[Guest]

I am a freshmen in college and recentyl got my license taking the MSS course. I have never owned a bike but love to ride. I am thinking between a Katana 600 or Volusia. I know they are different but I have never really ridden and like both of the style and feel of both. I am just looking to get a bike which I can use anywhere and will last me. If there are any other bikes anyone can recommend then feel free.

Thanks

 

[Louis]

What do you mean by anywhere?

 

[Guest]

whatever you get, take good care of it. I'm a firm believer in that if you take care of something, no matter what make or model, it will last. Everything i have had has lasted and i've had a lot of different brands of everything.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Katana 600 or Volusia ( my bike ) are both very good choices. Guess it's up to you to determine which style you like better.

 

[vstrombc]

although it is not as coool looking as the katana or volusia, the DR650SE is a real bike and will smoke the volusia on any road and keep up with the katana on winding roads. The DR has more low end torque than the katana so it will feel much stronger off the line. The upright seating and wide bars are excellent for new riders and you would feel much more confident. My 97 DR650 Se was also a great highway bike with many weekend trips and a trip from vancouver bc to pikes peak colorado.
the most fun part of the bike was keeping up with sport bikes on roads tight enough where power was less important - the DR650 surprised the hell out of a lot of sportriders at the sportbike west rally a couple of years ago.

or check out the upcoming V-Strom 650

 

[Uncle Bob]

It's like I always tell people, if you want to invest to make your bike faster invest in yourself. Fastest riders don't always have the fastest bikes. The geometry of the DR does make it suitable for zipping through the twisties.

However we are now talking about three totaly different types of bikes. You have to consider the total package and see which one best suits you and makes you drool a little.

BTW,IMHO a good rider on a Katana will smoke a good rider on a DR. Come on, the top speed of a Kat is 40mph higher than the DR and it's very capable in the twisties. Not putting you or your bike down it just wasn't made to keep up with sportsbikes, the riders you encountered just weren't very good.

 

[vstrombc]

all good points uncle bob, but the katana 600 is dead below 6000rpm & by then a torquey bike is gone. I even found the Katana 750 sluggish at low revs - I'm glasd I waited for the V-Strom. Of course the dr top end is not in the same class as the katana, but it gets there pretty quick. The kind of road I am talking about is very tight with many corners posted at 20 -50kph - this is where the dr excels. My intention is not to portray the dr as some kind of racer, I just want to let riders know it is way more capable than it looks and it is really way more sensible than cruisers or sportbikes.

 

[jabroni]

i thought the kat's were supposed to be fairly quick. quicker than most cars under 100 grand from what i heard.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Most motorcycles including tha Katana and the Volusia are quicker than most car under $100,000.

Guess it depends on your definition of what a road is?. Sounds like vstrombc rides on roads that were layed through the forest with instruction not to cut any trees. :lol: Must be a blast to ride.

But if you live where the roads have long high speed sweepers your choice of bike might be different.

 

[vstrombc]

greetings from the west. Yes we do have many roads out here that keep the speed down, but the aversion to high speeds goes beyond the road design. other hazards or issues keep most riders from riding too much at high speeds. our local news & sportbike websites chronicle the tragic results of the ones who lose it on a weekly basis - many lose more than traction of their tires.
~ sand, gravel & rocks rolling off the mountains
~ no run-off area - cliff face on one side - dropoffs on the other
~ big-times fines for excessive speed
~ slow bc car drivers
~ blind corners hiding any # of hazards (deer, bears, slow campers)
~ really hard things at the road side such as 5' thick trees or boulders
~ oil on the road from trucks and heavy traffic - super scary when it rains

I realize that ALL parts of north America have most of these hazards. We try to be aware of these hazards so we can all ride motrocycles well into old age - so it is rare we ride WFO
attached pics are mt baker alpine road in washington state just southeast of vancouver where slow to 15mph is no joke

 

[vstrombc]

another pic

 

[vstrombc]

last pic

 

[Uncle Bob]

Why ride fast when there's so much scenery to see ! I don't really ride fast most of the time I just enjoy cruising and enjoying scenery, often surprise myself by being under speed limit, seems the rest of my life involves rushing to do one thing or another, got the bike to relax and that's what I do.

But try keeping speeds down when you're crossing saskatchewan on the 40, my god talk about boring !. One long stretch of the same thing, Km after Km.

 

[Guest]

attached pics are mt baker alpine road in washington state just southeast of vancouver where slow to 15mph is no joke

That road takes you to the Mt Baker Ski area which is the most ruleing-est place to snowboard ever!!! :twisted: 8) :!: BAKER ROCKS!! MBHC forever..

Those couple turns are really nasty.. I've seen some hardcore dudes riding street luges down that road, I've also seen a pretty bad wrecked 4runner after a day of riding

Anyone up there in the NW or BC heard a snow report for baker lately? I'm gonna be traveling up there for Thanksgiving... and I hope the mountain will be open.

