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My motorcycles - past and present

A little about the bikes I've owned...

Originally I drove a little Toyota Tercel econo-box. It got me places and didn't cost a lot of money, since I knew of a decent shop in Ocala run by a Greek guy who would actually fix things for a decent price. However I'm 6'2" and I didn't fit in it very well. It also didn't have much power, but the automatic transmission was well-matched to the engine, and managed to make it drivable.

Then I came to Orlando and discovered that the car shops don't do very good work. I didn't have the money or ability to keep the Toyota running, as I was pretty much mechanically illiterate. When the timing chain broke and instantly put $500 on my new credit card, I had to do something. I was a student and didn't have that kind of money.

1982 Honda CB450SC Nighthawk

Win:
  • Most comfortable stock seat ever.
  • Easy to work on.
Lose:
  • Rock hard tires.
  • Not much power.

1984 Honda VF750S "V45 Sabre"

Win:
  • POWER.
  • Fairing.
  • Digital LCD displays and stepper-motor instruments driven by an RCA 1802 microprocessor.
Lose:
  • horribly underdesigned suspension.
  • Noodle front forks.
  • Hard to work on.
  • Soft cams.

1983 Yamaha XZ550 Vision

Win:
  • NOTHING.
Lose:
  • EVERYTHING.
  • Complete piece of garbage.

1985 Suzuki GS550EF

Win:
  • Easily-replaced frozen rings.
  • Nice little oil-cooled inline-4.
Lose:
  • Slow.
  • Strange siamesed carburetors with two bores and two linked slides per vacuum chamber.
  • Eventually stolen.

1982 Suzuki GS1100L

Win:
  • Shaft drive.
  • Destroyed a left-turning Subaru.
Lose:
  • Lunched transmission.
  • Lunched stator, rectifier, and regulator.
  • Lunched starter motor.
  • Clutch made of potmetal.
  • Lunched carburetors.
  • Complete piece of garbage.


1989 Honda NT650 Hawk GT

Win:
  • Single-sided swingarm.
  • Corbin seat.
Lose:
  • Slow.
  • Crap stock suspension.
  • Stolen.

1985 Yamaha RZ-350

Win:
  • Two-stroke.
  • Corbin seat.
  • Amazingly simple to work on.
  • Yamaha Banshee kept parts in production.
Lose:
  • Two-stroke.
  • Kickstart-only.
  • Bought from T&D Yamaha.
  • Transmission that ate shift forks.
  • Selling it.

1993 Suzuki GSX1100G

Win:
  • Shaft drive.
  • Old oil-cooled GSXR motor.
Lose:
  • Heavy.

I drove a Camaro for a while... until the defective ABS locked up the brakes and tried to kill me, and I slid backwards into some Aramco in the rain.

2002 Suzuki SV-650

Win:
  • Light.
  • Powerful.
  • V-twin.
  • First brand new bike.
Lose:
  • Suzuki.
  • Carbureted.
  • Uncomfortable stock seat.

2005 Suzuki DL-650 "V-Strom"

Win:
  • Fuel-injected
Lose:
  • Suzuki.
  • Ugly.
  • Suzuki.
  • Nerfed engine plus more weight.
  • Suzuki.
  • HORRIBLY uncomfortable seat.
  • Suzuki.
  • No handling whatsoever.
  • Suzuki.
  • Crap stock windshield.

2008 Suzuki SV-650 ABS

Win:
  • Light.
  • Powerful.
  • V-twin.
  • ABS.
Lose:
  • Suzuki.
  • Needs $800 computer diagnostic system to work on it.
  • Suzuki.
  • ABS bodged on by the college intern, causing several serious maintenance problems.
  • Suzuki.
  • Nightmare to work on.

2015 Zero SR 12.5 with Power Tank

Win:
  • Power.
  • No clutch.
Lose:
  • Ugly.
  • 11 months in the shop due to bad CANBUS transceiver in Power Tank.

2017 Honda VFR-1200X DCT

Win:
  • Mostly comfortable.
Lose:
  • Dual-Clutch Transmission.
  • Horrid oversensitive throttle.
  • I really regret buying this POS.

2007 Yamaha FJR-1300 (Current)

Win:
  • Shaft drive.
  • Fairing.
  • ABS.
  • Power.
  • Handling.
  • Second most comfortable stock seat.
Lose:
  • Heavy.
  • Pegs are very high.
  • Fairing makes maintenance difficult.
  • Clutch is pretty stiff.
  • Ugly maroon color.
  • Tire valves are right next to the wheel spokes, making it really difficult to check pressure or add air.

2021 Zero SR 14.4 with Power Tank (Current)

Win:
  • Power.
  • No clutch.
Lose:
  • Ugly.
  • No problems yet, but I was stupid enough to buy another one.

2022 Energica Eva EsseEsse9+ (Current)

Win:
  • Good range.
  • Onboard J-1772 and DC fast charging.
  • Speed hold.
  • Parking-lot reverse.
  • Looks amazingly nice.
  • It looks like a motorcycle, not a spaceship.
Lose:
  • Will no longer charge past 70% after only 2 years.
  • 12 months in the shop because Energica stonewalled the dealer. Had to pay to ship it for repair.
  • Energica went bankrupt.
  • Constant flashing of error messages that the dealer can't fix.
  • Regen flashes the brake light obnoxiously on the slightest deceleration, so you have to turn it off, negating one of the advantages of an EV.
  • Keyless ignition stranded me several times.
  • Extremely optimistic speedometer says I'm doing 79-80 when the GPS says I'm doing 70.
  • The Givi bags are a one-off design not compatible with anything else.

2024 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ (Current)

Win:
  • Adaptive radar cruise control.
  • Factory quick-shifter.
  • Complex but informative dash.
  • Stock mirrors work.
Lose:
  • Horribly uncomfortable seat.
  • Rock hard suspension.
  • Fuel gauge has ONE bar for "half to full"
  • Windshield is useless garbage.
  • Cornering lights are dim and useless.
  • Only one headlight is on unless you're using high beams.
  • If you've got cornering lights, why don't you have self-canceling turn signals?
  • Engine is very gutless for 890cc.
  • The MyRide-Link phone app has 167 1-star reviews and that's it. Not a single 2-star or higher.
  • Navigation only available by subscription.
  • Abandoned by Yamaha after only one year.