You sound like you would be more at home on one of the big sport-touring bikes, like an FJR13 or BMW R12 etc.
I would never tell you what you should like of course but it's something to think about. Have you ever spent time on the big Sport-touring bikes? Riding one of these bikes has no downside imo, the only stereo-type you have to uphold "is" wearing your gear and being a model rider on the road. I always think of these guys as the "elder statesmen". I'm not really sure why but yeah i respect them alot.
Thought about it, but, well....I'm not terribly interested in sport riding anymore, came into a steal of a deal on the VTX, it already had it's asking price in accessories added on by the PO, and I liked the look and sound of the big V-twin. I also wanted something setup for and comfortable 2-up as the original plan (before my wife decided she'd like her own) was a lot of 2 up touring this year.
And it's cheap as hell to insure.
In fact a 50% increase for someone who has no claims should be flat out illegal.
That's the way insurance works, however. It only takes one rider who writes off $100K in vehicles in an at-fault crash and then ends up with a full time nurse spoon feeding him and wiping his butt for a few years (to the tunes of millions of dollars), physiotherapy and all that good stuff, etc etc before he heals up (if so lucky), and, well, the rest of us have to pony up because the insurance company increases their risk assessment on motorcycles in general.
And we'd be naive to suggest they're not risky.
And yes, once again I'll add the disclaimer that I do think our insurance system here is still broken, but you don't have to read a lot to realize theft and fraud is still a huge issue here and that has a lot to do with our issues. My scenario above is equally as affected by motorcycle theft - every 10, 20, 30K+ an insurance company has to pay out because a bike is scooped and stripped, well, that money comes from somewhere, and insurance companies aren't charities. Here's hoping once they eliminate some of these issues (although theft is a tough one) that rates in general (cars and bikes) will start to go down.
The same thing happens all the time in areas routinely ravaged by natural disasters. Lots of houses that were never touched in some of the big storms that have tore up the south in years passed found their insurance rates jacked through the roof because of other houses that were destroyed. Again, that's how insurance works - risk assessment, and spread the pain.
In the end, as has been touched on several times by various members in this thread, if you just want to ride and are willing to compromise to make it affordable, buy a cheap low powered bike and you *can* get cheap insurance still.
