Purchasing Decisions...

[Gyronut]

What factors influenced your decision to buy your Venture or RSTD.

 

I wanted a HD Ultra but the pocket book said no way.....

 

Then I found the RSTD's and it had all the equipment I wanted at the time at a fair price, how could I refuse.

[phertwo]

Yes, monetary reasons. I sold my 03 V-Star 1100 Silverado for $6,000 and then I bought my 05 RSTD for $5,300 cash.

[steamer]

Needed a bigger bike for little $$$.

[myminpins]

Much more comfortable than our Honda Shadow ACE and we couldn't even think about affording a Wing then we saw the RSV and wow, we can afford this!

[Naked Rider]

I wanted a HD Ultra but the pocket book said no way like yours did but then i found the RSV then it was what color do i want it in. at first i like the black one but the other haklf didnt then i like the MM and every time i thought i found one it was gone then i seen the 06 black cherry and that started the looking real hard till i bought one.

[myminpins]

then i seen the 06 black cherry and that started the looking real hard till i bought one.

 

Pretty, aren't they? I love that color. That's the main reason we got the one we have

[RandyR]

Had a friend with a Vmax. I read up on it a little and liked the engineering. Then discovered the same basic engine could be had in a cruiser/tourer. I wanted a reliable bike for a cross-country trip.

[awsmsrv]

My better half liked the black cherry, so that's what we got. (I'm smart that way.)

[V7Goose]

Caution, the following comments are simply my opinions - they are not intended to please or anger anyone - they are simply my thoughts in response to the question asked.

 

The RSV is a gorgeous bike to me, it is certainly the most comfortable touring bike currently made, it has lots of power and lots of features, and it is sold at a fair price. Could it be better? Absolutely. Is anyone else making a better touring bike? No way.

 

I think any bike covered in tupperware is butt-ugly. I think the Wing is absolutely the most UNcomfortable bike I have ever ridden. I find the corporate attitude of HD unacceptable and the technical design of their products completely laughable. And even if I thought they were good producs, the price is an insult to intelligence. I have owned BMWs in the past, and I would never give that company another cent - overpriced products with lots of problems and poor support. The Victory Vision makes me ill when I look at it. There are other European and Japanese companies that I would be quite happy with, but they do not make any touring bikes that I find acceptable at this time.

 

Here's hoping that everyone is as happy with their choice of bikes as I am - no matter what their reasons!

Goose

[BuddyRich]

Classic Style with V4 power and smoothness at a reasonable price. Plus all the basic features you want at no additional cost.

[SilvrT]

What factors influenced your decision to buy your Venture or RSTD.

 

I wanted a HD Ultra but the pocket book said no way.....

 

 

I was in the same "boat" and the only other acceptable choice was what I got. It was the style I wanted and at a price I could afford. I bought it used with 1300 kilomters on it (it was 2 yrs old when I got it) so essentially I got a new bike at almost 1/2 the price.

 

In hindsight tho, my income changed sufficiently after the fact and had I been receiving that extra income at the time, I could then have afforded the Ultra ... but I am glad it worked out the way it did although I'd still want an Ultra. But "want" and "can have" just aren't the same.

[TheKid]

Ok I will give you my younger view. Had owned and rode crotch rockets and cruisers. Was currently on a Honda Magna (V-4). I was in Daytona and my best friend was riding with me. She said the back seat wasn't comfortable on the magna, I didn’t know because I never rode back there, LMAO. I had been looking at going bigger because of my style of riding was longer distances and long days. Went to speedway and test drove all the touring bikes (HD, Venture, GW). I knew I was too young to get a GW and she said the back seat was just OK. I liked the HD street glide with removable tour pack but again she didn’t care for back seat. Then rode the venture and she said it had the most room for passenger. So I stood back and looked it over and also went back to the HD to look over. Main reason for getting venture was, had all bless n whistles (AM/FM radio, Cassette (didn’t really care), Aux plug (totally like because I have my GPS hooked in. Plays MP3 and I can hear directions), CB Radio, trunk, n bags) also got the luggage rack, highway pegs, and driving lights/spot lights all for a good 8k+ LESS than an HD. Also the 5 year unlimited millage warranty. HD I would have had to pay extra to even get 3 years. I have to say I love my venture and I will probably only get another touring bike when Yamaha decides to update this one. If not I will get one when this falls apart and I cannot fix it.

