Practicality. Sensible. Not words I personally link to motorcycles, in the past this may have been the case as a student the motorcycle was ridden every day, rain, sunshine, sleet, snow, touring, Sunday riding, commuting. Now I have a car, when I lived in the city I rode the train. Over the years I have compartmentalised transport, trains work well in the city, cars work well for hauling stuff, people and dogs around in comfort. Motorcycles if I was being sensible and practical, should no longer be required.

So if this is the case the inverse is surely true. A motorcycle if I am am to own one, should be deliberately impractical or unsensible. In my previous post I seemed to already have hit that nail directly on the head. Except interestingly the KTM is not impractical or unsensible if used as intended. That intention is a very narrow line where it is in-fact exactly the machine you need.

Tasmania a mecca of motorcycling. While Australia is a wide brown country girt by sea and long straight roads, Tasmania is the wiggly bit that dropped off the bottom. The roads here are windy but also open and generally a bit faster than the switchbacks and alpine roads that the KTM dines upon which such vigour. So when I moved there I knew I needed something with a bit more go.

Decision Points

If the KTM taught me anything it was that suspension, lightness, balance and brakes are the key to fun.  A sense of style, something out of the ordinary, something different is important too when the bike gets used for a sole purpose on sunny days.  The Lotus taught me fun has to come with a sensible price tag.

So my list of requirements was :

Under 95hp with Torque
On the road I’m not sure anyone actually needs more than 95hp. In my view there is no point in having 50% of a bike un-utilised. I don’t need 160hp, what I do want is power where I can use it not at 16,000 rpm.

Under 170kg
Weight is evil. It upsets all areas of a motorcycle and should be eschewed at all costs. This is especially true when being practical is not a requirement.

Under 12k
Money. The more money I spend on something the more fun it has to be. Theres a price point where the more fun I might get is not worth the money to get it.

Decent adjustable suspension
If I’ve learnt anything it is that buying a bike with rubbish suspension is pointless. Riding a badly suspended motorcycle is not fun.

A sense of design
When I look at the motorcycling world it is a myriad of weird looking angular alien lifeforms. Theres some seriously ugly motorcycles out there right now. Conversely neither do I want to look like I’ve come out of 1972. Why is it so hard to make a cohesive modern design?

Preferably new or under 2000kms
I ride my bikes in the sun, have a decent amount of mechanical sympathy and look after them. Someone else might not have these attributes.

Not uncomfortable
Motorcycles are generally not comfortable. I just don’t want to be uncomfortable.

Theres no need to live in the past, give the design to a child or remortgage to gain 200hp and a bad back.

The Options

Husqvarna Nuda 900R
I love this bike. I should have got one when they were on runout back in 2013.  Its got style, power, fully adjustable suspension, power and weight are pushing the boundaries but its got that sense of occasion. They have become a bit of a cult bike and a good one still costs almost the same as in 2013 except they are hard to find and usually have +10,000kms on them.

KTM 790 Duke
Theoretically this is the perfect bike. Weight, power  and price checked boxes. The non adjustable suspension and design not so much. If this looked like a 1290 maybe but it doesn’t, it is pretty ugly and a bit mainstream.

Husqvarna 701 Supermoto
While my KTM maybe a pseudo Supermoto the 701 ticks the box with a little more ink. Its pretty full on though and it might suit the exact same roads the KTM loves. Realistically it was out of the price range even second hand.

Buell 900/1200 Firebolt
Left field, but I’ve always fancied one of these. It’s a pure design that melds the unconventional with quirkiness and style. It still looks good 15 years after is came out. Power and weight are roughly within the ranges, quality suspension and theres a good amount of bikes with low km still for sale at great prices. I have sat on one though and the rearsets and lowish bars are sadly limiting factors. One day maybe.

A design that has stood the test of time.

KTM Duke 690R
No longer in production but some late 2016 models still in dealers, the 690R ticked a lot of boxes, price, power, weight, suspension, comfort plus its a bit of a hooligan and I like that. I do already have a 690 Duke though and when you look at both, side by side, one was designed and the other is just another motorcycle. Besides two of the same bike?

The Decision

Husqvarna Vitpilen 701
I had looked at these in the past. $17.5k+ORC. No matter which way you cut that it was expensive. Then they reduced the price to $10k on road, hello.  Sure the engine is the same as the KTM but with 18% more power at 75hp but then it only weighs 157kgs. Decent adjustable suspension, road based riding position that I was keen to try after 13 years of Supermoto plus that design. Old yet new. 1972 brought into the 21st century. A neo Cafe Racer, both old in style but with the flow and curves that the person who designed it originally penned.

A design that makes a statement.