Are Street Thumpers set to come back in a big way?

So there's a lively thread here on the new Honda 250 street bike, Suzuki is selling what would, back in my day, have been called the plainest Plain-Jane sort of street 250 (the TU250). Sales of the Royal Enfields seem to be going well.

Now I read in print that Triumph is planning a 250 or 350cc street single. Even Harley is said to be considering a single as a replacement for the Blast.

Could we actually be seeing a return to the glory days of street thumpers? Will we soon be seeing a new generation of Venoms, Goldstars and Manxes?

Will sanity return to American motorcycling?

Nah, ignore that last. Silly me.

Nah...

Not when you have a bunch of insecure, middle aged fat guys with little pee pee syndrome running around trying to show you how bad they are.
I just bought a 93 XR100 and I'm plating it to be a street thumper, can you think of the fun

Maybe, I hope the people of my generation are more practical thinkers than the Boomers.

Yes, it's coming.

It's inevitable. Not only is the economy going to get worse, it's going to get much worse. Why do you think 50% of the vehicles in other countries like Brazil are 125-225cc thumpers?

Because fuel is cheap there?

Can't wait for the Herdly fad to die out.
Some real nice small motorcycles would be great.
I'd love to see a real good quality 600cc or 700cc touring bike.
Maybe some decent quality small cars will show up on our shores, too.
If $10 per gallon gas is what it takes, bring it.
It's all good.

The Suzuli TU250X has a pretty good following here on ADV. The thread is at 177 pages as of now. I'm 56 years old and love mine, so do the rest of the older guys that ride them and a bunch of younger guys too.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=414302

And Carnac says...small V and parallel twins like Suzuki and Kawasaki make in the 650cc or so range. But what do I know. Much smarter minds than mine at the big manufacturer level have been making marketing guesses like this forever, and usually screw it up over half the time IMO.

true dat... IMO, the biggest reason ppl choose to drink the cool aid there is b/c they're led to believe it's the most comfortable riding position, and because it's made in Merica it'll hold it's value when they trade it in or sell it... Oh, and there's a "I get to play the bad-ass" part...



Engines that get killer MPG, are easy as pie to work on... Have power down low at a usable and instant RPM range... Comfortable to ride on, light, east to move around at slow speeds and as fun as a 50MPG Ferrari in the twisties?


Duh! It's coming


Just wait till SuperMoto catches on. Once sheep start seeing other riders with them, it'll stimulate that portion of the market.

WOW! Why so glum?

Harley has been making the same configuration of bike for ONE HUNDRED YEARS so I don't expect it to "die out" any time soon. But before they made the V-twin they made a single.

The single I'd like to see is 450cc, not 250. 250cc work well in the heavy urban enviros but here in the US it's just too small to get er done.

The EU engine of the year is an 85hp 100mpg V-twin 876cc car engine so I see no reason half of that engine couldn't just be a wonderful in a 200mpg motorcycle.

Suzuki tried it, they gave up.

Your dick must be HUGE

Ok, for one, I'm not glum. I'm simple expressing what I see around here.

I've seen a professor dressed type guy, beard and all, out riding his Barcalounger with his pants cuff inside his sock like the cylce riders do so they don't get it caught in the chain...

I've seen TONS of guys riding in slacks and LOAFERS!

And BTW.. It's horsepower that makes "250's" inadequate for the predominantly highway ridden US. Because last time I checked, a motor was bore multiplied by stroke, and before that bore x stroke was what a motor used to make horse power.

So you think all 250's are low on power? Have you ever ridden one with 26hp? And OMG, on the highway?

My NX does 90, and the KTM Duke 2 and Husky 610 are rated at @ 105 from the factory... Now what's that say about the KTM and Husky?

And you are right about the 450's. Because the insurance price break is at 500cc's. A 450 costs as much as my 250 to insure, which coincidentally is HALF what my 625cc KTM costs.

Suzi made a Supermoto, I'm talking about the races... Like NASCAR?

Once ppl start seeing how they can race and how much it costs, they'll start getting more involved rather than sitting on a couch and watching it or playing it on XBox.


Racing a light weight streetbike on dirt AND pavement? Now that takes skill and tallent ... Unlike L.T.O

I'm more inclined to say it's torque that makes the difference, not horsepower. I've owned 250's and loved them. They are great for developing skills and exploring your boundaries. But, there are a LOT of "but"s with the 250 class because of a lack of torque.

The 450 single offers almost all if not all the advantages of a 250. I just don't think the 250 will be able to run all the modern electronics of the next generation of motors will need to pass emissions.

Finally, I said why so glum because of the negative attitude about people and their choices. People as a whole may really suck sometimes but they are the only game in town. It's best to learn to love them for what they are, not what they aren't. Everything else is just STUFF.

tkent...if you think $10/gal gas will only affect your moto and therefore "bring it on"..you need to read. The implications that would have on your life would be astounding. That is, unless you are a self sustaining organic farmer there in Littleton...

About time you guys in the states started paying what we pay for gas. If you had been paying what we have had to pay then you wouldn't have driven round in F150's and ridden harleys because of the expense of running the suckers and using all the gas that we all shoulda been sharing more evenly.

But on topic, I reckon the 450/500 size would be great. Give them some good suspenders and a lot of factory options like rearsets and clipons or touring options. All based on the same chassis. Fantastic. The same engine could be used in an adv frame too.

The car manufacturers are now making "world cars" (Focus, Mondeo) why not world bikes to bring down costs?

My 2 cents

Nah, I'm Irish but come to terms with it and saved myself $20k

"shoulda been sharing more evenly" isn't how economics work. The whole world all pays the same for oil but the US government doesn't tax the same as other countries.

I hope small displacement bikes take hold here. I'm 63 years old and never had a bike over 500cc/36hp.I currently own a TU250X and it suits me just fine for my needs. With small bikes you get more of that thrill of riding a bike to the max.Wouldn't mind having my R50/5 again for 2 up.