Which one? BMW F800ST/F800R or Triumph Street Triple R

[RaY YreKa]

Originally Posted by cug

And because they are big. I get the impression that in the US bigger is still considered better by a lot of people.

My approach is to get the smallest car that gets the job done for me. As I use my car mainly for weekend activities with 3 to 4 people, it's not a super small one (midsize sedan), but I'm rarely alone in it ... not like 80% of the SUVs I see here in the Bay Area that are mostly driven by women either alone or with a single kid.

School Run Mum.

I avoid them at all costs, they are harassed, late, sleep deprived, and think themseves impregnable.

And they don't seem to look out for motorcycles..

[dmaxmike]

Originally Posted by Doubleplay

I bet you % 90 of the SUV 's sold in the USA is not hooking up to any trailer in their life span. Have you ever seen a Cadillac, Lexus, BMW or a Mercedes SUV(just to name a few) towing something/anything???
Most of the SUV's and trucks sold in this country is being used in lieu of a mini van or people think they are safer.

Go to any motox/XC/desert race/boat ramp and there are tons of real SUV's lining the pits hooked to trailers. now when i say real SUV's i mean Suburban’s, Tahoe’s, Excursions, and other truck framed SUV's. i have also seen lots of people in cute utes as well with small 2 bike trailers.




Me well i roll around in a 3/4 ton diesel crew cab, all day everyday by myself. Then on the weekend i hook up one of my trailers and load up the guys and go have fun!




Do you use the GS in your sig to its full potential? Or did you just buy it to go to Starbucks? Not picking on you just pointing out that broad generalizations aren’t always true.

[Garp]

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

broad generalizations aren’t always true.

That sounds like a broad generalization right there

[Doubleplay]

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

Go to any motox/XC/desert race/boat ramp and there are tons of real SUV's lining the pits hooked to trailers. now when i say real SUV's i mean Suburban’s, Tahoe’s, Excursions, and other truck framed SUV's. i have also seen lots of people in cute utes as well with small 2 bike trailers.




Me well i roll around in a 3/4 ton diesel crew cab, all day everyday by myself. Then on the weekend i hook up one of my trailers and load up the guys and go have fun!




Do you use the GS in your sig to its full potential? Or did you just buy it to go to Starbucks? Not picking on you just pointing out that broad generalizations aren’t always true.

No I do not use my GS to it's full potential. However I've seen it done at the BMW off-road course by the pro instructors and %99 of the riders on this forum or anywhere else are not capable of doing what I saw. As a side note, I don't want to use it to it's full potential because I'm not that rich to replace parts after every ride with plenty of drops and falls.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by cug

And because they are big. I get the impression that in the US bigger is still considered better by a lot of people.

My approach is to get the smallest car that gets the job done for me. As I use my car mainly for weekend activities with 3 to 4 people, it's not a super small one (midsize sedan), but I'm rarely alone in it ... not like 80% of the SUVs I see here in the Bay Area that are mostly driven by women either alone or with a single kid.

Call me when I can haul two bikes, three people, a 120 pound dog and all associated crap in a prius.

Until then, viva la F-150.

[cug]

Originally Posted by Tripped1

Call me when I can haul two bikes, three people, a 120 pound dog and all associated crap in a prius.

I did that often enough with a Renault Megane which got about 40mpg ... The secret is called "trailer behind a diesel station wagon". Though I have to admit, I didn't get 40mpg with these three people and the trailer. It was around 30mpg then ...

[SnappNBrrap]

you said multi-day rides. that alone puts the BMW ahead. the guy that works across the street from me rides his 955i speed triple to work in the summer. his only complaint is that it hurts on longer rides. especially coming off of a Strom the drastically different riding position will feel weird/uncomfortable/painful to you on any sort of long trip.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by SnappNBrrap

you said multi-day rides. that alone puts the BMW ahead. the guy that works across the street from me rides his 955i speed triple to work in the summer. his only complaint is that it hurts on longer rides. especially coming off of a Strom the drastically different riding position will feel weird/uncomfortable/painful to you on any sort of long trip.

Yeah the Speed Triple's seat rather sucks and the pegs are a little high for touring unless you are like 5'2". That is about it.

I do 600 mile days and it takes me a beer or two to recover.

[DFH]

Originally Posted by ray_rev

School Run Mum.

I avoid them at all costs, they are harassed, late, sleep deprived, and think themseves impregnable.

If they were impregnable they wouldn't be a School Run Mum, me thinks

[scrannel]

Originally Posted by Tripped1

Yeah the Speed Triple's seat rather sucks and the pegs are a little high for touring unless you are like 5'2". That is about it.

I do 600 mile days and it takes me a beer or two to recover.

Yes. One of the MAIN reasons I got rid of my Speedy (aside from the fact that it was not reliable). It is a small bike.

[dmaxmike]

Originally Posted by Garp

That sounds like a broad generalization right there

Touché

Originally Posted by Doubleplay

No I do not use my GS to it's full potential. However I've seen it done at the BMW off-road course by the pro instructors and 99% of the riders on this forum or anywhere else are not capable of doing what I saw.

there you go with the broad generalizations again...

Originally Posted by cug

I did that often enough with a Renault Megane which got about 40mpg ... The secret is called "trailer behind a diesel station wagon". Though I have to admit, I didn't get 40mpg with these three people and the trailer. It was around 30mpg then ...

can that Renault do this?

But I digress. The real reason I read this thread in the first place is because those are bikes I am looking at for a commuter/date night with the lady/day trips on the road. i can’t decide so I guess some test rides are in order, which means a motorcycle license is in order as well.

[Garp]

If you've got a lady that fits on te back of a Speed Triple, I envy you.

[dmaxmike]

well that’s not confidence inspiring. Anyone have any pics of the bmw’s with any form of luggage or top box on them?

[RaY YreKa]

Originally Posted by DFH

If they were impregnable they wouldn't be a School Run Mum, me thinks

Impregnatable versus impregnable

[cug]

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

can that Renault do this?

It's neither impressive nor useful. You didn't ask for this in the first place and I don't think the typical soccer mum or dad is doing that with their trucks ... so get real.

Regarding this:

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

But I digress. The real reason I read this thread in the first place is because those are bikes I am looking at for a commuter/date night with the lady/day trips on the road. i can’t decide so I guess some test rides are in order, which means a motorcycle license is in order as well.

The main downside for the Street Triple is the availability for good top case mounts. There are some but if you search long enough on Google you'll find photos of broken welds for the most commonly used ones (Givi, SW Motech, haven't checked others recently).

The problem is that the attachment points are way forward from the case itself so you have a weight using this as a lever on the welds and mount points. I didn't like this very much. If I recall correctly, the F800R is much better in that regard than the S3.

If you don't need luggage, that's not a big problem, but for me it comes down to:

1) If you want convenient lockable luggage - F800R.
2) If you are okay with using soft luggage - Street Triple.

For me personally, I like the Triumph much more as long as I don't need to carry anything (anything includes luggage and passengers) and I don't like either for really long tours (I have 34" inseam).