Mosshead

forum research

September 19th, 2005

Honda by far has the best comparison matrix. Very cool, I can filter by seat height, organized by price and size it’s very good information design. I’d love to do something like this for comparing all bikes that I’m interested in. Hmmm. Good idea.

Bikes

• HD 2006 Softail Deluxe - 24.5 inches high. Price equivalent of a down payment on a house. Good rental choice for a trip next summer.
• HD Sportster 883 Hugger Low (26 inches) - I’ve seen lots of these available used. Need to learn about differences from year to year. price for new $7k, $5.5k for used.
• Amy liked the HD Sportster 1200 Custom which was 26.5 in. high - half inch too high for me to put both feet firmly on the ground.
• Honda’s retro Shadow Aero seat height 25.5inches and the orange ‘06 is not boring. Costs about the same as the HD 883 Hugger though and I hate the “shadow” branding painted on the gas tank. Maybe it’s the font that’s boring. Or the name. Surely Honda can afford a decent graphic designer.
• I don’t know much about Victory/Polaris motorcycles but some of them are at 24-26 inches high which is nice. A bit spendy though. If this were my budget I’d be more serious about the HD Deluxe linked above.
• looking through the specs at Kawasaki and Yamaha, it looks like they’re all too high - 29 inches and higher. hrmf.
• Suzuki - I don’t understand how they size and am not motivated to research it at the moment. The Suzukis I’ve seen that look good are too big for me.
• My brother recommended the Honda NightHawk, early 90’s .. mostly because he wants one but with 6 bikes, he’s afraid one or more of his bikes might get jealous and require attention if he were to add to the collection
• The Kawasaki W2 looks good too, but the seat height is a little daunting

Entry Filed under: i like bikes