motorcycle shopping

After looking through the bike ranges of every company that sells motorcycles in Canada, there are three bikes on my short-list: Honda NC700, Suzuki V-Strom 650 and Triumph Tiger 800.

Yesterday I drove four hours to North Bay Cycle & Sports to take part in an official "Ride With Us" event put on by Honda. I spent 45 minutes riding the NC700X in a group of about a dozen other test riders, all on different bikes, including my friend & room mate who rode an Aero Shadow. Then another four hours drive back home.

It was worth it! Bombing around the hills and lakes around North Bay on a beautiful, strong bike with a great riding position. So very, very much more comfortable and fun than my CBR125. To get up to 115kph on my current bike I have to crouch very low, my chin up between the handle bars, and thrash the engine in sixth gear. On the NC700X I was sitting up comfortably, in fourth gear, and it was purring along.. and it's a six speed, so there's plenty more power and gearing for high efficiency cruising.

Only thing I would change is giving it a taller wind screen, which is one of the available options. I also had a look at and sit on the "S" model, which has a lower seat and is more sporty in how it's set up, so I prefer the "X".

With the taller windscreen, shipping, tax, etc. it would cost me $11,039 If I financed for 60 months through Honda it'd be another $2,707. Might get a bit for my CBR125 as a trade-in, or if I sell it privately, but I only paid $2,300 for it two years ago so I'm not expecting much.

I would still like to ride the V-Strom - it has a bit less grunt than the Honda and costs a teeny bit more. I went to the Niagara Falls Motorcycle Show last weekend, but even though it was only noon on Sunday, the Suzuki crew were packing up the bikes to leave. So I didn't get a test ride. The rest of the show was nothing of interest to me; it was a waste of a 3 hour drive, $40 admission for me and my husband and another 3 hours back. Not a great potential customer experience. Looking at their events page on the Suzuki website, looks like the only remaining test ride this year is not until the end of August and I'd have to pay for admission to the Canadian Superbike Championship event to get my hands on a V-Strom. Nope.

I'm all but decided against the Tiger as it costs significantly more and - from the reviews I've read - has more grunt than I need and is less fuel efficient. Two weeks ago I filled out the forms on the Triumph Canada website to "Request a Test Ride" and I have not heard anything back. I doubt I'll be getting onto a Tiger any day soon...