Urgh, which motorbike tu buy...!?!?

[Bob Rivers]

Hi Gents,

So I am a late bloomer and only did my cbt 2 years ago (41 now) and have been riding a cbf125 since - almost daily in rain, snow and the occasional bout of sunshine...

So, big 'kid' bike tests are being done this week in Oxford and I then have the hell of choosing a bike - and this is where I am struggling!
I have a budget of £3-4k -ish and do not want a sports/tourer bike - mainly commuting but many, many trips are being planned....
Have been looking at Honda's - I have a small bias with the CBF125 and the CB650's and NC700's seem great but also the Kawasaki Vulcan S - over budget but so very nice as is the Triumph Rocket that I have coveted for many years...
Suzuki Gladius (I've heard friends don't let friends buy Suzuki's apparently?!!?) which is the first 'big' bike I have ridden for my mod skills 1 + 2...
Mileage does not seem to influence price I have noticed - I have put nearly 15k on my 125 and could still sell it for a reasonable price - what is high mileage for a bike? I know servicing and riding style are important but where do you draw the line? I also know it is a 'horse for courses' question but hey...

So, in short what might you suggest - good mpg - I love 100 mpg with the 125 and I am short otherwise I'd be selling a kidney and buying an Africa Twin - comfy, reliable/good all rounder/please choose for me because this is starting to get to me So.Many.Choices......should have stuck kept to cars - it'll be trucks, and then big green vehicles next.....

 

[Ruffian]

Ktm 390duke or 690duke.
Great fun bikes and not enough power to get you into too much trouble.

 

[slimjim]

A Moto Guzzi V7,

Good on fuel, nice to ride, not fast, but interesting.

You will hate it for a week, then love it, once you get used to the v twin.

Other than that a modern bonneville, like riding a big 125.

 

[500e]

it'll be trucks, and then big green vehicles next.....?

 

[Bob Rivers]

it'll be trucks, and then big green vehicles next.....?
View attachment 167443

I'm sure I remember a chap putting a moggy body on a landy chassis with bin lorry axles....it was in LRO magazine?!!
Anyway, lots of useful storage space and a mechanism to squish it in just a little tighter ;-)

I'd not even looked at Moto Guzzi....and they do look good just like the Bonneville's and the Z900s....which I really did like as well..

 

[ChrisW8]

A Moto Guzzi V7,

Good on fuel, nice to ride, not fast, but interesting.

You will hate it for a week, then love it, once you get used to the v twin.

Other than that a modern bonneville, like riding a big 125.

I had a Guzzi California II new in 1982 …… absobarstadly the best bike I ever had ..... ever!!!
…….. except for crappy chrome bits!!!

 

[Pete.]

Nowt wrong with Suzukis they are well priced, fairly easy to work on, usually have decent parts supply (and share a lot of parts between models and best of all have generally uncomplicated electrics.

 

[ronan]

If it were me, i'd be looking for one of the new Bonnevilles, but i am biased. The slightly older models with the smaller engines should be well within your budget. And unlike sports bikes, the people who buy them don't cane them like a sports bike.

 

[earthman]

Another big plus about the Guzzi V7 could be that it's shaft drive,...if you are doing that much mileage, no more messing about oiling and adjusting a chain.

 

[Jlg]

If you want a reliable commuting bike that can do 300mpg get a honda cub not the fastest thing in the world but you can't kill them

 

[Rannsachair]

The T100 Bonneville is a good call for an economical big bike, others with reasonable economy are the BMW F650 and F800 ranges or a Suzuki SV650. I ran a KTM adventure 950 for a few years and easily averaged about 35 mpg pushing it through the twisties, never bought it for fuel economy though.

