Moving to the sticks, practical needed bike for up to £8K
Discussion
Looks like it's finally happening, after umming and ahing for a few years my gf and I are moving from London to the sticks (well, 40 miles outside of London!) in a couple of months all being well. Looking forward to it loads but I'll be commuting in 2-3 times a week via train/car/bike depending on how the mood takes me, but for the latter I think I need something a bit more practical that my Street Triple R plus I fancy a change. Love the bike, looks great, sounds great but isn't massively comfy to sit on for long journeys even with a gel seat and the wind blast on motorways is a bit of a faff. Other considerations:
1) Think I want panniers or tail box as a fairly heavy rucksack for 20 mins through town is okay, but not for 1hr+.
2) Also quite like the idea of rider aids like ABS/TC if poss. While I'm reasonably handy at chucking a car about, on a bike I'm very cautious and having some aids as a safety net so I can learn to push a bit harder with confidence really appeals. Never had the guts to do it on my aid-free STR
3) Also quite fancy electronic adjustable suspension if in budget
4) Although the 105 bhp on my STR is plenty, you have to rev the nuts off it to get it which frankly I don't, so fancy something in the 1000cc+ range that I get the performance from a bit easier (pretty much the opposite of what I like in a car
)
5) Still needs to look good!
So, what say you BBers? Budget £4K-£8K. At the high end I think I might be able to stretch to a Multistrada 1200S which I don't think anyone has ever said a word against, but then you can also get a Sprint ST 1050 for half that or less which seems like all the bike you could ever need. Then there's the less pretty/sexy stuff like K1300Ss but which have all the toys and fall somewhere in the middle. Answers on a PH postcard....
1) Think I want panniers or tail box as a fairly heavy rucksack for 20 mins through town is okay, but not for 1hr+.
2) Also quite like the idea of rider aids like ABS/TC if poss. While I'm reasonably handy at chucking a car about, on a bike I'm very cautious and having some aids as a safety net so I can learn to push a bit harder with confidence really appeals. Never had the guts to do it on my aid-free STR
3) Also quite fancy electronic adjustable suspension if in budget
4) Although the 105 bhp on my STR is plenty, you have to rev the nuts off it to get it which frankly I don't, so fancy something in the 1000cc+ range that I get the performance from a bit easier (pretty much the opposite of what I like in a car
)5) Still needs to look good!
So, what say you BBers? Budget £4K-£8K. At the high end I think I might be able to stretch to a Multistrada 1200S which I don't think anyone has ever said a word against, but then you can also get a Sprint ST 1050 for half that or less which seems like all the bike you could ever need. Then there's the less pretty/sexy stuff like K1300Ss but which have all the toys and fall somewhere in the middle. Answers on a PH postcard....
The K1300S would be a top choice. It's sexier than the Ducati and the Sprint by some way too. A good friend of mine has one and reckons it's the best bike he's ever ridden, he replaced his 'old' one with a magnificent Anniversary edition last autumn.
Edited by Baryonyx on Friday 26th February 18:58
snorky782 said:
Z1000SX....Ticks every box apart from the electronic suspension, but easy to adjust manually and no idea why you'd need it so readily adjustable.
I wouldn't need it so readily adjustable, just seems like a nice to have as I quite enjoy cars with different driver modes as you can change their character to suit your mood. Presume with bikes it's similar 
Mario149 said:
I wouldn't need it so readily adjustable, just seems like a nice to have as I quite enjoy cars with different driver modes as you can change their character to suit your mood. Presume with bikes it's similar
Not really. Plus if you're not that confident on a bike then there's little value in changing your suspension as you won't know what's going on. snorky782 said:
Mario149 said:
I wouldn't need it so readily adjustable, just seems like a nice to have as I quite enjoy cars with different driver modes as you can change their character to suit your mood. Presume with bikes it's similar
Not really. Plus if you're not that confident on a bike then there's little value in changing your suspension as you won't know what's going on. Well, if there's not a lot in it then we can downgrade that priority Mario149 said:
Really? I thought the rider modes tended to adjust throttle mapping, damping and in some cases pre-load as well? You def notice the first 2 that you get on cars even if you're just trundling along Well, if there's not a lot in it then we can downgrade that priority
Adjustable suspension and fancy rider modes are two different things. Well, if there's not a lot in it then we can downgrade that priority The Z1000SX has about 10 traction control settings and six different ride settings. None of them alter the suspension though.
....My Multistrada is crap for commuting. Bars are far to wide and the mirrors make tight filtering a nightmare. I had a 1300s and although it's much better for filtering it's far from an ideal commuter. I currently use an old FZ1 which doesn't win any street cred awards but it's a great tool. Low and slim enough to filter, sprung loaded mirrors for when the going gets tight and fast enough to make the commute interesting.
And it's unlikely to get nicked. But without doubt big scooters make the best commuter tools but I'd never own one cause I'm a bike snob
And it's unlikely to get nicked. But without doubt big scooters make the best commuter tools but I'd never own one cause I'm a bike snob
I use a K1300S for a commute from Suffolk to Waterloo. It's the perfect bike for the job. Not as wide as you'd think, especially with the mirrors folded. Lots of low down grunt. ABS, TCS, ESA and heated grips that work. 50mpg & 200 mile tank range. Low C of G and a low seat option.
What's not to like?
What's not to like?
I think the width worries may be a bit overstated. The bars on the STR are really quite wide, got to be something like 5+ inches wider in total than when I had a Daytona for the day which was a filtering weapon. Then add mirrors Also, I'm not a London bike commuter who looks for a gap the width of a fag paper and goes for it. If I take the bike from Putney to work in North Ken now it takes me 25 mins or so. I could probably shave 5 mins off if I filtered more aggressively and ignored the keep left signs on traffic islands, but it's too much stress and not worth it. I'm more worried about stuff like shonky gearchanges and heavy clutches like on the F800S I had which was a bit of a nightmare in traffic.
Also, I'm not a London bike commuter who looks for a gap the width of a fag paper and goes for it. If I take the bike from Putney to work in North Ken now it takes me 25 mins or so. I could probably shave 5 mins off if I filtered more aggressively and ignored the keep left signs on traffic islands, but it's too much stress and not worth it. I'm more worried about stuff like shonky gearchanges and heavy clutches like on the F800S I had which was a bit of a nightmare in traffic.
Got this on new years day, not managed many miles yet but super comfy and some nice toys to boot. Nearly all around the 7k budget in s form are 25k miles and above but 8k should get something lower. To be honest I love this bike but mine is a high miles ( 27k) bike and although faultless I wish I had held out and got a low mileage bike and spent more.
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