Choosing a bike

So many different bikes!

I love to spend hours pouring over magazines and website, furiously reading about a subject that takes my interest until I become an expert on it. So it has been with motorbikes over the past couple of months. I'd saved my issues of Ride magazine from 2008, knowing that at some point I'd want to resurrect my interest in bikes. I've also bought the last three issues, plus a few MCNs. Something I can never quite get over is just how many different types of motorbikes there are! It seems every major manufacturer has roughly fifteen different bikes in their range, all slightly different. Factor in all the different manufacturers and you can find a bike that's probably exactly right for what you want. The only thing you have to decide it: What kind of riding do you want to do?

I knew from the outset that I didn't want to go extremely fast. Superbikes don't do anything for me, although conversely, Super-Nakeds do. This leads to the strange scenario of The Aprilia Tuono 1000R being one of my favourite bikes, but the RSV1000 barely registering any interest (they're essentially the same bike but with different handlebars and a lack of fairing on the Tuono). But as much as I like the Tuono, I know it's a suicidal choice as a first bike, and so much of a handful for a beginner that it would likely put me off biking, rather than enourage me.

I was very interested in BMW boxers, and so sure I'd get a BMW Rockster I even got the Haynes manual off Amazon for some research. But looking at the price of a good second hand one (or similar R1150R), I figured I could probably get something much better for the money. The next bike I looked at was a Kawasaki Z750, as a new purchase. I do love the lines of this bike, it looks very cool indeed. But again, I figured that as a beginner I was likely to scuff it or even drop it at some point, and it seemed a shame to do this to a new bike. Plus, a new bike needs proper servicing for the first year at least. I intend on doing my own serciving and maintenence, indeed, the reconnection with machinery is one of the pulling factors towards bike ownership for me. Other bikes I briefly considered were the Suzuki SV650S and Honda CBR600F, but these were a bit too sporty for my liking.

What kind of riding?

So what do I want from bike ownership? I do some big miles for work, and I'm keeping the car for that, but I'd like to get to a point where I was doing everything else on a bike. That includes nipping into town occasionally, so luggage carrying capability is an advantage. I want to recapture the adventurous spirit I had in my younger days, and explore the Peak District which I live close to. I want to do some touring, maybe occasionally head off to Europe. I want something that I can take pride in, take care of, but also be simple enough for me to do my own servicing and learn about how bikes work.

I really love Italian bikes, especially Benellis and Aprilias. Some Ducatis and Moto Guzzis are nice too. Looking through the stock of one of the local dealers, I saw the Aprilia Pegaso. It was Pegaso Strada and CAT D damagaed, but as I'm quite handy I wasn't scared of taking on a bit of work. It had done less than 600 miles and was virtually new. I went to have a look, and got the price down to a rather reasonable level. The damage amounted to some small scrapes on the side, which I could easily respray and get new decals for. I was quite suprised a bike could be written off for so little damage! I didn't especially like the oranage colour scheme, but I came away thinking I would be happy to buy it. As I was also going to have a look at a Pegaso Factory the same day I'd reserve judgement.

I took an hour's drive to Alfreton in Derbyshire and took a look at the Factory. Basically the same bike as the Strada mechanically at least, but with better paintwork, some carbon fibre and bronze parts. It was more than the Strada, and had done almost 7000 miles. But dealer knew the bike from new, and I was impressed with the service I got there. I decided to take the weekend to make my mind up....