Next bike for Jen? 100HP Middleweight. Also Triumph Speed vs Street?

[sky_blue]

About every other year I play with the idea of parting ways with my beloved '07 CBR600RR. Every time I find excuses to keep him -- be them financial or otherwise. But man, everytime I ride it more more than an hour, my back and wrists and knees make their protests known. So now I play the annual which bike drill.



The wants:

Standard or close to standard seating.
Small to midweight overall mass (I can't muscle around a C14 or VFR)
Around 100 HP or more (the CBR has spoiled me)
Appropriate suspention to do (slow-intermediate) trackdays
Place to put luggage/bags
ABS
Price: $15k or less. Yes, this is a mid-life crisis bike.
The wants but maybe don't have to have:

SSSA
The DONT WANTS:

Kawasaki 650R.
Kawasaki Ninja 1000 (feels too bulky) or Z1000.
Any Yamaha
Any dual-sport
Aprilla or any other super-exotics
The current contenders:

Ducati 848 Streetfighter. Super sexy. Tall, forward seating position with no fairing a tad on the agressive side maybe? Traction control but no ABS.
2012 or 2013 Truimph Speed Triple R. Ohlins overkill.:drool:SSSA.
2012 Truimph Street Triple R. But no ABS. Exhaust problematic for luggage.
2013 Triumph Street Triple R. ABS. But if I buy the Street will I forever wish I had gotten the Speed?
Honda CB1000? Havent seen one in real life. Headlight looks so ugly.
FZ8
Is there anything I am forgetting?

Can I survive without a fairing?

[tecknojoe]

KTM Super Duke R? I've got one for you. Although I don't know if you classify that as super exotic over a duc

[asp_125]

VFR800 or VFR1200? The 6th & 7th gens tick pretty much every box in your needs list, and SSSA.

BMW F800ST ... though not 100hp I don't think.

Duc Multistrada?

Older stuff: BMW R1100S?

[FZjake719]

Why no Yamahas?? Those FZ8's are supposed to be fantastic! (I'm biased lol)

I do like the Street/Speed triple Rs though. For me, it'd be a toss-up between those three.

[matt2778]

Just curious why is abs a must?

[sky_blue]

Why no Yamahas?? Those FZ8's are supposed to be fantastic! (I'm biased lol)


Anti-Yamaha bias rescinded. FZ8 looks quite nice. Have to go find one of those in person and inspect.


Just curious why is abs a must?

Just one of those things I thought was pretty darn cool to have on a motorcycle. Safety first and all that. Possibly could be talked out of it.

[TransNone13]

Anti-Yamaha bias rescinded. FZ8 looks quite nice. Have to go find one of those in person and inspect.



Just one of those things I thought was pretty darn cool to have on a motorcycle. Safety first and all that. Possibly could be talked out of it.

I'd stick to ABS if you can. It helps on insurance too.

[JKOL]

I have both a 07 600RR and 07 Speed Triple. I actually find the 600RR pretty comfortable, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to survive a 2 day, 1000 miles Clovis ride. I love my Speed Triple, but I find it very tiring to ride at any kind of pace for more than 100 miles due to not having any fairings to hide behind. I have found I am sore in ways I have never been after rides on my 600RR, and the only reason I can think of is fighting the wind just to hold on. For example I have noticed my neck gets extra fatigued. I find the overall riding position on the Speed Triple much more comfortable and less fatiguing on my wrists, but when everything above my belly button is out in the wind, it gets tiring just holding on. That said, if you love the power of your 07 600RR, you will absolutely lust for the torque of the Triple after just one ride. There is so much torque, all over, it just pulls and pulls. Cracking the throttle at around 7K RPMs in 1st gear results in the front end coming up on me and I am not a small rider, 6'2" and 215lbs. That isn't even a possibility on my 600RR.

I am not sure if any of this is helpful to you, but I guess I am just trying to point out that while better riding positions, the Speed/Street Triple and Duc Streetfighter might be uncomfortable in different ways if you do anything other than quick commutes.

[Titus]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aEDnrAzcz8A/TyeCBNyZxCI/AAAAAAAAD8U/7WIgvkIBPvY/s1600/2012-Ducati-848-Streetfighter.jpg

I have the 1098 Streetfighter & it's wicked comfy. I can ride all day long with no problems. Plus it sounds great, looks great, & handles fantastically.

Have you test rode one?

[sag]

renthals.

[TinkerinWstuff]

I saw you said no VFR

and then Jeff recommend one anyway. :)

Have you tried a 6th gen?

Karen in Vegas is a small girl and loves the VFR. Here's a thread with lots of pics and her details of 9,000 miles in 6months.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/general-vfr-discussions/33785-9k-miles-less-than-6-months.html

[BC14]

But the connie is so much fun :D I do like my SV1000 quite a bit. Mine put down 103.5 on the dyno earlier this year. But, they will be used. Otherwise, the street triple is fun to ride, feels like a 250 to me, but has decent power, and hardly any vibration at all.

[sky_blue]

Thanks for all the feedback. I continue to state at photos of these bikes daily. Gotta say, just seeing the photo of the Ducati...man...that is a good looking bike.

These cold, winter-ish mornings though -- the idea of riding in 40 degrees without a fairing seems frightening.

[FZRguy]

You can test ride the Triumphs at Foothills. Spend another day checking out all the other bikes, touch, feel, sit, you'll know.

[bodhizafa]

I vote street triple! Cool bike!

[675Rider]

Triples are great! My vote is for the Speed Triple FTW.