"a what?!"

("Eierlegende Wollmilchsau" ist the german expression for something that satisfies all needs, meets all requirements. Like the animal it describes, this concept is of course illusionary.)

First of all thanks for this brilliant website! I´ve read through hundreds of threads, learnt a lot about choosing the right bike - and still am uncertain what would be the right one for me.

Requirements:
1) light to handle (I´m female and this will be my first bike), offroad-able (gravel, dirt roads, nothing hardcore). Must be able to be fitted out with panniers for travel.
But also:
2) comfortable riding position, capable of being driven a couple of hundred kilometres/day on motorways as well as secondary roads without vibrating me to death and vexing my 1200GS-riding partner because he has to wait hours for me to catch up.

I know, I´m really describing two different bikes...

What would be the best compromise? Going for a XT 600/DR 650 (more my kind of bike, to be honest) and hope the motorway driving won´t be too bad? Or a BMW F650/Suzuki Freewind/XTZ Tenere and hope I can keep them upright when leaving the tarmac? (They look sooo heavy!)

Whatever the choice, it will of course be a used bike - am I right in thinking the ones built in the 90´s are pretty reliable, simple bikes without a lot of electronics which are always going haywire?

We´re soon off to have a look at a couple of different bikes, I guess trying them out will answer a few questions....but I would also be very grateful for your opinions and your experiences!

Greetings from Germany,
Cragseeker