suggest a bike for this situation
daily commute , 150 miles round trip, mixture of country and motorway.
want good mpg, decent size engine, cheap to buy 2nd hand and maintain, good tyre milage, some fairing protection , good riding position , purely a commuter ???
was thinking along the lines of an Old varedero / old pan ,
How about an FJR 1300? That or an ST1100... I'd be going for shaft drive ......
Or... totally left field.... Burgman 400 or 650... mate of mine is just about to sell his 400 burgman.... 53 plate... I was surprised how well it went :cool:
Suzuki Vstrom 650
Old shape from about 2004 to 2010 [ I think]
Good position, some weather protection, lots about of varying prices, good economy [ 50 mpg +]
Only down side to me is it is chain drive. If you fancy shaft drive convenience how about a, whisper it [Honda Deauville]
700cc v-twin, shaft drive blah blah blah
ZZR either 600 or 1100. My old fav :clap:
I used to do the daily commute on a ZZR 600 under roughly the same conditions, although not quite so far, maybe 50 miles each way.
It was BRILLIANT. :yes:
Ros
Have a go on a 650 Versys, ticks all the boxes + surprisingly good write ups + great fun to ride.
allways liked these tremendous workhorses,never had a bad one .
like the ideas of the v strom ect, pan or a st could work but they still want good money for them and they aint the best on fuel and tyres.
a zzr600/ 1100 is out of the question due to the sports riding position. Ive had a zzr1200 and sold it due to riding position plus they eat fuel and tyres
an old v twin seems the route i shall investigate
Scooter , NO FRICkin WAY
Hi All - apologies for the long gap in posts.
To assist viper I can tell you I have a 650 VStrom at the moment - don't ask why - it will become clearer later on but I DON'T have a GTR at the moment.
The bike is a sewing machine alright and I do the commute on it and its awful! However it's put me in a mind to get something smaller to contrast the GTR when I fancy a change.
So I've test ridden an XT660z Tenere - and I chuffing luv it!
When I get the big boy back ill be a searching for a good un.
A suggestion from me would be a Fazer 600 - great bike and won't break the wallet!
TT
Fazer 600
mmmm , i like it
Viper, dare I say it, why not go for a GTR? You could get an 07/57 plate GTR for less than £5k & the advantages are you know the bike inside out, it ticks all the boxes you've stipulated and, well does there need to be any other excuses to go this route?
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-GTR-1400-A8F-2007-/321113109942?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4ac3d535b6[/font]
Quote from: Lonewolf on May 09, 2013, 08:59:00 PM
Viper, dare I say it, why not go for a GTR? You could get an 07/57 plate GTR for less than £5k & the advantages are you know the bike inside out, it ticks all the boxes you've stipulated and, well does there need to be any other excuses to go this route?
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-GTR-1400-A8F-2007-/321113109942?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4ac3d535b6[/font]
+1
Quote from: Lonewolf on May 09, 2013, 08:59:00 PM
Viper, dare I say it, why not go for a GTR? You could get an 07/57 plate GTR for less than £5k & the advantages are you know the bike inside out, it ticks all the boxes you've stipulated and, well does there need to be any other excuses to go this route?
[font=.HelveticaNeueUI]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-GTR-1400-A8F-2007-/321113109942?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4ac3d535b6[/font]
ive got a GTR already , want better economy and running costs, cant see the point in having 2 GTRS
I have never (personally) found a reason to have 2 bikes... I couldn't afford a second one anyway, but for me, I chose the GTR because it feels comfy, goes like the clappers, tours, does corners, does all of that two up, can take 3 weeks worth of gear for a holiday, and it looks awesome.
Granted i don't commute anymore and if it's pissing with rain or I am travelling for business, then I use the car if I'm not out on it already.
Although back when I had the ZZR it was my only vehicle so I used it all year round, ice, snow, sun whatever. And the daily commute.
But I was younger so the riding position was OK at the time although i did rest my elbows on my knees IIRC on long trips.
Dare I say it, but if you don't want to use the GTR for commuting, and want a workhorse for that which is cheap, reliable, comfortable etc, then you're probably going to end up looking at a few bikes from BMW I reckon.
Just my 2 cents :innocent:
Cheers
Ros
Quote from: viper on May 09, 2013, 10:23:49 PM
ive got a GTR already , want better economy and running costs, cant see the point in having 2 GTRS
You'll end up paying a couple of grand out at least... probably a good deal more..... to save 10mpg on your GTR... that will be a hell of a lot of miles before you're ahead... I'd stick with the one bike :yes:
thing is , if i use the gtr for even 1 year i will put 40k miles on it, then the bike will have 50k miles on it, it will be worthless, so by having a second cheaper bike im going to protect the gtrs depreciation. plus if im riding the gtr everyday im not going to want to ride it for pleasure at the weekends.
spend about 2.5k on a cheap fazer/ bandit/varedero /vstrom ect. run it for 2 years , sell it for parts for £500 , cost about 1k a year
Quote from: viper on May 10, 2013, 08:47:05 AM
thing is , if i use the gtr for even 1 year i will put 40k miles on it, then the bike will have 50k miles on it, it will be worthless, so by having a second cheaper bike im going to protect the gtrs depreciation. plus if im riding the gtr everyday im not going to want to ride it for pleasure at the weekends.
spend about 2.5k on a cheap fazer/ bandit/varedero /vstrom ect. run it for 2 years , sell it for parts for £500 , cost about 1k a year
Using the GTR though won't make it depreciate by 1k a year .....and you've still had to fork out to start with.... :laugh:
I average 150 miles a day commute on my GTR, and it is the perfect tool for the job. 52mpg, tyres last 10k, you can fit laptops/suits/nights away gear in it easily, the engine and drivetrain are bulletproof and will go forever etc.
I'd bring the GTR into service as the commuter, and if you really wanted to, spend the £2.5k on some silly weekend plaything bike instead.
I cannot comprehend doing 40k miles on a $hitter, just to protect the nice one for the odd weekend jaunt. Seems the wrong way round to me.
Martin.
Quote from: Martin#30 on May 10, 2013, 12:57:21 PM
I'd bring the GTR into service as the commuter, and if you really wanted to, spend the £2.5k on some silly weekend plaything bike instead.
I cannot comprehend doing 40k miles on a $hitter, just to protect the nice one for the odd weekend jaunt. Seems the wrong way round to me.
Martin.
:agree: :popcorn:
Commuting 75 miles each way? :ohplease:
No way, I would just move closer to work instead. :yawn:
For that sort of distance, you have got the perfect bike. I couldn't even think of using an old smaller bike for that.
Use the GTR thats what its for, and it will cope with it no probs, and at least you will have had your moneys worth out of it when you trade in next time.
I use my GTR everyday for a 75 mile round trip, even filtering through London. It's great.
Not using the GTR and saving it for the odd weekend trip is like............saving money and sex for old age. Both are a waste ! :banana:
Essex boy