I really enjoyed the 1600 right up until I bought the Aprilia. The 1600 was a nice ride and I got to thinking that I never had a bad day of riding on the bike. Never got rained on even a little bit and the only mechanical problem in 8300 miles was a turn signal bulb that expired. That was my third new Kawasaki ('99 Drifter, '01 Concours, '03 1600 Classic) and my experience with all of them has been the same: Trouble free and enjoyable to ride, great values for the money...At least until you sell them. Yeah, yeah, I know, Harleys and BMWs hold their value better. But they only do that if you keep them long enough for new bike retail price inflation to drag up used prices and I never keep a bike that long. And people forget that the excessive freight, set up, and doc fees are part of the cost of the bike and H-D and to a lesser degree BMW are famous for stacking those on big time. Factor in a couple of thousand in phony fees (I was quoted $1800 freight and set up on a $6,995 Sportster in '03) and the percentage of depreciation changes a bit.
Anyway, when I get another case of New Bike Fever I'll most likely be visiting the Kawasaki dealer first and the Triumph dealer after that.
No comments:
Post a Comment