Long commute - recommend me a 5k bike
Discussion
I have a 65 mile each way commute that I mostly do in a Diesel Octavia and occasionally in the XJS when the mood (and wallet) take my fancy.
At weekends I poodle around on the Zephyr 550 I've had for years but it isn't up to the commute and is generally past it's best anyway.
I've been toying with the idea of a newer bike for some time and it makes sense if I can get one that I can commute on every now and then. The current weather is making this look particularly appealing. The commute is 15 miles twisty, 45 miles of A11 and the rest in town.
I'm looking for something comfy, fully faired and capable of at least 170 on a tank so I only need to fill it once per day for the commute without worrying. I've looked at a Yamaha XJ6 Diversion and a Suzuki GS650F so far and the latter looks like a good choice but I'd like the opinions of the PH Biker community.
Budget is around 5k .... so, what do I get?
At weekends I poodle around on the Zephyr 550 I've had for years but it isn't up to the commute and is generally past it's best anyway.
I've been toying with the idea of a newer bike for some time and it makes sense if I can get one that I can commute on every now and then. The current weather is making this look particularly appealing. The commute is 15 miles twisty, 45 miles of A11 and the rest in town.
I'm looking for something comfy, fully faired and capable of at least 170 on a tank so I only need to fill it once per day for the commute without worrying. I've looked at a Yamaha XJ6 Diversion and a Suzuki GS650F so far and the latter looks like a good choice but I'd like the opinions of the PH Biker community.
Budget is around 5k .... so, what do I get?
I don't think a GSXR750 is an ideal commuting bike to be honest, 170 miles to a tank?
You can buy pretty much anything for around £5k, go and sit on a few and buy the one with the best seat/weather protection for you, also if you want ease of use shaft/belt drive is desirable.
I'm not recommending anything as its too subjective
You can buy pretty much anything for around £5k, go and sit on a few and buy the one with the best seat/weather protection for you, also if you want ease of use shaft/belt drive is desirable.
I'm not recommending anything as its too subjective
Jazoli said:
I don't think a GSXR750 is an ideal commuting bike to be honest, 170 miles to a tank?
I commuted on one for 18 months and always got 170 before the light came on.Have moved on to a more traditional commuter since then, a V Strom 650. 270 - 290 between fill ups. Did over 300 once but was on fumes.
Thanks for the input so far. Will do some searching with these in mind ... tempted by a BMW but not sure I need to bulk of a GS.
ETA - not sure I can cope with a Deuville looks wise ... what's a Pan European like for mileage. Got a mate who swears by his which he had when he worked in the AA.
ETA - not sure I can cope with a Deuville looks wise ... what's a Pan European like for mileage. Got a mate who swears by his which he had when he worked in the AA.
The original Pan, the ST1100 was an excellent bike, which Honda then ruined with the launch of the ST1300.
Something which they also did when they added VTEC to the VFR800.
My favourite ever long distance bike is the BMW K1100LT - but they're rare and ageing these days. Still amazingly good mile-munchers, though - nobody designs touring fairings anywhere near as well as BMW.
Something which they also did when they added VTEC to the VFR800.
My favourite ever long distance bike is the BMW K1100LT - but they're rare and ageing these days. Still amazingly good mile-munchers, though - nobody designs touring fairings anywhere near as well as BMW.
I've got a sneaky feeling that 95% of bikes (and most of the 5% will be enduros!)you can buy for £5k these days will do that job for you. If Nick Sanders can put 50,000 3rd world miles on an R1, pretty much anything will do your commute A BMW F800 of some flavour or other is fairly high on my list at the moment (especially one of the belt drive versions)... I can't quite go as boring as a Dueville or v-strom 
A BMW F800 of some flavour or other is fairly high on my list at the moment (especially one of the belt drive versions)... I can't quite go as boring as a Dueville or v-strom F800 would be my pick, preferably in ST guise. Should have more than enough power to make cruising a breeze, belt drive for low maintenance and I am sure I have heard of 60MPG+ fuel consumption which means you could get away with filling up once every two days. Also had optional ABS, panniers and heated grips if that's your sort of thing.
Edited by redtwin on Sunday 27th May 09:38
redtwin said:
F800 would be my pick, preferably in ST guise. Should have more than enough power to make cruising a breeze, belt drive for low maintenance and I am sure I have heard of 60MPG+ fuel consumption which means you could get away with filling up once every two days. Also had optional ABS, panniers and heated grips if that's your sort of thing.
Would get my vote too (even though I said I wasn't going to recommend anything) Jazoli said:
redtwin said:
F800 would be my pick, preferably in ST guise. Should have more than enough power to make cruising a breeze, belt drive for low maintenance and I am sure I have heard of 60MPG+ fuel consumption which means you could get away with filling up once every two days. Also had optional ABS, panniers and heated grips if that's your sort of thing.
Would get my vote too (even though I said I wasn't going to recommend anything) 
Dr Jekyll said:
And shaft drive!
This is a very good point.When I used to commute by bike, I hated the chain maintenance and replacement - it's a dirty, oily job and not something you want to have to do on a freezing cold evening in the rain when you've just got home from work.
It's hard to recommend anything which doesn't have a shaft if you're doing lots of commuter miles.
One of my work colleagues has just picked up a fully faired Triumph Trophy to do exactly the same sort of commute as you. He's really happy with it as it's got plenty of go but with all the weather protection. It's not a looker but then at £2000 it should do him for a couple of years before he needs to change it again.
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