first bike

Skellington

hey, i'm getting my first bike in a few weeks and i've narrowed the list down to a few. all 125's. dragster, shadow, virago or marauder. can anyone tell me which bike they found better from their experiences*?


*(not looking to be told which bike to buy btw, just want a general idea of each ones pro's and con's)

seamus

Avoid the marauder. From that list, I'd go for the Dragstar.

Skellington

it shall be done... but can you give some reasons for that please?

seamus

I had a marauder for two years. Generally found that it wasn't the best commuter. It'd be fine probably if you only drove a few miles in city traffic, but it can't handle frequent trips at 50mph. It's piss slow too.

LB6

ditto with the virago.

changed to a bandit 600. Found that the 600 works as one fluid motion where as the cruiser goes round bends in two halves. Glad thats gone.

Good luck with whatever you pick up. Make sure you get proper training by registered instructors. Stay safe.

Shar.

causal

I had a Virago for 2 years and I choose it over the others.
I'd avoid the marauder coz it's build quality isn't as good as the others, it's a single cylinder, and unless it's changed recently, the front brake disc was awfully fragile looking.

The Virago is better for commuting/filtering than the Dragstar coz it's narrower - but both of these are nice small V-twins - but the Dragstar is more cruiseresque looking if that's your thing.
I can't remember why I didn't go for a Shadow.

I'd agree with all of the above being fine for commutes but a bit of a struggle at motorway speeds and medium distance trips (~40 miles).

causal

a_ominous

My first bike was a Marauder. I was intimidated to get anything bigger. Changed it after 2 months for a 400cc bike as the Marauder hadn't got enough guts to out-accelerate cars from the traffic lights on dual carriageways.
Can't say anything about build quality as I didn't have it long enough. Have read a fair bit that Suzuki build quality is poor when compared to Honda, Yamaha.

I liked the look of the cruiser at first, but it turned out to be impractical for my commute. I needed to carry stuff and a top-box looks naff on a cruiser.
Also re engine, AFAIK the engine on the Marauder GZ125 is the same (same size anyhoo) as the Suzuki GN125. But the Marauder weighs 25% more at 125kg. So there is poorer acceleration. Being longer than the GN125, it makes manouevring more difficult in heavy traffic. Filtering in a straight line is fine.

The Dragster is a V twin, which makes it a more comfortable ride than a single cylinder. But I've just seen it's 145kg! For the same power as a GN125. Oy!