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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



 
 
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Old 4 Jan 2012
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Location: UK
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Originally Posted by jacks View Post
Hi, i was wondering if you guys could help, i am looking to buy a motorcycle, i have thought about what i want from it, and have listed them below. It would be great if you could give me some suggestions. They can be bikes still in production or not. Cheers.

What i want from a motorcycle:
  • Comfort for all day riding.
  • 150+ miles (241+ kilometers) fuel range.
  • Ability to do DIY maintenance. eg. change oil/filter, change air filter, change spark plugs, maintain final drive (chain, shaft or belt i don't mind).
  • reasonable fuel economy, 50+mpg (11+miles/liter)
  • Reliable (i understand this means following the maintenance schedule, i don't mean a bike you just by and never have to do any work on, unless this exists.)
  • Ability to cruise at between 50-60mph (80-100kph) with 1 rider and some luggage.
  • Luggage carrying ability, after-market or OEM, hard or soft.
  • Looks aren’t that important, i put it down anyway. However it is a pretty subjective criteria.
  • Available parts, OEM or good quality after-market.
  • Can handle going down a dusty track occasionally. I know you could say any bike can handle it, but i mean not make a fuss. Not as extreme as Nick Sanders on his R1 in the desert.
  • Fun, obviously depends on how you ride it.

I think thats it let me know if you have any suggestions of bikes that you think fit this criteria. Thanks
Jacks,
Your list would do for me as well But, we don't know enough about you!! What you really, really like, what compromises you are prepared to make, how much you want to spend, how much riding you have done, on what and where - you get the idea.
Any one of your criteria goes off into multiple sub-points; for one, "reasonable fuel economy" is way better than 50 MPG (UK gallon) nowadays for EFI and you can't buy a new bike in the UK nowadays that does not have FI + a cat converter etc. Hence you are not going to get a good DR650 in the UK unless you are very lucky and wait for ever for it to come up for sale. Even then the asking price may be silly money because of the rarity factor - check out what some people are asking for Africa Twins and then see what you can get for the same money in later models of bikes that are not so hyped.

When you have found this elusive bike that scratches all the itches I would like to know about it!

It did not take too long for the "twin Vs single" list of bikes to appear, so just to widen things a bit more, check out the Kawasaki KLE, 650 or the earlier 500 (also known as the Versys).
You probably know that there is a lot of information in all sorts of threads about all the bikes named here; technical stuff, fuel ranges, modifications, comparisons of one bike with another, or one bike with multi-others, it seems endless.

Just for another single to consider, have a look for information about the Royal Enfield 500 single for a contrast with all of the other bikes listed, so far.

Good luck,
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