importing from Europe

[HiDesert]

Hello,

I just moved from New Mexico, USA, to Vienna, Austria. I had an '02 YZF600R in NM (great bike, BTW), but I'm thinking I want to try something a little different now. My father-in-law used to have a Yamaha triple (a '79 750) that was really great, so for that and other reasons, I'm thinking of a Sprint ST. The dealer here in Vienna has a blue 2000 model for 6750 euro, or I can buy a brand new one (silver) for about 9k euro. The decision is easy *if* I can bring the bike back with me when I return to the US in a couple of years. So, anyone know anything about this? Will I have trouble registering a bike bought in Austria when I get it to the states?

Of course, I could try and contact the NM department of motor vehicles with this question, but that wouldn't give me an excuse to solicit opinions from a bunch of what I hope will become rider friends!

There's more to the decision, of course. They also have a blue '05, but it's an ABS bike. I don't want the extra weight or complexity, but I really like the blue. The bike will be kept in a guarded garage at work when I feel like it, but it will also probably spend some time parked on the street by my apartment. That argues for the used bike. Strangely, the 2000 ST feels lighter to me than the '05, at least as I take them off the kickstand in the showroom. Probably just a weight distribution effect. The used bike only has 14.7k km (megameters?) on it, which is nice, but I can't test ride it because it's a consignment, which is asinine.

They also have a '98 Daytona T595 that's less than 5000 euro, with a 12 month warranty. I can test ride it, but I have to all but hand over the cash becuase they'd have to get it down from the second floor of the dealership, which is a pain in the @$$.

This decision is driving me insane! :brk: At the same time, it's more fun than anything short of actually riding, or other activities that are seriously .

And get this; I can test ride their demo bike tomorrow morning, but only if nobody shows up who wants to rent it! How stupid is that? Can you say illogical priorities? They obviously can! An Austrian lady I mentioned this to wasn't surprised at all, while agreeing that it's hugely illogical. Oh well, if everything was the same, there wouldn't be any point in moving to another country.

[bowillyard]

Rent it for the day, and ask them to refund the rent if you buy it? Oh yes, it's Austria, negotiation may not be in order, but anyway you can rent it for a day, then you can have a proper test ride.

[Nelson955]

6750 for a 5 year old ST is well over the odds. My local dealer is selling a 2003 ST for £4600, complete with luggage. That equates to 6600 euros or thereabouts.

Bob

[ST-ern]

There's no substitute for test riding so insist; small differences over long hours in the saddle become big differences.

[HiDesert]

Okay, so we've got fantastic weather in Vienna today. I spent about an hour and a half on the Sprint. It was fantastic! I can easily see myself taking serious trips on it, and I can see myself having a blast on a sprint through the mountains as well (how far are the Alps from here?). It reminded me a lot of my YZF600R, but with better music and a lot more muscle! I never felt any heat through the seat, but I did get a bit off the engine bay in stop-and-go traffic. The evaluation process was somewhat hampered by the fact that this was the first time I've been on the road here (it's probably good that the dealer didn't know that), and I had to split CPU time between evaluation and navigation a lot more than I would have liked.

The biggest shortcoming I noticed was the seat. You don't have much room to move around, front-to-back. I like to do that a lot on long rides; it keeps things more comfortable. Extending your legs can provide a lot of the same effect, so this is hardly a critical issue. I may end up replacing the seat anyway though. It may have been the Draggin' jeans I was wearing, or an interaction between the jeans and the seat, but after a while it felt like there was a thick fabric seam going across the seat right underneath me. Weird. I'll have to try some other pants and see if the effect is there regardless of what I'm wearing. Or maybe some more Viennese pastry can help me grow some more padding.

Some of the best leaning I got to do was on ramps; on one of them, I spun it up a bit as the curve started to straighten out, and the front end got decidedly light. Awesome :-D ! I was "woohoo"ing and laughing in my helmet like a simpleton. Gotta love that.

When I got back, I asked about a ride on the Daytona 650 demo bike, and they had me back out the door in minutes. Nice bike, but after getting off the Sprint, it felt like a sewing machine at low RPMs. Wonderfully light, and I like the roomy seat (if not the brick-like feel of the "foam"), but it's not nearly as versitile a bike as the Sprint. No contest. I was back in the dealer in 15 minutes.

The Sprint feels like Triumph knew exactly what I wanted, and built it just for me. Insert additional exuberant boilerplate here. Having a centerstand is going to be great, too. That's one thing I really wanted on my last bike. Getting this Sprint up onto a centerstand is a lot easier and less accident prone than getting a bike up on a swingarm stand. I tried the centerstand a few times; easy as pie.

So, judging from the VIN number on the silver non-ABS I'll be getting, it's part of the hose and brake routing recalls. Can't wait to try and have that discussion in German.

[SpiderTex]

Looks like you're "sold" to the sprint...

BTW, the Alps are very close to you.

And a little heads-up, Austria is the only country in Europe where the police can <U>estimate</u> your speed on the highway and give tickets based on that solely!!! So keep an eye on that speedo if your blasting around...

have fun

[HiDesert]

I'm actually very worried by what I'm hearing about all the automatic speed traps, and not just on the highway. I'm going to have to be REALLY careful.