Cycle World Owner Survey
CYCLE WORLD OWNER SURVEY
An Invitation: Tell Us About Your Street Bike
In every issue of Cycle World, we report on how various motorcycles perform when new. We run them on the track, ride them on the street and through the canyons. Then we strip them down to reveal inner strengths and weaknesses. But our investigations can’t tell us how well a machine will hold up after the shine fades and the odo rolls into the thousands. Even long-term tests don’t give a complete answer because a single test bike might not be representative of the thousands coming off the assembly lines. For a meaningful answer, we need a large sample.
So Cycle World is inaugurating a series of Owner’s Surveys.
If you’ve been looking for a chance to tell the world about your 100,000 trouble-free miles or if you want to warn others about the two-wheeled monster that ate your bank account, here’s your chance. Tell us. If you own one of the models listed on the survey form, we want to know all about it, whether it’s good, bad or just average. And we’ll print the results, no matter who gets upset.
But before you reach for your pencil, a few explanations and ground rules. To keep this project within manageable limits, we had to restrict the number of models surveyed. Our selections were based on a single guideline-significant motorcycles that are still in production. That leaves out many favorites including time-honored standards such as the Honda CB/ CL/SL 350 and any number of impressive machines too new on the scene for their durability to be assessed. We’ve also limited this first survey to street bikes. This should make it easier for us to evaluate miles ridden, fuel economy, maintenance required, etc. If you ride a dirt bike or a model not listed on the survey form, have patience. There will be other surveys and they will undoubtedly cover different ground than this one.
Our first questions deal with the number of miles on the motorcycle, an all-important quantity in any discussion of reliability. We’d also like to know the mileage when any breakdowns occurred. This will tell us about durability. If any patterns emerge of certain parts breaking after so many miles, owners of that model will be able to replace the appropriate components before they are likely to break.
Many of our questions require more than a simple, multiple-choice answer; What are its special problems? What would you change? Why would (or wouldn’t) you buy another? Questions like these tell us the pleasures and pitfalls of owning a certain model, its possibilities, its limitations, and enable the prospective buyer to decide “Would I want to own one?” You may have more answers than we have questions. Great. Put any additional comments, hints, or stories on another sheet of paper and send them in with the survey form.
When the completed survey forms are returned to us, your responses won’t be fed into a computer. Each one will be read and considered. The end result will be the distilled experience of hundreds (thousands?) of Cycle World readers. That should make interesting reading.
CYCLE WORLD SURVEY
SURVEY LIST
BMW, R60—R100 Ducati V-Twins Harley-Davidson 1200 Honda Gold Wing Kawasaki 900/1000
Moto Guzzi 850/1000 Suzuki GS750 Triumph 750 Bonneville
Yamaha XS650 Yamaha XS750
Year, model and engine size__
Did you buy it new or used?__
How many miles were on it when you bought it?__
How many miles are on it now ?__
What type(s) of riding do you use this bike for? commuting and transportation touring pleasure riding
racing (what type?)_ other_
How hard do you ride?
very hard moderately hard average gentler than average
How many miles do you ride per year?__
What is your average fuel economy?__
Do you do your own maintenance and repairs?
always usually sometimes never
How easy is the bike to work on?
very easy average difficult
Does it have any special maintenance problems?_
How available are parts?
always available mostly available sometimes hard to find always hard to find What modifications have you made?__
What accessories have you added?.
Of the accessories you’ve added, which ones are especially good? Why?.
Which accessories are unsatisfactory? Why?
Do you have any special hints for riding or servicing this bike?.
How do you rate your local dealer?
very good good fair poor very poor
Why?____
What repairs has the bike needed other than routine maintenance?
Has it ever broken down or stranded you? If yes, what broke and at what mileage?_
Has your bike ever been out of use for want of parts?.
If yes, for how long?__
What are its best features?_
What are its worst features?
What would you change if you could?
Would you buy another of the same brand?__Same model?.
If not, why not?_
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