What bike: £3000 or less, 90% road 10% dirt, jack of all tra
Discussion
Right, yet another what bike thread I know and it's also my first time posting but after an awful lot of lurking n researching I'm stumped and was hoping to pick the brains of some more knowledgable folk than myself.
To give some background I have ridden all sorts of bikes over the years in Europe and Asia, done mongolia on a little Chinese 150 cc and route 66 on a big Harley but have been bike less for a little while. I will be using the bike mostly for European touring, say 8000 miles a year on average almost exclusively on Tarmac but also plan to go to morroco or similar off road type destinations at least once a year.
Now ideally I would get two bikes, a proper comfy mile eating tourer, decent wind protection, shaft drive etc... and a more off road focused lightweight bike but funds and more importantly garage space limit me to just the one bike.
I had been thinking maybe a pan European 1100 or similar (worried about it being a but heavy maybe?) and something like a suzuki dr650 (rare as hens teeth in uk) or klr650 (bit high for me maybe as only 5ft7") for the off road trips. But as I said I'm only allowed one.
My budget is around £3000 with a little extra for upgrading but am really struggling on which direction to go.
Africa twin ?
Gs1150 ? (too big an cumbersome for morroco, not great mpg...)
Transalp?
What I really want (the impossible dream perhaps!) is something not crazy heavy, that does decent mpg, is reliable and workable on myself, that is comfy touring on the motorway and has some capability off road. The more I look the more I seem to go in circles.
Any thoughts?
To give some background I have ridden all sorts of bikes over the years in Europe and Asia, done mongolia on a little Chinese 150 cc and route 66 on a big Harley but have been bike less for a little while. I will be using the bike mostly for European touring, say 8000 miles a year on average almost exclusively on Tarmac but also plan to go to morroco or similar off road type destinations at least once a year.
Now ideally I would get two bikes, a proper comfy mile eating tourer, decent wind protection, shaft drive etc... and a more off road focused lightweight bike but funds and more importantly garage space limit me to just the one bike.
I had been thinking maybe a pan European 1100 or similar (worried about it being a but heavy maybe?) and something like a suzuki dr650 (rare as hens teeth in uk) or klr650 (bit high for me maybe as only 5ft7") for the off road trips. But as I said I'm only allowed one.
My budget is around £3000 with a little extra for upgrading but am really struggling on which direction to go.
Africa twin ?
Gs1150 ? (too big an cumbersome for morroco, not great mpg...)
Transalp?
What I really want (the impossible dream perhaps!) is something not crazy heavy, that does decent mpg, is reliable and workable on myself, that is comfy touring on the motorway and has some capability off road. The more I look the more I seem to go in circles.
Any thoughts?
dwater said:
Right, yet another what bike thread I know and it's also my first time posting but after an awful lot of lurking n researching I'm stumped and was hoping to pick the brains of some more knowledgable folk than myself.
To give some background I have ridden all sorts of bikes over the years in Europe and Asia, done mongolia on a little Chinese 150 cc and route 66 on a big Harley but have been bike less for a little while. I will be using the bike mostly for European touring, say 8000 miles a year on average almost exclusively on Tarmac but also plan to go to morroco or similar off road type destinations at least once a year.
Now ideally I would get two bikes, a proper comfy mile eating tourer, decent wind protection, shaft drive etc... and a more off road focused lightweight bike but funds and more importantly garage space limit me to just the one bike.
I had been thinking maybe a pan European 1100 or similar (worried about it being a but heavy maybe?) and something like a suzuki dr650 (rare as hens teeth in uk) or klr650 (bit high for me maybe as only 5ft7") for the off road trips. But as I said I'm only allowed one.
My budget is around £3000 with a little extra for upgrading but am really struggling on which direction to go.
Africa twin ?
Gs1150 ? (too big an cumbersome for morroco, not great mpg...)
Transalp?
What I really want (the impossible dream perhaps!) is something not crazy heavy, that does decent mpg, is reliable and workable on myself, that is comfy touring on the motorway and has some capability off road. The more I look the more I seem to go in circles.
Any thoughts?
.To give some background I have ridden all sorts of bikes over the years in Europe and Asia, done mongolia on a little Chinese 150 cc and route 66 on a big Harley but have been bike less for a little while. I will be using the bike mostly for European touring, say 8000 miles a year on average almost exclusively on Tarmac but also plan to go to morroco or similar off road type destinations at least once a year.
Now ideally I would get two bikes, a proper comfy mile eating tourer, decent wind protection, shaft drive etc... and a more off road focused lightweight bike but funds and more importantly garage space limit me to just the one bike.
I had been thinking maybe a pan European 1100 or similar (worried about it being a but heavy maybe?) and something like a suzuki dr650 (rare as hens teeth in uk) or klr650 (bit high for me maybe as only 5ft7") for the off road trips. But as I said I'm only allowed one.