[steamer]

I all most pulled the trigger on a 09 Kaw,1700 voyager, then i found my 99 venture for 1/4 of the price of the voyager. I have read alot on this and other forums about all the different touring bikes available,but there is very little said about the Voyager. Is it that bad? Is there something wrong with it?

[SilvrT]

I all most pulled the trigger on a 09 Kaw,1700 voyager, then i found my 99 venture for 1/4 of the price of the voyager. I have read alot on this and other forums about all the different touring bikes available,but there is very little said about the Voyager. Is it that bad? Is there something wrong with it?

 

Even though the Voyager (2009-2011) is relatively new, it could be that there's nothing BAD to say about.

 

Generally one hears a lot about the bad stuff before any good stuff...

[myminpins]

Generally one hears a lot about the bad stuff before any good stuff...

 

I'll second that. Give it a couple years and I'm sure you'll hear more.

[V7Goose]

I all most pulled the trigger on a 09 Kaw,1700 voyager, then i found my 99 venture for 1/4 of the price of the voyager. I have read alot on this and other forums about all the different touring bikes available,but there is very little said about the Voyager. Is it that bad? Is there something wrong with it?

I do not think the Voyager is "that bad", just not that good. Fit and finish didn't seem as good as it could be - not up to what I expect from Kawasaki, anyway. Plastic much too flimsy. Storage too small. Tank too small. Does not come with all the stuff the RSV has, so price too high. Warranty too short.

 

Lastly, no way of knowing yet how the bike will hold up past 100,000 miles - my RSV still runs like new with 100K on the clock.

Goose

[Ky. Rider]

What factors influenced your decision to buy your Venture or RSTD.

 

I wanted a HD Ultra but the pocket book said no way.....

 

Then I found the RSTD's and it had all the equipment I wanted at the time at a fair price, how could I refuse.

 

Stock features, $(mine & the cost), warranty, looks, RSV reputation, attitude.

[Guest scarylarry]

Price, warranty the only bike I know that comes with a 5 yr.standard warranty and comfort....

 

This is why I chose this bike, many times I looked at the GW...

[Sylvester]

I purchased my 02 RSMV in 01 for reliability. I just sold my 2000 HD Ultra that spent way too much time in the shop and I tested every touring bike available. The warranty and the proven reliability of Yamaha made it the choice for me. I now have over 150,000 miles on it and it has never let me down. I now do all my own service and plan on having this bike cremated with me when I leave this world, so I can ride for eternity.

 

[cecdoo]

Value!!!!! Beautiful, dependable, affordable used bike with 3 years left on the warranty, it was a no brainer:rasberry:

 

Craig

[Jethroish]

What factors influenced your decision to buy your Venture or RSTD.

 

I wanted a HD Ultra but the pocket book said no way.....

 

Then I found the RSTD's and it had all the equipment I wanted at the time at a fair price, how could I refuse.

 

 

:sign yeah that:What you said, PLUS 5 year warranty. All I needed.

Could not justify spending $8000 more for the HD.

[JerryT]

I wanted a true touring bike with full fairing. Looked at the Goldwing, nice bike, just don't like the way I fit on them. HD's are fine, just not for me. BMW's OK, and if the new K1600 would have been out, maybe, but not the old one. RSV, like the way I fit the bike, looks, way it runs, and value for the $ is so far above the others its hard to believe. After 2 1/2 years on the RSV, I still like it and think it is an unbeatable bike for the money.

[Freebird]

Well, after being without a bike for about 3 years, I decided that I wanted to get back into riding. The first thing I bought was a '95 Honda Shadow Ace. I really liked it but it was only about 3 or 4 months before I realized that I wanted a touring bike. So I kept the Shadow and added an '88 Venture Royale to the stable. The '88 was a great bike but I am one of those who just never felt comfortable on the first gen Ventures. Something about my long legs and the feet under position just didn't work for me.

 

So, I started looking around in late '98 or very early '99 and ended up buying a like new '86 Harley FXRD. I really liked that bike and never had a moment of trouble out of it. The one thing that I didn't like though was that the FXRD was only made for that ONE year. It was called the "Grand Touring Edition" and if you think that aftermarket accessories are difficult to find for the Venture, you should try finding things for that bike. So, I decided that I wanted something a bit newer and with more accessories available.

