Bigger Bikes

[Domino22]

I had started a thread about motorcycles and I think it was for smaller 125cc to 250cc. Now not to beat a dead dog but I would like info from you locals about bigger bikes. Kawasaki PI show more larger bikes that are sold. I did not see that for Yamaha or Honda. Those two stopped at 250cc for what I see online. Maybe I am not looking at the right sites? But I did see something from "Guds" thru Facebook of a buddy sitting on a 650. Are the bigger bikes available? And do they only have one or two and do not post them? I wanted one bike to do it all but may have to look at two different bikes now.

[scott h]

Make it easy for ya brother. You can get anything here you can in the States or any other 1st world country. If you have the cash to buy it.

http://www.harley-davidsonofmanila.com.ph/

[Gator]

On 8/14/2016 at 4:51 PM, Domino22 said:

 Are the bigger bikes available? And do they only have one or two and do not post them? 

Simply stated, yes. Not to sound rude, I just can't think of another way to say this, but with enough cash you can have any size bike you want. 

Most dealers there only stock what sells - smaller bikes. You can order or find a used a big bike from many dealers. Harley of Manila and of Cebu as well as BMW of Manila have big bikes in stock, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

I have a Racal 150 dual sport (basically a Honda 175cc motor) and it suits me just fine for both city and open road riding. I weigh around 200lbs and even with my 40kilo SO as well as a bunch of gear on the back I have no problem climbing steep hills or on the winding mountain roads. The bike is basically stock. I only put on all terrain tires (had knobby's on it when I bought it - which don't fare well asphalt/concrete roads; especially on wet pavement), changed the rear sprocket from a 47 to a 44 tooth one to get a little more top end speed and put on a louder horn (trust me, the louder the better - if I could mount an air horn from a semi truck on it I would!). I paid under 50k for it (repo with just 800km on it)  

If you must know prices and availability before you go there, then email a few dealers and get some quotes on prices and delivery time. 

 

Edited August 17, 2016 by Gator

[robert k]

You can look on Emcor ph. Nation wide retailer of general merchandise. Their prices are a little high but give an idea of what's readily available and general price, at least for Kawasaki, I just looked and they had a handful of 650 cc offerings. I'm sure I have seen 1300 cc suzuki bikes before, where you would ride one I can't for the life of me think of, but you could buy one. More than once I have heard people who have bought bigger or sport type bikes lament that they are not nimble like the smaller bikes. Harder to park and will not make as tight a u-turn.

One youtube vlogger who lives in Dumaguete bought the YBR 125G which was fine but lacked passing power. His GF had a Rusi 125cc scooter. The guy then bought a Kawasaki Rouser 200 which did fine on long trips but he wouldn't ride it in town so he was riding the GF's scooter. He finally broke down and bought a scooter of his own, Honda Click 125i. He still has the Rouser but it's probably a garage queen at this point and will only be ridden on out of town trips. 

I think AlwaysRT has been going through that process also. You might ask him his thoughts.

[Reboot]

1 hour ago, robert k said:

You can look on Emcor ph. Nation wide retailer of general merchandise. Their prices are a little high but give an idea of what's readily available and general price, at least for Kawasaki, I just looked and they had a handful of 650 cc offerings. I'm sure I have seen 1300 cc suzuki bikes before, where you would ride one I can't for the life of me think of, but you could buy one. More than once I have heard people who have bought bigger or sport type bikes lament that they are not nimble like the smaller bikes. Harder to park and will not make as tight a u-turn.

One youtube vlogger who lives in Dumaguete bought the YBR 125G which was fine but lacked passing power. His GF had a Rusi 125cc scooter. The guy then bought a Kawasaki Rouser 200 which did fine on long trips but he wouldn't ride it in town so he was riding the GF's scooter. He finally broke down and bought a scooter of his own, Honda Click 125i. He still has the Rouser but it's probably a garage queen at this point and will only be ridden on out of town trips. 

I think AlwaysRT has been going through that process also. You might ask him his thoughts.

He's selling the Rouser now. Says it is in mint shape and only has 5000 kilometers on the odo.

[AlwaysRt]

1 hour ago, robert k said:

I think AlwaysRT has been going through that process also. You might ask him his thoughts.

Yup, been looking for an acceptable answer to that question for months. Got excited when I saw the title of this thread. Will use this as an opportunity to tell my "big bike search" story.

I have always been a cruiser type guy, long windy back roads at 40mph is my sweet spot (not short, high speed pocket rocket trips) and my last two US bikes were a Honda Shadow and a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500. I like the riding position in general and now with multiple back injuries sitting up instead of leaning forward is important. Also in my mind is being aware of the 400cc requirement in some areas of Manilla and my in-laws living in the mountain behind Valencia past 3 non-paved road areas.

