OK, riding the Rocket III and liking it allowed me to completely review the inventory at the local bike shops. On hand at the BMW dealership was a 1300cc 2004 Yamaha Royal Star with 58,000ks on the clock for 14k. In the budget and I haven't got any prejudices against jap bikes, so I took it for a ride.
It's a V4, was very smooth and other than the style of bike the jap 4 reminded me distantly of the sound and feel of the bikes I'd owned in the past. The bike was in good nick, had panniers and a screen.
This was the first time I'd ridden a bike with plates instead of pegs and a heel and toe gear changing mechanism. My feet got caught up a little in the gear levers and I had to lift my foot off the plate to put the rear brake on. I also whacked my shins against something each time I stopped and put a foot down. Overall though it was pretty good and these things I would be able to work around with familiarity.
When I dropped it off and was walking through the shop, I saw a bright shiny chromed new looking blue/silver two toned Harley-Davidson with retro while wall tyres through my new cruiser opened eyes and dismissed it as too expensive. Nice bike though, for a Harley.
OK, now I had some serious research to do, what cruisers were in my budget.