 

When I first saw the RSV when it was introduced in '99, I pretty much fell in love with it. After buying 3 bikes in about a year though, I wanted to be sure before buying a brand new bike. I went and rode the Valk Interstate. Liked it a lot but the sitting position still didn't make me completely happy and it didn't come with CB, radio, etc. I then went to look at new Harleys.

 

I really did like the Ultra Classics but '99 was NOT a good year to buy a Harley. Now at that time, I was doing well with my company and though I wasn't rich, money was not an object. I was prepared to pay whatever I needed to in order to get the bike that I wanted. The problem was, Harley dealers were doing very well at the time and not only were there not many new Ultras available but the dealers in Dallas, TX had a real attitude about it. The first dealer that I visited was a large one with a lot of bikes on the showroom floor. Only a couple of Ultras though. A big sign beside them said "these are not your bikes, don't sit on them". I walked around that showroom and looked at different bikes for about 45 minutes and was never approached by an employee. I left.

 

The second HD dealer that I visited had NO new bikes. He had NO used Ultra Classics. He had ONE nearly new Road King and it really did look nice. The owner of this dealership was sitting at a desk. Leaned back with his feet on the desk and reading a newspaper. He never spoke to me or even acknowledged that I was there in spite of only being about 15 feet away from the bike. I finally walked over and asked "what can you tell me about the Road King". He never took his eyes off his newspaper but just responded "$24,000.00 and if you don't want it, the next person who walks in will". I left.

 

So, I went and looked at the RSV and liked it better than anything else I had looked at or ridden. I did some shopping and bought it in April or May of 1999.

 

It has been and still is the most comfortable bike that I've ever owned. Once in a while I get the urge to have something different but this one is paid for and I don't have the money for such things as I had back in 1999 so I guess I'll just keep it. I've never regretted my decision.

 

I can tell you this though. Times have changed. The Harley dealers that I have visited over the past few years aren't nearly as arrogant as they were back then. Sales are down and they have plenty of inventory and I also think that they have been better trained. I am typically greeted in a very courteous manner now when I go into a Harley dealership and find them very helpful. I wish that the Yamaha dealers would take some cues from them because now it seems to be the opposite at to many metric dealers. I am amazed at the lack of customer service at so many of them. NOT ALL. There are some good ones out there but they are way too few and far between.

[SilvrT]

I can tell you this though. Times have changed. The Harley dealers that I have visited over the past few years aren't nearly as arrogant as they were back then. Sales are down and they have plenty of inventory and I also think that they have been better trained. I am typically greeted in a very courteous manner now when I go into a Harley dealership and find them very helpful. I wish that the Yamaha dealers would take some cues from them because now it seems to be the opposite at to many metric dealers. I am amazed at the lack of customer service at so many of them. NOT ALL. There are some good ones out there but they are way too few and far between.

 

DITTO all of the above!

[darthandy]

Well, I had been riding my Triumph Sprint for several years and as enjoyable as it was (and still is!) my wife didn't find the passenger accommodations very comfortable. So, since I had wanted to do some touring, a touring oriented bike was in order. Since I was dipping into my retirement funds (What little I have), since I'm half way there anyway, I wanted something a bit newer than the '87 Royale I bought last fall and which has spent more time being repaired than being ridden. No criticism of the bike, it's just old and well used. I went looking and found that in my price range, the newest Wing I could get was about a '95 or '96 with a fair bit of mileage. Then I caught an ad for a 2000 RSV. It was red...I mean, it was really, really RED! And when I went to see it, I lay down in the guy's driveway and noted that the underside was as clean as the top side. The price was near the top of the Bluebook for the year but then again, he had about $2,000 worth of extras (Lots of chrome!). Took it for a ride and that was pretty much it. I went off to see another 2000 but it wasn't half as nice, had far fewer extras, more mileage and was only a $1,000 less. I struck a deal over the phone at which time the owner mentioned that his mechanic didn't think that the front tire would pass our required safety check so he told me to knock $200 off the price. Then, when he showed up with the bike, he mentioned that the battery had been acting up, so he had put a new sealed battery in.

 

Haven't regretted my purchase yet and I doubt I ever will. She's a beauty and well suited to our touring and cruising needs. And it doesn't look like a plastic wrapped, dollar store toy...no offence meant to anyone, but I do prefer this look.

 

Andy