A week ago, I sold my 2015 SR400 for an offer I couldn't refuse and put the money toward this brand new NX500. The weather has been very cooperative in my area and I've been able to get it through 300 miles commuting to work, and doing my best to do a proper break-in otherwise.
I put nearly 13k miles on my SR. It wasn't the fastest, but it got me to work for years reliaby and took me on some amazing multi-day road adventures. I'll certainly miss the charm of the 400 thumper and novelty of being kickstart only, but I think dailying an SR through even rain and freezing cold has earned me the smoothness of the NX (in comparison) and electric start.
This was the SR earlier this year.
Sedici is one of Cycle Gear's house brands, from before they were absorbed by Revzilla. It's the "upgrade" line to their cheap shit Bilt stuff.
FYI, the Tusk rackless luggage will beat the shit out of your rear plastics and if you're the type of person who likes to keep everything clean and shiny, this will annoy you. It's also a universal one-size-fits-none situation regardless of which setup you get (the X2 or "Highland" or the regular one) so you'll spend quite some time puzzling over how to mount it and the setup always seems janky and gimcrack. It's also a pain in the arse to remove and put back on.
If you can countenance it, I would highly advise just getting a set of pannier racks and doing regular luggage, either soft or hard depending on your preference. It really won't be that much more expensive at the end of the day and it'll piss you off a lot less.
I have the X2 "system" on my Orion RXB. It's awful, and I'd never do it again.
Also, wow. You are quite the power user. I checked out your profile looking for more moto content, and between everything else, I got seriously lost in your posts in the best way! I love your weird knife Wednesdays series. I really admire your diverse interests and the depth of your knowledge. Thank you for taking time to give me an informative reply the way you did.
Ah, yeah. Thanks.
I only have seven motorcycles (heh, "only") so I guess there's less for me to talk about there. Plus, they won't fit in my photo box.
Unless I build a new, bigger photo box. Hmm...
Anyway, they're the ones all lined up in a row in the headline image of this community, except for the Harley all the way down on the left end which is my next door neighbor's.
Wow, I appreciate your informed response! I knew that going rackless would have its drawbacks, in particular, the confusion in mounting and nonspecific fitment. However, for the time being, it's kind of all my budget will allow for (at least with what limited searching I've done). Excursion - Sub $300 40+L (with the top dry bag) setup. I know buying dedicated mounting hardware alone can cost close to this amount. Eventually I'll get there with good quality hard cases, but my situation necessitates I use this as my primary vehicle at the moment, so I have to get something sooner.