Which bike for a "Classic Motorcyclist"
 

I've read all the posts on the New Bike topic and have Chris's excellent book, BUT still my head is still going round in circles.

Did the Atlantic Route from the UK to Ghana in 2007 in my Land Rover and thought that that was it. But am getting itchy feet again. I won't be doing another overland trip, but fancy going back to Morocco to do the Dades Gorge again but this time on 2 wheels.

In reality this will be a "once of" as I am not as young as I once was.
I normally ride a pair of Classic British bikes: 1943 Matchless 350 and a 1957 Matchless 600 and what I am after is a modern dual sport bike that will will be used for 99% of it's time on tarmac in the UK, with this one trip to Morocco.

I keep getting drawn to the BMW 650F, but would appreciate some advice.

Thanks
Ian

Hi Ian

if your think on the line's of the f650,then it may be worth taking a look at yamaha's XT660R.

It's a bit lighter than the bmw , it can return up to 80mpg and I would say it's a bit better when being ridden off road.

It's also a lot cheaper :thumbup1:

Hope this help's

Dazzer

Hi Ian

What about a modern "classic" , a Triumph Bonnevillle or Scrambler.

I have just bought a used Bonneville to use alongside my Speed Triple.

I am sure that the Bonnie would cope with 1% offroading. Trail type tyres are readily available.

More than enough grunt, not too heavy and wins hands down on looks and character methinks.

All the best

I like the Triumph idea too. Or maybe a Kawasaki W650

Edit:Misread sorry

anyway you can't go wrong with a DR650

A few years ago a bike mag here in NZ had a "shop" W650 that they used for pretty much everything. They even put knobblies on it and took it on some pretty serious adventure rides; you know those organised ones that cover 50km of farm land. They had to restrict the "air time" so no big jumps, but it got around without problems. The new Bonnie and Scrambler look very similar, and could be the go too.
Regards

Nigel in NZ

The Bonneville is good for anything you could roughly (and I mean roughly) call a track. It needs Knobblies (I like Heidenaus), a sump guard (Spin on filter in the same sort of position in the sump as a BM GS) and if you intended something like the Atlantic run new shocks at some point. The Scrambler is down about 10HP due to the insane exhaust and feels pushed on the motorway, but has about an inch more ground clearance. The exhaust also causes luggage issues unless you want MM tin boxes and a small mortgage. I'd like a Scrambler to play with and as they've dropped the super cheap Bonneville Black from the range I would buy a Scram new. Second hand you can get a lot of Bonneville and add what you need for the same cash as a Scram. Details of what I've been up to here:

https://sites.google.com/site/threewheelbonnie/Home

The W650 is also down on power ,is a bit hard to find (popular amongst polishers now but not when new), has a drum brake on the rear but does have a kick start. I got the Bonneville for the extra horses for a pillion, but on my own would be happy with the W as a bike. Kawasaki dealers are better than some of Triumphs, but there are a lot more aftermarket items about for the Bonneville.

All these bikes have one serious issue: Range. Style over function means you get 160 miles before you are walking. The above link goes through some solutions.

BMW F650's lack the toughness and simplicity of the Triumph and I'd guess the Kawa. My first one was a gem that behaved like BMW said it would. My second one was fine until pushed, then behaved like Aprillia's reputation suggests it will. It does however have the ground clearance of a true DP and range is better. After my little walk in the desert (details on the link too), I wouldn't mess with the intermeadiate stage, if I wanted better off road manners than the Bonneville I'd go straight to a Tenere.

Drop me a PM or e-mail (details on the link) if you need more info.

Andy

Or hows about an Enfield Trials, although the roadtrip south may be a real trial (sic). A more modern classic would be the DRZ or XR400, both with a reputation for dependability (and uncomfortable seats (oops...)). Or something that'll do distance and dirt - XT660r.

An Enfield !!!
I had a brand new Bullet last year and it went back to the dealership 5 times in 6 months and then I got rid of it and changed it for a 1957 Matchless 600cc which has never given me any problems :-)

I'm quite taken by the idea of a Bonnie though and think that I'll take one for a test ride.

I had an Enfield too!

The 5 speeds aren't too bad for reliability so long as the dealer did his job. Anything from a track to a B-road they are are great fun. There are two large drawbacks that led me to sell though. First of all motorways are a living hell when you know any sustained high speed is beyond the engines cooling capacity. Even finding a truck and doing 56 mph requires you to pull off and exercise the motor every 30 miles which means your navigation needs to be pre-planned and accurate. If you can do that for 10 days, you'll be due an oil change, not so easy when that's in the middle of Norway or somewhere. This to me, at the risk of upsetting someone, and in a European sense only, puts the Bullet at a plaything level unless you want to do a heck of a lot of work.

Now the EFI model I'd look at. I swapped my Bullet (18HP iron engine) for a working MZ. MZ 300's put out 23 HP all day and have no cooling issues. You can tour them using any road you like. The Bullet EFI at 25 HP with the alloy engine should be in this class although service intervals still don't compare to 10000km on the zed or 6000 miles on a Triumph.

The odd thing is I'm not into old bikes! It so happens the shape and mechanicals of Bonnevilles, Enfields, MZ's, Urals etc. just fit me better than modern bikes that always seem to come with too many cylinders or bits of plastic I don't need.

Andy