I'm looking to purchase a Ryker - The question is the 600 or the 900?
I'm a new rider - no previous motorcycle experience.
I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington state. My daily commute is 60 miles round trip to and from work between Tacoma and Seattle on I5 in light to moderate traffic in the morning (40 minutes) and moderate to stop-and-go traffic in the afternoon (1 hour to 1.5 hours)
My intended purpose is to commute on the Ryker during the late spring/summer/early fall when the weather allows. I would guess a good 3 months of commuting. And then some weekend excursions with my wife as a passenger (roughly 400 pounds total for the 2 of us) to Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula, Mt. St. Helen's, Portland, the Washington and Oregon Coast.

I started off looking at the 900 Rally - moved away from that based on my riding skill level - could go back based on the added options.

I'd appreciate any feedback from you current owners of the 600, 900, and Rally models - letting me know how you ride, with and without passengers, and the performance you are getting. I'm eager to get my Ryker in my hands and under my butt - any insight will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sid470

if your adding a passenger, go 900. Even with the 900, it feels a little slow

I have owned my 600 since December, over 3300 miles on it. I commute every day about 30-45 minutes each way. Half of the commute is 50 mph 2 and 4 lane country style roads, and the rest is 70 mph freeway. The Ryker handles it just fine.
On several occasions, I have taken my wife on trips. I did get the 2-up spring for this reason. Together we are around 320 lbs.
With her on the back, I have had it up to 75 mph. I have also had no problem going up the Dames Point Bridge (175 ft high) in Jacksonville, FL with her on the back; it never lost speed (usually around 70 mph) and I did not have to max the throttle to maintain speed.
We absolutely love our Ryker 600!

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Francis

Freezefm wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 4:55 pm

I have owned my 600 since December, over 3300 miles on it. I commute every day about 30-45 minutes each way. Half of the commute is 50 mph 2 and 4 lane country style roads, and the rest is 70 mph freeway. The Ryker handles it just fine.
On several occasions, I have taken my wife on trips. I did get the 2-up spring for this reason. Together we are around 320 lbs.
With her on the back, I have had it up to 75 mph. I have also had no problem going up the Dames Point Bridge (175 ft high) in Jacksonville, FL with her on the back; it never lost speed (usually around 70 mph) and I did not have to max the throttle to maintain speed.
We absolutely love our Ryker 600!

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Francis

Thank you for the detailed reply. I'm glad to see the Ryker 600 meets your needs - and it sure sounds like you are having fun.

How is your mileage? Did you get the passenger and or rider comfort seat or the standard seat? How do you rate the comfort for both?

How about service costs so far? Any major issues or minor annoyances?

Have you got any other options mods? Anything planned for the future?

Your review has me seriously leaning towards the Ryker 600. Hopefully I'll get a few more reviews of both the 600 and 900. I'd love to be riding before mid June.

Thanks again!

Sid

Sid470 wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 7:49 pm

Freezefm wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 4:55 pm

I have owned my 600 since December, over 3300 miles on it. I commute every day about 30-45 minutes each way. Half of the commute is 50 mph 2 and 4 lane country style roads, and the rest is 70 mph freeway. The Ryker handles it just fine.
On several occasions, I have taken my wife on trips. I did get the 2-up spring for this reason. Together we are around 320 lbs.
With her on the back, I have had it up to 75 mph. I have also had no problem going up the Dames Point Bridge (175 ft high) in Jacksonville, FL with her on the back; it never lost speed (usually around 70 mph) and I did not have to max the throttle to maintain speed.
We absolutely love our Ryker 600!

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Francis

Thank you for the detailed reply. I'm glad to see the Ryker 600 meets your needs - and it sure sounds like you are having fun.

How is your mileage? Did you get the passenger and or rider comfort seat or the standard seat? How do you rate the comfort for both?

How about service costs so far? Any major issues or minor annoyances?

Have you got any other options mods? Anything planned for the future?

Your review has me seriously leaning towards the Ryker 600. Hopefully I'll get a few more reviews of both the 600 and 900. I'd love to be riding before mid June.

Thanks again!

Sid

Over the last 3300 miles I've averaged around 36 mpg. The last 3 tanks have yielded me 38, 35, and 40 miles per gallon.
Both the seats are just the standard, I couldn't bring myself to getting the much higher priced comfort seats.
I have no problems with the seat comfort. My wife says she has no problem with the seat, either. YMMV
So far, the only paid service has been the 3,000 mile First Inspection. That is said to be an oil change and a quick check-over on the bike (charged for 2 hours labor).
I have had one item fail; the Yaw Sensor which was replaced under warranty in about a week and a half. No out of pocket costs for that.
I have been working with my dealership on a nagging issue with alignment. After a month I realized that the bike was pulling to the right and took it in to them to align. The did, no cost. After another 4 months, I noticed that the inside tread on BOTH front tires was down to the wear-bar. They have taken another look at the issue and re-aligned the Ryker; again no cost. They also says they will replace both tires, free.
Let's see, I have the passenger seat, folding back, wind shield, haze blue exclusive panel, 2-up spring, and lately noticed that the grips were also upgraded to the sport grips (I didn't ask for the grips, the dealership apparently added them on). I did get a new horn, but it's too big to fit in the stock location and I'm still looking for an alternative location. At the moment, I don't have any real plans for modifications, but that may change.

Francis