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New Subscriber



Gidday everyone.

As a new entry to this group, I thought I'd better introduce myself.

Well, my name is Craigus and I'm a Kiwi living in Eastern Europe.  I don't
have an ST but I do have a bike, an XS 1100 based hardtailed custom I got
knocked together while living in England about 10 years back.  It's
currently in New Zealand and, as my stay in Europe has been drawn out longer
than expected, I am now on the lookout for a new bike.

I started looking last year and was initially interested in the Triumph
Tiger.  Rented one for a week last year while back in NZ and toured the
South Island on it.  Had an excellent time but couldn't really work out the
point of the Tiger.  It was a tourer, but the off-road aspect of it didn't
make sense to me, as it was too heavy for any real off-roading.  This got me
thinking that if the reason for getting a Tiger was to do touring, then why
not get something more in the Touring category ?  I've never really liked
the full blown Tourers.  No doubt they're as comfortable as hell on long
trips, but for anything other than that it would be like driving a small
car.  So that left me with one category of bike - the Sports Tourers.

I was initially interested in the new VFR 800.  All the write-ups and
reviews gave it praise, and it seems to be capable of all I would like it
for, but what's the use of a Tourer that can't carry luggage ?  Sure,
there's after market panniers and bags that can be tacked on - but I learnt
two things when touring on the Tiger.  Firstly, that hard panniers on a bike
make travelling that much easier, comfortable and enjoyable, and secondly
that the wrong type of panniers on a bike can drastically effect the
performance of the machine at speeds.

Enter the Sprint ST.  Aimed at equalling, and if possible bettering, the
already famous VFR - this bike looks like the business.  I suppose that that
is why I joined this group - to see what real ST owners thought of their
bikes.  How they see them in comparison with the VFR.  How they find the
bike on long trips and the effect of travelling at speed with the side
panniers bolted on.  To see if the niggles the critics have are real
problems or just characteristics of the bike that pose no real problem.

So, that's me and why I'm here.
Ciao



Craigus




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