Well I've been riding a Kawasaki Ninja 250 for the past 2 1/2 years / 20,000 miles, and I am ready for something different. I want to get a cruiser, but I'm not sure what would be best for me. I want to get something affordable, preferrably under 6-7k.

Some bikes I'm considering:

Kawasaki Vulcan 500
$5,500.00

Yamaha V-Star Custom (650)
$6,300.00

also there's the Suzuki Boulevard S40 for under $5k but I don't like Suzuki for some reason.... :)

Some things that I am taking into consideration:

price(of course)
power( I would like to have more power than my 250 but I don't think that's gonna be too hard :) )
dependability( is the bike known to have problems, break down etc.)
size (I'm a small guy, so nothing really tall or heavy)
comfort (I like long highway trips, traveling to visit family, etc. so I want a bike that will work well for that.)

Any and all suggestions welcome, thanks.

$6-7k is a comparatively huge budget for a bike. You can get most models. Why buy new??? Buy good condition/low miles used. Bikes are a damn rip-off new.

I'm partial to the semi-sport bikes, they give some comfort and better riding position to sport bikes but are still very....well... sporty, and look sick. They tend to have better torque and mid-range and are not tuned so aggressively like sport/super bikes. If you get a nice ass seat, maybe modified tank and more upright bars and pegs they can be pretty much as comfy as a cruiser. Hell, I had a cheap ass Yamaha Seca II stock and I didn't mind doing 100, 200+ miles a day but I guess it depends on your Crotchability (heh). Fuck, I miss my seca. It was a great cross between commuter and beginner sport bike although it was pretty slow (comparatively).

My next bike will probably be something like this: http://tinyurl.com/5mklfo
My friend got one from his dad to replace his nutty Repsol 1000RR for ease of use and comfort. It doesn't have to be nearly so big in the engine (I just want a fast bike next) but that is just an idea of the style.

EDIT: I'm also partial to big dual-sport bikes like the ktm 900 (used in dakar) and similar models from bmw and such. I would get one if not for price. A touring type bike would be cool too, and obviously very good for daily or long distance use.

If you want a cruiser you can't go past the Yamaha V-Max. Ignore those candy-wrapper bullshit bikes, the vmax engine wsa so good it ran unchanged for over 15 years. Wear brown pants the first time you ride one, it will scare you after jumping off a ninja 250.

Man have you considered a supermoto? They are phenomenal on fuel, fantastic in traffic, comfortable as fuck in an urban environment, not hugely threatening for a less-experienced rider and most importantly, you will not stop fucking laughing the entire time you're behind the bars.

Man have you considered a supermoto? They are phenomenal on fuel, fantastic in traffic, comfortable as fuck in an urban environment, not hugely threatening for a less-experienced rider and most importantly, you will not stop fucking laughing the entire time you're behind the bars.

There is a black supermoto suzuki 400 that parks near me quite often - you must not forget that they also look damn amazing.

There is a black supermoto suzuki 400 that parks near me quite often - you must not forget that they also look damn amazing.
Definitely.

http://www.superbike.co.uk/imageBank/s/SM450RR%20.jpg

If hes wanting to do long trips a supermoto is one of the worst choices.

Loads of wind blast and an engine that will kill itself due to them hating being sat at constant revs for long stretches...

You're not going far wrong with what you're looking at now.
Or if you want something that will give some more fun but still travel well, look at some sports tourers like SV650s (No problem on mine long distance), or even older R6s and CBR600s.

^The older R6 and CBR are still pretty aggressive and certainly not very comfortable. Also what are you saying about the supermoto? Are you thinking the term 'hypermoto' (Which I believe refers to 2-strokes) ?? Because unless you buy something with a race engine, 'supermoto' will mostly just refer to bigger displacement on-road specific dual sports. They are going to run the same as any 4 stroke bike, albeit they may have shorter gearing..... which is why i suggested a bigger type such as the big ktm or bmw or other foreign duals, but for the OP a 400-600 of any type would be ok.

I stand by my semi-sport suggestion.

When I say older, I'm talking 90s.
The CBR moreso is rather comfortable I think. Ridden a friends for 100 mile with no problem.
And the bike the R6 replaced, the Thundercat was a good sports tourer, its just as the years went on both have turned into pure supersports machines.

