Getting Old I suppose

[Hen99]

So I am officially old  My back issues , dodgy knee and foot fracture  have been joined by a tennis elbow . Hmmm  I was thinking about a new 900  but now  have an ache in my elbow after just a few miles , so might be forced to look at something more upright, Anyway  being old(ish)  got me thinking  !!! The first modern age super bike the  Kwak GPXR was only 900 cc , the original blade was only 900 cc ( give or take ) and the original Honda Golding was only 1000cc  and now we have a 'Middleweight  Tiger' of 900cc . Ok  weights have come down with modern materials but its still a big engine to put in a motorcycle that makes less than 100hp, Triumph will tell you - they built  what we want ( So a rocket 3 of 2500cc !!!!) but I would guess a lot of tiger owners don't break speed limits- ride solo and don't  really need more than 45-50 hp to cruise at 75, 
 Anyway for those of us that are getting on a bit,  how about  a much smaller , lighter  baby tiger maybe a 450 twin 170 kilos,  it would be fine for solo touring   would probably be better offload as well
 

[healdem]

have a look at the baby versys

[GeoffS]

Hi
They’d be competing with the likes of the V-Strom and that would be difficult to do.
There’s also the Kwack and the CB500X, also excellent little-uns.
Go and have a go on any of these and see what you think.
Geoff

[GeoffS]

Sorry Matt, we were typing at the same time..

[healdem]

The original Versys was, and still is 650cc
then they went large with a 1000
But the baby Versys is, IIRC 300cc, smaller lightweight. bit lower on power that the OP says he is looking for,
However I do know of someone who swapped a 650 Versys for the baby and it has reportedly rejuvinated his riding at 70+

[coddy]

Its always a difficult choosing a bike especially for short, old or riders with less than perfectly working limbs.

There's having enough power, more required if you ride with others and/or ride two up, there's bike weight issues, seat height issues, luggage carrying capacity and tank range when touring or commuting.

All in all for a lot of us a trade off is required.

[Paulhere]

A modern version of the B50 would suit me for old age riding. It was also Triumph badged for a year or two. The weight puts many modern bikes to shame. I saw a couple at Cadwell, at the Beezumph rally, easy out cornering the triples, losing a bit on the straights then catching them again in the twisties. Not that I want to do that.

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/BSA/BSA%20B50SS,%20T%20&%20MX.htm

[Derchef1962]

Right now my old bones can cope with the Tiger's weight. I don't want to go under 75 HP as I need some power to overtake the four wheel tins on country roads.

After a long break I started riding again 10 years ago and bought a BMW 650 thumper, 53 HP when I bought it and I thought : wow this is massive the bike I had before in the early 80s was Yamaha XS 400 which had 36 HP due to an illegal "hot" camshaft (or two of those can't really remember).

Boy was I wrong. Riding with my new found mates it took me less than a year to find out that bike was underpowered and dangerous because of that. Hence the decision to switch to the tiger and I am happy ever since.

Same story with my girlfriend. She took her first licence at the age of 55 and to save the trouble of a written test she went for 48 HP licence. So we had her Ducati scrambler reduced to the 48 HP. Overtaking was really stressful with that bike I can tell you, it went up to 4,500 revs and stopped there. You had to shift gear at least twice when overtaking a car. The missus upgraded the licence 3 years ago the Duc is now open and a total different story now.

[Paulhere]

This looks like it could be fun for us oldies.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/ktm-390-adventure/

[Paulhere]

Bikes seem to need an awful lot of horses these days.

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/triu/triumph_sport_tiger_t100sc.htm