Yup, that's why I said "bad azz bike you like". I know from experience that whatever bike I might think is the best thing ever, I'll have friends that'll think I made a stupid choice because bike X has 3 more hp, or for whatever reason!
I had to look up what a Grom was. I WANTS ONE!! Might have to keep an eye on the used market in 4-5 years.
They are a hoot! A buddy of mine has one. It's not fast or exciting but very very fun to run around on.
Wish we were closer, I'd swap ya for a ride. You need to sit on/test ride a '10 and newer Multistrada. It's the bee's knee's! And this isn't the old air cooled Duc of the past. One of the part time mechanics @ work has a customized Tuono. We don't cross paths very often but he pulled in with it while I was leaving a few weeks ago. It had carbon wheels among other mods. I checked it out pretty good and honestly I was so impressed I started searching them on craigs. The deal breaker was the rear pillion. No provisions for bags and the seat is basically a full sporty perch. Wife wouldn't like it so I stuck w/ the MTS. Next time I see it, I'll definitely take some pics. IMO, if you have a sportbike (in the TLS), you should consider that genre covered. While they are drop dead gorgeous, the 1098/1198 isn't going to be wife friendly and @ 41 (I'm 44 so I share where you're at) it's time to start sharing the journey with the significant other. Her comfort should be up there in priority. I'd say SuperDuke GT but they are looking 20k-ish, none used yet. Another bike you might consider is the Triumph Tiger 1050. Rode with a guy that had one and the sound coming outta that was sweet! Didn't get to ride it but they sure comfy.
Road America was fun today. Saw a lot of my favorite tracers in the pits today, chilling before having to hit the track at breakneck speeds. That said, I sat on a new r1. Ok. I felt like I was king Kong on that thing. I asked my wife if I looked like I was a monkey humping a football. Check. I sat on a new Suzuki GSx1000. The sporty standard. Nice bike. Didn't really stir me though. I showed the wife a new red vfr800 just like the one locally I can get. Nice bike. I could easily ride it all day. 95 hp though. The Aprilia rsv4 V 1000 that Claudio Corti rides it's unfreaking believable sounding. That's the same, but smaller motor in the tuono. There was a 1199 ducati panigale on the track too. Beautiful bikes, both of them. Both sound great too.
What duc did you have? My old roommate's fiance bought a monster 620 dark brand new in like 02 03. That bike drank oil. It would use a quart in 100 miles. Yes, that bad. That particular bike should've been lemon lawed. I don't know what happened to it, as there was a slew of things going on at that time. I nearly bought a 95 ducati 900ss/sp instead of the TLS, but the ducs handling wasn't enough to sway me from the tls's power advantage. Most ducs are pretty straight forward for maintenance. The newer ones have valve service intervals like a Japanese bikes. Older ones were valve adjustments every 3000 miles. There's no valve springs on ducatis. So they are different.
I could get a deal on a new EBR. I just don't know if I would want to. Too much unrest in that company. The local kawi dealer has a h2r for 26k. I wish triumph made a 1050 Daytona . Yeah, there's the sprint st. That's another option. We saw a red one today.
It was an 02 M 750ie dark. Not enough weight on the front wheel. And the 7500 mile valve schedule sucked. I spent more time wrenching than riding. The new duck are not much better imnsho.... electronics are still junk. And did you know Italy take July off for holiday. If you need parts in July your hosed. Plan to break the bike in august, easier to get parts.
Oh yeah, I'm well aware of the country wide holiday shut down of the Italians As a Buyer as my profession, I buy many Italian items, mainly hydraulic pumps.