My budget is around £3000 with a little extra for upgrading but am really struggling on which direction to go.
Africa twin ?
Gs1150 ? (too big an cumbersome for morroco, not great mpg...)
Transalp?
What I really want (the impossible dream perhaps!) is something not crazy heavy, that does decent mpg, is reliable and workable on myself, that is comfy touring on the motorway and has some capability off road. The more I look the more I seem to go in circles.
Any thoughts?
.The Africa Twin is a great bike, but now a little old.
Still very good.
I sold my AT (2001) last year.
I think I want a 1000cc Varadero. Post 2004 with f.i. and 6 speed box.
Just enjoy the Honda reliability, and the total "screwed together right" feel of the bike.
vette
You need to buy a bike for the 10% of dirt, not the 90% of sealed roads. That doesn't mean you need a dirt bike, it means you need a bike which is happy on dirt.
So forget the Pan European.
I'd be looking at a used BMW F650GS (BMW do a G650GS which is more dirt focused, but if you are on well maintained dirt that is overkill) or F800GS (but I find the seat on the F800GS too high), Honda Transalp. Kwaka Versys metioned above may also be reasonable.
So forget the Pan European.
I'd be looking at a used BMW F650GS (BMW do a G650GS which is more dirt focused, but if you are on well maintained dirt that is overkill) or F800GS (but I find the seat on the F800GS too high), Honda Transalp. Kwaka Versys metioned above may also be reasonable.
If you're not in too much of a hurry then you could look out for a BMW R80GS. Not the fastest option but dead easy to work on and with the best off road credentials of any of the adventure bikes. Lots of spares and touring accessories available and will increase in value while you own it! You should just about be able to get a reasonable private sale one within your budget.
I wouldn't go for a DR650 if you want to travel any sort of distance. I toured Scotland on mine and although it did it no problem, it was so uncomfortable it hurt after 15 minutes of riding. I did 350 miles in a day and was absolutely shattered at the end of compared to the BMW I did the same journey on and felt fine at the end.
You can buy loads of "adventure" kit for them but I'd just recommend getting a better bike for the same money.
You can buy loads of "adventure" kit for them but I'd just recommend getting a better bike for the same money.
Well thankyou all for the brilliant posts n advice.
I think I've narrowed it down to three choices:
V strom 650: cheap, reliable, fairly capable off road with some light modding. Comfortable a motorway speeds and frugal
Bmw f650gs: in budget, not to comfy but easy to upgrade seat n windscreen, more capable off road than the v strom but slightly more vibration than the vstrom at motorway speeds. Heard conflicting reports on reliability....this is a big issue for me as while I am happy to do most all servicing myself I want as little to go wrong when I am on tour as possible.
Left field choice: bmw r80gs/st, might be a but difficult getting one in budget but easy to work on and very reliable, capable on and off road. Does anyone have any experience with long distance motorway touring on them? Love the idea if getting something a bit older and more interesting but not if it's going to be uncomfortable on long motorway yomps!
What do we think?
dwater said:
Left field choice: bmw r80gs/st, might be a but difficult getting one in budget but easy to work on and very reliable, capable on and off road. Does anyone have any experience with long distance motorway touring on them? Love the idea if getting something a bit older and more interesting but not if it's going to be uncomfortable on long motorway yomps!
What do we think?
I know a lad that went to and around Morocco on one last year. Mid 1980's model it was. Very reliable, and did the job until he had a blow out that pitched him/it into a ditch. I think that bike was a good choice, simple and rugged.What do we think?
dwater said:
.... something not crazy heavy, that does decent mpg, is reliable and workable on myself, that is comfy touring on the motorway and has some capability off road.
You mention a 650 V Strom, having done over 30k on mine I think you might be onto something.To give you an idea on how it does on your wish list,
Weight - pretty good compared to others in this category. It does have a large (21 litre?) tank so if full can feel top heavy.
MPG - Never less than 60 mpg, have done over 300 on a tank several times
Reliable - Other than service items all it's had is 2 wheel bearings and a replacement pipe to the oil cooler when the original rotted through. It's done 40k in total, 30k with me, and had a very hard life but never given me any bother.
Comfy - Very. Think armchair with a nice soundtrack.
Off road - Although I'm into enduro I've never had the strom on anything more challenging than a gravel road. Loads of videos on youtube seem to suggest it can do it but it's certainly not it's specialty.
I'd also consider KTM 690 enduros, KLE 500's, XT660's if you want more than 10% dirt.
You mention height being an issue. I'm just under 5'6" and was concerned about the V-strom (650) for that reason (not having your off-road experience) but apart from not being able to paddle backwards unless it's really flat and level ground, I've had no real issues. Utterly reliable so far in 7 years of ownership, though I don't do high mileage. Found the handling improved massively once I swapped the original spec tyres for Metzler Tourance though which have a much rounder profile.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff