what really is the best bike
 

I'm planning a decent trip as ive been postponed the last 2 times and sold my bike each time. First SA which was an XT 350 all rebuilt (I like to travel very light) then due to work i sold and bought an AT which was good this summer but Ive always liked airheads in fact i live them and don't know why as there unreliable and go like a piece of crap when unmodded so why am i inclined to these beasts?

anyway I'm thinking of a dommie as Ive had one before (3 months until it blew)and at a slow pace it was great but in the Uk it isn't up to pace. what i want to know is if the transalp is a bit quicker as my budget is not lending to a GS or AT this year.

any other options ?

just one comment - you said

"in the Uk it isn't up to pace"

one little detail - other than Germany, and someother parts of the continent, NO WHERE is as fast as the UK - everywhere else is much slower, so a bike that "isn't up to pace" may be just the ticket. Rupert just did Alaska to Ushuaia - on a 50cc scooter...

Adjust your thinking for the conditions where you're going, not where you live.

Just about anything will do fine. Cheap is good too. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Transalp would have less vibes than a big single like a Dommie but weighs more. I'd imagine the TA is a bit faster but not by much?

If you're not intending to go off road, what about a K-series BMW? They're cheap (especialy the unfaired 1,000's), normally come with luggage, are plentiful & very reliable. Admittedly they're also bland & soul less but they get the job done.

Your worst nightmare will be on a bike you don't enjoy. Get something you enjoy, because outright speed is a little irrelevant once you get going.

If it helps I've got some web log entries about why I switched from Africa Twin to Bullet. Admittedly it was a forced switch (the AT was stolen), but for me now I'm en route it's the best bike.

http://www.ipercolate.net

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by DougieB (edited 11 December 2004).]

The TA is noticeably lighter than the AT - I'd take a TA over an AT any day, and I currently have an AT that I like a lot! I'd still have a Dominator though. Luggage capacity is less than either of the other bikes of course, but you travel light anyway. The TA is still liquid cooled - didn't you want to avoid this? If you do go for an NX, avoid the recent ones unless you intend to change the seat; they're much MUCH harder (a freind's is the only bike I've ever ridden where the seat is so hard the vibes numb the skin....). Go for the Dominator and get a larger tank!

Stig

some good answere's there, due to most of my riding is going to be on the road maybe a K is the way to go as I'm sure 2 up it's a lot better but they all seem couriered high milers for the grand (ish) mark and the option which seems the best buy is a TA and maybe a Dommie but at that age being a single I'd suspect it would need work fairly soon after 30K (rebore etc).

BMW's cost a fortune to service especially when your mechanical knowledge is equal to none. Dommies certainly are fun about town but soon as you get on the highway there a pain but then TA's are heavy and I don't know there reliability and service costs.

Plenty of low mileage K's about at sensible prices.

I found one for someone on this site (from Hawaii) in the summer with about 30,000 miles on the clock, he paid £1,100. It came with panniers & I gave him a spare BMW topbox I had kicking about.

With absolutely no work on the bike & no tools, he went off & covered 3,200 trouble free miles, mainly in Europe. On his return he gave it to me to sell whilst he flew to South Africa for a few weeks. I sold it for £1,000 & gave him the money on his return. He could have got slightly more but he'd dropped it & caused a bit of minor fairing damage.

K100's are easy & cheap to service, all the filters are very accessible, as are the shims - no cam removal required, just the correct tool (£35.00). In general, nearly as easy as an airhead to service. K1100/1200's are the same but shim removal requires cam removal & I think the shims are more expensive as they're incorporated in to the bucket?

I own a Transalp and just sold my K75s, so I think I will chime in here.

First of all the K and the TA are completely different bikes in every aspect. But I do agree with what Steve has mentioned. My experience with the K75 has been excellent, it gave me virtually no problems in the time I owned it.

