The guy who does my tires and major work is a good friend of mine. I've been telling him I'd like to learn to ride a bike that I can shift. He got ahold of a 250 dirtbike and gave me a call. So off to the shop I went. After going over the basics and getting used to the shift pattern and so forth, I made a couple of laps around his farm. Then he got really tough. He said I had to start in first at the bottom of a hill and shift 2 times going up the hill getting the bike into 3rd. Whew! Oh.... and to make matters worse, we had wet grass so it was a bit slick. After a few clutch coordination probs and a couple of stalls. I finally got the hang of it. I still wasn't perfect at it but I got the basics down. Just have to get a little better at coordinating the clutch with the throttle. I did the hill thing at least 25 times. I managed to pull a couple of wheelies (not by design of course) in the process as well. Right fun if I do say so myself. He said if I could handle the hill, I'd have no problem with a streetbike on the asphalt. Maybe I'm ready for an NT 700. While i like the NT, I don't think I can carry as much stuff as the Swing so I probably am not in the market for one anyhow. Maybe in the future though. It sure was fun to get a chance to shift and go through the gears.

Good one! All I ever managed to do was stall out. And that was only going through first to 2nd! Yeah... gave up trying after that.

Yes, I see those all over the place. I do like the ST 1300. You hit the nail on the head with cost though. The Sport touring machines carry a hefty price tag. I'll tell you one that catches my interest that has great power and great mileage and isn't terribly expensive compared to the other Sport tourers is the BMW F800 ST (Sport Tourer) It is a middle weight but makes 85 horspower and is a good bit ahead of both the Mana and the NT 700 in performance AND mileage. But the NT 700 is a little more touring oriented and provides better protection from the elements and wins in the comfort catergory. If I could only combine the all the things I like from each of these bikes, I could make the perfect machine.