06-21-2015, 11:19 AM
(06-21-2015, 10:52 AM)4 Paws_imp Wrote: Searched on line resources when I decided the BMW R1200GS just wasn't for me. Good bike but never resonated inside me. Loved the power band.
Every time I identified a possible contender I added its specs to my spreadsheet - weight, seat height, hp, cost, blah blah blah.
Test rode a few, some quite nice bikes. Went to a shop about an hour from home to test ride another brand and saw the CB. My local Honda dealer didn't have one - actually had quite a limited selection of street bikes. Was intrigued, skipped the test ride on the other brand - too close to a sport bike for my wants - and started researching the CB.
Found this forum. Bought the bike. I keep bikes about ten years on average.
So far it's everything I hoped it would be.
Interesting. I had an 09 R1200GS; bought in 2010 and sold in 2012.
The bike was big and tall - and FELT big and tall. Getting on it took planning. This was not a bike you hopped on to go get the Sunday paper - it had more power (140hp) then my car; and the engine block probably heavier.
On a road trip from Michigan to Dallas, Texas (business and pleasure) I had some sort of attack that felt like what I'd think phlebitis would feel. Leg swelling and throbbing. I was about sixty miles outside Joplin, Missouri, five days after the tornado. Hospitals were overwhelmed - I would be at the back of the line in triage. There was nothing to do but struggle to mount up on that giant and get to Dallas or die trying.
I made it; by the time I was in metropolitan Dallas my leg was all right. But I took it as a warning - I was too old; and at the time I was between jobs with no medical insurance. The BMW was paid for but even so...it was more than I could afford.
Sold it; went through some other bikes...and now I have the CB.
Interestingly, the CB is almost the same weight. A lot less power but I was never a ten-tenths rider. But the CB chassis FEELS so much lighter...hard to believe it's over 500 pounds.