Keep in mind though that for every success story I have heard with BMW, I have heard an equal horror story. The K bike is no exception. One big problem of the K and R series in the 80s and mid 90s is the shaft drive, which has a high rate of failure. If you are one of the unlucky ones to experience this, you are in for a huge repair bill. This can be minimized by lubing the splines on a regular basis, but its no guarantee.

As Steve mentioned, the K is very easy to service and the valves rarely require adjustment. But its still a more maintenance intensive bike than the TA. If you bring it to a BMW dealer you will get gouged, but an independent mechanic should be able to do it for a reasonable price. Maintenance and repair costs over the long term will most likely be higher on the K bike than the TA.

Regarding the reliability of the TA, that is THE reason for buying one. For reliability, these are at the top of the heap. They have a simple design and the engine is a very "low stress" design. You won't get tons of performance from this engine, but it will tolerate a lot of adversity and neglect.

I just took a 4500 mile trip on my TA with my girlfriend on the back and full luggage. The bike did fine, no problems at all. I bought the TA to take me and my girlfriend halfway around the world next year. Reliability was my number one concern.

The TA will take you more places than a K. The K is lousy off pavement, especially the "s" version. But if you don't plan on ever going off pavement, this is not an issue. The K is far superior to the TA on the road, especially two-up.

Depending on what you are going to use it for, either bike would be a good choice.

-Dave

The TA is a good choice two-up I found if you are both smallish. But it is all compromise. In Central America I wished I has a 250 stroker. In Australia I wanted a GL1800.

The TA, Dominator and Africa Twin will IN PRACTICE, all have pretty much the same performance. The TA, being a twin is more comfortable over 60mph than the dommie; the AT having a bigger engine, has a higher top speed than the TA.

More engine gets you more power, more comfort and more weight. Simple.

But it is not the right question to be asking.

I've owned a couple of TA's and a couple of AT's. They are both very reliable machines and if I were going RTW or on a long overland trip I would be happy taking either one of these. I love BMW's and currently own an R1200GS but, having had several reliability issues with other BM's and although the 12GS has behaved impeccably so far I wouldn't dream of taking one on a long overland trip. Either the AT or the TA will have sufficient power and load carrying capacity for a solo or two up trip. The only reliability issue with the AT is the fuel pump which is a small enough unit to take with you on the off chance you may have a problem.



[This message has been edited by mcdarbyfeast (edited 22 January 2005).]

Is KLR a dirty word over there?
Rod,,,wonderin why one of the most versatile badass Dual Sports in the world isn't considered sometimes

Actually the KLR is heavily used - but mostly by North Americans, cause that's about all we have...

The Europeans have a much wider choice, so it's chosen much less! And the TA and AT as well as the various XT's are great bikes. Simple really. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

OVERALL, on an admittedly smallish poll taken a while ago, the KLR was number one travel bike chosen - barely. Various BMW's next.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

The KLR that's available in the US is diferent to the small tanked street bike sold over here.

We've not had the old stylebike with a decent sized tank for a number of years I believe.

Not owned one myself but did have the misfortune to own a KLX, money pit & bugger to work on - never again.

I've heard a rumour that Yamaha are bringing out a version of the new XT660 with a larger tank. This was from a Yamaha dealer. Don't know if anyone has heard similar stories but, could be interesting.

[This message has been edited by mcdarbyfeast (edited 27 January 2005).]

With better suspension and a re-think of that exhaust routing (please! Not under the engine!)that would be good; maybe a return to the original XT600Z Tenere concept?

I liked the old KLR650, although it did badly in back to back tests with other bikes of the time (usually the Dominator or DR650RS) featured in magazines. Those hacks weren't looking for the same qualities as we do, and usually ended up taking them all into a muddy quarry somewhere. The conclusion was invariably that the KLR (and the rest) are not XR250s, so no good in the dirt, but neither are they CBR600s, so "boring" on the road, so why not buy a sports bike like everyone else?

Hopefully the bike press in places other than the UK were imaginitive enough to see dual sport bikes as something other than pose-mobiles. Hmmphhh.

Stig