I suppose I'll have to buy a Harley now!

[Blobber]

Just passed my test yesterday. and now I'm looking to buy a cruiser/bobber style bike. Thing is I'm 59, fat and have a beard. plus I found a black t shirt in my drawer yesterday, does this mean I have to buy a Harley. Although I don't wear denim (Clarkson effect) so I might not be forced to buy one.
I've got about 10K plus what ever I get for my YBR125, so apart from the obligatory Harley street bob, I,ve also been looking at the Yamaha X950R or even a Triumph speedmaster or Thunderbird.
So I'm going to spend the next week or so going round the dealers, including the Harley one near Guildford, as I live on the south coast (Gods waiting room)
Has anyone got any experience on these or other cruiser type bikes. bearing in mind my limited motorcycle experience ( 5 years on 50cc scooter, 1 year on my 125 plus I had my training and test on a MT 07).[/b]
____________________
Just bobbing along

[sidewinder]

Best thing I can advice is to try as many bikes as you can and find the one you feel most comfy on.the jap cruisers should be considered to.and congrats on the pass
____________________
"Nitrous is like a cheap hooker, you want to hit it but are scared of the consequences

[gbrand42]

I would only restrict yourself to a Harley if you have a massive superiority complex towards other bikers, including the inability to nod your head even slightly to other non-Harley bikers. Also if your favourite film is Brokeback Mountain and you don't like womens wobbly chest appendages.

If this doesn't sound like you then a whole world of choice is your oyster, congrats on passing the test, now get out there and have some fun
____________________
Yamaha RD50M, Honda C90, Yamaha RS100, Yamaha RD125LC, Honda XL125 V9 Varadero, Honda NT700VA, Honda VFR800X, Honda CRF1000L, Honda ST1300 Pan European

[daifuco]

Honda Fireblade

[Blobber]

Having spent the last week doing countless rear observations. checks and lifesavers my neck is a little stiff, but I've never seen Brokeback mountain, and I definitely like womens' wobbly bits. So perhaps I'll put the Harley dealer last.
____________________
Just bobbing along

[wr6133]

Have you thought about a muscle bike? Also good at hiding the old/fat/beard but actually cool and can perform.

Thing with cruisers is.... the little ones are crap. The big ones make no sense on UK roads, they are intended to plod along giant straight US roads. So if you intend to ride your bike a lot then in the UK they are probably not the best option (unless you are after a certain image).

Muscle bikes are things like the Yamaha XJR1300, Kawasaki ZRX1200 (or earlier 1100), Suzuki GSX1400.

[Northern Monkey]

Royal enfield?
____________________
Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[grr666]

^^^
Careful now. You'll be audited...
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[daifuco]

I think the R1200R looks neat and solid without the sillyness of a cruise. A good senior bike.


https://s14.postimg.org/k2qswn6gh/2015_BMW_R1200_RS_studio_32_jpg_resize_635_476.jpg

Take a look at the lauch video. The guy on that video must be around your age.

By the way my instructor is in his 60 and he looks great on his street triple! You just have to love what you ride, it is that grim what it counts not the Harley finish or a boxer engine.

[Rogerborg]

If you want a Harley, why settle for an imitation? Harley riders will sneer at you, non-cruiserists will assume that you're a nobber on a bobber anyway, and nothing else does full potato.

Harleys are selling like gangbusters at the moment; it's practically post-ironic meta-subversive to get one now.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[WD Forte]

Get a Harley, you'd look ridiculous on a sports bike and they're as uncomfortable as hell anyway.
Harleys come in a range of attractive colours with a long established range of accessories
and garments to fit even the stoutest gentlemen.
Buy a 150mph bike in a land where the NSL is 70 and that new license will soon go bye byes
so to keep license intactus, most of your time would be spent posing and sweating
in your stifling, colour coded leathers or crouched over the bike in busy traffic.
You'd spend a fortune in talcum powder.

Go comfy and loud, go Harley
Roll up at the Bognor WI's bring and buy sales with a throbbing monster between your legs and prepare to beat the blue rinses off with a stick.

Go bad ass in Bognor !
https://www.hossedia.com/wp-content/uploads/Harley-Rider.jpg
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[Polarbear]

Well done on your bike test so late in life I did the same thing with my car test, never bothered with it till I got to 50

Modern Harleys seem pretty good but be prepared to spend loads on accessories, they are just a blank canvass.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Andy_Pagin]

Yamaha Vmax? As rediculous, overpriced and pointless as a Harley, but it is useable on British roads.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Val]

[talkToTheHat]

Xv950 has significantly more suspension travel than the sportster it was designed to obliterate. This is probably a bonus. It looks a riot with or without the R variant's extra shinies.

What do you want to do with the bike? Take afternoons exploring your local back roads? Long multi-day tours? Meet up with others for rideouts? Use bike instead if car at every given opportunity? At leisurely pace or as quick as you dare?

If trips longer than an afternoon are a thing, consider luggage options, rucksacks are a horrible way to carry loads. If you like moving at more than a leisurely bimble then not a Harley. Conversely if rideouts are your thing then Harley Owners Group might be your thing.

XJR1300 for big bike that is not cruiser?
Bandit 12 appears to be the default touring bike for big folk, but there are a handful of big retro nakeds out there.

I called into squires yesterday on my way home and there appeared to be a congregation ZRX owners. I may have stared covetously at a few of the ZRX1200s...

BMW K series or whichever version of the R1200 floats your boat. Consider the RT version if a fairing seems like a good idea.

Sat upright on a cruiser sensible motorway speeds are uncomfortable without either a perspex barn door bolted to the bars or something that looks like it was designed to go on there. The downside apart from the inherent ugliness is keeping up with traffic on the motorway speeds are really comfortable on quiet bits of backroad.[/i]
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[struan80]

Ducati Diavel.
Edit Or I'm looking for a side car passenger

https://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy224/struan80/old%20men%20on%20sidecar_zpsflqmdahx.jpg

[delsol]

Yeah, congratulations on passing your test MLC, if you want a Harley get a Harley, stuff anybody's opinion, it's your life, your choice.

[Blobber]

Thanks for all the advice and congrats, but Polarbear

[Polarbear]

[Pigeon]

[Blobber]

I've already had a look round Washington Triumph, I was very impressed with the range especially the speedmaster. but I also like the Thunderbird and the American looked a fun bike. Now I'm confused again.

One point though, will a dealer let me test ride a bike as I've just passed my test, and I don't have my licence back yet from DVSA.
____________________
Just bobbing along

[Polarbear]

Certainly not without your licence.

My Triumph dealer is quite happy to let newly passed riders test ride if he thinks they are serious about a test ride and not just doing it for the jollys of taking a bike out for a thrash.

Just be aware what the excess is and how much you will have to stump up if anything goes wrong.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[BravoCharlie]

If i were to go cruiser I'd go for a Suzuki intruder, or maybe a Kawasaki Vulcan. I do like Harleys and will likely own one at some point, but the other two are good value for money and should keep some change in your pocket too
____________________
Current: Kawasaki ZL600 Eliminator
Past: Suzuki GZ125, Kawasaki GT550, Kawasaki GPX600R, Honda vrx400,Kawasaki Zephyr 750, Suzuki SV650 K5
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.

[struan80]

[Fisty]