buy a Girly? Currently a BMW F650 GS owner (happy one at that) but have been lusting for a Lucy Orange Girly since Cos thought about selling his. Well aware of the JD saga with his Steamer.......Have a line on 2, yes 2, Lucy Orange Girlies in NM so very close to jumping into the cage.......anyone care to talk me out of it (or reinforce why I should)??? My only 2 issues from a couple of good test rides is seat height and weight. I figure I can fix one but not the other. I do love the smooth power of the triple though and twisties are sooooo much fun!
thanks
carter
(anyone want to buy a Beemer??)
Buy the Girly, keep the BMW. Ride both. At the end of this summer, you will know which one to sell.
About your two issues:
The weight...alright, she's no Twiggy. However, i've only had problems with the weight in two situations. One was when the bike was already on its way down in a slow fall type situation. Get some decent crashbars, get out of the way, let'er fall and pick the bitch up. :lol:
Regarding the height, i'm no Stretch. I'm 5'11, so there's no way i can flat foot the bike. Not really an issue. I only put one foot down anyway. If it's a situation where i have to move the bike around, i just get off and push. No big deal either. You just have to make yourself aware of how the ground around you slopes though because once she starts leaning way over...well, it's crashbar time.
Great bike, i'm glad i didn't have to sell mine.
I can flatfoot mine on the centerstand. :mrgreen:
Good for you...freak.
:lol:
I get 'Freak of the Week' every week.
Quote from: "Stretch"I can flatfoot mine on the centerstand. :mrgreen:
I can flatfoot mine if I take the seat off :wings
Rides better with the seat on though :shock:
I presently own BOTH an '05 Girly (BRG--the fastest color IT HAS RACING IN THE NAME!!!)
& A
1997 F650 (red)
THe 650 is for sale.
Great bike easy to work on, fun to zip around town on.....but not enough..........balls......(no he didn't).
If I only can have one bike, The Tiger wins. Weight, yes it is harder to move around than the BMW. PLAN AHEAD. Simple.
6' and can "semi flat foot" one flat one tip toe.
On the other hand the things I really like over the 650.
POWER.
Comfort and confidence out on the highway battling the SUV soccer moms and Semi's.
Sound (love the Triumph Triple)
Torque WAAAAY more of this.
And well, the Tiger is just a more planted stable strong platform to ride on.
Also far better 2 up than the 650.
I think some "lowering options" exist if the height is a big (no pun intended) issue. However sitting up high on the Tiger perch certainly helps to see OVER the car in front of you. Honestly saved my bacon TWICE!
I like the little thumper, but owning both side by side, the BMW just seems like a little toy after I have been on the TIger. (I'm sure to get hate mail now)
All kidding aside, if you are doing primarilly highway 1 or 2 up riding you will not regret the switch. Would ride cross the country and beyond with the wife on my Tiger.
If dirt is your thing......the lightness of the BMW would prevail IMHO
Short guy reporting here on the high side of 5'8" You can flip the rear axle on the spoke wheel girlies (has nothing to do with the spokes, but with the tensioner) and get about 1". Drop the front forks the old fashioned dirt bike way. She's just right now and its all for free.
Do it! It gives the guys over on f650.com someone else to pick on besides me. 8)
Quote from: "stook"Quote from: "Stretch"I can flatfoot mine on the centerstand. :mrgreen:
I can flatfoot mine if I take the seat off :wings
Rides better with the seat on though :shock:
Actually, I can't flatfoot the bike on the centerstand. I was just playin' with Cos.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Stretch67/cheeky-smiley-025.gif)
That's OK, I was just kidding about riding around with the seat off anyway. :wink:
I sold a 2004 F650GS when I bought the 2005 Girly. The 650 was abrilliant bike BUT, got a bit breathless when pushed - needed another 20 bhp or so. Girly is heavier, but almost as agile when on the move. The GS is tall, so the height of the Girly shoouldn't be an issue. I never regretted doing it anyway. And BMW gave me a stiff ignoring when I complained about the head bearings needing replacing after only 6000 miles, said I must have been doing wheelies. I suggested it might be more to do with the heat from the engine oil in the frame melting the grease outta them. Anyway, I digress. If you need more grunt buy the Tigger, if you don't stick with the 650.
:roll:
Thanks for all the comments and ideas. Most of my riding is 4+ hour trips but avoid the slab as much as possible. No 2 up and only light off highway - note not off road - worst I do is forest service roads. The 650 is still almost 500lbs wet and packed so it isn't really light either.
No decision yet, will update once i get off my arse and do something (or once i convince the boss i won't buy another one, ever :ImaPoser )
Hey it's great to see you're looking at a Tiger as an upgrade option, and I doubt you'll regret making the choice if you do. Something else to consider might be a Kawasaki Versys (KLE650)... it ain't a Tiger, but it's not an F650 either... If they ever make a Tiger Cub (675eng), this is what it should be better than. I ride either the Girly or the Versys depending upon my riding day. Simply a case of horses for courses.
You know your course....choose your horse....
