barmybiker Posted July 20, 2011 Posted July 20, 2011 Hi I have recently joined the group and would like some advice. a bit of background info first - my first official bike was a 650 dragstar and for a newly full licence rider was excellent to get to grips with and raise my confidence. I have since had a few bikes and have been a m/bike courier in london and around uk. Now the recent stuff - I have done all of the speedy stuff and seeing as i am getting on a bit now, need a comfort bike rather than a speedy one but would still like a bit of oomph when i need it. I have looked at the 1900 midnight star and can get a pretty good deal on a new one. any advice on this bike would be great as trying to get a test ride is proving difficult. A couple of point wanted.... 1) is there any vibration when riding - especially for a passenger 2) how good is the MPG - want to travel from cambridge to gloucester and not cost a bomb 3) whats a decent cruising speed for this bike? 4) i see the rear brakes are under the exhaust - can the pads be easily changed or will i need a ramp. a lot I know but hopefully this will be my last bike.. Any help greatfully appreciated phil
clarke Posted July 20, 2011 Posted July 20, 2011 Welcome. I have the XVS 1300 which is a great bike. I've looked at a 1900 which looks massive To answer your questions based on a 1300: 1) is there any vibration when riding - especially for a passenger There's some pulsation in the floorboards for the rider as it's a V-Twin but nothing too bad. The other half has never mentioned any vibrations to me. 2) how good is the MPG - want to travel from cambridge to gloucester and not cost a bomb I usually get anywhere between 145-180 miles from a tank. 3) whats a decent cruising speed for this bike? It does 70mph all day no problem. When I was in Germany on the autobahn it ran no problems 2 up fully loaded at 90mph no problems - could have gone faster as per the cars but to be honest 90mph on the autobahns is fast enough for me. 4) i see the rear brakes are under the exhaust - can the pads be easily changed or will i need a ramp. The brakes on the 1300 are in a similar position and I believe most people use a lift of some description to change them to make it easier, but given the stand is on the opposite side it may be possible to change as it is (you may have to remove the muffler). Hope this helps Graham
Moderator Airhead Posted July 20, 2011 Moderator Posted July 20, 2011 Greetings barmyphil dont know about huge V twins sorry but nice intro sir ...Paul
barmybiker Posted July 24, 2011 Author Posted July 24, 2011 hi all thanks for the replies. After some welcome advice from Graham i have found a 2010 1300 midnight star with only 2k on the clock really cheap. I have taken it out for a test and was really impressed. really smooth and a good bit of oomph when i wanted to accelerate. just getting the money together and sorting out my firestorm and i will be on my way cruising the roads. cheers phil
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