 

[vstrombc]

mt baker snow report

here you go - pretty wet & stormy in vancouver - but a good base is starting. we need a winter like a few years ago where baker had 60 feet of snowfall ( info below front mt baker website today) attached pic is how things looked at the end of may this year

MT. BAKER CURRENT CONDITIONS
SNOWFALL
NEW: 9 in 23 cm
LAST 24 HOURS: 9 in 23 cm
TEMPERATURE: 31 °F ° C
WEATHER: Snowing HEAVILY
BASE AT HEATHER MEADOWS: 18-20" depending on how wind moved it in 46 cm
BASE AT PAN DOME : NA in NA cm
SLOPE CONDITIONS: POSSIBLE opening Thursday

Sunday November 16th , 11:00am
Another 10-17 inches of new snow is expected today and on into Monday. Depending on how the next front on Tuesday moves in on us, we are still anticipating a possible Thursday partial opening.
OTHER INFO
UPDATE SCHEDULE: The Mt. Baker Snow Report is now in pre-season mode . . . we try to update it before noon each day and more often as there is significant snowfall or weather changes. Once the season begins, the snow report is updated at 5:30am and 2:00pm each day.

 

[Guest]

Gas Mileage & Maintenance

Good topic, having had 9 bikes (both sport and cruiser) and now getting back into bikes after a 12 yr layoff, it's good to see the less than $7,000 discussion (read- good bang for the buck) on Katana 600, Volusia 805 & Vstrom 650. All 3 bikes are on my list of acceptable commuters (30 miles a day) and 200 mile weekends trips. Have a few questions which may or maynot have a an easy answer: 1) which gets the best highway gas mileage? (One article said 52mpg for the Volusia – can anyone confirm this?) Worst? 2) which requires the most service (not counting oil changes) intervals ? Least ? 3) Which gets the best tire wear when following the posted speed limits? Worst? 4) With proper maintenance and “posted speed limit” usage how much life should you expect out of each engine? 5) Which stock suspension will support 250lbs the best? Least? 6) Can you get 10,000 miles out of the chains with good maintenance these days? Is the drive shaft a maintenance advantage? Thanks – I hope this helps other buyers as well.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Welcome to the site.

 

[Suzukiman]

I am 16 and I have already owned 2 bikes. When I was 15 I took the motorcycle Licens class to get my 250cc and under licens. I Had a Honda Rebel 250cc which is a great bike to start on for really young riders like me. But when I hit 16 the top speed of 72mph and on windy days 45mph, just wasnt enough. So I traded in the Rebel for a Volusia 805cc. I highly recomend this bike to any new riders. In the last 7 months of owning this bike I have already put 4,189miles on it. I ride once a day and the bike runs like a dream under all conditions. Also (hints ahead of time he is 16 and stupid) the bike is as powerful as a lotta sport bikes and can out run lots of fast cars in the quarter mile. It runs about a 13.5 is my lowest taking out my friends Corvette with him running a 14.3 . The bike handles great as well. I way 139pounds at most, and the only problem I have his some tire spin problems cause my low weight factor vs. my heavy acceloration. I highly recomend this bike to new riders out there or to old ones looking to move up from there 650cc or even 750s. You can see my bike at the bottem of http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/375274/6 Dont mind the tops pictures of my Smashed Pathfinder .

 

[Guest]

Check out either V-Stroms. I have the DL-1000. The Volusia doesn't compare to the 'Strom in regards to power, smooth and comfortable ride, overall rider comfort (rider's in an upright, not fetal riding position), highway stability and handling, gas mileage, luggage capacity and road manners.

I was in love with my Volusia until the day I was in having it serviced and the sales manager that sold me my Volusia asked me if I wanted to take what I thought was the "funny lookin" V-Strom for a test ride. My "short ride" lasted 2 hours and when I returned to the dealership, I traded in my beloved Volusia, wrote them a check for the difference and drove the V-Strom home. After four months, I have ZERO regrets and have put more miles on the V-Strom since August than I'd put on the Volusia the entire previous year of riding.

The 'Strom is a perfect urban assault bike as it takes curbs and rough road surfaces without complaint (thanks to the 19" front wheel/tire), and has that important neck snapping accelleration to prevent you from becomming SUV fodder.

With a saddle upgrade, the 'Strom is an amazing long-distance tourer and it can hold TONS more gear than the Volusia, if you use Givi luggage (compatible with the factory case rack). It's also nice that the 'Strom's v-twin has a wonderfully wide powerband with almost unnoticeable vibration at road speeds. I honestly can't make that claim with the Volusia. I also get a consistent 50 mpg highway with the V-Strom whereas the best I got with the Volusia was about 45 mpg.

Get a center stand for the 'Strom and keep a can of Honda chain lube (a superb, low fling product) handy. It takes me less than a minute to lube my chain. I thought I'd hate the additional maintenance, but it's hardly a bother. Only nitpick is the chain replacement at 10K miles, but I'll replace the stock chain/sprockets with upgraded sprockets and an X-ring chain that'll easily last 20K miles or more.

Tire wear is a little better with the 'Strom. It helps that the 'Strom has FAR better stock rubber than the Volusia. The tires for the 'Strom are tubeless radials which are safer since they won't blow out like a tubed tire AND they can be easily repaired at the side of the road without taking the wheel off the bike. Also, you won't have tire spokes to check and adjust on either 'Strom. The 'Strom also handles FAR better in wet road conditions than the Volusia.

 

[DCS]

KATANA! You'll love it. Most bang for the buck by far!