Quote from: ccherryThe 650 is still almost 500lbs wet and packed so it isn't really light either. quote]
I disagree. The F is heavy, but no where as heavy as a Tiger. Sure the F is 400 lbs fully loaded, but the Tiger is 500+ fully loaded. That's 20-30% more weight. It does make a big difference. I have an 03 Dakar and an 02 Girly and still love the Dakar. Girly is used for two up and long hauls and the the Dakar is great for dual sport and bombing the highway.
Can you keep them both :D
Quote from: "matttys"Quote from: "ccherry"Can you keep them both :D
...says the guy with six bikes! And a fiance', right? :lol: :lol: :lol:
I would love to have kept my F650, but I wasn't riding it hardly at all once I got the Steamer. This was before I knew about the impending valve seat problems, and I still wish I had the F to ride around between, but the two bikes are two similar, IMO. A nice Dr. Z 400 would fit the hole really nicely. :D
just wish i could have 2 (or 3 or 5......). would definitely get something dirty and a tiger in that case. even thought about keeping the F and getting an R12R or perhaps a Sprint but the boss hates me having one so 2 ain't gonna happen............
related question - 01 vs 05 pros/cons?? found another local with an 01 for sale, good price, good miles, no farkles though......
thanks!
Had a 640 KTM, loved it off road but long trips on road were a little rough. Other than that it was a nice bike but I wanted something better for road trips of longer distances that I could detour off the beaten path. Fell in love with the Tigger on first ride. The torque is great and the motor is a jewel. My riding has changed to more street and a little dirt now. It depends on what kind of riding you plan to do. If I could have kept the KTM, I would have for the dirt. Keep the Beemer if you can and have the best of both worlds. the Tiger works well on dirt roads, get the wire wheel version. (04 or earlier)
thanks for all the comments and info guys!! still haven't made a decision yet.
a new question - aux light mounts (and various other farkles) anyone have a light bar setup that they are just thrilled with? if i go with the Tiger, will most likely add lights before anything else, probably followed by crash bars (unless i do together). i'm a cheap bast... so will probably go with WalMart lights regardless of mounting. hard to beat $20 for 2 55W lights, they break you toss and buy another set. have worked well on my beemer
a general comment - there appears to be a very limited selection of aftermarket farkles for Tigers - is that something that folks are concerned with??
thanks
carter
This doesn't suit your self-confessed cheap b.....d approach, but I found once you fit crash bars (one look at the cost of a replacement tank is enough to convince you it's a good idea) and you have somewhere to hang all your farles..... lights..... Stebel Nautilus etc etc....
i'm actually not too cheap for crash bars (would actually be first farkle i would add), just the lights themselves. from what i can discern PIAAs run $200 or more for a set and the wal mart specials run $19 - both can bolt up to crash bar mount or a light bar. even if you replace the standard h3 bulbs with the better ones, you can do that multiple times before you even get close to the same cost. jmho.....
I had an F650GS, loved it, but two things got me looking elsewhere: vibration after an hour of riding (all contact points) and not hefty enough for 2 up with gear. So I bought an 06 Tiger.
Tiger has the grunt for long highway riding, very smooth, and perfect for 2 up. But it is heavy. Fuel economy is 50ish vs the 60-70 mpg I got on the 650.
I actually look back a bit wistfully at the 650, since it did surprisingly well on rough roads, actually had decent power for 2 up (but would have been challenged with gear) and the suspension could handle us both. But we are tall and it was a bit cramped.
I rode a lot from Santa Fe to ABQ commuting. The Tiger was more comfortable. Maintenance on the 650 is obviously easier. Last summer I did 2300 miles to Montana and back on the Tiger and it was great.
I'm going to own my Tiger for a long time, but I'm looking for a lighter 650 twin for fun. Have you looked at any of the 800s? Given what you've said about your riding, are you sure you need a dual sport? There are some pretty zippy 600-750 cc bikes out there that might do what you want and not be quite the weight to pull. A lot of us think we are going to do the Round-the-World thing and end up spending 99% of our time on pavement.
Have you thought of hanging on to the BMW and pick up a used SV650 or such?
Good luck. There are no bad bikes....
Actually rode the both of the new BMW twins as well as the 12GS. Tough decision all the way around. All the bikes, including my thumper, have their advantages and disadvantages. I go back and forth on the weight issue and long distance comfort. I try to do 2 multi day trips each year of 1000 miles or more and do a lot of 250-400 mile days, actually my "average" ride is probably 200+ so I'm not much on commuting with the idiots. The around town stuff would definitely steer me to the twins or keeping the thumper, the full day stuff perhaps the tiger or the 12gs. as to dual sport, nothing I ride couldn't be done on a ligher standard bike - a 1050 tiger or r12r. have also looked at the vstroms - both the 650 and 1000 but haven't had a chance to ride either. i'm partial to the european bikes but have owned a couple of hondas many years ago.
also considering a multistrada but i don't hear much about them for longer days in the saddle.......very engaging to ride though!
stay tuned.........and thanks for all the comments!