Howdy riders!

[bayareaboy]

I am thinking hard about getting another bike I have had bikes from about the age of 12, a 350 Matchless to all sorts of non Harley bikes. My health is fair again and I would like a cruiser and even though I am big with short stubby legs.

I need to probably pick up a used bike, and was thinking of the Triumph America or Speedmaster? Does anyone have experience with this bike.

Any other suggestions for 800cc to 1300cc. I am open to anything that at the end of a couple of hours or full days wants me to ride some more.

Thanks

[cloudbase]

1. Welcome to the group.

If you like cruisers, check out the Guzzi California series. Just about anything available today has been well sorted out, and they're available at good prices. While there's not a large dealer network, there's a tremendous body of knowledge available on Guzzi forums. Dead simple in design, and easy to maintain. Incredibly reliable machines.

Seattle Vet has one and drops in on this group occasionally. He could fill you in on the details.

[bayareaboy]

2. Well thank you ...

I never had a Guzzi, but had a friend that had one of those bikes the LA Police used during the seventies. They were so reliable. The only bike that work with BMWs day to day, for being trouble free. I am looking for perhaps one of those BMW Montauk cruisers as well.

Smooth is good!

[cloudbase]

3. Good luck, whichever way you go.

Those Montauks kind of became the bastard children of BMWs. I often see them for sale, so you ought to be able to pick one up for a whole lot less than the other R series bikes.

[IDemo]

4. Never had one,

but my local bike shop is dropping them and Aprilia after carrying them for only two years. They say the factory support is terrible. I kind of liked both bikes, though; the Goose reminds me of one of my favorite bikes of all time - my 1983 Honda CX Custom. And the Aprilia just looks bad ass!

[bayareaboy]

5. keep that CX Custom ...

I haven't seen many of them in the Nor Cal area for a few years. they are very nice for a bike, very nice to look at and trouble free as all get out. I had a three wheel version when I used to work at CCSF. They had one that they got from the PD and we used it for moving nursery items on campus. it beat the hell out of a Taylor battery cart.

I don't rightly understand Honda. They put out something like the 500 or 650 and dump it quicker than it came out. I know I have a 2003 Honda Element that I drive every day, and everything they say about it, is true. Yet they discontinued it in 2010. I am still trying to figure that one out.

[IDemo]

6. I only had it about 4 years

Had to give it up when I moved and had no place to store it over the winter. I didn't ride for a decade after that, am now on a Kawasaki Vulcan 900. I couldn't agree more on Honda dropping the 650 after just one year, and if I recall the bike magazines were a bit puzzled by the decision, too. It was a pretty striking machine, especially for its time. The motor put out what I thought was a perfect power curve for the street.