 

[pressbrake1]

Don’t worry about it until you have a license in your hand.
There are so many different flavours of motorcycles no suggestions will help especially as you have a budget. Once you have a license visit every s’hand bike dealer you can and actually look at and sit on bikes.
Worst bike I ever owned was a ktm 390 duke. I had a retard moment and bought one new as it was light enough to Chuck in a van. Most unreliable thing I’ve ever owned and designed for people under 5’8” and ten stone

 

[stuvy]

Don’t buy a ike on what it does on mpg as anything over a 125 unless ridden by a nun will not return the figures you want

I’m a honda man so I’d go with the flawlessly reliable honda it will also be worth more when you come to sell it unlike the others

 

[Munkul]

The Honda NC750X is a great looking bike, nice to ride but the most boring engine ever created. It's so annoying because it would probably be great if the rev limiter was raised another 2-3k. As it is, you wind the throttle on and hit the 6k limit every single time you feel like pushing on.
similar category - BMW F700GS -had one for a weekon holiday, EXCELLENT bike, but had a buzzy engine. I had a feeling it badly needed a service though, it might have been a spark plug on it's way out.

Gladius is a good budget bike, the throttle is very nervous going through town though, and feels cheap in most regards. I learned on one of these, too.

I have a yamaha XSR700 and love it. Very light, very flickable, (too) easy to wheelie, engine has both low down grunt and also sings up near top end... Only downside is a crap rear shock, but it's very easy to upgrade to nitron/ohlins/etc.
I've had three yamahas - the other two being a XS250 and a BT1100 bulldog, and they always feel well engineered, well built bikes.

 

[slimjim]

If you want a reliable commuting bike that can do 300mpg get a honda cub not the fastest thing in the world but you can't kill them

I killed one last year, still not got around to have a look at it.

 

[pressbrake1]

The Honda NC750 is a great looking bike, nice to ride but the most boring engine ever created. It's so annoying because it would probably be great if the rev limiter was raised another 2-3k. As it is, you wind the throttle on and hit the 6k limit every single time you feel like pushing on.

I have a yamaha XSR700 and love it. Very light, very flickable, (too) easy to wheelie, engine has both low down grunt and also sings up near top end... Only downside is a crap rear shock, but it's very easy to upgrade to nitron/ohlins/etc.

When my year old zx10r got written off they insisted on me having a nc750 hire bike which was totally unsuitable for the motorway commute with its gutless engine which felt like a old 1300 kent. The thing what makes me angry is the bike hire firm(plantec) accepted £7500 on my behalf for my bike which was way under whilst they collected £11000 in bike hire for a bike that was of no use to me because I hurt too much to ride and a gutless fairingless bike was no use to me in the winter.

 

[Munkul]

When my year old zx10r got written off they insisted on me having a nc750 hire bike which was totally unsuitable for the motorway commute with its gutless engine which felt like a old 1300 kent.

Bit of a difference between those two bikes though

oh the only other thing that IS in the NC's favour is that it practically runs on air! Genuine 60mpg bike. I still wouldn't have one, though.

 

[addjunkie]

One bike is never enough, you need at least 3

 

[ajlelectronics]

One point already made, try all sorts and 'Grandad' bikes may well be up your street if you don't want a sports bike. I like the BMW range but asking for opinions is like asking people IOS or Android!

I passed my test on a Honda 250 Superdream. On the advice of a friend, I went to BMW and test rode a BMW R100RT, the difference was chalk and cheese. Lots of non biking people horrified at the jump in capacity and size, but the riding experience was just so different. I was never really confident with the Superdream, but the BMW just rode like it was on rails. Good fuel consumption and a barn door up front to get the weather protection. Went to a K1100LT after that but didn't think much of it. The one I bought last year re-inforced that opinion too. Now I have another K1200LT and have the same handling, performance and weather capabilities to make it a pleasure to ride again. Nothing else I have tried has felt as good.

 

[earthman]

Don’t buy a ike on what it does on mpg as anything over a 125 unless ridden by a nun will not return the figures you want

I’m a honda man so I’d go with the flawlessly reliable honda it will also be worth more when you come to sell it unlike the others

I totally agree on both accounts.

The Honda Deauville is pretty old now but that's a very good all rounder and probably the only other middle weight bike that has a drive shaft, 60 something miles per gallon were easily obtainable from the one I had, even fully loaded with camping gear etc. The Transalp had the same engine, that's a good bike but the OP has already stated that those bikes are out due to lack of leg length.

The OP mentions many things but like with most things in life, you just can't have it all, there is always a compromise,......100mpg from a larger engine just isn't possible. He mentions commuting and many trips but doesn't want a touring bike, if the trips turn out to be long ones, he may suffer on those.