[Stoker100]

Guys,
I have a good friend that has just started back into bike riding. He did it a little as a teenager on an FJ1100 (I think). Now he has been riding a Honda F4 600 crotch rocket. We have been going on 3 and 400 mi trips. He is a real trooper!

He has finally come to a conclusion that he may want to get a more touring style bike, but he has limited funds. Wants to keep it under 3500.00. We looked at an ST1100 and it was OK. He is really takin a liking to the PC800 honda. It's an 800 and kinda cool.

You guys have any suggestions?
thx
larry

 

[mneblett]

Guys,
I have a good friend that has just started back into bike riding. He did it a little as a teenager on an FJ1100 (I think). Now he has been riding a Honda F4 600 crotch rocket. We have been going on 3 and 400 mi trips. He is a real trooper!

He has finally come to a conclusion that he may want to get a more touring style bike, but he has limited funds. Wants to keep it under 3500.00. We looked at an ST1100 and it was OK. He is really takin a liking to the PC800 honda. It's an 800 and kinda cool.

You guys have any suggestions?
thx
larry

My $0.02: Kawasaki Concours -- a bit buzzy, but otherwise a vary capable tourer. with a *huge* following the Concours equivalent of this site has about as much info as here. The bike has been made for 20+(!!) years (bugs worked out and development costs amortized long ago, so low priced when new), and there's bunches of them out there at reasonable prices.

 

[ATFLT]

For $3,500 you probably won't find many good ST1100's or Concours's. The PC is probably more likely to be a better deal for that money. A good Concours would likely be in the $4-5,000 range. At that price a Concours could be fairly new. Even though they made the ST1100 and Concours for quite some time there aren't many around. There will be even fewer PC's.

 

[Stoker100]

The concours is on the list

Sounds like we are on the right track.
Thx
larry

 

[dshealey]

I think the BMW designers had a PC800 sitting in front of them when they first designed the LT. Remarkable similarities.

The PC is a pretty capable bike. I saw one pulling out from a store when I was on the way home from work once, wanted to get a closer look at it, so I followed him. Had to work at keeping up with him in the twisties! We finally got to the KOA about 10 miles from my home, and he pulled in. I followed him to his site, and talked to him a while. He was a retired Canadian RCP motorcycle officer, and could really hustle that PC around! We parked the bikes side by side, and there is quite a bit of that design in the LT.

The PC800s are getting pretty long in the tooth though, hard to find one that is still in great shape. If he does find one, he should grab it.

 

[KBandit]

i had a PC 800 (Pacific Coast) in my garage for a while that i kept for when my dad visited. it is very practical, i will give it that, but it was also painfully slow. if i were him i'd pony up a few extra bucks for an ST.

 

[WildBill]

You might want to consider a Yamaha FZ1. If your friend still wants the power of a sport bike and reasonable ergonomics the FZ1 might fill the bill. I have one and it is a great bike. Obviously not as plush as the K12 but lots more sporty (125 RWHP/500#s). The FZ1 has very comfortable ergonomics, I can ride mine all day with no problems. Get a larger fairing and a set of soft bags and the FZ1 is a very capable SPORT-touring bike. Take the bags off and it is a part time track bike! You can find good used ones, probable more in the $4-5K range, use Cycle trader to see what's out there. Good Luck.

 

[Kenny]

Pc 800

Slow! I would wonder what slow is. My wife has had two PC's and if 108 mph is slow then it must be slow.
I would not consider a PC slow we traveled over 80,000 miles on the two PC's and never had a monent that the bike could not keep up.
I agree the PC would be the perfect choice, but they are getting a little hard to find these days and the price is going up, in our area anyway.

 

[ATLDB]

Great Bike

Before I purchased my RT last year I entered the realm of touring machines in a 1993 PC 800 that I purchased with 11K miles on it. I was in the exact same place as your friend I had no more than 4K to spend. Concours, ST11s and PCs were my choices, test drove all 3 of them, people that own Sts and Councours must be the proudest $%%^ people on earth about their bikes because you will NOT find one for that money. Got the PC for $2800.

I call the Goldwing the Lexus of bikes, my LT is the 7 series of bikes, the PC is the cadillac, confortable, smooth, sometimes you wonder if the motor is running, maintenance free, awsome superslab cruising, practical for just about anything, and it has good ground clearence, better than our LT's, so its fun on the twisties. So OK its an 799cc on a heavy bike and you will not do willies and might have to shift down coming out of a curve but it is a great great bike. I wish Honda would come out with a new 2006 1200cc PC I would give it a very hard look.

Try looking at WOW Motorcycles here in Atlanta, they always have two or 3 PCs around. Cycle Trader usually have them as well.

Good Luck, PM me if you need extra info, my dad an I are PC guys we know those bikes inside out.

Good Luck

 

[justincase]

Concours

Sounds like we are on the right track.
Thx
larry

Concours is a great bike. Easy to work on (although I don't) and reliable. It’s been around since 1985 with little changes (that’s good and bad). MANY aftermarket items are available.

Forum: Suggested reading
http://www.concours.org/forum/
http://www.concours.org/

Ebay is a good source.

 

[KBandit]

Slow! I would wonder what slow is. My wife has had two PC's and if 108 mph is slow then it must be slow.
I would not consider a PC slow we traveled over 80,000 miles on the two PC's and never had a monent that the bike could not keep up.
I agree the PC would be the perfect choice, but they are getting a little hard to find these days and the price is going up, in our area anyway.

i guess "slow" is in the eye of the beholder. i felt like i could have a cup of coffee waiting for the thing to reach freeway speed. and, yeah ... 108 mph top speed strikes me as pretty slow.

of course i think the acceleration and top speed of the LT are pretty marginal too.

 

[jkersh1]

Check out the IBMWR marketplace http://www.ibmwr.org/market/

I see some interesting items: Heidi Weldon-Still's (redoubtable LD rider) 2001 GS; blue 87 K75; 1985 K100 RS; 1994 BMW K75S ABS Special; 1999 K1200LT for $6k; etc.