Ended up buying a Kawasaki Versys 650 this year. Always wanted to get a motorcycle at some point, but never really lived in a decent area where I didn’t fear that the idiotic drivers in the area wouldn’t kill me because they’re staring at their cell phones instead of keeping their eyes on the road (looking at you upstate SC drivers).
Having moved back to the rural Midwest, the drivers are so much better here - only really had one close call since moving back. Dumb idiot tried to pass 2 cars over a double yellow while going over a blind hill and would have hit me head on.
Anywho back to the bike - even though its only a 650cc, I doubt I’ll get tired of this bike anytime soon - it just handles and rides so good. It still needs a few things to be ready for a big trip next spring though:
Just to name a few. It came with Dunlop tires on it, but I’m really not sure if I want to swap them for Michelin Road 5’s or 6’s before I take the trip. The Dunlop tires are ok and seem to handle fine, but I’m just not sure how well they’d hold up.
Speaking of Michelin tires, Pilot Sport All Season 4’s - great tires. I had Michelin Primacy HPs back when I had my Scion FR-S, but those were garbage. Stuck Nitto Motivo tires on there and they were worlds better. Almost the same performance as the specific Michelin sport tires for the car, but at $50 less a tire (~$100 a tire compared to ~$150+ a tire) they were a no brainer. Just had the PS4 A/S put on my current car and I really can’t complain.