Thought this would make for some interesting discussion and debate, so I'll get the ball rolling. Here are the bikes I've taken for a spin this year, in order of how much I liked them:
1. Rocket III Touring. Liked it so much at a demo day in May, I bought one. I've had a love/hate relationship with it since (currently love.)
2. Suzuki Bandit 1250. Tested a used one at a local dealer. Came within a hair of buying it as a second bike. Absolutely a fabulous machine.
3. Thunderbird Storm. I loved having this as a service loaner for a day.
4. Bonneville T100. 2-day service loaner. An absolute hoot to ride.
5. Sprint ST. I didn’t think I would like this bike as much as I did.
6. Suzuki Vstrom 650. This is just a great bike that does everything well and reportedly is a breeze to maintain. Bonus points for the fact that it can be taken off road (within limits.)
7. Thunderbird 1600. Nice bike that I found to be very comfortable and responsive.
8. Suzuki GSX1250FA. Technically this is a Bandit with a full fairing. But I just didn’t have the same connection to the bike that I did to the Bandit I test rode.
9. Tiger 1050. I so want to like this bike. But I’ve ridden it a number of times at demo days and just can’t connect with it. I was shocked that I liked the Sprint better.
10. BMW F650GS. Too small for my 6’2 frame.
11. Kawasaki Versys. Like the BMW 650, this just didn’t fit.
12. Scrambler. I think there was something wrong with the one I tested. It was sluggish and balky.
13. Suzuki Vstrom 1000. This bike sucked. I was warned about this by the dealer, who said that the Vstrom 650 engine is excellent but that Suzuki just hasn’t gotten the fueling right on the 1000 cc version.
