quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
It's more on the adventure end of things in styling, but I really like my Honda NC700x. It was relatively inexpensive, has an upright seating position, and the torquey parallel twin gets really good fuel mileage (I've seen 70mpg on a couple long trips). But it still handles pretty good in the twisties.
And (IMO) it could be turned into a "poor man's" Africa Twin with some mods...

It's also a scooter

Scooter? How do you figure that?

BTW: I really like Honda's CB1100. I test rode one the day I bought the NC700x. Best transmission I had felt in a long time.
I had a '92 CB 750 back in college and it was a wonderful bike. I know the new 1100 is injected and water cooled, but that old air cooled I4 was bullet proof. All I ever did outside of routine maintenance was pour gas in it & twist the throttle....

James in Denver, UJM = Universal Japanese Motorcycle.

Definition from the wiki: The basic platform was an upright, open seating position motorcycle powered by a carbureted, air-cooled engine wrapped in a steel-tube cradle-type frame, and at least one disc brake to bring it all to a stop. The simple design made motorcycling accessible to riders of all types and skill sets. UJMs were available in various displacements, and their ubiquity helped grow motorcycling in America during the 1970s and ‘80s.

Just for the sake of argument.....but displacement is not really the issue with beginner bikes. Torque is.

Many of the Japanese "adventure bike" offerings seem to fit the mould of the old UJM; standard riding position, all round comfort, decent size gas tank, and affordable. Kawasaki's Versys and Suzuki VStrom 650 are two that come to mind. Then there are the standard riding position bikes that "look" more like sport bikes with their plastic bodywork as well. Honda's 4 cylinder CBR650F for instance.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

Apologies. I must have missed the part about a new rider. An 1100 would scare the crap out of me, and I've been riding for a while. I surely wouldn't put a new rider on top of that engine!

I'm not exactly a new rider, but it has been quite a while since I had a motorcycle. I don't think I want that much engine regardless of my experience level, though. I'm thinking 700 to 900. Or maybe a little smaller.

I would want something bigger than the 400. The CB360 was okay, but a little weak.

I thought it meant underpowered Japanese motorcycle.

I think you would find the Ducati a heck of a ride....

Rainman for the win! Take a brilliant 90° twin with a nice midrange grunt and a glorious sound couple that with excellent ergos, light weight and gorgeous classic looks and you have the PERFECT bike to rekindle the two wheel love affair.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Rainman for the win! Take a brilliant 90° twin with a nice midrange grunt and a glorious sound couple that with excellent ergos, light weight and gorgeous classic looks and you have the PERFECT bike to rekindle the two wheel love affair.

I rode one last week.

I have to admit, I didn't expect much, but grin factor was HIGH!
Ergo was good, and the sound was lovely.
Price point is also very good.

Stickman, have you googled some of the modded sr400s out there. My quick glimpse found a couple cafe bikes, a BSA knockoff and a very well done scrambler/tt bike. Definitely peaked my interest. Thanks.

Newer styling, but has the upright seating position. Honda NT700v and the Honda ST1300.

The NC700x reminds me of a new style Honda Nighthawk.

I believe you'll want something at least in the 900+ range. It won't take long to out grow the smaller bikes, if you want to get on the highway and ride.

I bought a 750 Nighthawk and 4 months later bought a ST1300. I like the little bike for short rides around town, but the big one for the longer trips. No caparison.

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
It's more on the adventure end of things in styling, but I really like my Honda NC700x. It was relatively inexpensive, has an upright seating position, and the torquey parallel twin gets really good fuel mileage (I've seen 70mpg on a couple long trips). But it still handles pretty good in the twisties.
And (IMO) it could be turned into a "poor man's" Africa Twin with some mods...

It's also a scooter

Scooter? How do you figure that?

BTW: I really like Honda's CB1100. I test rode one the day I bought the NC700x. Best transmission I had felt in a long time.
I had a '92 CB 750 back in college and it was a wonderful bike. I know the new 1100 is injected and water cooled, but that old air cooled I4 was bullet proof. All I ever did outside of routine maintenance was pour gas in it & twist the throttle....

where is the gas tank?

But jokes aside it has a tremendous number of features going for it.

I think one of the best all around motorcycles for sale today is the Versys 650. I can literally do almost anything you can dream up while being utterly reliable, comfortable, fun, and get 55 MPG on regular gas.

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:
where is the gas tank?

It's under the seat on the NC700x.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
Guzzi V7

Prettiest bike I've ever owned, but severely under powered and the gear box feels agricultural. I got rid of it after one year.

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Originally posted by rainman64:

I've been obsessed with motorcycles my entire life and this is one of the things I love about them. No matter how good the bikes I currently own, there are always bikes like this one that I lust after anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by JonDaddy82:
I think one of the best all around motorcycles for sale today is the Versys 650. I can literally do almost anything you can dream up while being utterly reliable, comfortable, fun, and get 55 MPG on regular gas.

My dad just recently bought a Vulcan S, which shares an engine with the Versys & Ninja 650.
He's told me you can lean it way further than a cruiser should be able to & it revs to 9k RM.
A sportbike in a cruiser body.

Edit: This is his

Riding it fairly hard, he's still getting high 40s MPG

Seen those. Actually fantastic small cruisers, very hard to beat and very unique in the market.

Posted by Wolfe 21,

quote:

Stickman, have you googled some of the modded sr400s out there. My quick glimpse found a couple cafe bikes, a BSA knockoff and a very well done scrambler/tt bike. Definitely peaked my interest. Thanks.

Yeah, this thread did cause me to google "SR400 cafe racer & SR400 Scrambler". It really is a great base for a small mill custom build.

These two are my favorites from that search.

quote:

Originally posted by rainman64:
I think you would find the Ducati a heck of a ride....

There's no denying the Ducati looks like a nice ride, but of course there's no "J" in "UJM" when it comes to Ducati.

One of the things that's come of today's varied diversity in styling and niche platforms (e.g. adventure bikes, naked bikes, cruisers, sport tourers, et al) is that the "U" -- or Universal similarity among many of that era's Japanese bikes -- doesn't really exist anymore. So while there are some models today that harken back to those days, either in retro styling or neutral ergonomics, the concept of Universality is all but dead, leaving the market with no real equivalent to the UJM.

That said, if the question is "which ones do people seem to think pull it off the best" without regard to styling but rather just riding versatility and whatnot, I'd probably say the Honda CB1100, the Yamaha Super Tenere, and the Kawasaki Versys. The latter two are obviously a bit different than the Honda, but all three seem to me to encapsulate best that old UJM concept in the modern era.

This thread brought back some great memories. My first bike was also a Honda CB360. Mine was a 76 or 77 CB360T with the 6 speed transmission. It was a beautiful baby blue. As far as UJM's go the finest I ever owned ( I owned several ) was my 83 Suzuki GS1100ex. That the motor on that bike was wonderful. It was sweet around town, very gentle and forgiving. Almost like a big "Hondamatic" as there was so much torque you could just putt-putt around town in 2nd or third gear.
But when power was needed it will just about yank your arms out of their sockets. At the time it was the biggest rush I could get without having a girl involved. Wow...