The CBR and Thundercat/early R6 are essentially the start of the semi-sport/ sports tourers, both competent sports bikes but pretty capable of touring.


As far as the supermotos are concerned, apperently singles used for mile munching tend to start getting engine problems after a few tens of thousands, cant remember what specifically though.
Its something I'd look into before buying one for touring personally.
And then there's the vibes to consider aswell.
The bikes are designed in most aspects to be chucked around country lanes, wheelied everywere and generally abused rather than sitting on a straight road for hundreds of miles.

Hypermotos/hypermototards are supermoto inspired bikes with litre/superbike engines by the way.

1. A hypermotard is not a class of motorcycle. It is model in the Ducati line-up. A pig-ugly model at that.
2. I pretty much glossed over the OP's post. A supermoto isn't that nice for highway use, no.
3. Supermoto's are a single man. A rebuild is not particularly expensive and if looked after they will not flog out.
4. The older cbr, pre 2000, is a comfy sports-tourer yeah. The older R6 is not. The thundercat is not an R6. They don't have much in common apart from being 600cc, 16-valve engines.

Get a post-98 Suzuki Katana. They can be gotten for very cheap and ride wonderfully. Try out a 600 or 750, both will go 150 on long stretches, but they get to 125 pretty easily. Katanas require little maintenance and the engines are hard to destroy.

1. A hypermotard is not a class of motorcycle. It is model in the Ducati line-up. A pig-ugly model at that.
2. I pretty much glossed over the OP's post. A supermoto isn't that nice for highway use, no.
3. Supermoto's are a single man. A rebuild is not particularly expensive and if looked after they will not flog out.
4. The older cbr, pre 2000, is a comfy sports-tourer yeah. The older R6 is not. The thundercat is not an R6. They don't have much in common apart from being 600cc, 16-valve engines.

Why suggest something without reading the needs of the poster... :confused:
The point was, its not worth getting a supermoto for long distance as you're going to get peeled off, vibed to fuck and then have to crack it open eventually.

The first model R6 isn't to bad I think personally.
Admittedly I've only ridden one for a short distance, it didn't seem to bad.
Okay, maybe not a sports-tourer, but my mates don't have much problem with theirs from fuel stop to fuel stop.

I have to disagree on the pre-2000 CBR being anything close to a sports touring bike. If you go real far back to the first models, yeh they were fairly non-aggressive. I've ridden the mid 90's 600 and an F4i. Better than other sport bikes I've tried, but not nearly as comfortable as something less suited to the track. Also 100 miles on a bike is NOT a lot to judge it by, though I'm sure it gives impressions. I'm tolerant and young so 200 miles on a rocket doesn't faze me, although I can get a bit stiff.

Yeh I wasn't really thinking about how a lot of duals are single cylinder, due to the fact that the only ones I've even thought about in the past years are the real big ones. I still don't see it as being a big issue, what exactly (besides the fact that there is only one big cylinder to take the abuse) would cause excessive failure in an engine designed to be thrashed that is instead relatively lightly used? Also '10's of thousands of miles' is not exactly a low number.

I have to disagree on the pre-2000 CBR being anything close to a sports touring bike. If you go real far back to the first models, yeh they were fairly non-aggressive. I've ridden the mid 90's 600 and an F4i. Better than other sport bikes I've tried, but not nearly as comfortable as something less suited to the track. Also 100 miles on a bike is NOT a lot to judge it by, though I'm sure it gives impressions. I'm tolerant and young so 200 miles on a rocket doesn't faze me, although I can get a bit stiff.



With the way we ride, we're normally hitting the fuel light after 100 miles. :D

Can see what you're saying about the supermotos, but its pretty easy it rack up the miles though.

I currently drive a vulcan 900 custom. Its an absolutely awesome midrange, with fuel injection and liquid cooling - ie no pesky carbs. I had a V-star 650 custom before that and, while its a great bike, unless your a girl or a really small guy it will get old fast - especially on the highway. I would look at the 900 vulcans if I were you, or possibly the new stars in the same range that just came out this year. The few extra bucks is well worth the money.Also, remember that a 250cc sport bike is not comparable to a cruiser of the same size. You'd probably get about as much kick out of the ninja as a vulcan 500. Think bigger you'll be better off.