If doing more than 50% gravel roads, the Yam 660, IMO, is worth a look. Test ride a must do. It lacks the comfort/space/smoothness of the others but MUCH better in sand, gravel and mud. Do the mods and de-restrict ... it can be a great bike. Better seat certainly would help. Not ideal all day on motorways at 140 km.

A Wee Strom is a very nice compromise Bike. Really does it all without effort. Stone reliable, comfortable, packs up like a Mule. With TKC 80 tires, good on gravel. Not fast like the Tiger but comfortable cruising at 120 km all day.

955i Tiger
I owned a 955i Tiger for 3 years, currently own a 1050 Tiger, and early on owned a 885 Tiger (1st generation).

The 955i is hard to manage off road, but the 19" front helps and good tires help. I love the Triple sound too and the road performance ... but it will SCARE you off road. I'm only 5'6" so top heaviness was an issue for me. If you're 6 ft or taller, not much an issue. Leverage in your favor.

Reliability: 8
Off road: 5
Value: 7
Fun: 8

V-Strom DL1000:
One of the best bikes I've ever owned. Did 80,000 miles, no problems. Rugged, even doing Baja washboard. But no dirt bike. With TKC tires, much better on gravel roads, where it does well. Great on highway, easy to work on yourself. Never breaks down.

Reliability: 10
Off Road: 8
Value: 9
Fun: 7

BMW GS1150
I much prefer the 70 lbs. lighter and better everywhere, R1200GS. I rode an 1150 in Baja, on and off road, and tested one for a month courtesy of BMW NA. I never liked the bike. A tractor is more fun to drive.

The R1200 is a TOTALLY different bike, MUCH better. If you can afford maintenance cost and parts of BMW ($$$$) then go with R1200GS, not 1150. If you ride a 1200 back to back with an 1150, this all will make sense. I love the 1200! (just can't afford one!)

Reliability: 6
Off Road: 8
Value: 5
Fun: 6

Thanks!

Yes the 1200 would be nice, but honestly for not that much more than a high mileage 1200 I can get a new DL1K "adventure" with bags and all.

A v-strom is sounding more and more like what I want.
That or a tenere(or super ten if I suddenly find an extra four grand somewhere :P )

Mollydog wrote:

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Good choice!
As good as the R1200GS is ... it still would not be my first choice from a practical point of view. Why not?
1. Expensive to buy and to maintain.
2. Not the most reliable bike out there (IE: final drive, trans, ABS/Can bus)

The Vstrom is very hard to beat from a value point. As I mentioned, I put 80K
miles on my '02 DL1000, another 20K on an '05 Vstrom. Not only is the Vstrom
(either Wee or V) practical, it's fun!! ... and much tougher than one would ever imagine. Even riding hundreds of miles of serious Wash board road at 70 mph.

The Vstrom is the same weight as the R1200GS, has equal leg room and is smooth at 80 mph all day with it's over drive
6th gear. Owner serviceable. In 80K miles, my valves never went out of spec. Really, a NO maintenance bike in so many ways. Keep a good chain/sprockets/battery/tires on ... and it's all it may ever need.


Corrugations on this bit will rattle your fillings out.

An easy stroll though some Baja Desert. (easy two track)

Looks nice!

Just missed out on two! ~35000km fully equipped dl's over the past days :/

So I'm hunting/waiting for a good one to come out

I would love to find a Kawasaki version, just because it's bright orange instead of the usual colours

A biased opinion and most definitely Not fact..

I've had my 1150 for fourteen years, and 70,000 miles, been over most of Europe, but with very little 'off road' (other than unmade roads in Southern Spain).

I've ridden most of the alternatives, and none were so good that I felt tempted to change.

Perhaps your riding needs to improve...

It's Fact "for me", but of course, just an opinion based on actual experience.
If you've never ridden your GS off road ... how can you comment here?
Have you ridden your 1150 back to back with a R1200GS?
That's kinda my point.

Lots of what I said involves how these bikes work OFF ROAD and how deficient the 1150 is vs. 1200GS. (truth be told, neither are stellar off road)

My Tractor comment was OBVIOUS hyperbole ... but read my post. The point is ...ride the R1200GS back to back with YOUR 1150GS, see for yourself.
And DO go off road ... if you dare!

But the OP has put (apparently) all BMW's out of the running and is headed towards the Vstrom. A stellar bike for about HALF the cost of the BMW.

Longevity? Check this out:
The 400,000 mile K3 DL1000 V-Strom | Adventure Rider

Re the V-Strom, anyone read the UK to Japan on one articles that appeared in Bike magazine last year? It did seem to have a few more rattles and knocks than Suzuki intended by the time they got there - but then again it was ridden by a bunch of journalists
http://www.bikemagazine.co.uk/vstrom-to-japan/

Hey ... I resemble that remark!
I read all the installments in BIKE. Good stuff! I don't recall any major issues with the Vstrom at all ... do you recall what they were?

Vstroms have been tested far harder than the BIKE journos did. They are pretty tough for a bike that looks like a Cream Puff. Really surprised me during my 80K miles on my old nail (now sold).

The thing I liked was that I could do just about everything on the bike myself: valve adjustments (rarely required), I changed the clutch basket (an issue on early Vstroms) in two hours, really no other issues with the bike beyond basic services, fluids, chain sprockets ... and a LOT of tires!

I'd almost call the Vstrom "maintenance free". We had one guy on the old Vstrom forum who never even changed the oil. Went something like 40K miles until a change. Bike still ran perfect!
Most of the damage I ever heard about was usually crash damage.

Well it ended in me doing something stupid, I took a test ride on a versys 650...and I fell in love with it! So I have a tall streetbike

A 2007 candy burnt orange versys.
6800 miles
Racks but no bags
And a gpr exhaust and PC3

...and dirty

[QUOTE=Iqvistus;537208]Well it ended in me doing something stupid, I took a test ride on a versys 650...and I fell in love with it! So I have a tall streetbike

A 2007 candy burnt orange versys.
6800 miles
Racks but no bags
And a gpr exhaust and PC3

...and dirty
[QUOTE]
Here you go, you can add to this thread, all in due course:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...s-thread-65709

__________________
Dave