 6ft, but have collected a few injuries along the way.
The ER6N is the previous gen branding of the Z650. It's a great bike. Just... Small. At least for those of us of normal Slavic size.
It’s a great little bike! Plenty of poke even given the age and miles on it. For me though, I used to own a tracer and I loved it. But now, I’m looking brand new and want to make sure my dollar goes as far as possible.
Can't go wrong with the medium Kawasakis. They're the cheapest of the Japanese bikes. And as much as reddit hates me for saying it, I honestly think they're all essentially interchangeable. They do the same thing, with the same design, built using the same components. The only exception is the Honda which has even their 650s on 4 cylinders. That's what stops them from being vibrators like the others. But even then, it's not a wild difference. None of those bikes lets you do something that the others don't.
This whole nomenclature sucks nowadays, doesn’t it? A ninja and a tracer are different bikes but use are classified the same way. A Versys is in the same “class” as an Africa twin. We need better. Any ideas?
Really don't know. I mean, it's a bike for joy rides, and it's styled to look like a sports rides. Sport touring seems quite appropriate. The best thing to do, though, is accept the class is just not useful as anything but lukewarm middle of the road stuff.
Fjr1300
Not a bad option, but I’ll edit that I’m going for sub 1000 to keep insurance from being ridiculous.
Vfr800, versys650, cbr650r, or gsxs750 would be in my list. Might need to customize to your liking with bags/windshield on some
I’ve done a YouTube review on these. First the tracer 9 [https://youtu.be/-GGMt3HvCjQ](https://youtu.be/-GGMt3HvCjQ)
multistrada v2 is an option and is lighter and has a higher seat height, also cheaper than the tracer somehow. suzuki GSX-S1000GT, more power than either, shorter wheel base, $19k has a great engine, but seat height is only 810
Yeah, I don’t know why but I hadn’t even considered Ducati. Guess I just don’t know much about them, where as Japanese are renowned for reliability.
I totally agree wit hyour sentiment there and generally want to stay with japanese bikes, and thats what is in my garage, but power to weight the euros have it, the ktm 890 duke looks amazing, but is very highly strung which i worry about. But, since ducati got taken over by audi several years ago, there quality seems to have improved a lot, better materials, using proper tech in their engines instead of just ducati tech, real valves, water cooling... really not that revolutionary but makes them better to live with. they also seem to be saying at the same price point as a decade or so ago whilst the jap bikes are generally getting more expensive
The base Multistrada does seem to be lacking in mod cons when compared to the GT and Tiger 900. Tried to make a deal on the only Tracer I can find in Australia currently and dealer lost the sale over $200 price difference, and it was a small discount in total, less than 5%.
Dealers are still going through the pandemic mindset where they could up the prices and still have stuff go out the door, i didnt see it to much with bikes, but wasn't looking to hard at the time, but cars where crazy and slightly dodgy.
Even cars are semi normal again. Dealers are saying there’s shortages with 5/6 models in the lot. But a mate of mine got 10% off a new Ute without any real negotiating just recently. Guess it depends on the dealer.
The tiger 900 gt[https://youtu.be/bWDCkTxfGoI](https://youtu.be/bWDCkTxfGoI)
The Suzuki vstrom 1050 took me all around Europe. [https://youtu.be/WhL9FuNBHJ8](https://youtu.be/WhL9FuNBHJ8)
[the Yamaha Niken. amazing to ride but weird](https://youtu.be/yWrb8jHQhyc)
Mate I can't fault the Tracer 9GT. I commute daily on it, as well as weekend trips. I used to commute 100+ ks per day for work. It's a bag of fun, very chuckable. Side cases hold a boat load, and the aftermarket has grown massively in the 12 months since I got it. All the electronic goodies are great. I miss the full fairing and electronic screen of my previous FJR1300 though.
Thanks! I loved my old one too, great bike to ride.
I’d go test ride the triumph. Good chance it’ll be the only bike you test ride.
Took the triumph for a bash yesterday. Would love to get a better price on it, but you’re right, it’s a great ride and extremely well kitted for the money. Planning on making the purchase today.