Requirements: Ground clearance for rock/dirt mountain road, torque to pull up the mountain, torque/horsepower for passing, turning radius for parking, upright sitting position for back, comfortable seat for long trips, ability to mount rack for trunk etc to carry groceries etc., seat low enough my wife can get on without being afraid of the height. Preferences: Electronic Fuel Injection to deal with frequent elevation changes, disk brakes front and back to deal with extended rear wheel braking in addition to engine braking on steep descending mountain roads.

Websites: Thought I would be able to find a selection at the 400cc level due to Manila but still have not found what I thought I would. Used http://motortrade.com.ph/ - http://suzuki.com.ph - http://www.yamaha-motor.com.ph/product/index.html - http://kawasaki.ph (both leisure and commuter sites)

Bikes I looked at, some ridden, some not: "Business" bikes since this is the trike/hubal-hubal category top out at 175cc and are geared for city driving, not cruising, and all drum brakes so passed on the category as I didn't want to buy a bike and throw away the warranty and double the cost modifying the cr@p out of it. Honda XRM 125 Motard, Yamaha Sniper 150 and Tri-City, Kawasaki Avenger 220, Rouser 180 and 200ns, Z250SL, Z250, Vulcan S 650, ER-6n 650, and Versys 650

Shortening the list: The XRM bottoms out on transition from pavement to dirt and struggles climbing the mountain. At 135mm ground clearance this also knocks out the Sniper(135), Tri-City(120), Z250(145mm), Vulcan S(130mm), and ER-6n(130mm). The Avenger and Vulcan S have the turning radius of a yacht making parking and city maneuvering problematic. The Z250, Vulcan S, ER-6n, and Versys range from p230,000 to p388,000 putting an unjustified (all things considered) strain on a retired budget. The wife would need to pole vault onto the Versys at 840mm seat height. A few mechanics have told me about a common problem they and Kawasaki have not been able to prevent on the Rouser 200ns of engine oil leaking into the coolant system. I have not been able to find a mount rack for a trunk on the Z250. The list is now Kawasaki Rouser 180. 

I have had my Rouser 180 for 4 months now, 2,000+ km on it. I notice not having fuel injection at altitude, not having rear disk break descending from altitude, and 50% more torque and horsepower would be great for climbing and passing. I think I have finally found a source for an adapter to raise an inch and move back an inch the handlebar for a better sitting position. Overall a good bike.

Perfect bike for me in the Dumaguete area: The closest to reality would be the Z250 with a trunk and handlebars up and back an inch. The perfect semi reality bike would be a XRM fuel injected 200 Motard with 2 additional inches ground clearance and maybe 5 speed semi automatic instead of 4 speed.

[robert k]

If I ran across a Yamaha TW200 there I might have to buy it, no fuel injection but it punches the other tickets well enough. I was originally thinking bigger bike myself but in the tight spaces I would just as soon be in a Suzuki Alto 800 as a big bike.

[Domino22]

I think I need 2 bikes and here is why. In Bohol criss crossing the island on a rented YBR it did ok on the pavement but you had to plan your passing of others. Off road on the roads that were "Pink" on the map and not "Red" I found out they are not real roads but paths so to speak and I had to have help pushing the bike back up a hill I went down. Now my map of Bohol had a lot of "Pink" all over the map and I like to trail ride but after that pink road out of Anda going east that was my last attempt taking that bike off pavement. Now riding from Tubilon down thru Carmen to Panglao that road rocked and was so fun. For these type of roads all I thought about was a mid size bike 400-800cc, upright seating and no crouch rocket! I guess they call them sport bikes not super sport. Versa 650-the mid size adventure bikes with low seat height or even a KTM Duke 390 something along those lines.

Now with street tires that knocks out my trail riding. A dual sport / enduro does both but is not great at either. Kawasaki 650 KLR-Honda 250L-KTM 350 but the seat height is too high for me on the KTM, ya after market seats would help. I do not think I can have my cake and eat it to? I understand the size issue when in town and parking and turning. I did ask Bud's in Taglabarin to email me a price on one bike when I was there but never heard back from them. 

So I keep thinking about what I will do? It is not a bad problem to solve and fun working it out but every time I lean one way I change my mind. So I keep asking questions and keep looking at options .

[robert k]

Not all problems can be solved by throwing cash at them but this is one of them.

[scott h]

1 hour ago, robert k said:

Not all problems can be solved by throwing cash at them

 

Your right Robert, but I sure would like to be in the position to test the theory and report back to the forum t the results